Article 8 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1342/20032 establishes the time frames for issuing export licences. It stipulates, in this respect, that licences for exported products for which a refund has been fixed will normally be issued on the third working day following that on which the application is submitted, even where the refund is zero. However, that time frame can be too long where products need to be exported immediately. In order to simplify their administrative formalities, operators who find themselves in this situation should therefore be allowed, on request, to obtain an export licence without delay, that licence being issued to them on the day on which the application is submitted.

However, reducing the time frame for issuing the licence should not have the result of giving the operators concerned an advantage over other operators, particularly where export tax should be fixed during the three days following the submission of the application. To this end, steps should be taken to ensure that, in such cases, entitlement to a refund is not conferred by issuing the export licence on the day on which the application is submitted and that, where tax should be fixed before the export declaration is accepted, that tax will apply to the products concerned.

In this context, the term of validity of such licences and the securities to be lodged should also be specified.

Regulation (EC) No 1342/2003 should be amended accordingly.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets,