Article 4

1

The competent national authorities listed in Annex II may, from 10 o’clock a.m. on 9 January 2012, notify the Commission of the amounts covered by requests for import authorisations.

The time fixed in the first subparagraph shall be understood as Brussels time.

2

The competent national authorities shall issue authorisations only after being notified by the Commission pursuant to Article 17(2) of Regulation (EC) No 517/94 that quantities are available for importation.

They shall issue authorisations only if an operator:

a

proves the existence of a contract relating to the provision of the goods; and

b

certifies in writing that, in respect of the categories and countries concerned:

  1. (i)

    the operator has not already been allocated an authorisation under this Regulation; or

  2. (ii)

    the operator has been allocated an authorisation under this Regulation but has used up at least 50 percent of it.

3

Import authorisations shall be valid for 9 months from the date of issue, but until 31 December 2012 at the latest.

The competent national authorities may, however, at the importer’s request, grant a three-month extension for authorisations which are at least 50 percent used up at the time of the request. Such extension shall in no circumstances expire later than 31 March 2013.