Article 18

Import licences may be issued only by the Member States specified in Article 39(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1260/2001 and only to refiners who undertake in a declaration accompanying their licence application to refine the quantity of raw sugar concerned before the end of the marketing year during which it is imported.

Refiners may transfer their import licences to other refiners. In that event, the parties concerned shall immediately notify the competent authority thereof in the Member State which issued the licences. However, import and refining obligations shall not be transferable and Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000 shall continue to apply.

Where release for free circulation does not take place in the Member State which issued the import licence, the importing Member State shall collect the certificate of origin and the supplementary document, completed as provided for in Articles 20 and 21, and forward a copy thereof to the Member State which issued the import licence.

The refiner who applied for the import licence shall, within three months following the expiry of the refining period referred to in paragraph 1, provide the Member State which issued the licence with proof acceptable to it that refining has taken place.

Where the sugar is not refined within the period set, the refiner who applied for the licence shall pay an amount equal to the full rate of duty applicable during the marketing year concerned to raw sugar falling within CN code 1701 11 90, plus, where appropriate, the highest additional rate of duty recorded during that marketing year.

Where it has not been possible for a quantity of sugar to be delivered in sufficient time to enable it to be refined before the end of the marketing year concerned, the importing Member State may, at the request of the refiner, extend the period of validity of the licence for 30 days from the beginning of the following marketing year. In that event, the quantity of raw sugar in question shall count against and be within the limits of the quota for the preceding marketing year.

Where it has not been possible to refine a quantity of sugar before the end of the marketing year concerned, the Member State in question may, at the request of the refiner, extend the refining period by a maximum of 90 days from the beginning of the following marketing year. In that case, the raw sugar in question shall be refined within that extended period and shall count against and be within the limits of the quota for the preceding marketing year.