Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to the Treaty of Accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia,

Having regard to the Act of Accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia, and in particular the first paragraph of Article 41 thereof,

Whereas:

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1864/2004^f1 opens tariff quotas for preserved mushrooms imported from third countries and lays down rules for the administration thereof.

Regulation (EC) No 1864/2004 provides for transitional measures allowing importers from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia (hereinafter the new Members States) to benefit from the quotas. The aim of those measures is to make a distinction between traditional importers and new importers in the new Member States, and to adjust the quantities to which licence applications presented by traditional importers from the new Member States can relate so that these importers can benefit from the system.

To ensure uninterrupted supplies to the enlarged Community market while taking account of the economic supply conditions in the new Member States prior to their accession to the European Union, an autonomous and temporary import tariff quota should be opened for preserved mushrooms of the genus Agaricus falling within CN codes 0711 51 00, 2003 10 20 and 2003 10 30.

The new quota should be transitional and may not prejudge the outcome of the negotiations under way in the context of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as a result of the accession of the new Member States.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Products Processed from Fruit and Vegetables,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: