Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2777/75 of 29 October 1975 on the common organisation of the market in poultrymeat^f1, and in particular Article 6(1) thereof,

Having regard to Council Decision 2007/360/EC of 29 May 2007 on the conclusion of Agreements in the form of Agreed Minutes between the European Community and the Federal Republic of Brazil, and between the European Community and the Kingdom of Thailand pursuant to Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994) relating to the modification of concessions with respect to poultry meat^f2, and in particular Article 2 thereof,

Whereas:

Commission Regulation (EC) No 616/2007^f3 allows for processors to apply for import licences under certain conditions.

Salted poultrymeat falling within CN code 0210 99 39 is not covered by Regulation (EEC) No 2777/75. Consequently, operators traditionally importing that product should be allowed to benefit from the special quota for salted poultrymeat.

One of the conditions referred to in Regulation (EC) No 616/2007 is that the processing must have been carried out using poultrymeat of CN codes 0207 or 0210 and result in poultrymeat preparations of CN code 1602 covered by Regulation (EEC) No 2777/75.

As Regulation (EEC) No 2777/75 does not cover homogenised preparations of CN code 1602 10, and some operators specialised in this type of processing have expressed an interest in participating in the quotas opened by Regulation (EC) No 616/2007, such processed products should be included, but not homogenised products containing meats other than poultrymeat.

Experience has shown that the quantities available for groups 6 and 8 are not utilised. One of the reasons for this under-utilisation is the fact that the minimum quantity for which an operator can apply, set at 100 tonnes in the Regulation, is too large, as the markets in question are often ‘niche’ markets.

The minimum quantity for which each operator can apply should therefore be reduced for these specific groups.

Import licences are issued to operators by the Member States more than two months before the start of the sub-period or period in question, and therefore more than two months before the start of their period of validity. There is a particularly long gap between the issue of the licences and the period when operators are able to use them to import.

To avoid a situation where some licences are used to import before the start of their period of validity, the start date of the validity period should be printed on the import licences.

Regulation (EC) No 616/2007 should be amended accordingly.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Poultrymeat and Eggs,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: