Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2835

Contents

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007^note, and in particular Article 190(3), Article 193a(1) and Article 223(2),Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 December 2021 on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013^note, and in particular Article 64(3),Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 October 2013 laying down the Union Customs Code^note, and in particular Article 212(b),Whereas:

(1)Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 repealed and replaced Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007^note. Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 lays down rules on trade with third countries of agricultural products and empowers the Commission to adopt delegated and implementing acts in that respect. In order to ensure the smooth functioning of the trade of the products in the sectors of rice, cereals, sugar and hops in the new legal framework, certain rules have to be adopted by means of such acts. This Regulation and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2834^note should replace such currently existing rules.

(2)Pursuant to the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Community and India pursuant to Article XXVIII of the GATT 1994 relating to the modification of concessions with respect to rice provided for in EC Schedule CXL annexed to the GATT 1994, approved by Council Decision 2004/617/EC^note, the duty applicable to imports from India of husked rice of certain Basmati varieties is fixed at zero.

(3)Pursuant to the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Community and Pakistan pursuant to Article XXVIII of the GATT 1994 relating to the modification of concessions with respect to rice provided for in EC Schedule CXL annexed to the GATT 1994, approved by Council Decision 2004/618/EC^note, the duty applicable to imports of husked rice of certain Basmati varieties originating in Pakistan is fixed at zero.

(4)To ensure the sound administrative management of imports of Basmati rice, special rules, whether additional to or derogating from Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1237^note and from Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1239^note, should be adopted concerning the obligation for an import licence and other issues, especially as regards proof of trade and transferability of a licence.

(5)In order to ensure that importers of cereals respect the provisions of this Regulation and of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2834, a guarantee for the quality of the products imported should be required from them.

(6)In order to ensure that the Union market is adequately supplied by imports of molasses from third countries, the Commission should have the power to suspend in whole or in part import duties for molasses falling within CN code 1703.

(7)For products of the hops sector imported from third countries, an attestation of equivalence certifies that they respect the quality standards equivalent to those adopted for like products harvested within the Union or made from such products. It is important that Member States carry out controls to ensure that imported products of the hops sector meet the criteria laid down in the attestation of equivalence and inform the Commission of any findings which would necessitate the removal of the issuing competent authority from the list of third country authorities that are authorised to issue such attestations.

(8)In order to reduce the administrative burden, small packages of products of the hops sector for sale to private individuals for their own use, hops for scientific and technical experiments and for fairs covered by the special customs arrangements for fairs should be imported without an attestation of equivalence, as long as certain entries appear on the packaging which ensure that the product is not put in free circulation, but only destined for one of the uses to which the exception applies.

(9)Trade of certain agricultural products between the EU and certain third countries often requires that the products are accompanied for imports by documents that certify the implementation of certain formalities (so-called ‘non-customs formalities) required by the EU agricultural legislation, currently predominantly in the paper form. The Commission intends to digitise the whole process by establishing an electronic system for DG AGRI non-customs formalities (ELAN) based on TRACES.NT and linked to the EU Single Window Environment for customs as established by Regulation (EU) 2022/2399 of the European Parliament and of the Council^note. ELAN will define the digital processes in the future and will allow users to issue, store, and retrieve the necessary documents. ELAN will be divided into 2 parts and part 2 called ELAN2-C is to include, among others, also different documents covered by this Regulation and by Implementing Regulation 2023/2834. After defining those digital processes the legal provisions of the two Regulations will be amended accordingly.

(10)As this Regulation updates the currently applicable rules, replaces the existing rules and abolishes obsolete rules as laid down in Commission Regulations (EC) No 3330/94^note, (EC) No 2810/95^note, (EC) No 951/2006^note, (EC) No 972/2006^note, (EC) No 504/2007^note, (EC) No 1375/2007^note, (EC) No 402/2008^note, (EC) No 1295/2008^note, (EC) No 1312/2008^note and (EU) No 642/2010^note, those regulations should be repealed.

(11)Commission regulations on export refunds (EEC) No 1361/76^note, (EEC) No 1842/81^note, (EEC) No 3556/87^note, (EEC) No 3846/87^note, (EEC) No 815/89^note, (EC) No 765/2002^note, (EC) No 1993/2005^note, (EC) No 1670/2006^note, (EC) No 1731/2006^note, (EC) No 1741/2006^note, (EC) No 433/2007^note, (EC) No 1359/2007^note, (EC) No 1454/2007^note, (EC) No 508/2008^note, (EC) No 903/2008^note, (EC) No 147/2009^note, (EC) No 612/2009^note, (EU) No 817/2010^note, (EU) No 1178/2010^note and (EU) No 90/2011^note and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1373/2013^note should be repealed as this system has been abolished by Regulation (EU) 2021/2117 of the European Parliament and of the Council^note,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Section 1 · Scope

Article 1Subject matter#

This Regulation lays down specific rules for imports in the sectors of rice, cereals, sugar and hops, and in particular on:

(a)imports of Basmati rice;

(b)lodging a guarantee for the imports of flint maize, common wheat and durum wheat;

(c)the suspension or reduction of import duties for molasses;

(d)checks on imported hops and exemption from the attestation of equivalence and the labelling requirements for imports of hops.

Section 2 · Rice

Article 2Specific rules for imports of Basmati rice#

1.This Section shall apply to husked Basmati rice falling within CN codes 10062017 and 10062098, of the following varieties:

(a)Basmati 217;

(b)Basmati 370;

(c)Basmati 386;

(d)Kernel (Basmati);

(e)Pusa Basmati;

(f)Ranbir Basmati;

(g)Super Basmati;

(h)Taraori Basmati (HBC-19);

(i)Type-3 (Dehradun).

2.Notwithstanding the rates of import duty fixed in the Common Customs Tariff, Basmati rice referred to in paragraph 1 shall qualify for a zero rate of import duty under the conditions laid down in this Section and when accompanied by an import licence issued in accordance with Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1237 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1239.

Article 3Applicable rules#

Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1237 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1239 shall apply, unless otherwise provided for in this Regulation.

Article 4Import licence applications#

Import licence applications for Basmati rice referred to in Article 2(1) shall be accompanied by:

(a)a proof that the applicant exported from the Union or released for free circulation in the Union a minimum quantity of 25 t of rice referred to in Article 1(2), point (b), of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 during one of the previous 2 calendar years;

(b)a product authenticity certificate issued by a competent body in the exporting country, as made public by the Commission on its website. That certificate may be stored and made available in the electronic system ELAN to be set up by the Commission.

Article 5Transfer of rights from import licences#

By way of derogation from Article 6 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1237, rights deriving from import licences for Basmati rice referred to in Article 2(1) of this Regulation shall not be transferable.

Section 3 · Cereals

Article 6Lodging of guarantee for the importation of flint maize#

By way of derogation from Article 211(3), point (c), of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, for flint maize, the importer shall lodge with the customs authority a specific guarantee, except where the declaration of release for free circulation is accompanied by a certificate of conformity issued by the Argentine Servicio National de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria (Senasa) in accordance with Article 21(2), first subparagraph, point (a) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2834.

Article 7Lodging of a guarantee for the importation of common wheat and durum wheat#

1.For high quality common wheat, the importer shall lodge with the customs authority a specific guarantee on the date of acceptance of the declaration of release for free circulation except where that declaration is accompanied by a certificate of conformity issued by the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) or by the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) in accordance with Article 21(2), first subparagraph, point (b) or (c), of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2834.If, however, import duties for all quality categories of common wheat have been suspended in accordance with Article 219 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, the specific guarantee shall not be required for the entire period of suspension.

2.For durum wheat, the importer shall lodge with the customs authority a specific guarantee on the date of acceptance of the declaration of release for free circulation, except where that declaration is accompanied by a certificate of conformity issued by the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) or by the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) in accordance with Article 21(2), first subparagraph, point (b) or (c), of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2834.However, where the import duty applicable to the different qualities of durum wheat is zero, the specific guarantee shall not be required.

Section 4 · Sugar

Article 8Suspension and reduction of import duties for molasses#

Where the CIF representative prices for molasses referred to in Article 25 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2834 and the import duty applicable to cane molasses falling within CN code 17031000, or to beet molasses falling within CN code 17039000, exceed 8,21 EUR/100 kg, the import duty shall be suspended or reduced to the amount found by the Commission. This amount shall be fixed at the same time as the representative prices referred to in that Article.However, where there is a risk that the suspension of import duties may have adverse effects on the Union market in molasses, provision may be made in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 183, first paragraph, point (a), of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, for not applying that suspension for a specific period.

Section 5 · Hops

Article 9Checks on imported hops that they comply with the minimum marketing requirements#

1.The Member States shall report to the Commission the results of the checks on compliance with minimum market requirements that were carried out over the year preceding that of 30 June as laid down in Article 43(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2834.

2.If a Member State discovers that the characteristics of a hop product do not conform to the details listed on the accompanying attestation of equivalence, it shall notify the Commission thereof.The Commission may decide to withdraw the agency having issued the attestation of equivalence for such products from the list referred to in Article 37(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2834.

3.The notifications referred to in paragraph 2 and the reports referred to in Article 43(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2834 shall be made through the notification system established by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1183^note and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1185^note.

Article 10Exemption from the attestation of equivalence and the labelling requirements#

1.By way of derogation from Article 35(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2834, for the import of hops and hop products, neither the attestation referred to in that Article nor compliance with Article 39 of that Implementing Regulation shall be required for their release for free circulation where the weight per individual package does not exceed 1 kg in the case of hop cones and hop powder and 300 g in the case of hop extracts imported for the following purposes:

(a)small packages for sale to private individuals for their own use;

(b)for scientific and technical experiments;

(c)for fairs covered by the special customs arrangements for fairs.

2.The description, weight and final use of the product shall appear on the packaging.

Section 6 · Final provisions

Article 11Repeals#

The following Regulations are repealed:

(a)Regulations (EC) No 3330/94, (EC) No 2810/95, (EC) No 951/2006, (EC) No 972/2006, (EC) No 504/2007, (EC) No 1375/2007, (EC) No 402/2008, (EC) No 1295/2008, (EC) No 1312/2008 and (EU) No 642/2010;

(b)Regulations (EEC) No 1361/76, (EEC) No 1842/81, (EEC) No 3556/87, (EEC) No 3846/87, (EEC) No 815/89, (EC) No 765/2002, (EC) No 1993/2005, (EC) No 1670/2006, (EC) No 1731/2006, (EC) No 1741/2006, (EC) No 433/2007, (EC) No 1359/2007, (EC) No 1454/2007, (EC) No 508/2008, (EC) No 903/2008, (EC) No 147/2009, (EC) No 612/2009, (EU) No 817/2010, (EU) No 1178/2010, (EU) No 90/2011 and Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1373/2013.

Article 12Entry into force#

This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.