Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1550 of 17 September 2015 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the import and refining of sugar products of CN code 1701 under preferential agreements, for the marketing years 2015/2016 and 2016/2017

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⁽¹⁾, and in particular Articles 178 and 180 and Article 192(5) thereof,

Whereas:

1. Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 has repealed and replaced Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007⁽²⁾ and laid down specific rules for the import and refining of sugar products. Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 empowers the Commission to adopt delegated and implementing acts in that respect. In order to ensure the smooth functioning of the system of import and refining of sugar products of CN code 1701 under preferential agreements in the new legal framework, certain rules have to be adopted by means of such acts. The new rules should replace the existing implementing rules laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 828/2009⁽³⁾ that will expire on 30 September 2015.

2. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1538⁽⁴⁾ laid down the requirements to be fulfilled when applying for import licences for imports of sugar products of CN code 1701 under preferential agreements. Further rules should be established concerning the submission of import licence applications, the issuing and validity of import licences and notifications concerning the import licences.

3. To avoid fraudulent applications, the list of eligible countries in Annex I to this Regulation should be limited to those countries identified as current or potential sugar exporters to the Union. Any country not currently listed in Annex I to this Regulation but listed either in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1528/2007⁽⁵⁾ or in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽⁶⁾ should be eligible to be included in Annex I to this Regulation. To this effect, such a country should request the Commission to be listed in Annex I to this Regulation.

4. Commission Regulation (EC) No 376/2008⁽⁷⁾ should apply to import licences issued under this Regulation, except as otherwise provided for in this Regulation.

5. Considering that imports under certain preferential regimes are not subject to a limited quota quantity, it is opportune to facilitate customs procedures in view of establishing the import duties by allowing a tolerance with a customary level of plus or minus 5 % in licences for preferential sugar imports.

6. To ensure uniform and equitable treatment for all operators, the period in which licence applications may be submitted and licences issued should be determined.

7. Sugar imported for refining needs specific monitoring by the Member States. Therefore operators should specify as from the import licence application if the imported sugar is intended for refining or not.

8. In accordance with Article 5 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1301/2006⁽⁸⁾, operators should submit, to the Member States in which they are registered for VAT purposes, proof that they have been trading sugar during a certain period. Operators approved in accordance with Article 7 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 952/2006⁽⁹⁾ should be able to participate in the trading of preferential sugar, without submitting such a proof.

9. Licence applications should bear a reference number linked to a third country listed in Annex I to this Regulation.

10. For licences valid until 30 September for which the sugar was loaded at the latest by 15 September, small delays in the logistic chain other than force majeure could lead to physical imports after 30 September. To avoid the risk of paying the full import duty and the forfeit of the security, importers should be given the possibility to import that sugar loaded at the latest by 15 September of a marketing year based on an import licence issued for that marketing year. Therefore Member States should extend the validity of the import licence if the importer submits proof that the sugar was loaded at the latest by 15 September.

11. For the sake of sound management of the agreements, the Commission should receive the relevant information in good time.

12. In accordance with Article 192(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, during the first three months of each marketing year, only full-time refiners should be able to apply for import licences for sugar for refining. Such licences are to be valid to the end of the marketing year for which they are issued. In order to ensure the respect of the exclusive import capacity of full-time refiners provided for in Article 192(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, rules should be laid down concerning information to be notified to the Commission.

13. The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: