(1)

Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007 lays down, pursuant to the outcome of the Uruguay Round multilateral trade negotiations, the criteria whereby the Commission fixes the standard values for imports from third countries, in respect of the products and periods stipulated in the Annex thereto.

(2)

In compliance with the above criteria, the standard import values must be fixed at the levels set out in the Annex to this Regulation,

(1)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1788/2001 of 7 September 2001 laying down detailed rules for implementing the provisions concerning the certificate of inspection for imports from third countries under Article 11 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs (2) has been substantially amended several times (3). In the interests of clarity and rationality the said Regulation should be codified.

(2)

It is necessary to determine a procedure in order to coordinate at Community level certain controls on products imported from third countries which are intended to be marketed with indications referring to the organic production method.

(3)

This Regulation shall apply without prejudice to the inspection system in Articles 8 and 9 of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 and in Annex III, Sections B and C, thereto.

(4)

This Regulation shall apply without prejudice to the Community customs provisions and any other provisions governing importation of products referred to in Article 1 of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 for marketing in the Community.

(5)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee referred to in Article 14 of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91,

1.

‘certificate of inspection’: means the certificate of inspection which is referred to in Article 11(3)(d) and (6) of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 and which covers a consignment;

2.

‘consignment’: means a quantity of products under one or more Combined Nomenclature Codes, covered by a single certificate of inspection, conveyed by the same means of transport and coming from the same third country;

3.

‘verification of the consignment’: means the verification by the relevant Member States' authorities of the certificate of inspection to satisfy Article 4(2), and, where these authorities consider appropriate, of the products in relation to the requirements of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91;

4.

‘release for free circulation in the Community’: means the clearance given by the customs authorities to allow a consignment free movement within the Community;

5.

‘relevant Member States’ authorities': means the customs authorities or other authorities, defined by the Member State.

(1)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 831/2002 (2) establishes, for the purpose of enabling statistical conclusions to be drawn for scientific purposes, the conditions under which access to confidential data transmitted to the Community authority may be granted. It lists the different surveys and data sources to which it applies.

(2)

There is growing demand from researchers and the scientific community in general to have access for scientific purposes also to confidential data from the Farm Structure Survey (FSS). Access to the FSS microdata would enable researchers to study the relationships between the different characteristics of individual agricultural holdings, such as the types of crops grown, livestock and labour force. It would also enable researchers to improve regional agri-environmental models and indicators that are currently based on aggregated data. This survey should therefore be added to the list in Regulation (EC) No 831/2002.

(3)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on Statistical Confidentiality,

1.

In Article 5, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

2.

In Article 6, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

(1)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 318/2007 (3) lays down the animal health conditions for imports of certain birds other than poultry into the Community and the quarantine conditions applicable to such birds after import.

(2)

Annex V to that Regulation sets out a list of quarantine facilities and centres approved by the competent authorities of the Member States for import of certain birds other than poultry.

(3)

Portugal has reviewed its approved quarantine facilities and centres and has sent an updated list of those quarantine facilities and centres to the Commission. The list of approved quarantine facilities and centres set out in Annex V to Regulation (EC) No 318/2007 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(4)

Regulation (EC) No 318/2007 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(5)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,

(1)

In order to promote the supply of cereals to the Community market during the 2007/2008 marketing year, Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2008 of 20 December 2007 temporarily suspending customs duties on imports of certain cereals for the 2007/2008 marketing year (2) suspended those duties until 30 June 2008, whilst providing for the possibility of reintroducing them in the event of disruption or threatened disruption on the Community market. The market situation since that measure was adopted and the likely short-term trends are not expected to result in the duties being reintroduced, given the price situation. The suspension of duties should, on the basis of that text, therefore continue to apply until the end of the 2007/2008 marketing year.

(2)

The outlook for the cereals market for the start of the next marketing year (2008/2009) would suggest that prices will remain high, given the low stock levels and current estimates from the Commission regarding the quantities which will actually be available under the 2008 harvest. In order to make it easier to maintain a flow of imports which will help maintain market equilibrium, there is a need to ensure continuity in cereal imports policy by maintaining the temporary suspension of customs duties on imports during the 2008/2009 marketing year for cereals to which this measure currently applies. Furthermore, in order to apply equivalent conditions to the supply of certain other cereals to the Community market, the measure should be extended to products falling under CN codes 1008 10 00 and 1008 20 00.

(3)

However, it must be possible to lift this suspension of duties without delay in the event of disruption or threatened disruption on the Community market, notably due to imported quantities or if cereals from the new harvest are available on the Community market in sufficient quantities to ensure market equilibrium. To this end, provision should be made for the Commission to take appropriate steps to reintroduce customs duties immediately should the market situation so warrant, and to lay down the criteria whereby this situation should be considered as such.

(4)

The Management Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets has not delivered an opinion within the time limit set by its Chairman,

(1)

Article 32 of Regulation (EC) No 318/2006 provides that the difference between prices on the world market for the products listed in Article 1(1)(b) of that Regulation and prices for those products on the Community market may be covered by an export refund.

(2)

Given the present situation on the sugar market, export refunds should therefore be fixed in accordance with the rules and certain criteria provided for in Articles 32 and 33 of Regulation (EC) No 318/2006.

(3)

The first subparagraph of Article 33(2) of Regulation (EC) No 318/2006 provides that the world market situation or the specific requirements of certain markets may make it necessary to vary the refund according to destination.

(4)

Refunds should be granted only on products that are allowed to move freely in the Community and that comply with the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 318/2006.

(5)

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

(1)

Article 32 of Regulation (EC) No 318/2006 provides that the difference between prices on the world market for the products listed in Article 1(1)(c), (d) and (g) of that Regulation and prices for those products on the Community market may be covered by an export refund.

(2)

Given the present situation on the sugar market, export refunds should therefore be fixed in accordance with the rules and certain criteria provided for in Articles 32 and 33 of Regulation (EC) No 318/2006.

(3)

The first subparagraph of Article 33(2) of Regulation (EC) No 318/2006 provides that the world market situation or the specific requirements of certain markets may make it necessary to vary the refund according to destination.

(4)

Refunds should be granted only on products that are allowed to move freely in the Community and that comply with the requirements of Commission Regulation (EC) No 951/2006 of 30 June 2006 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 318/2006 as regards trade with third countries in the sugar sector (2).

(5)

Export refunds may be set to cover the competitive gap between Community and third country's exports. Community exports to certain close destinations and to third countries granting Community products a preferential import treatment are currently in a particular favourable competitive position. Therefore, refunds for exports to those destinations should be abolished.

(6)

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

(1)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 900/2007 of 27 July 2007 on a standing invitation to tender to determine refunds on exports of white sugar for the 2007/08 marketing year (2) requires the issuing of partial invitations to tender.

(2)

Pursuant to Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 900/2007 and following an examination of the tenders submitted in response to the partial invitation to tender ending on 26 June 2008, it is appropriate to fix a maximum export refund for that partial invitation to tender.

(3)

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

(1)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1060/2007 of 14 September 2007 opening a standing invitation to tender for the resale for export of sugar held by the intervention agencies of Belgium, the Czech Republic, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden (2) requires the issuing of partial invitations to tender.

(2)

Pursuant to Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1060/2007 and following an examination of the tenders submitted in response to the partial invitation to tender ending on 25 June 2008, it is appropriate to fix a maximum export refund for that partial invitation to tender.

(3)

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

(1)

Article 32(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No 318/2006 provides that the differences between the prices in international trade for the products listed in Article 1(1)(b), (c), (d) and (g) of that Regulation and prices within the Community may be covered by an export refund where these products are exported in the form of goods listed in Annex VII to that Regulation.

(2)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1043/2005 of 30 June 2005 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 3448/93 as regards the system of granting export refunds on certain agricultural products exported in the form of goods not covered by Annex I to the Treaty, and the criteria for fixing the amount of such refunds (2), specifies the products for which a rate of refund is to be fixed, to be applied where these products are exported in the form of goods listed in Annex VII to Regulation (EC) No 318/2006.

(3)

In accordance with the first paragraph of Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1043/2005, the rate of the refund per 100 kilograms for each of the basic products in question is to be fixed each month.

(4)

Article 32(4) of Regulation (EC) No 318/2006 lays down that the export refund for a product contained in goods may not exceed the refund applicable to that product when exported without further processing.

(5)

The refunds fixed under this Regulation may be fixed in advance as the market situation over the next few months cannot be established at the moment.

(6)

The commitments entered into with regard to refunds which may be granted for the export of agricultural products contained in goods not covered by Annex I to the Treaty may be jeopardised by the fixing in advance of high refund rates. It is therefore necessary to take precautionary measures in such situations without, however, preventing the conclusion of long-term contracts. The fixing of a specific refund rate for the advance fixing of refunds is a measure which enables these various objectives to be met.

(7)

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

(1)

Council Regulation (EC) No 40/2008 of 16 January 2008 fixing for 2008 the fishing opportunities and associated conditions for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in Community waters and for Community vessels, in waters where catch limitations are required (3), lays down quotas for 2008.

(2)

According to the information received by the Commission, catches of the stock referred to in the Annex to this Regulation by vessels flying the flag of or registered in the Member State referred to therein have exhausted the quota allocated for 2008.

(3)

It is therefore necessary to prohibit fishing for that stock and its retention on board, transhipment and landing,

(1)

Pursuant to Article 56 of the Act of Accession of 2005, where a Council act adopted prior to accession requires adaptation by reason of accession, and the necessary adaptations have not been provided for in the Act of Accession or its Annexes, the necessary acts are to be adopted by the Council.

(2)

Directive 2006/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels (1) was adopted prior to the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union and requires adaptation by reason of this accession.

(3)

Directive 2006/87/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.

(4)

In accordance with point 34 of the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-making, Member States are encouraged to draw up, for themselves and in the interests of the Community, their own tables illustrating, as far as possible, the correlation between this Directive and the transposition measures, and to make them public (2),

1.

Annex I shall be amended as follows:

2.

Annex IX shall be amended as follows: