Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/623 of 21 April 2016 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 498/2012 on the allocation of tariff-rate quotas applying to exports of wood from the Russian Federation to the European Union

The method for allocating the tariff quota shall depend on the date of submission of the application by the importer, as follows: (a) for any application submitted by 31 May of each year (hereinafter referred to as “first part of the quota period”), the Commission shall allocate tariff quotas in accordance with the “traditional” or “new” categories of importers, pursuant to Article 5(2)(b) of the Protocol; and (b) for any application submitted from 1 June (hereinafter referred to as “second part of the quota period”), the Commission shall allocate the remaining quantities of the tariff quotas in accordance with the chronological order of receipt by the Commission of notifications from the competent authorities of Member States (hereinafter referred to as “Licence Office(s)”) of applications submitted by individual importers, pursuant to Article 5(2)(a) of the Protocol.’;

1 Every year, the Commission shall calculate ceilings applicable to each traditional importer for the following quota period in accordance with the method established in Article 6(2). If the calculated ceiling of a traditional importer for a given product group is higher than 0 %, but lower than the maximum of 1,5 % of the tariff quota granted to new importers in accordance with Article 4(3), the ceiling of the traditional importer concerned shall be established at a level of 1,5 % of the tariff quota for the respective product group.

2 Licence Offices shall provide the Commission, by 31 March of quota period n at the latest, with information on actual imports of covered products in quota period n-1 notified to them in accordance with Article 11(1). Such summary shall be submitted in an electronic format, in conformity with the information technology system established by the Commission.

3 The Commission shall inform the Licence Offices of ceilings resulting from the calculations made in accordance with Articles 6(2) and 7(1) by 30 April of quota period n at the latest.’;

1 Where a quota authorisation remains unused after 6 months of its issuing, the importer shall either notify the Licence Office of its intention to use it within the remainder of the quota period or return the quota authorisation to the relevant Licence Office. Should the importer be unable to retrieve the unused quota authorisation from the authorities of the Russian Federation, it can present instead a corresponding sworn declaration to the Licence Office in the form set out in Annex IV stating its inability to reclaim the unused quota authorisation despite its best efforts. In any case, by the end of quota period n at the latest, the importer shall return any unused quota authorisation or present, if applicable, the corresponding sworn declaration(s) using the form set out in Annex IV. Where a quota authorisation has been issued before the beginning of the quota period in accordance with Article 4 of the Protocol, the 6-month time limit shall be counted as from 1 January of the year corresponding to the quota period.

2 The Licence Offices shall immediately notify the Commission of any quota authorisation or any sworn declaration returned by importers in accordance with paragraph 1. The balance of traditional importers' ceilings available for the product group concerned shall be modified for the corresponding amount.

1 Where the actual imports by a traditional importer during quota period n-1 are less than 75 % of the quantities covered by all quota authorisations for a product group granted to such importer during the same quota period, the importer's import ceilings for the product group concerned during quota period n+1 shall be reduced by an amount proportional to the size of missing actual imports.

2 The reduction referred to in paragraph 1 shall be calculated as follows: ri = (0,75*ΣΑi – Ii)/ΣΑi where: “ri” represents the reduction applicable to the import ceiling of importer i, for the product group concerned, during the quota period n+1; “ΣΑi” represents the sum of the quantities covered by quota authorisations for the product group concerned granted to the traditional importer i during the quota period n-1; “Ii” represents the actual imports of the product group concerned of importer i during the quota period n-1.

1 Where a quota authorisation that has not been returned or covered by a corresponding sworn declaration pursuant to Article 12 remains unused at the end of quota period n-1, the importer's import ceilings for the product group concerned during quota period n+1 shall be reduced by the amount proportional to the size of the unused quota authorisation.

2 The reduction referred to in paragraph 1 shall be calculated as follows: Ri = ΣUi/ΣΑi where: “Ri” represents the reduction applicable to the import ceiling of importer i, for the product group concerned, during quota period n+1; “ΣUi” represents the sum of unused quantities covered by quota authorisations for the product group concerned granted to importer i during the quota period n-1; “ΣΑi” represents the sum of the quantities covered by quota authorisations granted to importer i, for the product group concerned, during the quota period n-1.’;

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