Commission Regulation (EC) No 371/2008 of 24 April 2008 fixing the rates of refunds applicable to certain products from the sugar sector exported in the form of goods not covered by Annex I to the Treaty

of 24 April 2008

fixing the rates of refunds applicable to certain products from the sugar sector exported in the form of goods not covered by Annex I to the Treaty

Preamble

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 318/2006 of 20 February 2006 on the common organisation of the market in the sugar sector ¹ , and in particular Article 33(2)(a) and (4) thereof,

Whereas:

(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,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The rates of the refunds applicable to the basic products listed in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1043/2005 and in Article 1(1) and in point (1) of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 318/2006, and exported in the form of goods listed in Annex VII to Regulation (EC) No 318/2006, shall be fixed as set out in the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on 25 April 2008.

Final provisions

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 24 April 2008. For the Commission Heinz ZOUREK Director-General Enterprise and Industry

¹ OJ L 58, 28.2.2006, p. 1 . Regulation as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1260/2007 ( OJ L 283, 27.10.2007, p. 1 ). Regulation (EC) No 318/2006 will be replaced by Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 ( OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1 ) as from 1 October 2008.

² OJ L 172, 5.7.2005, p. 24 . Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 246/2008 ( OJ L 75, 18.3.2008, p. 64 ).

¹ The rates set out in this Annex are not applicable to exports to

(a) third countries: Andorra, Liechtenstein, the Holy See (Vatican City State), Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia , Montenegro, Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and to the goods listed in Tables I and II of Protocol 2 to the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation of 22 July 1972 exported to the Swiss Confederation.

(b) territories of the EU Member States not forming part of the customs territory of the Community: the Faeroe Islands, Greenland, Heligoland, Ceuta, Melilla, the Communes of Livigno and Campione d’Italia, and the areas of the Republic of Cyprus in which the Government of the Republic of Cyprus does not exercise effective control;

(c) European territories for whose external relations a Member State is responsible and not forming part of the customs territory of the Community: Gibraltar

Including Kosovo, under the aegis of the United Nations, pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1244 of 10 June 1999.

Footnotes

1. The rates set out in this Annex are not applicable to exports to ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. . Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 246/2008 (). ↩ ↩²