18. 12. 97 Official Journal of the European Communities L 347/17 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2542/97 of 16 December 1997 laying down, for the first half of 1998, detailed rules of application for a tariff quota for calves weighing not more than 80 kilograms originating in certain third countries THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 3066/95 of 22 December 1995 establishing certain concessions in the form of Community tariff quotas for certain agricultural products and providing for the adjustment, as an autono- mous and transitional measure, of certain agricultural concessions provided for in the Europe Agreements to take account of the Agreement on Agriculture concluded during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotia- tions (‘), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1595/97 (3, and in particular Article 8 thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1926/96 of 7 October 1996 establishing certain concessions in the form of Community tariff quotas for certain agricultural products and providing for the adjustment, as an autono- mous and transitional measure, of certain agricultural concessions provided for in the Agreements on free trade and trade-related matters with Estonia, Latvia and Lithu- ania, to take account of the Agreement on Agriculture concluded during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations (*), and in particular Article 5 thereof, Whereas Regulation (EC) No 3066/95 provides for the opening, for the period 1 July 1997 to 30 June 1998, of a tariff quota for 178 000 live bovine animals weighing 80 kilograms or less originating in Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and benefiting from an 80 % reduc- tion in the rate of customs duties; Whereas, pursuant to Commission Regulation (EC) No 2501/96 of 23 December 1996 laying down, for 1997, detailed rules of application for a tariff quota for calves weighing not more than 80 kilograms originating in certain third countries (¥), Commission Regulation (EC) No 235/97 of 7 February 1997 determining to what extent applications for import rights for calves not excee- ding 80 kilograms lodged pursuant to Regulation (EC) No () OJ L 328, 30. 12. 1995, p. 31. () OJ L 216, 8. 8. 1997, p. L. () O] L 254, 8. 10. 1996, p. 1. () OJ L 338, 28. 12. 1996, p. 65. 2501/96 can be met (%) allocated the import rights for the total number of livestock available for 1997; whereas similar detailed rules of application should therefore be laid down for a quantity of 89 000 calves for the period 1 January to 30 June 1998; Whereas experience shows that limiting imports can give rise to speculative import applications; whereas, in order to guarantee that the planned measures function correctly, most of the quantities available should be reserved for so-called traditional importers of live bovine animals; whereas, so as not to introduce rigidity into trade relations in the sector, a second allocation should be made avai- lable for operators able to show that they are carrying out a genuine activity involving trade in a significant number of animals; whereas, in consideration of this and in order to ensure efficient management, a minimum of 100 animals should be required to have been exported or imported during 1997 by the operators concerned; whereas a batch of 100 animals in principle constitutes a normal load; whereas experience has shown that the sale or purchase of a single batch is a minimum requirement for a transaction to be considered real and viable; whereas verification of those criteria requires that all applications from the same operator be submitted in the Member State in which the operator is registered in the national VAT register; Whereas, so as to avoid speculation, access to the quota should be denied to operators no longer carrying out an activity in the beef and veal sector on 1 January 1998; Whereas the arrangements should be managed using import licences; whereas, to this end, rules should be set on the submission of applications and the information to be given on applications and licences, where necessary by derogation from certain provisions of Commission Regu- lation (EEC) No 3719/88 of 16 November 1988 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of import and export licences and advance fixing certificates for agricultural products (), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1404/97 (), and of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1445/95 of 26 June 1995 on rules of () OJ L 39, 8. 2. 1997, p. 12. () OJ L 331, 2. 12. 1988, p. 1. () OJ L 194, 23. 7. 1997, p. .