No L 285/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 7. 11. 96 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2131/96 of 6 November 1996 amending Regulation (EC) No 1503/96 on the detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 3072/95 with regard to import duties on rice THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 3072/95 of 22 December 1995 on the common organization of the market in rice (), and in particular Article 11 (2) and (4) thereof, Whereas, in order to simplify the administration relating to the calculation of the import duties provided for in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1503/96 (3, import duties taking account of the average representative cif import prices for rice in bulk noted over a period of two weeks should be established in the rice sector every two weeks on a Wednesday and on the last working day of March, April, May, June and August; Whereas it has transpired that the prices of certain vari- eties of Pakistani Basmati rice, in particular grade I Kernel Basmati and Super Basmati, are around the same level as the price of Basmati rice originating in India; whereas the Pakistani authorities have indicated that around 9 000 tonnes of these qualities are available for export to the Community; whereas the certificate of authenticity provided for in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1503/96 will from now on be granted only for these qualities; whereas, therefore, the reduction in import duties for Pakistani rice thus certified should be aligned with that for Basmati rice of Indian origin; whereas the Commission will closely follow market trends and may propose appropriate amendments on the basis of those trends; Whereas, however, it is no longer appropriate to grant the present reduction of ECU 50 per tonne for Pakistani rice which has not been thus certified, given that the average market price for these types of rice is not generally substantially different from the established representative price; Whereas, in the interests of clarity, Commission Regula- tion (EEC) No 81/92 of 15 January 1992 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3877/86 on imports of rice of the long-grain aromatic Basmati variety (), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 2123/95 (*), should be repealed, since it no longer No L 329, 30. 12. 1995, p. 18. No L 189, 30. 7. 1996, p. 71. No L 10, 16. 1. 1992, p. 9. No L 212, 7. 9. 1995, p. 8. has a legal basis; whereas, however, its provisions as regards the issuing of certificates of authenticity for this type of rice should be set out in this Regulation; Whereas the application for an import licence and the import licence for Basmati rice must contain particular information to enable the quantities imported to be checked; Whereas the Management Committee for Cereals has not delivered an opinion within the time limit set by its chairman, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Regulation (EC) No 1503/96 is hereby amended as follows: 1. in Article 4 (1) (a) the first subparagraph is replaced by the following: ‘1. The import duties for the products referred to in Article 3 shall be calculated every week but shall be fixed by the Commission every two weeks on a Wednesday and on the last working day of the months of March, April, May, June and August, in accordance with the method provided for in Article § and shall apply from the first working day following their fixing and the first day of the following month, respectively.’; (b) the third subparagraph is replaced by the follow- ing: “The fixing carried out on the last working day of the months of March, April, May and June shall be based on the intervention price for the following month which shall be subject to monthly increases in accordance with Article 3 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 3072/95.; 2. Article 4 (4) is repealed; 3. the following Article is added: Article 4 a 1. Basmati rice originating in India and Basmati rice of the varieties ‘Kernel Basmati’ and ‘Super Basmati’ originating in Pakistan falling within CN codes ex 1006 20 17 and ex 1006 20 98 may benefit from a reduction in the import duty of ECU 250 per tonne.