10.10. 98 Official Journal of the European Communities L 275/23 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2185/98 of 9 October 1998 opening the procedure for the allocation of export licences for cheeses to be exported in 1999 to the United States of America under certain quotas resulting from the GATT Agreements THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 804/68 of 27 June 1968 on the common organisation of the market in milk and milk products ('), as last amended by Regula- tion (EC) No 1587/96 (%, and in particular Article 17(8) thereof, Having regard to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1466/ 95 of 27 June 1995 laying down special detailed rules of application for export refunds on milk and milk prod- ucts (}), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2184/ 98 (*), and in particular Article 9a(l) thereof, Whereas Article 9a of Regulation (EC) No 1466/95 provides that export licences for cheese exported to the United States of America as part of the additional quota under the Agreements concluded during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations (hereinafter known as ‘the Agreements’) may be allocated according to a special procedure by which preferred importers in the United States may be designated; whereas that procedure should be opened for exports during 1999 and the addi- tional rules relating to it should be determined; whereas, given the time limit for notification of the preferred importers in the United States, the procedure should be opened without delay; Whereas for the administration of imports the competent authorities in the USA make a distinction between the additional quota granted to the European Community under the Uruguay Round and the quotas for Austria, Finland and Sweden originally resulting from the Tokyo Round; whereas conformity of that practice with the GATT rules is being examined; whereas, however, in order to avoid problems with the functioning of the arrangements for exports in 1999, export licences should be allocated bearing in mind, where necessary, the distribution of certain groups of products according to the nature of the quota; Whereas in order to provide stability and security for operators lodging demands under this special regime, it is appropriate to fix the day on which applications are 1 () OJ L 148, 28. 6. 1968, p. 13. () OJ L 206, 16. 8. 1996, p. 21. () OJ L 144, 28. 6. 1995, p. 22. () See page 21 of this Official Journal. deemed to have been lodged for the purposes of Article 1 (1) of Regulation (EC) No 1466/95; Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Milk and Milk Products, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Export licences for products falling within CN code 0406 to be exported in 1999 to the United States of America under the additional quota resulting from the Agreements (hereinafter known as the ‘UR quota’) and the tariff quotas originally resulting from the Tokyo Round and granted to Austria, Finland and Sweden by the United States of America in Uruguay Round list XX (hereinafter known as the ‘TR quota’) as referred to in Annex I shall be issued in accordance with the provisions of Article 9a of Regulation (EC) No 1466/95. Article 2 1. Applications for provisional licences shall be lodged with the competent authorities by 15 October 1998 at the latest. They shall not be admissible unless they contain all the details referred to in Article 9a(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1466/95 and the documents mentioned therein. 2. Where, for the same group of products referred to in Annex I, column 2, the available quantity is divided between the UR quota and the TR quota, licence applica- tions may cover only one of those quotas and must in- dicate the quota concerned, specifying the identification of the group and of the quota indicated in Annex I, column 3. 3. Licence applications must cover no more than 40 % of the quantity available for the group of products in- dicated in Annex I, column 4, and for the quota concerned. 4. Applications shall not be admissible unless ap- plicants declare in writing that they have not lodged other applications for the same group of products and the same quota and undertake not to do so. If an applicant lodges different applications for the same group of products and the same quota in one or more Member States, his applications shall be deemed inadmissible.