L 1478 Official Journal of the European Communities 5.6.2002 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 954/2002 of 4 June 2002 opening and providing for the administration of a tariff quota for frozen meat of bovine animals covered by CN code 0202 and products covered by CN code 0206 29 91 (1 July 2002 to 30 June 2003) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in beef and veal (), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2345/2001 (¥, and in particular Article 32(1) thereof, Whereas: 1 The WTO-schedule CXL requires the Community to open an annual import quota of 53 000 tonnes of frozen beef covered by CN code 0202 and products covered by CN code 0206 29 91. Implementing rules should be laid down for the 2002/2003 quota year starting on 1 July 2002. The quota has in the past been characterised by an increasing level of speculation. It is therefore appropriate no longer to administer the quota through the method referred to in the third indent of Article 32(2) of Regula- tion (EC) No 1254/1999 but to replace it with the method referred to in the second indent of the same paragraph and, at the same time, to provide for stricter criteria for participation, so as to avoid, in particular, registration of fictitious operators. Because of the relatively short time between the adop- tion of this Regulation and the start of the quota year, and in order to avoid disruption to trade, it is neverthe- less appropriate to reserve part of the 2002/2003 quota for traditional importers of frozen beef under the quota. Consequently, the annual quota should be divided into a Subquota I, reserved for the traditional importers, and a Subquota II to be allocated on application by operators approved by Member States through an approval proce- dure. Subquota I should be allocated initially in form of import rights to active importers on the basis of relevant customs documents providing proof that they have imported beef under the same type of quota during the last three quota years. In certain cases administrative errors by the competent national body are liable to restrict traders’ access to this part of the quota. Steps should be taken to make good any resulting damage. () OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 21. () OJ L 315, 1.12.2001, p. 29. () (11) (12) Operators who can show that they are genuinely involved in importing or exporting beef from or to third countries should be able to apply for approval under Subquota II. Proof of that involvement calls for evidence to be presented of recent trade of some significance. Where there are obvious reasons to suspect that fictitious operators have applied for registration, Member States should proceed to a more detailed examination of the applications. Penalties should be determined where fictitious operators had applied for registration or the approval was granted on the basis of forged or fraudulent documentation. If criteria for participation in the quota allocation are to be checked, applications must be submitted in the Member States where the operator is entered in the national VAT register. With a view to providing permanent access to the quota, Subquota II should be managed on a half-yearly basis with a simultaneous examination of the licence applica- tions from approved operators. In order to prevent speculation, importers no longer involved in trade in beef should be denied access to the quota and a security relating to import rights should be fixed for each applicant under Subquota 1. The licence security should be set at a relative high level and the possibility of transferring import licences should be excluded. In order to provide for more equal access to Subquota II for all approved operators, each applicant may apply for a maximum quantity to be fixed. To oblige operators to apply for import licences for all the import rights allocated, it should be established that such obligation constitutes a primary requirement within the meaning of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2220/ 85 of 22 July 1985 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of securities for agricul- tural products (%), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1932/1999 (). () OJ L 205, 3.8.1985, p. 5. () OJ L 240,10.9.1999, p. 11.