19.8.2003 Official Journal of the European Union L 2083 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1458/2003 of 18 August 2003 opening and providing for the administration of a tariff quota in the pigmeat sector THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2759/75 of 29 October 1975 on the common organisation of the market in pigmeat (), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1365/ 2000 (3, and in particular Article 8(2), Article 11(1) and the second subparagraph of Article 22 thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1095/96 of 18 June 1996 on the implementation of the concessions set out in Schedule CXL drawn up in the wake of the conclusion of the GATT XXIV.6 negotiations (°), and in particular Article 1 thereof, Whereas: (1) ~ Commission Regulation (EC) No 1486/95 of 28 June 1995 opening and providing for the administration of a tariff quota in the pigmeat sector () has been substan- tially amended several times (). In the interests of clarity and rationality the said Regulation should be codified. 2)  In the framework of the Uruguay Round of the multilat- eral trade negotiations, the Community negotiated various agreements, in particular that on agriculture. The agreement allows, among others, certain products in the pigmeat sector coming from third countries access to the Community market. It is now possible to establish specific rules of application for the pigmeat sector. (3)  The agreement calls for the suppression of variable import levies by converting into customs duties all the measures which restrict the import of agricultural products. (4)  The administration of the arrangements should be based on import licences. To that end, detailed rules for the submission of applications and the information which must appear in applications and licences, by way of derogation from Article 8 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000 of 9 June 2000 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of import and export licences and advance fixing certifi- cates for agricultural products (), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 325/2003 ('), should be laid down. Provision should also be made for the licences to be 1 () OJ L 282, 1.11.1975, p. () OJ L 156, 29.6.2000, p. () OJ L 146, 20.6.1996, p. () OJ L 145, 29.6.1995, p. ( ( ( 1. 5. 1. 58. °) See Annex V. ) OJ L 152, 24.6.2000, p. 1. ) OJ L 47,21.2.2003, p. 21. (10) issued after a period for consideration and, where neces- sary, a single percentage should be applied to determine the quantity awarded in respect of each application. In the interests of traders, provision should be made for the withdrawal of applications after the fixing of the coeffi- cient to be applied. For reasons of clarity, it should be laid down that all imports under a tariff quota must be subject to the presentation of an import licence. The threshold quantity beyond which traders may withdraw their licence appli- cation after the application of the single percentage of acceptance should be laid down. In order to facilitate trade between the European Community and third countries, it must be possible to import pigmeat products without an obligation to import from the country of origin, which must neverthe- less be mentioned for statistical reasons in section 8 of the import licence. In order to ensure that imports are regular, it is neces- sary to define products covered by the import regime and to ensure that those quantities referred to in Annex I are spread over the period from 1 July to 30 June. In order to ensure proper administration of the arrange- ments, the security for import licences under the system should be set at EUR 20 per 100 kg. In view of the arrangements' inherent risk of speculation as regards pigmeat, clear conditions should be laid down as regards access by operators. It is appropriate to draw the attention of operators to the fact that licences may only be used for products which comply with all veterinary rules currently in force in the Community. To ensure proper management of the import regimes, the Commission needs precise information from the Member States on the quantities actually imported. For the sake of clarity it is necessary to use a single model for communicating the quantities between Member States and the Commission. The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Pigmeat,