No L 176/4 Official Journal of the European Communities 9.7. 9% COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1664/94 of 8 July 1994 ' introducing specific rules for the amendment and distribution of the second tranche of certain textile quotas established under Council Regulation (EC) No 517/94 THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 517/94 of 7 March 1994 on common rules for imports of textile products from certain third countries not covered by bila- teral agreements, protocols or other arrangements, or by other specific Community import rules('), amending Commission Regulation (EC) No 1470/94 (%), and in parti- cular Article 17 (3) and (6) and Articles 20 and 21 (2) and (3) thereof, Whereas Commission Regulation (EC) No 934/94 () established specific rules for the management and distri- bution of certain quantitative textile quotas established by Regulation (EC) No 517/94 and, for the purposes of managing these quotas, opened a first tranche for distri- bution on the basis of the requests notified by the Member States’ competent authorities before 31 March 1994 ; Whereas the management of these quotas calls for the rapid opening of a second tranche and provision to be made, on the one hand, for that tranche to be distributed on the basis of requests lodged with the competent autho- rities of the Member States and notified to the Commis- sion between 31 March and 11 July 1994 inclusive and, on the other, for it to cover quantities not covered by the first tranche plus any quantities which the Commission allocated from the first tranche, but for which no import authorization has been issued, or which, an import autho- rization having been issued, have not been taken up by the operators concerned within 90 days of the authoriza- tion being issued ; Whereas the second tranche should also be allocated using a method which takes account of traditional trade flows in order to ensure a progressive transition towards the system provided for in Regulation (EC) No 517/94; whereas the second tranche should therefore be divided into’ two parts, the first reserved for traditional importers () OJ No L 67, 10. 3. 1994, p. 1. () O] No L 159, 28. 6. 1994, p. 14. () OJ No L 107, 28. 4. 1994, p. 19. and the second for other applicants ; whereas the share reserved for each category of importer should be set at a level which, while taking due account of traditional trade flows, nevertheless affords non-traditional importers signi- ficant access to the quotas established by Regulation (EC) No 517/94; Whereas it is advisable, in the interests of equity, again to limit the amount which may be allocated to a traditional importer for each category and country concerned to the level of that importer’s actual imports from those catego- ries and countries in 1992 and, where the aggregate quan- tities to be allocated to traditional importers exceed the share reserved for them, to provide, in the interests of sound management, for a pro rata reduction in the quan- tities allocated to each; Whereas the share reserved for the other operators will be dealt with in the chronological order in which the Member States’ notifications are received, in order to give access to as many importers as possible, and an upper limit should again be set on the quantity an importer may receive from each category and country; Whereas it should be stipulated, in the interests of clarity, that a traditional importer’s allocation from this second tranche may not exceed the quantities imported by that importer in 1992 for which no import authorization has been issued under Regulation (EC) No 934/94 ; whereas, in order to afford as many importers as possible access to the quota share not specifically reserved for traditional importers such access should be limited to importers who failed to obtain an import authorization for the category and country in question under the first tranche and those who obtained such an authorization under Regulation - (EC) No 934/94 and are able to satisfy the Member States’ competent authorities that they have imported the products concerned before 12 July 1994 ; Whereas, with a view to making optimal use of the quan- tities that will be confirmed under this Regulation, the validity of import authorizations should again be set at 90 days from the date of issue by the Member States, and such issue, which, under Article 19 of Regulation No 517/94, has to occur within five working days of notifica- tion of the Commission’s decision, should be authorized only where the operators concerned are able to show the