L 342/30 Official Journal of the European Union 24.12.2005 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2152/2005 of 23 December 2005 amending Regulation (EC) No 327/98 opening and providing for the administration of certain tariff quotas for imports of rice and broken rice and Regulation (EC) No 1549/2004 derogating from Council Regulation (EC) No 17852003 as regards the arrangements for importing rice and laying down separate transitional rules for imports of basmati rice THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1785/2003 of 29 September 2003 on the common organisation of the market in rice (1), and in particular Articles 10(2) and 11(4) thereof, Having regard to Council Decision of 20 December 2005 on the conclusion of an agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Community and Thailand pursuant to Article XXVIII of GATT 1994 relating to the modi- fication of concessions with respect to rice provided for in EC Schedule CXL annexed to the GATT 1994 (3, and in particular Article 2 thereof, Whereas: (1) Decision of 20 December 2005 provides for the opening of a new global annual import quota of 13 500 tonnes of semi-milled or wholly milled rice falling within code 1006 30 at zero duty and an increase in the annual import quota for broken rice falling within code 1006 40 00 referred to in Article 1(1)(c) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 327/98 of 10 February 1998 opening and providing for the administration of certain tariff quotas for imports of rice and broken rice () to 100 000 tonnes. ()  Commission Regulation (EC) No 1549/2004 (¥ derogates from Regulation (EC) No 1785/2003 as regards the arrangements for importing rice and lays down separate transitional rules for imports of basmati rice. (3)  To improve the management of the quotas provided for by Regulation (EC) No 327/98, the quotas should be given individual serial numbers. (4)  Decision of 20 December 2005 lays down detailed rules for calculating the rate of duty to be applied to imports into the Community of semi-milled or milled rice falling within CN code 1006 30, between 1 September 2005 and 30 June 2006. Appropriate measures should () OJ L 270, 21.10.2003, p. 96. (%) Not yet published in the Official Journal (COM(2005) 601). () O) L 37, 11.2.1998, p. 5. Regulation as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1950/2005 (O] L 312, 29.11.2005, p. 18). () OJ L 280, 31.8.2004, p. 13. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1006/2005 (OJ L 170, 1.7.2005, p. 26). therefore be taken as regards the customs duties applicable to semi-milled or milled rice falling within CN code 1006 30 for the transitional period provided for. (5)  Decision of 20 December 2005 also lays down that the rate of duty applicable to imports of broken rice falling within code 1006 40 00 is EUR 65 per tonne. (6)  Given that the agreement approved by Decision of 20 December 2005 applies from 1 September 2005, provision should be made for the application from the same date of the provisions of this Regulation concerning the customs duties applicable to semi-milled and wholly milled rice and broken rice. Provision should also be made for the application, from 1 January 2006, of the new tariff quantities provided for in the agreement with Thailand and for increasing proportionately the quantities covered by the new global quota for semi-milled and wholly milled rice and that for broken rice to take account of the quantities corresponding to the period from 1 September 2005 to 31 December 2005. (7)  Regulations (EC) Nos 327/98 and 1549/2004 should therefore be amended accordingly. (8)  The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Cereals, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Regulation (EC) No 327/98 is hereby amended as follows: 1. Article 1 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 1 1. Annual global tariff quotas, broken down by country of origin and by tranche in accordance with Annex IX, shall be opened on 1 January each year as follows: (@ 63000 tonnes of wholly milled or semi-milled rice falling within CN code 1006 30 at zero duty;