28. 4. 94 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 107/19 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 934/94 of 27 April 1994 establishing rules for management and distribution with regard to certain textile quotas established under 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 §17/94 of 7 March 1994 relating to the common rules for imports of textile imports from certain third countries not covered by bilateral agreements, protocols or other arrangements, or by other specific Community import rules (), and in particular Article 17 (3) and (6) and Articles 20 and 21 (2) and (3) thereof, Whereas the Council, by its Regulation (EC) No 517/94, established quantitative restrictions on imports of certain textile products originating in certain third countries and envisaged, in Article 17 (2), that these quotas will be allo- cated in the chronological reception order of the notifica- tions from the Member States according to the principle of the first come, first served ; Whereas on the basis of the data available, there are serious reasons to believe that for some of these quotas, the requests for import authorizations, notified by the competent Member State authorities, will significantly exceed the quantitative limits fixed for 1994 ; Whereas Regulation (EC) No 517/94, Article 17 (3), stipu- lates that it is possible, in these circumstances, to make use of allocation methods which differ from the allocation method based exclusively on the chronological reception order of the notifications from Member States, as well as to envisage the division of the quotas in tranches ;. Whereas the considerable importance of expected over- shootings of quota limits, as well of as the notifications already received by the Commission, division of the quotas concerned into tranches is justified in order to allow a progressive implementation of them which takes into account the realities of the market ; that it is there- fore advisable to divide the quotas concerned into tran- ches and to envisage that the first part will be distributed on the basis of the requests for import authorizations () O) No L 67, 10. 3. 1994, p. 1. introduced to the competent authorities of Member States and notified to the Commission before 31 March 1994 ; Whereas it seems appropriate, as far as concerns the first tranch, to have a method of allocation which takes into account traditional trade flows in order to ensure a progressive transition towards the procedures introduced by Regulation (EC) No 517/94, and to this end it is appropriate to divide this quota into two parts, one reserved for traditional importers, the other for other applicants, with the respective shares reserved for these different categories of operator fixed at levels which, while taking into account traditional trade flows, will neverthe- less ensure non-traditional importers considerable access to the quotas created by Regulation (EC) No 517/94, and to define the concept of traditional importers’ while keeping in mind that 1993 cannot serve as a reference period due to certain distortions which characterized this period within the Community; Whereas, in the spirit of equity, it is advisable to limit the amount which can be allocated to individual traditional importers for each of the categories and countries - concerned to the level of quantities actually imported in 1992 by each importer for these same categories and countries, and to envisage, with the goal of good manage- ment, that if the quantities to be allocated to the tradi- tional importers exceed the part which is reserved to them, the quantities allocated to each one of them will be reduced proportionally ; Whereas with regard to the part reserved for the other operators, which will be treated in accordance with the chronological reception order of the notifications by Member States, in order to allow access to the largest number, it is appropriate to fix a maximum quantity, by category of product, to be allocated to each operator; Whereas, for optimum use of the quantities which will be confirmed pursuant to this Regulation, it is appropriate to fix the duration of validity for import authorizations at 90 days as from the issuing date by Member States, and to permit this issuing, which according to Article 19 of Regulation No 517/94 must take place within five working days following notification of the Commission’s decision, only in as far as the operator concerned can prove the existence of a contract and certifies already not