24.1.2003 Official Journal of the European Communities L 20/3 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 118/2003 of 23 January 2003 fixing the export refunds on beef and veal and amending Regulations (EEC) No 3846/87 estab- lishing an agricultural product nomenclature for export refunds and (EC) No 1445/95 on rules of application for import and export licences in the beef and veal sector THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, 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 (3, and in particular Article 33(12) thereof, Whereas: 1 1 3 4 6 8 () O] () O () O] () O] () O] () O] () O] () O Article 33 of Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 provides that the difference between prices on the world market for the products listed in Article 1 of that Regulation and prices for those products within the Community may be covered by an export refund. Regulation (EEC) No 32/82 (°), as last amended by Regu- lation (EC) No 744/2000 (%), Regulation (EEC) No 1964/ 82 (), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2772/ 2000 (%), and Regulation (EEC) No 2388/84 (’), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 3661/92 (), lay down the conditions for granting special export refunds on certain cuts of beef and veal and certain preserved beef and veal products. It follows from applying those rules and criteria to the foreseeable situation on the market in beef and veal that the refund should be as set out below. With regard to live animals, for reasons of simplification export refunds should no longer be granted for cate- gories with insignificant trade with third countries. Moreover, in light of the general concern of animal welfare, export refunds for live animals for slaughter should be limited as much as possible. Consequently, export refunds for such animals should only be granted for third countries which for cultural andfor religious reasons traditionally import substantial numbers of animals for domestic slaughter. As to live animals for reproduction, in order to prevent any abuse export refunds for pure-bred breeding animals should be limited to heifers and cows of no more than 30 months of age. 26.6.1999, p. 21. 1.12.2001, P 29. 1.1982,p. 1 9, 11.4.2000, p. 3 212, 21.7.1982, p. 48. L 321, 19.12.2000, p. 35. L 221, 18.8.1984, p. 28. L 370,19.12.1992, p. 16. L 160, L 315, L 4, 8. L8 L () (10) (11) (9 ! Export refunds should be granted for certain destinations on some fresh or chilled meat listed in the Annex under CN code 0201, on some frozen meat listed in the Annex under CN code 0202, on some meat or offal listed in the Annex under CN code 0206 and on some other prepared or preserved meat or offal listed in the Annex under CN code 1602 50 10. In view of the wide differences in products covered by CN codes 0201 20 90 9700 and 0202 20 90 9100 used for refund purposes, refunds should only be granted on cuts in which the weight of bone does not exceed one third. In the case of meat of bovine animals, boned or bone- less, salted and dried, there are traditional trade flows to Switzerland. To allow this trade to continue, the refund should be set to cover the difference between prices on the Swiss market and export prices in the Member States. In the case of certain other cuts and preserves of meat or offal shown in the Annex under CN codes 1602 50 31 to 1602 50 80, the Community presence of international trade may be maintained by granting a refund corresponding to that at present available. In the case of other beef and veal products, a refund need not be fixed since the Community's share of world trade is not significant. Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3846/87 (%), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2319/2002 (*), estab- lishes the agricultural product nomenclature for the purposes of export refunds. Following the introduction of refunds for pure-bred breeding female animals of maximum 30 months of age, the product nomenclature referred to above should be modified. In order to simplify customs export formalities for operators, the refunds on all frozen cuts should be brought into line with those on fresh or chilled cuts other than those from adult male bovine animals. OJ L 366, 24.12.1987, p. 1. (1% O] L 354, 30.12.2002, p. 1.