15. 5. 98 Official Journal of the European Communities L 145/13 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1012/98 of 14 May 1998 opening and providing for the administration of tariff quotas for the import of bulls, cows and heifers, other than those intended for slaughter, of certain Alpine and mountain breeds THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, 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 Article XXIV.6 negotiations ('), and in particular Article 1(1) thereof, Whereas for bulls, cows and heifers, other than those intended for slaughter, of the mottled Simmental breed and the Schwyz and Fribourg breeds and for cows and heifers, other than those intended for slaughter, of the grey, brown, yellow and mottled Simmental breed and the Pinzgau breed, the Community has undertaken, in the framework of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), to open two annual tariff quotas each of 5000 head at rates of duty of 6 and 4 % respectively; whereas those quotas should therefore be opened on a multiannual basis for 12-month periods starting from 1 July, hereinafter referred to as the ‘year of import, and detailed rules adopted for their application; Whereas there should be a guarantee in particular of equal and continuing access to the said quotas for all in- terested traders within the Community and of uninter- rupted application of the customs duties laid down for those quotas to all imports of the animals in question until the quotas are exhausted; Whereas experience has shown that limiting imports may lead to speculative import licence applications; whereas, in order to ensure that the planned measures function properly, the greater part of the quantities available should be allocated to ‘traditional’ importers of cows and heifers of specified mountain breeds; whereas, in order to avoid forcing trade relations in this product group into an excessively rigid mould, a second tranche should be made available to traders who are able to show that they are engaged in genuine trade of some scale with third coun- tries; whereas, in this connection and in order to ensure efficient management, the trader concerned must be () OJ L 146, 20. 6. 1996, p. 1. required to have imported at least 15 head in the year preceding the year of import; whereas a batch of 15 animals in principle constitutes a normal load; whereas experience shows that the sale or purchase of a single batch is a minimum requirement for a transaction to be considered genuine and viable; whereas verification of these criteria requires all applications from the same trade to be submitted in the same Member State where the importer is listed in the VAT register; Whereas, in order to prevent speculation, traders no longer engaged in trade in beef and veal at 1 July of the year of import should be denied access to the quota; Whereas, subject to the provisions of this Regulation, Commission Regulations (EEC) No 3719/88 of 16 November 1988 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of import and export licences and advance fixing certificates for agricultural products (%), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1404/97 (%), and (EC) No 1445/95 of 26 June 1995 on rules of application for import and export licences in the beef and veal sector and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2377/80 (%), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 759/98 (°), are applicable; Whereas Article 82 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (%), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 82/97 (’), provides for customs supervision of goods put into free circulation at a reduced rate of duty on account of their end-use; whereas imported animals should be monitored for a certain period to ensure they are not slaughtered; whereas, in order to ensure that the animals concerned are not slaughtered, a security should be required; Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Beef and Veal, () OJ L 331, 2. 12. 1988, p. 1. () OJ L 194, 23. 7. 1997, p. 5. () OJ L 143, 27. 6. 1995, p. 35. () OJ L 105, 4. 4. 1998, p. 7. () OJ L 302, 19. 10. 1992, p. 1. () OJ L 17, 21. 1. 1997, p. 1.