L 155/20 Official Journal of the European Union 15.6.2007 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 659/2007 of 14 June 2007 opening and providing for the administration of import tariff quotas for bulls, cows and heifers other than 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 1254/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in beef and veal ('), and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 32(1) thereof, Whereas, In the framework of the World Trade Organisation, the Community has undertaken to open annual import tariff quotas for bulls, cows and heifers other than for slaughter of certain Alpine and mountain breeds. It is necessary to lay down detailed rules for the opening and administration of these import tariff quotas every year for the period from 1 July to 30 June of the following year. Pursuant to Article 29(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999, imports into the Community should be subject to import licences. However, it is appropriate to manage these import tariff quotas by attributing import rights as a first step and issuing import licences as a second, as provided for in Article 6(3) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1301/2006 of 31 August 2006 laying down common rules for the administration of import tariff quotas for agricultural products managed by a system of import licences (?). In this way, operators that have obtained import rights should be able to decide, during the course of the import tariff quota period, the moment when they wish to apply for import licences, taking into account their actual trade flows. In any case, Regulation (EC) No 1301/2006 limits the period of validity of licences to the last day of the import tariff quota period. () OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 21. Regulation as last amended by Regu- lation (EC) No 1913/2005 (O] L 307, 25.11.2005, p. 2). () OJ L 238, 1.9.2006, p. 13. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 289/2007 (O] L 78, 17.3.2007, p. 17). (4) Rules should be laid down on the submission of appli- cations and the information to be given in the appli- cations and licences, where necessary in addition to or by way of derogation from certain provisions of Commission Regulation (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 Regu- lation (EEC) No 2377/80 (}) and Commission Regulation (EC) No 12912000 of 9 June 2000 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of import and export licences and advance fixing certificates for agricultural products (*). Regulation (EC) No 1301/2006 lays down in particular detailed provisions on the applications for import rights, the status of applicants and the issue of import licences. The provisions of that Regulation should apply, from 1 July 2007, to import licences issued pursuant to this Regulation, without prejudice to additional conditions laid down in this Regulation. In order to prevent speculation, the quantities available within the import tariff quotas should be made accessible to operators which are able to show that they are genuinely engaged in import on a significant scale from third countries. Therefore, in order to ensure efficient management, the traders concerned should be required to have imported a minimum of 25 animals during each of the two reference periods referred to in Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 1301/2006, provided that a consignment of 25 animals may be considered to be a commercially viable consignment. Moreover, for administrative reasons, Member States should be allowed to accept certified copies of the documents proving the existence of trade with third countries. In addition, a security should be fixed for import rights. Import licences should not be transferable and licences should be issued to traders solely for the quantities for which they have been allocated import rights. () OJ L 143, 27.6.1995, p. 35. Regulation as last amended by Regu- lation (EC) No 586/2007 (O] L 139, 31.5.2007, p. 5). () OJ L 152, 24.6.2000, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regu- lation (EC) No 1913/2006 (O] L 365, 21.12.2006, p. 52).