30. 7. 98 Official Journal of the European Communities L 212/29 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1679/98 of 29 July 1998 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/98 and providing for the partial reimbursement of import duties levied on a quota of barley for malting THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/98 of 25 May 1998 opening a Community tariff quota for barley for malting falling within CN code 1003 00 (*), and in particular Article 2 thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 of 30 June 1992 on the common organisation of the market in cereals (%), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 923/96 (}), and in particular Article 10(4) thereof, Whereas the provisions governing the way imports of cereals into the Community are treated were laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1249/96 of 28 June 1996 on rules of application (cereal sector import duties) for Council Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 (%), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2092/97 (°); whereas Article 2(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1249/96 provides, under certain conditions, for a flat-rate reduction in the import duty of ECU 8 per tonne in particular on barley for malting; Whereas, pursuant to Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 1099/98, a tariff quota has been opened for 1997 and 1998 for 50 000 tonnes of high-grade barley falling within CN code 1003 00 for the production of malt to be used in the manufacture of a type of beer aged in vats containing beechwood; whereas the rate of duty applicable to such imports is 50 % of the full rate of duty in force on the day of import, without the flat-rate reductions of ECU 8/tonne in the import duty provided for in Regulation (EC) No 1249/96; whereas, as a consequence, the duties applied pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1249/96 for up to 50 000 tonnes of barley for malting covered by import licence applications submitted from 1 January to 31 December 1997 and for an unspecified quantity covered () OJ L 157, 30. 5. 1998, p. 9. () OJ L 181, 1. 7. 1992, p. 21. () OJ L 126, 24. 5. 1996, p. 37. () OJ L 161, 29. 6. 1996, p. 125. () OJ L 292, 25. 10. 1997, p. 10. by import licence applications submitted between 1 January 1998 and the date of entry into force of this Regulation, should be adjusted by reducing the rate of duty in force on the day of release for free circulation of the imported product by 50 %, the amount thereby obtained being increased by ECU 8/tonne to take account of the flat-rate reduction in the import duty which may have been applied on release for free circulation; whereas the import duty on quantities covered by import licence applications submitted between the date of entry into force of this Regulation and 31 December 1998, within the limit of the remaining balance of the annual quota of 50 000 tonnes, must be reduced by 50 %; Whereas the tariff quota opened by Regulation (EC) No 1099/98 covers the periods 1 January to 31 December 1997 and 1 January to 31 December 1998; whereas notwithstanding Article 2 of that Regulation, no provi- sions applying retroactively can be laid down to guarantee the type of barley already imported or to recognise documents guaranteeing that that type of barley has been imported; Whereas the implementation of this international commitment should be ensured by providing that operators who have imported barley of a particular quality for malting during the period concerned may qualify, on application, for the reduction in the import duty, less any flat-rate reductions; whereas the Member States must accordingly be authorised to reimburse duties levied in excess to operators who can prove that the import duties they paid were reduced by ECU 8 per tonne as laid down for barley of brewery quality for the production of malt from 1 January to 31 December 1997 and from 1 January 1998 to the date of entry into force of this Regulation; whereas, since the time limit laid down by Regulation (EC) No 1249/96 for processing barley into malt is six months from the date of release for free circulation and since 100 days is quite sufficient to manufacture the type of beer provided for under this quota, it is appropriate, in the interests of simplification, to maintain these time limits in the rules governing the quota; Whereas the Management Committee for Cereals has not delivered an opinion within the time limit set by its chairman,