Regulation (EC) No 88/97 is hereby amended as follows:
(1)
Article 3(1) is replaced by the following:
‘1. Requests shall be made in writing in one of the official languages of the Union and must be signed by a person authorised to represent the applicant. The request must be sent to the following address:
European Commission
Directorate-General for Trade
Directorate H Trade Defence
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200
1049 Bruxelles/Brussel
BELGIQUE/BELGIË
E-mail: [email protected]’;
(2)
Article 4 is amended as follows:
(a)
paragraph 1, points (a) and (b) are replaced by the following:
‘(a)
it contains evidence that the applicant is using essential bicycle parts for the production or assembly of bicycles in quantities above the threshold set out in Article 14(c);
(b)
it provides prima facie evidence that the applicant’s assembly operations fall outside the scope of Article 13(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009 ( *1 ) ; and
( *1 )
OJ L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 51 .’;"
(b)
paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:
‘4. Where a request is held inadmissible, it shall be rejected by a Decision in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 13(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009.’;
(3)
Article 5(1) is replaced by the following:
‘1. As from the date of receipt of a request complying prima facie with the conditions set out in Article 4(1) and (2) and pending a decision on its merits pursuant to Articles 6 and 7, payment of the customs debt in respect of the extended duty pursuant to Article 2(1) of the Reference Regulation shall be suspended in respect of any imports of essential bicycle parts declared for free circulation by the party under examination. A period of not less than 6 months prior to the receipt of the request is normally taken into consideration in order to establish prima facie compliance with the conditions set out in Article 4(1) and (2).’;
(4)
Article 6 is amended as follows:
(a)
paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:
‘1. The Commission will identify an investigation period in order to decide whether to grant an exemption which will normally cover a period of 12, but not less than 6 months as of the date of suspension of payment of the extended duty on essential bicycle parts. In conducting its examination, the Commission may request additional information from the applicant for the examination period and/or carry out on-the-spot verifications.’;
(b)
paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:
‘3. The examination of the merits of a request shall normally be concluded within 12 months after the receipt of all information as referred to in Article 6(1).’;
(5)
Article 7 is amended as follows:
(a)
paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:
‘1. Where the facts as finally ascertained show that the applicant’s assembly operations do not fall within the scope of Article 13(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009, the applicant’s exemption from the extended duty shall be authorised in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 13(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009.’;
(b)
paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:
‘3. Where the criteria for exemption are not fulfilled, the request shall be rejected in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 13(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009 and the suspension of the payment of the extended duty referred to in Article 5 shall be lifted.’;
(6)
Article 8(1)(a) is replaced by the following:
‘(a)
its assembly operations remain outside the scope of Article 13(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009;’;
(7)
Article 9(1) is replaced by the following:
‘1. The Commission may on its own initiative review the situation of an exempted party to verify that its assembly operations remain outside the scope of Article 13(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009.’;
(8)
Article 10 is replaced by the following:
‘Article 10
Revocation of an exemption
An exemption shall be revoked in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 13(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009, after the exempted party has been given an opportunity to comment:
—
where a review has shown that the exempted party’s assembly operations fall within the scope of Article 13(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009,
—
in the event of breach of the party’s obligations pursuant to Article 8, or
—
in the event of lack of cooperation after the adoption of the exemption decision.’;
(9)
Article 13 is replaced by the following:
‘Article 13
Procedural provisions
The relevant provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009 concerning:
—
the conduct of investigations (Article 6(2), (3), (4) and (5)),
—
verification visits (Article 16),
—
non-cooperation (Article 18), and
—
confidentiality (Article 19),
shall apply to examinations pursuant to this Regulation.’;
(10)
Article 14(c) is replaced by the following:
‘(c)
on a monthly basis, less than 300 units per type of essential bicycle parts are either declared for free circulation by a party or are delivered to it. The number of parts declared by or delivered to any party shall be calculated by reference to the number of parts declared by or delivered to all parties which are associated with or have compensatory arrangements with that party; or’;
(11)
in Article 14 the following subparagraph (d) is added:
‘(d)
the essential bicycle parts are for use in the assembly of cycles fitted with an auxiliary motor (TARIC additional code 8835).’;
(12)
Article 16(3) is deleted.