Council Decision (EU) 2015/155 of 27 January 2015 on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union within the Committee on Trade in Goods set up by the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part, as regards the adoption of the rules on Tariff Rate Quota administration

Article 1

The position to be taken on behalf of the Union within the Committee on Trade in Goods set up by the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part, as regards the adoption of the rules on TRQ administration, shall be based on the draft Decision of the Committee on Trade in Goods annexed to this Decision. Minor technical corrections to the draft Decision of the Committee on Trade in Goods may be agreed to by the representatives of the Union within that Committee without the need for a new Council Decision.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

RULES FOR THE ADMINISTRATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TARIFF RATE QUOTAS

ANNEXSupplementary provisions

ANNEX RULES FOR THE ADMINISTRATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TARIFF RATE QUOTAS Article 1 Timing of auctions and license application (1)   Auctions for skim milk powder, whole milk powder, condensed milk and natural honey shall precede the import period, i.e. in June for quotas opening in July. (2)   The specific guidelines by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation will provide that the public notices for the auctions will be made eight calendar days prior to the deadline of the application for participating in the auctions. (3)   For product items whose timeline of quota license application is not fixed in the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement, the specific guidelines of the agencies designated to manage Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs) (hereinafter referred to as ‘Recommending Agencies’) will provide for a license application period of at least seven calendar days from the first working day of the execution year referred to in Annex 2-A, point 5 of the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement. Article 2 Deposit and fees (1)   There will be no administrative cost or fees charged other than the deposit — the amount paid by bidders applying for auction — for services related to an application for a TRQ allocation through auction. (2)   The general instructions to bidders for each auction will prescribe that the deposit is to be returned to bidders as soon as allowed by normal administration procedures after the auction is completed. (3)   No guarantee or deposit will be required for license applicants. Article 3 Issuance and validity of a recommendation (1)   Recommending Agencies will issue a Korea-EU FTA TRQs Import Recommendation (hereinafter referred to as ‘Recommendation’) following an auction or a licence application. (2)   Recommendations to the applicants shall be issued within two calendar days provided the submitted TRQs Recommendation application meets the Recommendation requirements. (3)   A Recommendation for TRQs import will be valid for 90 days. The validity period may be extended for another 30 days, but cannot exceed the last day of the execution year referred to in Annex 2-A, point 5 of the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement. Article 4 Publishing information on TRQ administration (1)   The guidelines of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs of Korea (hereinafter referred to as ‘MAFRA’) and specific guidelines of Recommending Agencies will be published on their respective websites. (2)   The Recommending Agencies will publish on a regular basis on their websites information that includes public notice for licence applications and auctions, license allocation and auction periods, allocated quantities, remaining quantities available for each TRQ and the planned date of the next auction/licensing period. (3)   The basic criteria for auctions including eligibility, payment and return of deposit, auction dates, auction code and information will be contained in the specific guidelines by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation or in the general instructions to bidders for each auction. Article 5 TRQ allocation rules The MAFRA guidelines allow the distribution of the annual TRQ volume throughout the year by dividing the annual TRQ volume into several sub-volumes, the sum of which equals the annual TRQ volume. The total TRQ volume for each execution year as set forth in the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement shall not be reduced. Tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) administration: Glossary Recommending agencies Korean agencies designated to manage TRQs: Korea Dairy Industries Association, Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, Korea Feed Ingredients Association and the Korea Feed Milk Replacer Association Websites:   Korea Dairy Industries Association (only the Korean language version available): http://www.koreadia.or.kr/   Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation: http://www.at.or.kr/home/apen000000/index.action   Korea Feed Ingredients Association (only the Korean language version available): http://www.kfeedia.org/main.html   Korea Feed Milk Replacer Association (only the Korean language version available): http://milkreplacer.or.kr/ Deposit Amount paid by tenderers applying for an auction. The deposit is returned to every tenderer immediately after the quota recommendation. Recommendation Issue of an import TRQ following an auction or licence application. Validity period Period during which a recommendation for an import TRQ is valid. Execution year Period of 12 months between consecutive FTA anniversaries (July 1 st ) for which an annual TRQ volume is laid down in the Korea-EU FTA.