Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2835 of 10 October 2023 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards rules on import in the sectors of rice, cereals, sugar and hops, and repealing Commission Regulations (EC) No 3330/94, (EC) No 2810/95, (EC) No 951/2006, (EC) No 972/2006, (EC) No 504/2007, (EC) No 1375/2007, (EC) No 402/2008, (EC) No 1295/2008, (EC) No 1312/2008 and (EU) No 642/2010, (EEC) No 1361/76, (EEC) No 1842/81, (EEC) No 3556/87, (EEC) No 3846/87, (EEC) No 815/89, (EC) No 765/2002, (EC) No 1993/2005, (EC) No 1670/2006, (EC) No 1731/2006, (EC) No 1741/2006, (EC) No 433/2007, (EC) No 1359/2007, (EC) No 1454/2007, (EC) No 508/2008, (EC) No 903/2008, (EC) No 147/2009, (EC) No 612/2009, (EU) No 817/2010, (EU) No 1178/2010, (EU) No 90/2011 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1373/2013

• CELEX: Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2835
• Articles: 12

Article 1 Subject matter

This Regulation lays down specific rules for imports in the sectors of rice, cereals, sugar and hops, and in particular on:

(a)

imports of Basmati rice;

(b)

lodging a guarantee for the imports of flint maize, common wheat and durum wheat;

(c)

the suspension or reduction of import duties for molasses;

(d)

checks on imported hops and exemption from the attestation of equivalence and the labelling requirements for imports of hops.

Article 2 Specific rules for imports of Basmati rice

1.   This Section shall apply to husked Basmati rice falling within CN codes 1006 20 17 and 1006 20 98, of the following varieties:

(a)

Basmati 217;

(b)

Basmati 370;

(c)

Basmati 386;

(d)

Kernel (Basmati);

(e)

Pusa Basmati;

(f)

Ranbir Basmati;

(g)

Super Basmati;

(h)

Taraori Basmati (HBC-19);

(i)

Type-3 (Dehradun).

2.   Notwithstanding the rates of import duty fixed in the Common Customs Tariff, Basmati rice referred to in paragraph 1 shall qualify for a zero rate of import duty under the conditions laid down in this Section and when accompanied by an import licence issued in accordance with Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1237 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1239.

Article 3 Applicable rules

Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1237 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1239 shall apply, unless otherwise provided for in this Regulation.

Article 4 Import licence applications

Import licence applications for Basmati rice referred to in Article 2(1) shall be accompanied by:

(a)

a proof that the applicant exported from the Union or released for free circulation in the Union a minimum quantity of 25 t of rice referred to in Article 1(2), point (b), of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 during one of the previous 2 calendar years;

(b)

a product authenticity certificate issued by a competent body in the exporting country, as made public by the Commission on its website. That certificate may be stored and made available in the electronic system ELAN to be set up by the Commission.

Article 5 Transfer of rights from import licences

By way of derogation from Article 6 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1237, rights deriving from import licences for Basmati rice referred to in Article 2(1) of this Regulation shall not be transferable.

Article 6 Lodging of guarantee for the importation of flint maize

By way of derogation from Article 211(3), point (c), of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, for flint maize, the importer shall lodge with the customs authority a specific guarantee, except where the declaration of release for free circulation is accompanied by a certificate of conformity issued by the Argentine Servicio National de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria (Senasa) in accordance with Article 21(2), first subparagraph, point (a) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2834.

Article 7 Lodging of a guarantee for the importation of common wheat and durum wheat

1.   For high quality common wheat, the importer shall lodge with the customs authority a specific guarantee on the date of acceptance of the declaration of release for free circulation except where that declaration is accompanied by a certificate of conformity issued by the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) or by the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) in accordance with Article 21(2), first subparagraph, point (b) or (c), of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2834.

If, however, import duties for all quality categories of common wheat have been suspended in accordance with Article 219 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, the specific guarantee shall not be required for the entire period of suspension.

2.   For durum wheat, the importer shall lodge with the customs authority a specific guarantee on the date of acceptance of the declaration of release for free circulation, except where that declaration is accompanied by a certificate of conformity issued by the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) or by the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) in accordance with Article 21(2), first subparagraph, point (b) or (c), of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2834.

However, where the import duty applicable to the different qualities of durum wheat is zero, the specific guarantee shall not be required.

Article 8 Suspension and reduction of import duties for molasses

Where the CIF representative prices for molasses referred to in Article 25 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2834 and the import duty applicable to cane molasses falling within CN code 1703 10 00, or to beet molasses falling within CN code 1703 90 00, exceed 8,21 EUR/100 kg, the import duty shall be suspended or reduced to the amount found by the Commission. This amount shall be fixed at the same time as the representative prices referred to in that Article.

However, where there is a risk that the suspension of import duties may have adverse effects on the Union market in molasses, provision may be made in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 183, first paragraph, point (a), of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, for not applying that suspension for a specific period.

Article 9 Checks on imported hops that they comply with the minimum marketing requirements

1.   The Member States shall report to the Commission the results of the checks on compliance with minimum market requirements that were carried out over the year preceding that of 30 June as laid down in Article 43(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2834.

2.   If a Member State discovers that the characteristics of a hop product do not conform to the details listed on the accompanying attestation of equivalence, it shall notify the Commission thereof.

The Commission may decide to withdraw the agency having issued the attestation of equivalence for such products from the list referred to in Article 37(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2834.

3.   The notifications referred to in paragraph 2 and the reports referred to in Article 43(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2834 shall be made through the notification system established by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1183  ( 43 ) and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1185  ( 44 ) .

Article 10 Exemption from the attestation of equivalence and the labelling requirements

1.   By way of derogation from Article 35(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2834, for the import of hops and hop products, neither the attestation referred to in that Article nor compliance with Article 39 of that Implementing Regulation shall be required for their release for free circulation where the weight per individual package does not exceed 1 kg in the case of hop cones and hop powder and 300 g in the case of hop extracts imported for the following purposes:

(a)

small packages for sale to private individuals for their own use;

(b)

for scientific and technical experiments;

(c)

for fairs covered by the special customs arrangements for fairs.

2.   The description, weight and final use of the product shall appear on the packaging.

Article 11 Repeals

The following Regulations are repealed:

(a)

Regulations (EC) No 3330/94, (EC) No 2810/95, (EC) No 951/2006, (EC) No 972/2006, (EC) No 504/2007, (EC) No 1375/2007, (EC) No 402/2008, (EC) No 1295/2008, (EC) No 1312/2008 and (EU) No 642/2010;

(b)

Regulations (EEC) No 1361/76, (EEC) No 1842/81, (EEC) No 3556/87, (EEC) No 3846/87, (EEC) No 815/89, (EC) No 765/2002, (EC) No 1993/2005, (EC) No 1670/2006, (EC) No 1731/2006, (EC) No 1741/2006, (EC) No 433/2007, (EC) No 1359/2007, (EC) No 1454/2007, (EC) No 508/2008, (EC) No 903/2008, (EC) No 147/2009, (EC) No 612/2009, (EU) No 817/2010, (EU) No 1178/2010, (EU) No 90/2011 and Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1373/2013.

Article 12 Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .