Opening and management of tariff quotas
Article 14
1. Tariff quotas for the import of processed agricultural products and of agricultural products referred to in the second paragraph of Article 1, for their release into free circulation in the Union, resulting from international agreements concluded or provisionally applied by the Union in accordance with the TFEU shall be opened and managed by the Commission in accordance with Articles 15 and 16. 2. The tariff quotas referred to in paragraph 1 shall be managed in a manner which avoids any discrimination between operators and which gives due weight to the supply requirements of the Union market and the need to preserve the equilibrium of that market. 3. The tariff quotas referred to in paragraph 1 shall be managed by applying one of the following methods, another appropriate method, or a combination of any of them: (a) a method of allocation based on the chronological order of the submission of applications (‘first come, first served principle’); (b) a method of allocation of quotas in proportion to the quantities requested in the applications (‘simultaneous examination method’); (c) a method of allocation based on traditional trade patterns (‘traditional/newcomers method’).