27.5.1999 Official Journal of the European Communities L 131/15 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1081/1999 of 26 May 1999 opening and providing for the administration of tariff quotas for imports of bulls, cows and heifers other than for slaughter of certain Alpine and mountain breeds, repealing Regulation (EC) No 1012/98 and amending Regulation (EC) No 1143/98 THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 805/68 of 27 June 1968 on the common organisation of the market in beef and veal (), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1633/98 (%), and in particular Article 12(1) thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 3066/95 of 22 December 1995 establishing certain concessions in the form of Community tariff quotas for certain agricultural products and providing for the adjustment, as an auto- nomous and transitional measure, of certain agricultural concessions provided for in the Europe Agreements to take account of the Agreement on Agriculture concluded during the Uruguay Round Multilateral Trade Nego- tiations (°), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2435/ 98 (*), and in particular Article 8 thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1095/96 of 18 June 1996 on the implementation of the concessions set out in Schedule CXL drawn up in the wake of the conclusion of the GATT XXIV.6 negotiations (°), and in particular Article 1(1) thereof, (1)  Whereas, in the framework of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Community has under- taken to open two annual tariff quotas each for 5000 head for bulls, cows and heifers other than for slaughter of the mottled Simmental breed and of the Schwyz and Fribourg breeds and for cows and heifers other than for slaughter of the grey, brown, yellow and mottled Simental breeds and of the Pinzgau breed at rates of customs duty of 6 % and 4 % respectively; whereas those quotas should be opened on a multiannual basis for twelve-month periods commencing on 1 July, hereinafter referred to as ‘the year of import’, and detailed rules should be laid down for their application; (2) Whereas there should be a guarantee in particular of equal and continuing access to the said quotas for all interested operators within the Community OJ L 148, 28.6.1968, p. 24. O] L 210, 28.7.1998, p. 17. O] L 328, 30.12.1995, p. 31. O] L 303, 13.11.1998, p. 1. O] L 146, 20.6.1996, p. 1. and of uninterrupted application of the customs duties laid down for those quotas to all imports of the animals in question until the quotas are exhausted; Whereas experience has shown that limiting imports may lead to speculative import licence applications; whereas, in order to ensure that the planned measures function properly, the greater part of the quantities available should be allocated to ‘traditional” importers of bulls, cows and heifers of specified Alpine and mountain breeds; whereas in certain cases administrative errors by the competent national body are liable to restrict the access of importers to that part of the quota; whereas provision should be made to remedy any resulting prejudice; Whereas, in order to avoid forcing trade relations in this sector into an excessively rigid mould, a second tranche should be made available to importers who are able to show that they are engaged in genuine trade of some scale with third countries; whereas, in this connection and with a view to efficient management, the operators concerned must be required to have imported at least 15 head in the 12 months preceding the year of import in ques- tion; whereas a batch of 15 animals in principle constitutes a normal load and experience shows that the sale or purchase of a single batch is a minimum requirement for a transaction to be considered genuine and viable; Whereas, with a view to verifying compliance with these criteria, applications must be submitted in the Member State where the importer is registered for VAT purposes; Whereas, in order to prevent speculation, ‘tradi- tional” operators no longer engaged in trade in beef and veal at 1 June prior to the year of import in question should be denied access to the quota; Whereas provision should be made for import rights to be allocated after a period of consideration and subject, where applicable, to the application of a uniform percentage reduction;