Notice

Notice to Traders 27/20 - Imports of Rice under Commission Regulation (EU) no. 1273/2011

Published 28 August 2020

Introduction

This notice explains how the rules are applied to this quota and how to apply for a licence. It also advises you of the quota amounts available in the September quota period for semi milled, wholly milled, husked and broken rice. Details of the quantities available are outlined in Annex 1 of this notice.

Proof of Trade

The following must be supplied to be eligible for a rice quota licence. If you do not have the proof of trade as per below, you are not eligible and cannot apply.

You must be established and registered for VAT in the Member State where you apply. You must inform us of your current VAT registration number, which can be provided on the quota licence application. However, if your company is part of a group VAT registration number then we require a hard copy of your current VAT certificate to be received before the quota deadline.

If this is your first application of the quota year you must provide evidence to prove that you have imported rice from a non-EU country at least once during:

• The 12 month period immediately prior to the time of application; and
• The 12 month period immediately prior to that.

HMRC agents or representatives cannot apply for import licences under these quota arrangements.

Note: For details of the full procedures on providing proof of trade and applying for licences, please refer to Notice to Traders 38/19. You can obtain a copy of this notice by sending an email to [email protected]. If you do not follow the rules of the scheme, your application will be rejected.

Applications

Quota applications must be received within the first 10 working days of September 2020. It is your responsibility to ensure that your application, security and all supporting documents are correct at the time of submission and are received by the RPA before 12 noon on the 10th working day.

Note: We will reject any applications where securities and / or proof of trade are received after 12 noon (UK time) on 14 September 2020.

We advise you to use the latest version of the application form. You can submit applications either by post or by email. The email address for licence applications is [email protected]

Your application must not exceed the quantity available in the sub-period for the country of origin of the product for which you are applying.

Box 24 must contain an entry. You can find details of the required entry in Annex 1 of this notice.

Applications for rice and broken rice originating in Thailand, Australia or the United States under Articles 1(1)(a) and 1(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) No. 1273/2011 must be accompanied by the original export licence. The licence must have been completed in accordance with the model set out in Annexes II, III and IV of Regulation (EU) No. 1273/2011 and issued by the competent body in these countries.

The completion of sections 7, 8 and 9 of the Thai export licence is optional.

You must not lodge more than one import licence application for the same quota order number in a sub-period, unless it is accompanied by an export licence.

Note: If you lodge more than one application for the same quota order number, all of your applications will be rejected.

Security

Security must be lodged with each licence application, the following must be provided:

• € 46 per tonne for applications under CN codes 1006 30;
• € 30 per tonne for applications under CN codes 1006 20;
• € 5 per tonne for applications under CN code 1006 4000.

You can find further information on how to lodge your security on GOV.UK.

Issuing Licences

The European Commission will notify us of the quantity for which licences may be issued within 2 weeks of the application deadline (this may be less than the quantity applied for). Where this reduces the quantity to be issued to less than 20 tonnes, lots will be drawn.

If your licence quantity has been reduced to less than 20 tonnes, you may withdraw your licence application within 2 working days of when the reduction is set.

When we have been notified by the Commission of the quantity of quota allocated, we will issue a licence within 3 working days.

Your licence will have a 5% upward tolerance. However, the reduction in duty will only be valid for the quantities shown in sections 17 and 18 of your licence.

Import licences will be valid from the day of issue plus either two or three months. Further details can be found in the relevant quota section of Annex 1 to this notice. Where an electronic licence is issued, an e-mail can be sent to inform you of its issuance. To receive this email notification you must have already completed the ‘Email Acknowledgements’.

Authority

You can find details of the arrangements in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No’s, 1273/2011 and 1301/2006 published in Official Journals L325 of 2011 and L238 of 2006. You can obtain copies from Stationery Office bookshops and accredited agents, or order them from the Stationery Office.

You can also access Official Journals electronically by visiting the Commission’s Europa website. We are not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of the Europa website. Whilst every care has been taken in producing this guidance, the regulations as published are definitive.

Questions

If you have any questions about this notice, please contact the Import Licensing section as follows:-

• phone helpline number: 03300 416 500 (Option 2)
• email contact: [email protected]
• postal address:

Import Licensing Team
Rural Payments Agency
Lancaster House
Hampshire Court
Newcastle Business Park
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE4 7YH

ANNEX 1

Annual Quota and Sub-periods

Semi-milled or wholly milled rice under CN Code 1006 30 imported at zero duty as follows:

Country of Origin	Order Number	SEP (kg)	OCT
United States	09.4127	28 065 274
Thailand	09.4128	797 156
Australia	09.4129	403 440
All Countries	09.4138		*(1)

*(1) Any quota not allocated in the September sub-period will be carried over to October.

Successful licence applications are valid from the date of issue until the end of the third month but not beyond 31 December. For this quota (CN Code 1006 30):

• You must lodge security of € 46 per tonne.
• Box 20 of your application must contain: ‘Order Number……………’
• Box 24 (comments box) of your application must contain: ‘Exemption from customs duty up to the quantity indicated in boxes 17 and 18 of this licence (Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1273/2011).
• Applications from Thailand, Australia and the United States must be accompanied by an original copy of an export licence, examples at Annexes II, III and IV of Regulation (EU) No 1273/2011.
• To clear your goods under the quantities from Other Countries you must present a certificate of origin to HM Revenue and Customs.

Semi-milled or wholly milled rice under CN Code 1006 30 imported at zero duty as follows:

Country of Origin	Order Number	SEP (kg)
Thailand	09.4112	39 983
United States	09.4116	2 388 000
Pakistan	09.4118	16 127

Note: Successful licence applications are valid from the date of issue until the end of the third month but not beyond 31 December.

For this quota (CN Code 1006 30):

• You must lodge security of €46 tonne.
• Box 20 of your application must contain: ‘Order Number…………….’
• Box 24 of your application must contain: ‘Exemption from Customs duty up to the quantity indicated in boxes 17 and 18 of this licence (Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1273/2011, Article 1(1)(d))’.
• To clear your goods under the quantities from Thailand, USA, India, Pakistan and Other Countries you must send a certificate of origin to HM Revenue and Customs.

Broken rice under CN Code 1006 4000 at zero duty as follows:

Country of Origin	Order Number	SEP (kg)
Thailand	09.4112	39 983
United States	09.4116	2 388 000
Pakistan	09.4118	16 127

*(1) Any quota not allocated in the September sub-period will be carried over to October.

Note: Successful licence applications will be valid from the date of application until the end of the second month but not beyond 31 December.

For this quota (CN Code 1006 4000):

• You must lodge security of €5 tonne.
• Box 20 of your application must contain: ‘Order Number 09.4168’.
• Box 24 (comments box) of your application must contain: ‘Exemption from customs duty up to the quantity indicated in boxes 17 and 18 of this licence (Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1273/2011, Article 1(1)(e)’.

ANNEX 2

Checklist for your reference prior to submitting a rice quota import licence application

Presenting a correct application will help us in processing your quota import licence.

Before submitting your application, check that the following details are correct:

• Is the quota order number correct for the commodity code and country, which you have applied for?
• Check the rate of security used is correct, i.e. €46, €30 or €5 per tonne.
• Does the security amount calculated cover the quantity applied for?
• Is it the correct description against the required commodity (CN) code?
• Has your proof of trade and a valid VAT certificate been supplied / submitted for the current quota year?
• Is the form signed and dated by an authorised individual?

If you are unsure of any details then the following will provide further information:

• ET14 provides the list of descriptions (refer to Appendix 4 on page 32)
• Annex 1 of this Notice to Traders.
• The Import Licence team contact details are given in this Notice to Traders.