Directory chapters where this document can be found:

Instruments amended:
397R0338 (Implementation)

397R0939
Commission Regulation (EC) No 939/97 of 26 May 1997 laying down detailed rules concerning the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade therein
Official Journal L 140 , 30/05/1997 p. 0009 - 0050

Amendments:
Amended by 398R0767 (OJ L 109 08.04.98 p.7)
Amended by 398R1006 (OJ L 145 15.05.98 p.3)

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 939/97 of 26 May 1997 laying down detailed rules concerning the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade therein

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 of 9 December 1996 on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade therein (1) as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 938/97 (2), and in particular (1) and (2) points of Article 19 thereof,
Whereas provisions are required to implement Regulation (EC) No 338/97 and to ensure full compliance with the provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) (hereinafter referred to as 'the Convention`);
Whereas in order to ensure the uniform implementation of Regulation (EC) No 338/97, it is necessary to lay down detailed conditions and criteria for the consideration of permit and certificate applications and for the issue, validity and use of such documents; whereas it is accordingly appropriate to lay down models to which the said forms must correspond;
Whereas it is further necessary to lay down detailed provisions relating to the conditions and criteria for the treatment of specimens of animal species that are born and bred in captivity and of specimens of plant species that are artificially propagated in order to ensure the common implementation of the derogations applicable to such specimens;
Whereas the derogations for specimens that are personal and household effects provided for in Article 7 (3) of Regulation (EC) No 338/97 require that provisions be specified to ensure compliance with Article VII, paragraph 3, of the Convention;
Whereas, in order to ensure that general derogations from the internal trade prohibitions contained in Article 8 (1) of Regulation (EC) No 338/97 are uniformly applied, it is necessary to lay down conditions and criteria with regard to their definition;
Whereas it is necessary to establish procedures for the marking of certain specimens of species in order to facilitate their identification and ensure enforcement of the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 338/97;
Whereas provisions should be laid down regarding the contents, form and submission of the periodic reports provided for in Regulation (EC) No 338/97;
Whereas in order for future amendments to the Annexes to Regulation (EC) No 338/97 to be considered all relevant information must be available, particularly on the biological and trade status of species, their use and methods of controlling trade;
Whereas, this Regulation covers, inter alia, the provisions hitherto covered by Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3418/83 of 28 November 1983 laying down provisions for the uniform issue and use of documents required for the implementation in the Community of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (3); whereas that Regulation should therefore be repealed;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:


CHAPTER I Definitions and forms

Article 1
For the purposes of this Regulation and in addition to the definitions in Article 2 of Regulation No 338/97:
'date of acquisition` shall mean the date on which a specimen was taken from the wild, born in captivity or artificially propagated.

Article 2
1. The forms on which import permits, export permits, re-export certificates and applications for such documents are drawn up shall conform, except as regards spaces reserved for national use, to the model shown at Annex I.
2. The forms on which import notifications are drawn up shall conform, except as regards spaces reserved for national use, to the model shown at Annex II. They may contain a serial number.
3. The forms on which the certificates referred to in Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 338/97 and applications for such certificates are drawn up shall conform, except as regards spaces reserved for national use, to the model shown at Annex III. Member States may, however, provide that, instead of the pre-printed text, box 19 shall only contain the relevant certification and/or authorization.
4. The form of the labels referred to in Article 7 (4) of Regulation (EC) No 338/97 shall conform to the model shown at Annex IV.

Article 3
1. The paper used for the forms referred to in Article 2 shall be free of mechanical pulp, dressed for writing purposes and weigh at least 55 g/mē.
2. The size of the forms referred to in Article 2 (1), (2) and (3) shall be 210 x 297 mm (A4) with a maximum tolerance as to length of 18 mm less and 8 mm more.
3. The paper of the forms referred to in Article 2 (1) shall be:
(a) white for form 1, the original, with a guilloche pattern background, printed in grey on the front, so as to reveal any falsification by mechanical or chemical means,
(b) yellow for form 2, the copy for the holder,
(c) pale green for form 3, the copy for the exporting or re-exporting country in the case of an import permit, or the copy for return by customs to the issuing authority in the case of an export permit or re-export certificate,
(d) pink for form 4, the copy for the issuing authority,
(e) white for form 5, the application.
4. The paper of the forms referred to in Article 2 (2) shall be:
(a) white for form 1, the original,
(b) yellow for form 2, the copy for the importer.
5. The paper of the forms referred to in Article 2 (3) shall be:
(a) yellow for form 1, the original, with a guilloche pattern background, printed in grey on the front, so as to reveal any falsification by mechanical or chemical means,
(b) pink for form 2, the copy for the issuing authority,
(c) white for form 3, the application.
6. The paper of the labels referred to in Article 2 (4) shall be white.
7. The forms referred to in Article 2 shall be printed and completed in one of the official Community languages as specified by the management authorities of each Member State. Where they are used for submission to the authorities of third countries, they shall, where necessary, contain a translation of their contents in one of the official working languages of the Convention.
8. Member States shall be responsible for the printing of the forms referred to in Article 2, which, in the case of the forms referred to in Article 2 (1), (2) and (3), may be part of a computerized permit/certificate issuing process.

CHAPTER II Period of issue, validity and use of documents

Section 1 General

Article 4
1. Forms shall be completed in typescript. Applications for the permits and certificates referred to in Article 2 (1) and (3), the import notifications referred to in Article 2 (2) and the labels referred to in Article 2 (4) may, however, be completed legibly in manuscript, in ink and in block capitals.
2. Forms other than application forms and the labels referred to in Article 2 (4) may not contain any erasures or alterations, unless they have been authenticated by the stamp and signature of the issuing management authority, or, in the case of the import notifications referred to in Article 2 (2), by the stamp and signature of the customs office of introduction.
3. In permits and certificates, as well as in applications for the issue of such documents:
(a) the description of specimens shall, where it is provided for, include one of the codes contained in Annex V;
(b) for the indication of units of quantity and net mass, those contained in Annex V shall be used;
(c) the standard references for nomenclature contained in Annex VI shall be used to indicate the scientific names of species;
(d) the purpose of a transaction shall be indicated using one of the codes contained in point 1 of Annex VII;
(e) the source of specimens shall be indicated using one of the codes contained in point 2 of Annex VII and, where the use of such codes is subject to criteria laid down in Regulation (EC) No 338/97 or in this Regulation being met, only in compliance with such criteria.
4. If an annex is attached to any of the forms referred to in Article 2 which is an integral part of it, that fact and the number of pages shall be clearly indicated on the permit or certificate concerned and each page of the annex shall include:
(a) the number of the permit or certificate and its date of issue, and
(b) the signature and the stamp or seal of the authority having issued the permit or certificate.
Where the form referred to in Article 2 (1) is used for more than one species in a shipment, an annex shall be attached which, in addition to the requirements of the first subparagraph of this paragraph, shall, for each species in the shipment, reproduce boxes 8 to 22 of the form concerned as well as the spaces contained in box 27 thereof for the inclusion of the 'quantity/net mass actually imported` and, where appropriate, 'number of animals dead on arrival`.
Where the form referred to in Article 2 (3) is used for more than one species, an annex shall be attached which, in addition to the requirements of the first subparagraph of this paragraph, shall, for each species, reproduce boxes 4 to 18 of the form concerned.
5. The provisions of paragraphs 1, 2, 3 (c) and (d) and 4 shall also be applied in the context of decisions on the acceptability of permits and certificates issued by third countries for specimens to be introduced into the Community. Where such documents concern specimens subject to voluntarily fixed export quotas or export quotas allocated by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, they shall only be accepted if they mention the total number of specimens already exported in the current year, including those covered by the permit in question, and the quota for the species concerned. Re-export certificates issued by third countries shall further only be accepted if they specify the country of origin and the number and date of issue of the relevant export permit and, where applicable, the country of last re-export and the number and date of issue of the relevant re-export certificate, or contain a satisfactory justification for the omission of such information.

Article 5
1. Documents shall be issued and used in accordance with the provisions and under the conditions laid down in this Regulation and in Regulation (EC) No 338/97, and in particular Article 11 (1) to (4) thereof. They may contain stipulations, conditions and requirements imposed by the issuing authority in order to ensure compliance with these Regulations and with the provisions of Member States' legislation on their implementation.
2. The use of documents shall be without prejudice to any other formalities relating to the movement of goods within the Community, to the introduction of goods into the Community or to their export or re-export therefrom and to the forms used for such formalities.
3. As a general rule, management authorities shall decide on the issue of permits and certificates within one month from the date of submission of a complete application. However, where the issuing authority consults third parties, such a decision may only be taken after the satisfactory completion of such consultation. Applicants shall be notified of significant delays in processing their applications.

Article 6
A separate import permit, import notification, export permit or re-export certificate shall be issued for each shipment of specimens shipped together as part of one load.

Article 7
1. The period of validity of Community import permits shall not exceed 12 months. An import permit shall, however, not be valid in the absence of a valid corresponding document from the country of export or re-export.
The period of validity of Community export permits and re-export certificates shall not exceed six months.
After their expiry, the Community permits and certificates referred to in the first and second subparagraphs shall be considered as void and of no legal value whatsoever.
The holder shall without undue delay return the original and all copies of an expired or unused Community import permit, export permit or re-export certificate to the issuing management authority.
2. With the exception of the certificates referred to in Articles 30 and 32 (b), the certificates referred to in Article 20 and copies for the holder of used import permits shall cease to be valid when live specimens referred to therein have died, where live animals have escaped, where specimens were destroyed, or where any of the entries in boxes 1, 2 and 4 of a certificate, or boxes 3, in the case of species listed in Annex A to Regulation (EC) No 338/97, 6 and 8 of a copy for the holder of a used import permit, no longer reflect the actual situation.
Such a document shall without undue delay be returned to the issuing authority which, where appropriate, may issue a certificate reflecting such changes in accordance with Article 21.
3. When a permit or certificate is issued to replace a document that has been cancelled, lost, stolen, destroyed, or that, in the case of a permit or re-export certificate, has expired, it shall indicate the number of the replaced document and the reason for the replacement in the box reserved for the entry of 'special conditions`.
4. When an export permit or re-export certificate has been cancelled, lost, stolen, or destroyed, the issuing Management Authority shall inform the Management Authority of the country of destination and the Secretariat of the Convention thereof.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 next