Action brought on 3 April 2006 - Société des plantations de Mbanga (S.P.M.) v Commission of the European Communities

(Case T-104/06)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicant: Société des plantations de Mbanga (S.P.M.) (Douala, Cameroon) (represented by: B.-L. Doré, lawyer)

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities

Form of order sought

Grant all of its claims;

annul Commission Regulation (EC) No 219/2006 of 8 February 2006 opening and providing for the administration of the tariff quota for bananas falling under CN code 0803 00 19 originating in ACP countries for the period 1 March to 31 December 2006;

order the Commission to pay all the costs and expenses.

Pleas in law and main arguments

In the context of the amendments to the specific regime for trade quotas with non-Member States forming part of the measures of market organisation in the banana sector, Council Regulation No 1964/2005 of 29 November 2005, ¹ among other things, conferred on the Commission the power to enact the measures necessary to implement that regulation, as well as transitional measures relating to the management of the tariff quota for bananas originating in ACP countries. In that context, the Commission maintained in its Regulation No 2015/2005 of 9 December 2005, ² for the months of January and February 2006, the system of granting import licences on the basis of historic references. ³ As that regulation was, by definition, transitional, on 8 February 2006 the Commission adopted Regulation No 219/2006 opening and providing for the administration of the tariff quota for bananas falling under CN code 0803 00 19 originating in ACP countries for the period 1 March to 31 December 2006. ⁴ In that regulation, the Commission adopted a method of administering the tariff quota which provides that the quota is to be used by chronological order of acceptance of the declarations for release for free circulation (the 'first come, first served' method) and reserves, as a transitional measure, part of the tariff quota for operators who supplied the Community with ACP bananas under the import arrangements previously in force. The annulment of that regulation is sought in this action.

In the present action, the applicant claims that the contested regulation is legally flawed in a number of respects in that the effect of its provisions is that, whilst 60% of the tariff quota is administered according to the new method, 40% is still administered by granting licences on the basis of historic references. In support of its claim, the applicant relies of the same pleas in law and arguments as those put forward in its claim in Case T-447/05. ⁵

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¹ - Regulation (EC) No 1964/2005 of 29 November 2005 on the tariff rate for bananas (OJ 2005 L 316, p. 1)

² - Commission Regulation (EC) No 2015/2005 of 9 December 2005 on imports during January and February 2006 of bananas originating in ACP countries under the tariff quota opened by Council Regulation (EC) No 1964/2005 on the tariff rates for bananas (OJ 2005 L 324, p. 5)

³ - The applicant seeks annulment of that regulation in Case T-447/05

⁴ - OJ 2006 L 38, p. 22

⁵ - See notice in OJ 2006 C 74, p. 24