
Article 1 
Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1518/2003 is hereby amended as follows:

1.. Paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:
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4. Where the issue of export licences would or might result in the available budgetary amounts being exceeded or in the maximum quantities which may be exported with a refund being exhausted during the period concerned, in view of the limits referred to in Article 13(11) of Regulation (EEC) No 2759/75, or would not allow exports to continue during the remainder of the period, the Commission may:
(a) set an acceptance percentage for the quantities applied for;
(b) reject applications for which licences have not yet been granted;
(c) suspend lodging of licence applications for a maximum period of five working days, extendable by the procedure specified in Article 24(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 2759/75.In the circumstances referred to in point (c) of the first subparagraph, licence applications made during the suspension period shall be invalid.The measures provided for in the first subparagraph may be implemented or modulated by category of product and by destination.'
2.. The following paragraph 4a is inserted:
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4a The measures provided for in paragraph 4 may also be adopted where export licence applications relate to quantities which exceed or might exceed the normal disposable quantities for one destination and issuing the licences requested would entail a risk of speculation, distortion of competition between operators, or disturbance of the trade concerned or the Community market.'
Article 2 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.Done at Brussels, 28 July 2004.
For the Commission
Franz FISCHLER
Member of the Commission