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1. To the extent that the Commission pursuant to Article 4 has confirmed that the amount requested is available within the quantitative limit in question, the competent authorities of the Member States shall issue an import authorisation within a maximum of 10 working days of the presentation by the importer of the original of the corresponding export licence. This presentation must be effected not later than 31 March of the year following that in which the goods covered by the export licence have been shipped. Import authorisations shall be issued by the competent authorities of any Member State irrespective of the Member State indicated on the export licence, to the extent that the Commission has confirmed, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 4, that the amount requested is available within the quantitative limit in question.

2. The import authorisations shall be valid for four months from the date of their issue. Upon duly motivated request by an importer, the competent authorities of a Member State may extend the duration of validity for a further period not exceeding four months.

3. Import authorisations shall be drawn up in accordance with the model set out in Annex III and shall be valid throughout the customs territory of the Community.

4. The declaration or request made by the importer in order to obtain the import authorisation shall contain:

(a) the full name and address of the exporter;

(b) the full name and address of the importer;

(c) the exact description of the goods and their TARIC code(s);

(d) the country of origin of the goods;

(e) the country of consignment;

(f) the appropriate product group and the quantity for the products in question;

(g) the net weight by CN heading;

(h) the cif value of the products at Community frontier by CN heading;

(i) where appropriate, dates of payment and delivery and a copy of the bill of lading and of the purchase contract;

(j) date and number of the export licence;

(k) any internal code used for administrative purposes;

(l) date and signature of importer.

5. Importers shall not be obliged to import the total quantity covered by an import authorisation in a single consignment.

6. The import authorisation may be issued by electronic means as long as the customs offices involved have access to the document via a computer network.