WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.662
10October 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-4334)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: NETHERLANDS
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Commodity Board forSpirits
Agency orauthority designated tohandle comments regarding thenotification canbe
indicated ifdifferent from above: National enquiry point
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers maybeprovided inaddition, where applicable):
- Spirits asdefined inArticle I,paragraph 2,paragraph 4andtheappendices to
theCouncil Regulation of29May1989 (EEC) No.1576/89 belonging hereto;
- Spirits which fallunder theHarmonized Nomenclature Code 2208 of(EEC)
Regulation No.2658/87 oftheCouncil oftheEuropean Union andforwhich,
pursuant totheDutch legislation governing excise, excise onalcohol isdue.
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Regulation Governing
Mandatory Prescribed Quantities forSpirits
6. Description ofcontent: TheRegulation provides forthebanonthesale,theavailability
forsaleand/or supply ofalcoholic beverages inprescribed quantities other thanthose
stipulated inthisRegulation. TheRegulation indicates those products forwhich the
prescribed quantities arecompulsory. Theobligation applies tospirits asdefined in
Article 1,paragraph 1,ofthisRegulation.
Thisdefinition ofspirits ("gedistilleerd") coincides withthedefinition ofspirits
("gedistilleerde drank") inCouncil Regulation of29May1989 1576/89/EC andcovers
beverages withanalcoholic strength of15percentvolume andmore, except inthecase
ofAdvocaat aslisted inAnnex IIIofCouncil Regulation 1576/89/EC.
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7. Objective andrationale: TheRegulation serves toimplement theCouncil Directive of
7June1988 88/316/EEC amending Directive 75/106/EEC concerning themaking-up by
volume ofcertain prepackaged liquids. Theapplicable declaration oftheprescribed
volume measures ofspirits asdefined inArticle 1,paragraph 1,conforms tothe
interpretation asgiven byMr.Putzeys ofDGIIIoftheCommission inhisletter of
November 1993 totheMinistry ofEconomic Affairs. Inthishewrites thattherequired
volume measures apply tospirits withanalcoholic strength of15percentbyvolume or
more, asdefined intheRegulation of29May1989 1576/89/EC since thiscame into
effect after thevolume measure Regulation 88/316/EC. Where, with regard tothe
volume measures, reference ismade tospirits, thisdefinition must alsobeexplained in
accordance with thevalid European provisions. This interpretation must be
distinguished fromthedefinition which states thatEuropean Directive 75/106/EC applies
toallspirits withGNCode 2208.
8. Relevant documents:
- Excise Actof31October 1991, Bulletin ofActsandDecrees 561,simplifying
andmaking uniform theExcise Legislation;
- Industrial Organization Actof1950, most recently amended bytheActof
24June1992, Bulletin ofActsandDecree 409;
- Founding Regulation oftheCommodity Board forSpirits, Government Gazette
12April 1996, Article 5;
- Regulation onprepacked spirits dated 1January 1992, most recently notified in
theJournal ofTrade Bodies governed byPublic Lawdated 21January 1994,
No.GDr.1, approved byDecision of5January 1994 No.93-389 oftheMinister
forEconomic Affairs.
9. Proposed dateofadoption: 20November 1997
Proposed dateofentry intoforce: 21November 1997
10. Final dateforcomments: 19November 1997
TheNetherlands willproceed toimplement theproposed measure after45days
ifnocomments orrequests forextension ofthetime-limit havebeenreceived from other
Members within thattime.
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: