G/SG/N/1/EU/1  
 
17 February 2014  
(14-0941)  Page: 1/22  
 Committee on Safeguards  Original: English/French/Spanish  
 
 NOTIFICATION OF LAWS, REGULATIONS AND 
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES RELATING 
TO SAFEGUARD MEASURES* 
EUROPEAN UNION 
The following communication, dated 3 November 2010,  is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the European Union. 
 
_______________ 
  
Referring to the obligation under Article 12.6 of the Agreement on Safeguards to notify laws, 
regulations and administrative procedures to the Committee on Safeguards, the European Union 
(EU) is pleased to inform you as follows. 
 
In the context of the initiative 'a people's Europe ', the EU attaches great importance to making EU 
law clearer and more accessible to the ordinary citizen, as well as to domestic and foreign 
enterprises alike. For this reason the European institutions carry out a codification of rules that 
have a number of times been amended so that EU law is to remain clear and transparent. Without 
such codification, provisions that have been amended several times remain scattered, so that they must be sought partly in the original instrument and partly in later amendments. 
 
In this framework, the EU has undertaken a co dification of the existing rules governing 
EU safeguards procedures, which were previous ly covered by five different regulations. 
 
The new Council Regulation (EC) No 260/2009 codifies the existing provision on EU safeguards procedures and replaces Council Regulation (EC) No 3285 of 22 December 1994, as well as the 
four Regulations that amended some of its arti cles and annexes between 1996 and 2004. Please 
find enclosed a copy of Council Regulation (EC) No 260/2009.  The new Council Regulation fully preserves the content of the acts being codified and hence does 
no more than bringing them together with only such formal amendments as are required by the 
codification exercise itself. The Regulation incl udes the references to the repealed regulations 
(Annex II.) and a "Correlation Table" (Annex III.) to allow tracking and comparison between the 
old and new provisions. 
 The EU trusts that this effort will contribute  to WTO Members' objective of having a more 
transparent rules-based system.
                                               
* This document has already been circulated as G/SG/N/1/EEC/2. There is no change to the content. 
The only change is to the document symbol. G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
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  I 
 
(Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is obligatory) 
 
 
REGULATIONS 
 
 
COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 260/2009 
of 26 February 2009 
on the common rules for imports 
(Codified version) 
 
 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,  
 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 133 thereof,   
Having regard to the instruments establishing the common organisation of agricultural markets 
and the instruments concerning processed agricult ural products adopted in pursuance of Article 
308 of the Treaty, in particular in so far as they  provide for derogation from the general principle 
that quantitative restrictions or measures having equivalent effect may be replaced solely by the 
measures provided for in the said instruments,   
Having regard to the propos al from the Commission,  
 Whereas:   
(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 3285/94 of 22 December 1994 on the common rules for imports 
and repealing Regulation (EC) No 518/94
1 has been substantially amended several times2. In the 
interests of clarity and rationality the said Regulation should be codified.  
 
(2) The common commercial policy should be based on uniform principles.   
(3) The Community has concluded the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation, 
hereinafter referred to as the 'WTO'. Annex 1A to  that Agreement contains inter alia the General 
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994) and an Agreement on Safeguards.   
(4) The Agreement on Safeguards meets the need to clarify and reinforce the disciplines of 
GATT 1994, and specifically those of Article XIX. That Agreement requires the elimination of safeguard measures which escape those rules, such as voluntary export restraints, orderly 
marketing arrangements and any other similar import or export arrangements.  
 (5) The Agreement on Safeguards also covers coal and steel products. The common rules for 
imports, especially as regards safeguard measures, therefore also apply to those products without 
prejudice to any possible measures to apply an ag reement specifically concerning coal and steel 
products.   
(6) The textile products covered by Council Regulation (EC) No 517/94 of 7 March 1994 on 
common rules for imports of textile products from certain third countries not covered by bilateral agreements, protocols or other arrangements, or by other specific Community import rules
3 are 
subject to special treatment at Community and international level. They should therefore be 
excluded from the scope of this Regulation.  
                                               
1 OJ L 349, 31.12.1994, p. 53. 
2 See Annex II. 
3 OJ L 67, 10.3.1994, p. 1. G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
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  (7) The Commission should be informed by the Member States of any danger created by trends 
in imports which might call for Community surveillance or the application of safeguard measures.  (8) In such instances the Commission should examine the terms and conditions under which 
imports occur, the trend in imports, the various aspects of the economic and trade situations and, 
where appropriate, the measures to be applied.  
(9) If prior Community surveillance is applied, release for free circulation of the products 
concerned should be made subject to presentati on of a surveillance document meeting uniform 
criteria. That document should, on simple application by the importer, be issued by the authorities of the Member States within a certain period bu t without the importer thereby acquiring any right 
to import. The surveillance document should therefore be valid only during such period as the 
import rules remain unchanged.   
(10) The Member States and the Commission should exchange the information resulting from 
Community surveillance as  fully as possible.  
 
(11) It falls to the Commission and the Council to adopt the safeguard measures required by the 
interests of the Community. Those interests should be considered as a whole and should in particular encompass the interests of Community producers, users and consumers.   
(12) Safeguard measures against a member of the WTO may be considered only if the product in 
question is imported into the Community in such greatly increased quantities and on such terms or 
conditions as to cause, or threaten to cause, serious injury to Community producers of like or 
directly competing products, unless international obligations permit derogation from this rule.  
 (13) The terms 'serious injury', 'threat of seri ous injury' and 'Community producers' should be 
defined and precise criteria for determining injury should be established.  
 (14) An investigation should precede the applic ation of any safeguard measure, subject to the 
reservation that the Commission be allowed in urgent cases to apply provisional measures.  
 
(15) There should be detailed provisions on the opening of investigations, the checks and inspections required, access by exporter countries and interested parties to the information 
gathered, hearings for the parties involved and th e opportunities for those parties to submit their 
views.   
(16) The provisions on investigations introduced by this Regulation are without prejudice to 
Community or national rules concerning professional secrecy.   (17) It is also necessary to set time limits for the initiation of investigations and for 
determinations as to whether or not measures are appropriate, with a view to ensuring that such 
determinations are made quickly, in order to increase legal certainty for the economic operators concerned.  
 
(18) In cases in which safeguard measures take the form of a quota the level of the latter should be set in principle no lower than the average level of imports over a representative period of at 
least three years.  
 (19) In cases in which a quota is allocated among supplier countries each country's quota may be determined by agreement with the countries themse lves or by taking as a reference the level of 
imports over a representative period. Derogati ons from these rules should nevertheless be 
possible where there is serious injury and a disproportionate increase in imports, provided that due consultation under the auspices of the WTO Committee on Safeguards takes place.  
 
(20) The maximum duration of safeguard measures should be determined and specific provisions regarding extension, progressive liberalisation an d reviews of such measures be laid down.  
 
(21) The circumstances in which products originating in a developing country which is a member of the WTO are to be exempt from safeguard measures should be established.   G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
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  (22) Surveillance or safeguard measures confined  to one or more regions of the Community may 
prove more suitable than measures applying to the whole Community. However, such measures should be authorised only exceptionally and where no alternative exists. It is necessary to ensure that such measures are temporary and cause the minimum of disruption to the operation of the 
internal market.  
 (23) In the interest of uniformity in rules for imports, the formalities to be carried out by 
importers should be simplified and made identi cal regardless of the place where the goods clear 
customs. It is therefore desirable to provide that  any formalities should be carried out using forms 
corresponding to the specimen annexed to the Regulation.   
(24) Surveillance documents issued in connection with Community surveillance measures should 
be valid throughout the Community irrespec tive of the Member State of issue,  
 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
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  CHAPTER I 
 
General principles 
 
Article 1 
 1. This Regulation applies to imports of products originating in third countries, except for:  
 
 (a) textile products subject to specific import rules under Regulation (EC) No 517/94;   
(b) the products originating in certain third countries listed in Council Regulation (EC) No 
519/94 of 7 March 1994 on common rules for imports from certain third countries
4. 
 2. The products referred to in paragraph 1 shall be freely imported into the Community and 
accordingly, without prejudice to the safeguard measures which may be taken under Chapter V, 
shall not be subject to any quantitative restrictions.  
 
CHAPTER II 
 
Community information and consultation procedure 
 
Article 2 
 
Member States shall inform the Commission if trends in imports appear to call for surveillance or 
safeguard measures. This information shall contain the evidence available, as determined on the 
basis of the criteria laid down in Article 10. The Commission shall immediately pass this information on to all the Member States.  
 
Article 3 
 1. Consultations may be held either at the reques t of a Member State or on the initiative of the 
Commission. 
 2. Consultations shall take place within eight working days of the Commission receiving the 
information provided for in Article 2 and, in any event, before the introduction of any Community 
surveillance or safeguard measure.  
 
Article 4 
 1. Consultations shall take place within an Advisory Committee, hereinafter called 'the Committee', made up of representatives of each Member State with a representative of the 
Commission as chairman. 
 2. The Committee shall meet when convened by  its chairman. He shall provide the Member 
States with all relevant information as promptly as possible. 
 3. Consultations shall cover in particular: 
 
(a) terms and conditions of import, import tr ends and the various aspects of the economic 
and commercial situation with regard to the product in question; 
 
(b) the measures, if any, to be taken. 
 4. Consultations may be conducted in writing if necessary. The Commission shall in this event 
inform the Member States, which may express their opinion or request oral consultations within a 
period of five to eight working days, to be decided by the Commission.   
                                               
4 OJ L 67, 10.3.1994, p. 89. G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
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  CHAPTER III 
 
Community investigation procedure  
 
Article 5 
 1. Without prejudice to Article 8, the Community  investigation procedure shall be implemented 
before any safeguard measure is applied. 
 2. Using as a basis the factors referred to in Article 10, the investigation shall seek to determine whether imports of the product in question are causing or threatening to cause serious 
injury to the Community producers concerned. 
 3. The following definitions shall apply: 
 
(a) 'serious injury' means a significant overall impairment in the position of Community 
producers;  
 
(b) 'threat of serious injury' means serious injury that is clearly imminent;  
 
(c) 'Community producers' means the produc ers as a whole of the like or directly 
competing products operating within the territory of the Community, or those whose 
collective output of the like or directly competing products constitutes a major proportion of the total Community production of those products.  
 
Article 6 
 
1. Where, after the consultations referred to in Articles 3 and 4, it is apparent to the 
Commission that there is sufficient evidence to justify the initiation of an investigation, the Commission shall initiate an investigation within one month of receipt of information from a Member State and publish a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union . This notice shall:  
 
(a) give a summary of the information received, and require that all relevant information 
is to be communicated to the Commission;  
 
(b) state the period within which interested parties may make known their views in 
writing and submit information, if such views and information are to be taken into 
account during the investigation;  
 
(c) state the period within which interested parties may apply to be heard orally by the 
Commission in accordance with paragraph 4.  
 
The Commission shall commence the investigation, acting in cooperation with the Member States.   
2. The Commission shall seek all information it deems to be necessary and, where it considers 
it appropriate, after consulting the Committee, ende avour to check this information with importers, 
traders, agents, producers, trade associations and organisations.  
 
The Commission shall be assisted in this task by staff of the Member State on whose territory these checks are being carried out, provided that Member State so wishes.   
3. The Member States shall supply the Commission, at its request and following procedures laid 
down by it, with the information at their disposal  on developments in the market of the product 
being investigated. 
 
4. Interested parties which have come forward pursuant to the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 and representatives of the exporting country may,  upon written request, inspect all information 
made available to the Commission in connection with the investigation other than internal 
documents prepared by the authorities of the Comm unity or its Member States, provided that that 
information is relevant to the presentation of their case and not confidential within the meaning of Article 9 and that it is used by the Commission in the investigation.  
 G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
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  Interested parties which have come forward may communicate their views on the information in 
question to the Commission. Those views may be taken into consideration where they are backed 
by sufficient evidence.   
5. The Commission may hear the interested parties. Such parties must be heard where they 
have made a written application within the peri od laid down in the notice published in the Official 
Journal of the European Union , showing that they are actually likely to be affected by the outcome 
of the investigation and that there are special reasons for them to be heard orally.  
 6. When information is not supplied within the time limits set by this Regulation or by the Commission pursuant to this Regulation, or the investigation is significantly impeded, findings may 
be made on the basis of the facts available. Wh ere the Commission finds that any interested party 
or third party has supplied it with false or misleading information, it shall disregard the information and may make use of facts available.  
 
7. Where it appears to the Commission, after the consultations referred to in Articles 3 and 4, that there is insufficient evidence to justify an investigation, it shall inform the Member States of 
its decision within one month of receipt of the information from the Member States. 
 
Article 7  
 
1. At the end of the investigation, the Commission shall submit a report on the results to the 
Committee.   
2. Where the Commission considers, within nine months of the initiation of the investigation, 
that no Community surveillance or safeguard measures are necessary, the investigation shall be terminated within a month, the Committee having first been consulted.  
 
The decision to terminate the investigation, stating the main conclusions of the investigation and a summary of the reasons therefore, shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union .  
 
3. If the Commission considers that Community surveillance or safeguard measures are 
necessary, it shall take the necessary decisions in  accordance with Chapters IV and V, no later 
than nine months from the initiation of the investigation. In exceptional circumstances, this time 
limit may be extended by a further maximum pe riod of two months; the Commission shall then 
publish a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union setting forth the duration of the 
extension and a summary of the reasons therefore. 
 
Article 8  
 1. The provisions of this Chapter shall not pr eclude the use, at any time, of surveillance 
measures in accordance with Articles 11 to 15 or provisional safeguard measures in accordance 
with Articles 16, 17 and 18.  
Provisional safeguard measures shall be applied:  
 
(a) in critical circumstances where delay woul d cause damage which would be difficult to 
repair, making immediate action necessary; and  
 
(b) where a preliminary determination provides clear evidence that increased imports 
have caused or are threatening to cause serious injury.  
 
 The duration of such measures shall not exceed 200 days.   
2. Provisional safeguard measures shall take the form of an increase in the existing level of 
customs duty, whether the latter is zero or higher, if such action is likely to prevent or repair the serious injury.  
 
3. The Commission shall immediately conduct whatever investigation measures are still necessary.  G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
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  4. Should the provisional safeguard measures be repealed because no serious injury or threat 
of serious injury exists, the customs duties collec ted as a result of the provisional measures shall 
be automatically refunded as soon as possible. The procedure laid down in Article 235 et seq. of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs 
Code
5 shall apply. 
 
Article 9  
 
1. Information received pursuant to this Regulation shall be used only for the purpose for which it was requested.   
2. Neither the Council, nor the Commission, nor the Member States, nor the officials of any of 
these shall reveal any information of a confidential nature received pursuant to this Regulation, or any information provided on a confidential basis without specific permission from the supplier of 
such information.  
 3. Each request for confidentiality shall state th e reasons why the information is confidential.  
 
 However, if it appears that a request for confidentiality is unjustified and if the supplier of the information wishes neither to make it public nor to authorise its disclosure in general terms or in the form of a summary, the information concerned may be disregarded.  
 
4. Information shall in any case be considered to be confidential if its disclosure is likely to have a significantly adverse effect upon the supplier or the source of such information. 
 
5. Paragraphs 1 to 4 shall not preclude reference by the Community authorities to general information and in particular to reasons on which decisions taken pursuant to this Regulation are 
based. Those authorities shall, however, take into account the legitimate interest of legal and 
natural persons concerned that their business secrets should not be divulged.  
 
Article 10  
 
1. Examination of the trend in imports, of the conditions in which they take place and of serious injury or threat of serious injury to Community producers resulting from such imports shall 
cover in particular the following factors:  
 
(a) the volume of imports, in particular where there has been a significant increase, either 
in absolute terms or relative to production or consumption in the Community;  
 
(b) the price of imports, in particular where there has been a significant price 
undercutting as compared with the price of a like product in the Community;  
 
(c) the consequent impact on Community producers as indicated by trends in certain 
economic factors such as:  
 
- production,  - capacity utilisation,  
- stocks,  
- sales,  - market share,  - prices (i.e. depression of prices or prevention of price increases which would 
normally have occurred), 
- profits,  - return on capital employed,  
- cash flow,  
- employment;  
 
(d) factors other than trends in imports which are causing or may have caused injury to 
the Community producers concerned.  
 
                                               
5 OJ L 302, 19.10.1992, p. 1. G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
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  2. Where a threat of serious injury is alleged, the Commission shall also examine whether it is 
clearly foreseeable that a particular situation is likely to develop into actual injury.   In this regard account may be taken of factors such as:  
 
(a) the rate of increase of the exports to the Community;  
 
(b) export capacity in the country of origin or export, as it stands or is likely to be in the 
foreseeable future, and the likelihood that that capacity will be used to export to the Community. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
Surveillance  
 
Article 11  
 
1. Where the trend in imports of a product originating in a third country covered by this 
Regulation threatens to cause injury to Communi ty producers, and where the interests of the 
Community so require, import of that product may be subject, as appropriate, to:   
(a) retrospective Community surveillance carried out in accordance with the provisions 
laid down in the decision re ferred to in paragraph 2;  
 
(b) prior Community surveillance carried out in accordance with Article 12.  
 2. The decision to impose surveillance shal l be taken by the Commission according to the 
procedure laid down in the second subparagraph of Article 16(6) and Article 16(7). 
 3. The surveillance measures shall have a limite d period of validity. Unless otherwise provided, 
they shall cease to be valid at the end of the second six-month period following the six months in 
which the measures were introduced.  
 
Article 12  
 
1. Products under prior Community surveillance may be put into free circulation only on production of a surveillance document. Such document shall be issued by the competent authority 
designated by Member States, free of charge, for any quantity requested and within a maximum of 
five working days of receipt by the national competent authority of an application by any Community importer, regardless of his place of business in the Community. This application shall be deemed to have been received by the national  competent authority no later than three working 
days after submission, unless it is proved otherwise.  
 2. The surveillance document shall be made out on a form corresponding to the model in 
Annex I.  
 Except where the decision to impose surveillance pr ovides otherwise, the importer's application for 
surveillance documents shall contain only the following: 
 
(a) the full name and address of the applic ant (including telephone and fax numbers and 
any number identifying the applicant to the competent national authority), plus the 
applicant's VAT registration number if he is liable for VAT;  
 
(b) where appropriate, the full name an d address of the declarant or of any 
representative appointed by the applicant (including telephone and fax numbers);  
 
(c) a description of the goods giving: 
 
- their trade name,  - their combined nomenclature code,  - their place of origin and place of consignment;  
 G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
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  (d) the quantity declared, in kilograms and, where appropriate, any other additional unit 
(pairs, items, etc.);  
 
(e) the value of the goods, cif at Community frontier, in euro;  
 
(f) the following statement, dated and signed by the applicant, with the applicant's name 
spelt out in capital letters:  
 
'I, the undersigned, certify that the information provided in this application is true and given in good faith, and that I am established in the Community.' 
 
3. The surveillance document shall be valid throughout the Community, regardless of the 
Member State of issue.  
4. A finding that the unit price at  which the transaction is effected exceeds that indicated in the 
surveillance document by less than 5% or that the total value or quantity of the products presented for import exceeds the value or quantity given in the surveillance document by less than 
5% shall not preclude the release for free circulation of the product in question. The Commission, 
having heard the opinions expressed in the Committee and taking account of the nature of the products and other special features of the transactions concerned, may fix a different percentage, which, however, should not normally exceed 10%. 
 
5. Surveillance documents may be used only for such time as arrangements for liberalisation of imports remain in force in respect of the transactions concerned. Such surveillance documents 
may not in any event be used beyond the expiry of  a period which shall be laid down at the same 
time and by means of the same procedure as the im position of surveillance, and shall take account 
of the nature of the products and other special features of the transactions. 
 
6. Where the decision taken pursuant to Article 11 so requires, the origin of products under Community surveillance must be proved by a certificate of origin. This paragraph shall not affect other provisions concerning the production of any such certificate.  
 
7. Where the product under prior Community surv eillance is subject to regional safeguard 
measures in a Member State, the import authorisation granted by that Member State may replace 
the surveillance document.  
 8. Surveillance document forms and extracts ther eof shall be drawn up in duplicate, one copy, 
marked 'Holder's copy' and bearing the number 1, to  be issued to the applicant, and the other, 
marked 'Copy for the competent authority' and bearing the number 2, to be kept by the authority issuing the document. For administrative purposes the competent authority may add supplementary copies to form 2.  
 
9. Forms shall be printed on white paper free of mechanical pulp, dressed for writing and 
weighing between 55 g and 65 g per square metre. Their size shall be 210 mm × 297 mm; the 
type space between the lines shall be 4,24 mm (one sixth of an inch); the layout of the forms shall 
be followed precisely. Both sides of copy No 1, which is the surveillance document itself, shall in addition have a yellow printed guilloche pattern background so as to reveal any falsification by 
mechanical or chemical means.  
 10. Member States shall be responsible for having the forms printed. The forms may also be printed by printers appointed by the Member Stat e in which they are established. In the latter 
case, reference to the appointment by the Member State must appear on each form. Each form 
shall bear an indication of the printer's name and address or a mark enabling the printer to be 
identified. 
Article 13 
 Where import of a product has not been made subj ect to prior Community surveillance within eight 
working days of the end of the consultations referred to in Articles 3 and 4, the Commission, in 
accordance with Article 18, may introduce surveillance confined to imports into one or more regions of the Community.  
 G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
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  Article 14  
 1. Products under regional surveillance may be put into free circulation in the region concerned only on production of a surveillance document. Such document shall be issued by the competent 
authority designated by the Member State(s) concerned, free of charge, for any quantity 
requested and within a maximum of five working days of receipt by the national competent authority of an application by any Community importer, regardless of his place of business in the 
Community. This application shall be deemed to have been received by the national competent 
authority no later than three working days after submission, unless it is proved otherwise. Surveillance documents may be used only for such time as arrangements for imports remain liberalised in respect of the transactions concerned. 
 
2. Article 12(2) shall apply.   
Article 15  
 1. Member States shall communicate to the Commission within the first 10 days of each month 
in the case of Community or regional surveillance:  
 
(a) in the case of prior surveillance, details of the sums of money (calculated on the basis 
of cif prices) and quantities of goods in respect of which surveillance documents were 
issued during the preceding period;  
 
(b) in every case, details of imports during the period preceding the period referred to in 
point (a).  
 The information supplied by Member States shall be broken down by product and by country.  
 
Different provisions may be laid down at the same time and by the same procedure as the surveillance arrangements.   
2. Where the nature of the products or special circumstances so require, the Commission may, 
at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, amend the timetables for submitting this information.  
 
3. The Commission shall inform the Member States accordingly.   
CHAPTER V 
 
Safeguard measures  
 
Article 16  
 1. Where a product is imported into the Community  in such greatly increased quantities and/or 
on such terms or conditions as to cause, or threaten to cause, serious injury to Community 
producers, the Commission, in order to safeguard the interests of the Community, may, acting at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative:  
 
(a) limit the period of validity of surveillance documents within the meaning of Article 12 
to be issued after the entry into force of this measure;  
 
(b) alter the import rules for the product in question by making its release for free 
circulation conditional on production of an import authorisation, the granting of which shall be governed by such provisions and subject to such limits as the Commission 
shall lay down.  
  The measures referred to in (a) and (b) shall take effect immediately.  
 
2. As regards members of the WTO, the measures referred to in paragraph 1 shall be taken only when the two conditions indicated in the first subparagraph of that paragraph are met.   
3. If establishing a quota, account shall be taken in particular of:  G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
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(a) the desirability of maintaining, as fa r as possible, traditional trade flows;  
 
(b) the volume of goods exported under contracts concluded on normal terms and 
conditions before the entry into force of a safeguard measure within the meaning of 
this Chapter, where such contracts have been notified to the Commission by the Member State concerned;  
 
(c) the need to avoid jeopardising achievem ent of the aim pursued in establishing the 
quota.  
 
Any quota shall not be set lower than the average level of imports over the last three 
representative years for which statistics are available unless a different level is necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury.  
 
4. In cases in which a quota is allocated among supplier countries, allocation may be agreed with those of them having a substantial interest in supplying the product concerned for import into 
the Community.  
 Failing this, the quota shall be allocated among the supplier countries in proportion to their share of imports into the Community of the product conc erned during a previous representative period, 
due account being taken of any specific factors which may have affected or may be affecting the 
trade in the product.   
Provided that its obligation to see that consultations are conducted under the auspices of the WTO 
Committee on Safeguards is not disregarded, the Community may nevertheless depart from this method of allocation in the case of serious injury if imports originating in one or more supplier 
countries have increased in disproportionate percentage in relation to the total increase of imports 
of the product concerned over a previous representative period.   5. The measures referred to in this Article shall apply to every product which is put into free 
circulation after their entry into force. In accordance with Article 18 they may be confined to one 
or more regions of the Community.   
However, such measures shall not prevent the rele ase for free circulation of products already on 
their way to the Community provided that the destination of such products cannot be changed and that those products which, pursuant to Articles 11 and 12, may be put into free circulation only on 
production of a surveillance document are in fact accompanied by such a document.  
 6. Where intervention by the Commission has been requested by a Member State, the Commission shall take a decision within a maximum of five working days of receipt of such a 
request.  
 Any decision taken by the Commission pursuant to this Article shall be communicated to the 
Council and to the Member States. Any Member State may, within one month following the day of 
such communication, refer the decision to the Council.   
7. If a Member State refers the Commission's decision to the Council, the Council, acting by a 
qualified majority, may confirm, amend or revoke that decision.   If, within three months of the referral of the matter to the Council, the Council has not taken a 
decision, the decision taken by the Commission shall be deemed revoked.  
 
Article 17 
 
Where the interests of the Community so require, the Council, acting by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission drawn up in acco rdance with the terms of Chapter III, may adopt 
appropriate measures to prevent a product being imported into the Community in such greatly 
increased quantities and/or on such terms or condit ions as to cause, or threaten to cause, serious 
injury to Community producers of like  or directly competing products.  
 
Article 16(2) to (5) shall apply.  G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
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Article 18 
 Where it emerges, primarily on the basis of the fact ors referred to in Article 10, that the conditions 
laid down for the adoption of measures pursuant to Articles 11 and 16 are met in one or more 
regions of the Community, the Commission, after having examined alternative solutions, may exceptionally authorise the application of surveillance or safeguard measures limited to the 
region(s) concerned if it considers that such measures applied at that level are more appropriate 
than measures applied throughout the Community.   These measures must be temporary and must disrup t the operation of the internal market as little 
as possible. 
 The measures shall be adopted in accordance with the provisions laid down in Articles 11 and 16.  
 
Article 19 
 
No safeguard measure may be applied to a product originating in a developing country member of 
the WTO as long as that country's share of Community imports of the product concerned does not exceed 3%, provided that developing country members of the WTO with less than a 3% import share collectively account for not more than 9% of total Community imports of the product 
concerned.  
 
Article 20 
 
1. The duration of safeguard measures must be limited to the period of time necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury and to facilitate  adjustment on the part of Community producers. 
The period must not exceed four years, including the duration of any provisional measure.  
 2. Such initial period may be extended, except in the case of the measures referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 16(4) provided it is determined that:  
 
(a) the safeguard measure continues to be necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury;  
 
(b) there is evidence that Community producers are adjusting.  
 3. Extensions shall be adopted in accordance with the terms of Chapter III and using the same 
procedures as the initial measures. A measure so extended shall not be more restrictive than it 
was at the end of the initial period.   4. If the duration of the measure exceeds one year, the measure must be progressively 
liberalised at regular intervals during the period of application, including the period of extension.  
 5. The total period of application of a safeguard measure, including the period of application of 
any provisional measures, the initial period of application and any prorogation thereof, may not 
exceed eight years.  
 
Article 21 
 1. While any surveillance or safeguard measure a pplied in accordance with Chapters IV and V 
is in operation, consultations shall be held wi thin the Committee, either at the request of a 
Member State or on the initiative of the Commission. If the duration of a safeguard measure 
exceeds three years, the Commission shall seek such  consultations no later than the mid-point of 
the period of application of that measure. The purpose of such consultations shall be:  
 
(a) to examine the effects of the measure; 
 
(b) to determine whether and in what manner it is appropriate to accelerate the pace of 
liberalisation; 
 
(c) to ascertain whether application of the measure is still necessary. 
 G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
- 14 - 
 
  2. Where, as a result of the consultations referred to in paragraph 1, the Commission considers 
that any surveillance or safeguard measure referre d to in Articles 11, 13, 16, 17 and 18 should be 
revoked or amended, it shall proceed as follows:   
(a) where the measure was enacted by the Council, the Commission shall propose to the 
Council that it be revoked or amended. The Council shall act by a qualified majority;  
 
(b) in all other cases, the Commission shall amend or revoke Community safeguard and 
surveillance measures.  
 Where the decision relates to regional surveillance measures, it shall apply from the sixth day 
following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .  
 
Article 22 
 
1. Where imports of a product have already been subject to a safeguard measure, no further measure shall be applied to that product until a period equal to the duration of the previous 
measure has elapsed. Such period shall not be less than two years.  
 2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, a safeguard measure of 180 days or less may be re-imposed for a product if:  
 
(a) at least one year has elapsed since the date of introduction of a safeguard measure on 
the import of that product; and  
 
(b) such a safeguard measure has not been applied to the same product more than twice 
in the five-year period immediately preceding the date of introduction of the measure.  
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
Final provisions 
 
Article 23 
 
Where the interests of the Community so require, the Council, acting by a qualified majority on a 
proposal from the Commission, may adopt appropriate measures to allow the rights and obligations of the Community or of all its Member States, in particular those relating to trade in 
commodities, to be exercised and fulfilled at international level.  
 
Article 24 
 
1. This Regulation shall not preclude the fulfilment of obligations arising from special rules 
contained in agreements concluded between the Community and third countries.   
2. Without prejudice to other Community provisions, this Regulation shall not preclude the 
adoption or application by Member States:   
(a) of prohibitions, quantitative restrictions or surveillance measures on grounds of public 
morality, public policy or public security; the protection of health and life of humans, 
animals or plants, the protection of national treasures possessing artistic, historic or archaeological value, or the protection of industrial and commercial property;  
 
(b) of special formalities concerning foreign exchange;  
 
(c) of formalities introduced pursuant to international agreements in accordance with the 
Treaty.  
 
The Member States shall inform the Commission of the measures or formalities they intend to 
introduce or amend in accordance with the first subparagraph.   In the event of extreme urgency, the national measures or formalities in question shall be 
communicated to the Commission immediately upon their adoption.  G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
- 15 - 
 
   
Article 25 
 1. This Regulation shall be without prejudice to the operation of the instruments establishing 
the common organisation of agricultural markets or of Community or national administrative 
provisions derived therefrom or of the specific instruments applicable to goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products. It shall oper ate by way of complement to those instruments.  
 
2. In the case of products covered by the instruments referred to in paragraph 1, Articles 11 to 15 and Article 22 shall not apply to those in respect of which the Community rules on trade with third countries require the production of a licence or other import document.  
 
Articles 16, 18 and 21 to 24 shall not apply to those products in respect of which such rules provide for the application of quantitative import restrictions.  
 
Article 26  
 
Regulation (EC) No 3285/94, as amended by the acts listed in Annex II, is repealed.  
 References to the repealed Regulation shall be cons trued as references to this Regulation and shall 
be read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex III.  
 
Article 27 
 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following 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, 26 February 2009.  
 
  
 For the Council 
 The President  I. LANGER 
 
  
_______________ 
 
 G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
- 16 - 
 
  ANNEX I 
 
 EUROPEAN COMMUNITY 
 SURVEILLANCE DOCUMENT 
1 1. Consignee 2. Issue number Holder's copy  (name, full address,  country, VAT number)  
  
 3. Proposed place and date of import 
  
 
 4. Authority responsible for issue 
 (name, address and telephone No)    
5. Declarant/representati ve as applicable 
(name and full address) 6. Country of origin 
 (and geonomenclature code) 
  
   
 7. Country of consignment 
 (and geonomenclature code) 
  
   
 8. Last day of validity 
 
1   
 9. Description of goods  10. CN code and category 
  
  11. Quantity in kilograms (net 
mass) or in additional sets   
  12. Value in euro, cif at 
Community frontier   
 13. Additional remarks 
   
 14. Competent authority's endorsement 
  
 
 Date: ........................................................ 
  Signature: ................................................    
   (Stamp) G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
- 17 - 
 
  15. ATTRIBUTIONS  
  Indicate the quantity available in part 1 of column  17 and the quantity attributed in part 2 thereof 
 
16. Net quantity  (net mass or other unit of 
measure stating the unit) 
 
 
 19. Customs document  
(form and number) or 
extract No and date of 
attribution  20. Name, Member 
State, stamp and signature of the 
attributing 
authority  
 17. In figures  18. In words for the quantity 
attributed 
 
1.      
2. 
     
1. 
     
2. 
     
1. 
     
2. 
     
1. 
     
2. 
     
1. 
     
2. 
     
1. 
     
2. 
     
1. 
     
2. 
 
    
 
Extension pages to be attached hereto. G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
- 18 - 
 
   
 EUROPEAN COMMUNITY 
 SURVEILLANCE DOCUMENT 
2 1. Consignee 2. Issue number Copy for the competent authority  (name, full address,  country, VAT number)  
  
 3. Proposed place and date of import 
   
 4. Authority responsible for issue 
 (name, address and telephone No) 
    
5. Declarant/representati ve as applicable 
 (name and full address) 6. Country of origin 
 (and geonomenclature code) 
  
   
 7. Country of consignment 
 (and geonomenclature code) 
  
   
 8. Last day of validity 
 
2   
 9. Description of goods  10. CN code and category 
  
  11. Quantity in kilograms (net 
mass) or in additional sets 
  
  12. Value in euro, cif at 
Community frontier 
  
 13. Additional remarks 
   
 14. Competent authority's endorsement 
   
 Date: ........................................................ 
  Signature: ................................................  
 
  
   (Stamp) 
 G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
- 19 - 
 
  15. ATTRIBUTIONS  
  Indicate the quantity available in part 1 of column  17 and the quantity attributed in part 2 thereof 
 
16. Net quantity  (net mass or other unit of 
measure stating the unit)  
 
 19. Customs document  
(form and number) or 
extract No and date of 
attribution  20. Name, Member 
State, stamp and signature of the 
attributing 
authority  
 
17. In figures  18. In words for the quantity 
attributed 
 
1.      
2. 
     
1. 
     
2. 
     
1. 
     
2. 
     
1. 
     
2. 
     
1. 
     
2. 
     
1. 
     
2. 
     
1. 
     
2. 
 
    
 
Extension pages to be attached hereto. G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
- 20 - 
 
  ANNEX II 
Repealed Regulation with list of its successive amendments 
 
(referred to in Article 26) 
 
 Council Regulation (EC) No 3285/94 
(OJ L 349, 31.12.1994, p. 53) 
 
Council Regulation (EC) No 139/96 (OJ L 21, 27.1.1996, p. 7) 
 Only Article 1 and Annex I 
 
Council Regulation (EC) No 2315/96 
(OJ L 314, 4.12.1996, p. 1) 
 Only Article 1(3) and Annex III 
 
Council Regulation (EC) No 2474/2000 
(OJ L 286, 11.11.2000, p. 1) 
 Only Article 1(3) and Annex III 
 
Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/2004 
(OJ L 374, 22.12.2004, p. 1)  Only Article 2 
 
 
 G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
- 21 - 
 
  ANNEX III 
CORRELATION TABLE 
 
Regulation (EC) No 3285/94 This Regulation 
Title I  Chapter I 
Article 1  Article 1 
Title II  Chapter II 
Articles 2, 3 and 4  Articles 2, 3 and 4 
Title III  Chapter III 
Article 5  Article 5 
Article 6(1) introductory wording  Article 6( 1), first subparagraph, introductory sentence, 
initial wording 
Article 6(1)(a)  Article 6(1), first subparagraph, introductory sentence, 
final wording and points (a), (b) and (c) 
Article 6(1)(b) Article 6(1) second subparagraph 
Article 6(2) first and second subparagraphs  Article 6(2) first and second subparagraphs 
Article 6(2) third and fourth subparagraphs  Article 6(4) first and second subparagraphs 
Article 6(3) Article 6(3) 
Article 6(4) Article 6(5) 
Article 6(5) Article 6(6) 
Article 6(6) Article 6(7) 
Article 7(1) Article 7(1) 
Article 7(2) first sentence  Article 7(2) first subparagraph 
Article 7(2) second sentence  Article 7(2) second subparagraph 
Article 7(3) Article 7(3) 
Article 8(1) first subparagraph  Article 8(1) first subparagraph 
Article 8(1) second subparagraph, 
introductory words  Article 8(1) second subpara graph, introductory words 
Article 8(1) second subparagraph, first and 
second indents  Article 8(1) second subparagraph, points (a) and (b) 
Article 8(2) Article 8(1) third subparagraph 
Article 8(3) Article 8(2) 
Article 8(4) Article 8(3) 
Article 8(5) Article 8(4) 
Article 9(1) Article 9(1) 
Article 9(2)(a) Article 9(2) 
Article 9(2)(b) first subparagraph  Article 9(3) first subparagraph 
Article 9(2)(b) second subparagraph  Article 9(3) second subparagraph 
Article 9(3) Article 9(4) 
Article 9(4) Article 9(5) 
Article 10(1) Article 10(1) 
Article 10(2) introductory words, first phrase  Arti cle 10(2) first subparagraph 
Article 10(2) introductory words, second 
phrase  Article 10(2) second subpara graph, introductory words 
Article 10(2), points (a) and (b) Article 10(2) second subparagraph, points (a) and (b) 
Title IV  Chapter IV 
Articles 11 to 15  Articles 11 to 15 
Title V  Chapter V 
Article 16(1) and (2) Article 16(1) and (2) 
Article 16(3)(a) introductory sentence  Article 16(3) first subparagraph, introductory sentence 
Article 16(3)(a) first, second and third 
indents  Article 16(3) first subparagraph, points (a), (b) and (c) 
Article 16(3)(b) Article 16(3) second subparagraph 
Article 16(4)(a) first subparagraph  Article 16(4) first subparagraph 
Article 16(4)(a) second subparagraph Article 16(4) second subparagraph 
Article 16(4)(b) Article 16(4) third subparagraph 
Article 16(5)(a) Article 16(5) first subparagraph 
Article 16(5)(b) Article 16(5) second subparagraph 
Article 16(6) Article 16(6) first subparagraph 
Article 16(7) Article 16(6) second subparagraph 
Article 16(8) Article 16(7) 
Articles 17 to 19  Articles 17 to 19 
Article 20(1) Article 20(1) 
Article 20(2), introductory sentence  Article 20(2), introductory sentence 
Article 20(2) first and second indents  Article 20(2)(a) and (b) 
Article 20(3) to (5) Article 20(3) to (5) G/SG/N/1/EU/1 
 
- 22 - 
 
  Regulation (EC) No 3285/94 This Regulation 
Articles 21 and 22  Articles 21 and 22 
Title VI  Chapter VI 
Article 23  Article 23 
Article 24(1) Article 24(1) 
Article 24(2)(a) introductory sentence  Article 24(2) first subparagraph, introductory sentence 
Article 24(2)(a)(i) to (iii) Article 24(2) first subparagraph, points (a) to (c) 
Article 24(2)(b) first sentence  Article 24(2) second subparagraph 
Article 24(2)(b) second sentence  Article 24(2) third subparagraph 
Article 25  Article 25 
Article 26  — 
Article 27  — 
—  Article 26 
Article 28  Article 27 
Annex I  Annex I 
—  Annex II 
—  Annex III 
 
 
 
__________