WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SG/N/1/EEC/2 
12 November 2010 
 
 (10-6059) 
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 Eur ope', the EU attaches great importance to making 
EU law clearer and more accessible to the ordi nary 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 b een amended several times remain scattered, so that they must be 
sought partly in the original instrume nt and partly in later amendments. 
  In this framework, the EU has undertaken a codification of the existing rules governing 
EU safeguards procedures, which were previ ously covered by five different regulations. 
  The new Council Regulation (EC) No 260/2009 codifies the existing provision on EU safeguards procedures and replaces Council Regul ation (EC) No 3285 of 22 December 1994, as 
well as the four Regulations that amended some of  its articles 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 c ontent of the acts being codified and hence 
does no more than bringing them together with onl y 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  The Regulation incl udes the references to the repealed regulations 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 contri bute to WTO Members' objective of having a more 
transparent rules-based system. G/SG/N/1/EEC/2 
Page 2  
 
  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 th e European Community, and in particular 
Article 133 thereof,    Having regard to the instruments establis hing the common organisation of agricultural 
markets and the instruments concerning processed agricultural products adopted in pursuance of 
Article 308 of the Treaty, in particular in so fa r as they provide for derogation from the general 
principle that quantitative restrictions or measures ha ving equivalent effect may be replaced solely by 
the measures provided for in  the said instruments,  
  Having regard to the proposal 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 ra tionality 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 th e 'WTO'.  Annex 1A to that Agreement 
contains inter alia the General Agreem ent 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 Ar ticle XIX.  That Agreement requires the 
elimination of safeguard measures which escape those rules, such as voluntary export 
restraints, orderly marketing arrangement s and any other similar import or export 
arrangements.  
 
                                                     
 
1 OJ L 349, 31.12.1994, p. 53. 
2 See Annex II.  G/SG/N/1/EEC/2 
 Page 3 
 
 
  (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 possi ble measures to apply an agreement 
specifically concerning coal and steel products.  
 
(6) The textile products covered by Counc il Regulation (EC) No 517/94 of 7 March 1994 
on common rules for imports of textile pr oducts from certain third countries not 
covered by bilateral agreemen ts, protocols or other arrangements, or by other specific 
Community import rules3 are subject to special treatment at Community and 
international level.  They should theref ore be excluded from the scope of this 
Regulation.  
 (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 shoul d examine the terms and conditions under 
which imports occur, the trend in imports , the various aspects of the economic and 
trade situations and, where appropria te, 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 presen tation of a surveillance document meeting 
uniform criteria.  That document should, on simple application by the importer, be issued by the authorities of the Member St ates within a certain period but 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 C ouncil 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 in terests 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 perm it derogation from this rule.  
 (13) The terms 'serious injury', 'threat of se rious injury' and 'Community producers' should 
be defined and precise criteria for dete rmining injury should be established.  
 
(14) An investigation should precede the application of any safeguard measure, subject to 
the reservation that the Commission be allo wed in urgent cases to apply provisional 
measures.  
 
(15) There should be detailed provisions on th e opening of investigations, the checks and 
inspections required, access by exporter countries and interested parties to the 
                                                     
 
3 OJ L 67, 10.3.1994, p. 1. G/SG/N/1/EEC/2 
Page 4  
 
  information gathered, hearings for the pa rties involved and the 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 th e countries themselves or by taking as a 
reference the level of imports over a repr esentative period.  Derogations 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 me asures should be determined and specific 
provisions regarding extension, progressive  liberalisation and reviews of such 
measures be laid down.  
 
(21) The circumstances in which products orig inating in a developing country which is a 
member of the WTO are to be exempt from safeguard measures should be established.  
 
(22) Surveillance or safeguard measures c onfined 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 neces sary to ensure that such measures are 
temporary and cause the minimum of disr uption to the operation of the internal 
market.  
 
(23) In the interest of uniformity in rules fo r imports, the formalities to be carried out by 
importers should be simplified and made identical regardless of the place where the goods clear customs.  It is therefore desira ble to provide that any formalities should be 
carried out using forms corresponding to th e specimen annexed to the Regulation.  
 (24) Surveillance documents issued in conn ection with Community surveillance measures 
should be valid throughout the Community irr espective of the Member State of issue,  
  HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:     G/SG/N/1/EEC/2 
 Page 5 
 
 
  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 th ird countries listed in Council Regulation (EC) 
No 519/94 of 7 March 1994 on common ru les for imports from certain third 
countries
4. 
 2. The products referred to in paragraph 1 sh all be freely imported into the Community and 
accordingly, without prejudice to the safeguard meas ures 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 inform ation 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 eith er at the request of a Member State or on the initiative of the 
Commission.  
 2. Consultations shall take pl ace within eight working days of the Commission receiving the 
information provided for in Article 2 and, in an y 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 im port, import trends and the va rious aspects of the economic 
and commercial situation with regard  to the product in question;   
                                                     
 
4 OJ L 67, 10.3.1994, p. 89. G/SG/N/1/EEC/2 
Page 6  
 
  (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.  
 
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 Artic le 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 overa ll impairment in the position of Community 
producers;   
 (b) 'threat of serious injury' means serious  injury that is clearly imminent;   
 
(c) 'Community producers' means the produ cers as a whole of the like or directly 
competing products operating within the terr itory 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 recei pt 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 view s and information are to be taken into 
account during the investigation;   
 (c) state the period within which interested pa rties may apply to be heard orally by the 
Commission in accordance with paragraph 4.  
 
 The Commission shall commence the investig ation, acting in cooperation with the 
Member States.    G/SG/N/1/EEC/2 
 Page 7 
 
 
  2. The Commission shall seek all information it d eems to be necessary and, where it considers it 
appropriate, after consulting the Committee, endea vour 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, provide d 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 th e investigation other than internal documents 
prepared by the authorities of the Community or its Member States, provided that that information is 
relevant to the presentation of their case and not c onfidential within the meaning of Article 9 and that 
it is used by the Commission in the investigation.  
  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 th e time limits set by this Regulation or by the 
Commission pursuant to this Regulation, or the i nvestigation is significantly impeded, findings may 
be made on the basis of the facts available.  Wher e 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 Commi ssion shall submit a report on the results to the 
Committee.   2. Where the Commission considers, within nine m onths of the initiation of the investigation, 
that no Community surveillance or safeguard meas ures are necessary, the i nvestigation shall be 
terminated within a month, the Comm ittee having first been consulted.  
  The decision to terminate the investigation, st ating 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 G/SG/N/1/EEC/2 
Page 8  
 
  be extended by a further maximum period of two m onths;  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 would cause damage which would be difficult to 
repair, making immediate action necessary;  and  
 (b) where a preliminary determination prov ides 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 wh atever investigation measures are still 
necessary.   
4. Should the provisional safeguard measures be rep ealed because no serious injury or threat of 
serious injury exists, the customs duties collected  as a result of the provisional measures shall be 
automatically refunded as soon as possible.  The pro cedure 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 Regula tion 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 na ture received pursuant to this Regulation, or any 
information provided on a confidential basis wit hout specific permission from the supplier of such 
information.   3. Each request for confidentiality  shall state the reasons why the information is confidential.   
 
 However, if it appears that a request for conf identiality is unjustified and if the supplier of the 
information wishes neither to make it public nor to au thorise 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 discl osure is likely to have 
a significantly adverse effect upon the supplie r or the source of such information. 
                                                     
 
5 OJ L 302, 19.10.1992, p. 1.  G/SG/N/1/EEC/2 
 Page 9 
 
 
  5. Paragraphs 1 to 4 shall not preclude refe rence by the Community authorities to general 
information and in particular to reasons on whic h decisions taken pursuant to this Regulation are 
based.  Those authorities shall, however, take into ac count 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 c onditions 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 produc tion 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 pr oducers 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 wh ich are causing or may have caused injury to 
the Community producers concerned.  
 2. Where a threat of serious injury is allege d, the Commission shall also examine whether it is 
clearly foreseeable that a particular situati on 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 th at capacity will be used to export to the 
Community.  G/SG/N/1/EEC/2 
Page 10  
 
   
CHAPTER IV 
 
Surveillance  
 
Article 11  
 
1. Where the trend in imports of a product orig inating in a third country covered by this 
Regulation threatens to cause injury to Communit y producers, and where the interests of the 
Community so require, import of that product may be subject, as appropriate, to:   
 
(a) retrospective Community surveillance carri ed out in accordance with the provisions 
laid down in the decision referred to in paragraph 2;   
 (b) prior Community surveillance carried  out in accordance with Article 12.  
 
2. The decision to impose surveillance shall be  taken by the Commission according to the 
procedure laid down in the second subparagra ph of Article 16(6) and Article 16(7). 
 3. The surveillance measures shall have a limited period of validity.  Unless otherwise provided, 
they shall cease to be valid at the end of the se cond 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 compet ent authority of an application by any Community 
importer, regardless of his place of business in the Co mmunity.  This application shall be deemed to 
have been received by the national competent au thority 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 provides otherwise, the importer's 
application for surveillanc e documents shall contain only the following:   
 
(a) the full name and address of the appli cant (including telephone and fax numbers and 
any number identifying the applicant to th e competent national authority), plus the 
applicant's VAT registration number if he is liable for VAT;   
 
(b) where appropriate, the full name and address of the declarant or of any representative 
appointed by the applicant (includi ng 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/EEC/2 
 Page 11 
 
 
  (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 informati on 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 tran saction is effected exceeds that indicated in the 
surveillance document by less than 5% or that the to tal value or quantity of the products presented for 
import exceeds the value or quantit y given in the surveillance docum ent by less than 5% shall not 
preclude the release for free circulation of the pr oduct in question.  The Commission, having heard the 
opinions expressed in the Committee and taking acc ount 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 su ch 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 imposition 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 certifi cate 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 thereo f 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 compet ent authority may add supplementary copies to 
form 2.   9. Forms shall be printed on white paper fr ee 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, wh ich 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 havi ng the forms printed.  The forms may also be 
printed by printers appointed by the Member State 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. G/SG/N/1/EEC/2 
Page 12  
 
  Article 13 
 
 Where import of a product has not been made subject 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 in troduce surveillance confined to imports into one or more regions 
of the Community.  
 
Article 14  
 
1. Products under regional surveillance may be pu t into free circulation in the region concerned 
only on production of a surveillance document.  Su ch document shall be issued by the competent 
authority designated by the Member State(s) concer ned, 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 receive d 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 th e 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 in itiative, 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 Commun ity in such greatly increased quantities and/or 
on such terms or conditions as to cause, or threaten  to cause, serious injury  to Community producers,  G/SG/N/1/EEC/2 
 Page 13 
 
 
  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 surve illance 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 provisi ons 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 paragra ph 1 shall be taken only 
when the two conditions indicated in the firs t subparagraph of that paragraph are met.  
 
3. If establishing a quota, account shall be taken in particular of:   
 
(a) the desirability of maintaining, as fa r as possible, traditional trade flows;   
 (b) the volume of goods exported under c ontracts 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 achieveme nt 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 pr oduct concerned during a previous representative 
period, due account being taken of any specific fact ors which may have affected or may be affecting 
the trade in the product.    Provided that its obligation to see that cons ultations 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 percenta ge 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 sha ll apply to every product which is put into free 
circulation after their entry into force.  In accordan ce with Article 18 they may be confined to one or 
more regions of the Community.    However, such measures shall not prevent the re lease for free circulation of products already 
on their way to the Community provided that the d estination of such products cannot be changed and G/SG/N/1/EEC/2 
Page 14  
 
  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 th e 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 th e 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 accord ance 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 conditions 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.   
Article 18 
 
 Where it emerges, primarily on the basis of th e factors 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, af ter having examined alternative solutions, may 
exceptionally authorise the application of surveillanc e 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 disrupt 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.  
  G/SG/N/1/EEC/2 
 Page 15 
 
 
  Article 20 
 
1. The duration of safeguard measures must be limi ted to the period of time necessary to prevent 
or remedy serious injury and to facilitate adjustme nt 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) provi ded it is determined that:   
 
(a) the safeguard measure continues to be necess ary to prevent or remedy serious injury;   
 
(b) there is evidence that Commun ity producers are adjusting.  
 3. Extensions shall be adopted in accordance w ith 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 ap plication 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 within th e Committee, either at the request of a Member State 
or on the initiative of the Commission.  If the duratio n 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. 
 2. Where, as a result of the consultations referre d to in paragraph 1, the Commission considers 
that any surveillance or safeguard measure referr ed to in Articles 11, 13, 16, 17 and 18 should be 
revoked or amended, it shall proceed as follows:    
(a) where the measure was en acted 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 surveilla nce measures, it shall apply from the sixth day 
following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .  
 G/SG/N/1/EEC/2 
Page 16  
 
  Article 22 
 
1. Where imports of a product have already b een subject to a safeguard measure, no further 
measure shall be applied to that product until a pe riod 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 a pplied 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 a ppropriate 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 fulfilm ent of obligations arising from special rules 
contained in agreements concluded between  the Community and third countries.  
 
2. Without prejudice to other Community provi sions, this Regulation shall not preclude the 
adoption or application by Member States:   
 (a) of prohibitions, quantitative restricti ons or surveillance measures on grounds of 
public morality, public policy or public secur ity;  the protection of health and life of 
humans, animals or plants, the protec tion of national treasures possessing artistic, 
historic or archaeological value, or th e protection of industrial and commercial 
property;   
 (b) of special formalities concerning foreign exchange;    (c) of formalities introduced pursuant to inte rnational 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 nationa l measures or formalities in question shall be 
communicated to the Commission immediately upon their adoption.  
  G/SG/N/1/EEC/2 
 Page 17 
 
 
  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 operate by wa y of complement to those instruments.  
 
2. In the case of products covered by the instru ments 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 th e acts listed in Annex II, is repealed.  
 
 References to the repealed Regulation shall be  construed as references to this Regulation and 
shall be read in accordance with th e 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 a nd directly applicable in all Member States.  
 Done at Brussels, 26 February 2009.    
 
For the Council 
The President 
I. LANGER 
 
_______________G/SG/N/1/EEC/2 
Page 18  
 
  ANNEX I  
  
 EUROPEAN COMMUNITY 
 SURVEILLANCE DOCUMENT 
1 1. Consignee 2. Issue number 
 (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/representative as applicable 
 (name and full address) 6. Country of origin 
 (and geonomenclature code) 
 
 
   
 7. Country of consignment 
 (and geonomenclature code) 
 
 
   Holder's copy 
 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/EEC/2 
 Page 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) 
  
 
17. In figures  18. In words for the quantity 
attributed 
 19. Customs document  
(form and number) or 
extract No and date 
of attribution  20. Name, Member 
State, stamp and 
signature of the attributing authority  
 
1. 
 
    
2. 
 
    
1. 
     
2. 
 
    
1. 
 
    
2. 
 
    
1. 
     
2. 
 
    
1. 
 
    
2. 
     
1. 
 
    
2. 
 
    
1. 
 
    
2. 
     
 
Extension pages to be attached hereto. G/SG/N/1/EEC/2 
Page 20  
 
   
 EUROPEAN COMMUNITY 
 SURVEILLANCE DOCUMENT 
2 1. Consignee 2. Issue number 
 (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/representative as applicable 
 (name and full address) 6. Country of origin 
 (and geonomenclature code) 
 
 
   
 7. Country of consignment 
 (and geonomenclature code) 
 
 
   Copy for the competent authority 
 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/EEC/2 
 Page 21 
 
 
  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) 
  
 
17. In figures  18. In words for the quantity 
attributed 
 19. Customs document  
(form and number) or 
extract No and date 
of attribution  20. Name, Member 
State, stamp and 
signature of the attributing authority  
 
1. 
 
    
2. 
 
    
1. 
     
2. 
 
    
1. 
 
    
2. 
 
    
1. 
     
2. 
 
    
1. 
 
    
2. 
     
1. 
 
    
2. 
 
    
1. 
 
    
2. 
     
 
Extension pages to be attached hereto. G/SG/N/1/EEC/2 
Page 22  
 
  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/EEC/2 
 Page 23 
 
 
  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 subparagraph, 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  Article 10(2) first subparagraph 
Article 10(2) introductory words, second 
phrase  Article 10(2) second subparagraph, 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) G/SG/N/1/EEC/2 
Page 24  
 
  Regulation (EC) No 3285/94 This Regulation 
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) 
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 
 
 
__________