# EUR-Lex - 52014PC0323 - EN

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# 52014PC0323

**Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on common rules for imports from certain third countries (recast) /* COM/2014/0323 final - 2014/0168 (COD) */**

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EXPLANATORY
MEMORANDUM

1.           In the context of a people’s
Europe, the Commission attaches great importance to simplifying and clarifying
the law of the Union so as to make it clearer and more accessible to citizens,
thus giving them new opportunities and the chance to make use of the specific
rights it gives them.

This aim cannot be achieved so
long as numerous provisions that have been amended several times, often quite
substantially, remain scattered, so that they must be sought partly in the
original instrument and partly in later amending ones. Considerable research
work, comparing many different instruments, is thus needed to identify the
current rules.

For this reason a codification
of rules that have frequently been amended is also essential if the law is to
be clear and transparent.

2.           On 1 April 1987 the Commission
decided[1]
to instruct its staff that all acts should be codified after no more
than ten amendments, stressing that this is a minimum requirement and that
departments should endeavour to codify at even shorter intervals the texts for
which they are responsible, to ensure that their provisions are clear and
readily understandable.

3.           The Conclusions of the Presidency
of the Edinburgh European Council (December 1992) confirmed this[2], stressing the
importance of codification as it offers certainty as to the law
applicable to a given matter at a given time.

Codification must be undertaken
in full compliance with the normal procedure for the adoption of acts of the Union.

4.           The purpose of this proposal is
to undertake a codification of Council Regulation (EC)
No 625/2009 of 7 July 2009 on common rules for imports from certain third
countries[3]. The new Regulation will supersede the various acts incorporated in
it[4], fully preserving the
content of the acts being codified. At the same time, it is also appropriate to
delete certain third countries from Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 625/2009, to
correct an error contained in the act that amended that Regulation and to
repeal Regulation (EC) No 427/2003.
Therefore, the proposal is being presented in the form of a recast.

5.           The recast proposal was
drawn up on the basis of a preliminary consolidation, in
22 official languages, of Regulation (EC) No 625/2009
and the instrument amending it, carried out by the
Publications Office of the European Union, by means of a data‐processing
system. Where the Articles have been given new numbers, the correlation
between the old and the new numbers is shown in a table set out in Annex IV
to the recast Regulation.

ê 625/2009
(adapted)

2014/0168 (COD)

Proposal for a

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
AND OF THE COUNCIL

on common rules for imports from certain
third countries (recast)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE
COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty Ö on the
Functioning of the European Union Õ , and in
particular Article Ö 207(2) Õ thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the
European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative
act to the national Parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the
European Economic and Social Committee[5],

Acting in accordance with the ordinary
legislative procedure,

Whereas:

ò new

(1)       Council Regulation (EC) No 625/2009[6] has been substantially amended[7]. Since further amendments are to
be made, that Regulation
should be recast in the interests of clarity.

ê 625/2009
recital 2

(2)       The
common commercial policy should be based on uniform principles.

ê 625/2009 recital 5 (adapted)

(3)       Uniformity
in the rules for imports should be Ö assured Õ by laying
down, as far as possible given the particular features of the economic system
in the third countries in question, provisions similar to those applied under
the common rules for other third countries.

ê 625/2009
recital 6

(4)       The
common rules applicable to imports also apply to coal and steel products,
without prejudice to any measures implementing an agreement relating
specifically to such products.

ê 625/2009 recital 7 (adapted)

(5)       The
liberalisation of imports, namely the absence of any quantitative restrictions,
should therefore form the starting point for the Ö Union Õ rules.

ê 625/2009
recital 8

(6)       In
the case of some products, the Commission should examine import terms and
conditions, import trends, the various aspects of the economic and commercial
situation, and the measures, if any, to be taken.

ê 625/2009 recital 9 (adapted)

(7)       For
those products, it may become apparent that there should be Ö Union Õ surveillance
over certain of these imports.

ê 625/2009
recital 10 (adapted)

(8)       It
is for the Commission to adopt the safeguard measures Ö required Õ by the interests of the Ö Union Õ with due
regard for existing international obligations.

ê 625/2009 recital 11 (adapted)

(9)       Surveillance
or safeguard measures confined to one or more regions of the Ö Union Õ may prove more
suitable than measures applying to the whole Ö Union Õ . 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.

ê 625/2009
recital 12 (adapted)

(10)     If Ö Union Õ surveillance
is applied, release for free circulation of the products concerned should be
made subject to presentation 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 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.

ê 625/2009 recital 13 (adapted)

(11)     In
the interests of good administrative management and to assist Ö Union Õ operators, the
content and layout of the surveillance document should be aligned as far as possible
with the common import licence forms provided for in Commission Regulation (EC)
No 738/94[8], Commission Regulation (EC) No 3168/94[9], and Commission Regulation (EC) No 3169/94[10], bearing in mind the technical characteristics of the surveillance
document.

ê 625/2009
recital 14 (adapted)

(12)     It
is in the interests of the Ö Union Õ that the Member States and the Commission should make as full as possible an exchange of information
resulting from Ö Union Õ surveillance.

ê 625/2009 recital 15

(13)     It
is necessary to adopt precise criteria for assessing possible injury and to
introduce an investigation while still allowing the Commission to introduce
appropriate measures in urgent cases.

ê 625/2009
recital 16 (adapted)

(14)     To
this end, detailed provisions should be Ö laid down Õ on the opening of investigations, on the checks and inspections
required, on the hearing of those concerned, the treatment of information
obtained and the criteria for assessing injury.

ê 625/2009 recital 17 (adapted)

(15)     The
provisions on investigations Ö laid down
in Õ this
Regulation Ö are
without Õ prejudice Ö to Union Õ or national
rules concerning professional secrecy.

ê 625/2009
recital 18

(16)     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.

ê 625/2009 recital 19 (adapted)

(17)     In
the interests of uniformity in rules for imports, the formalities to be carried
out by importers should be Ö simple Õ and identical 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 this Regulation.

ê 625/2009
recital 20 (adapted)

(18)     Surveillance
documents issued in connection with Ö Union Õ surveillance
measures should be valid throughout the Ö Union Õ, irrespective
of the Member State of issue.

ê 625/2009 recital 21 (adapted)

(19)     The
textile products falling under Council Regulation (EC) No 517/94[11] are subject to specific treatment at Ö Union Õ and
international levels. They should therefore be completely excluded from the
scope of this Regulation.

ò new

(20)     The power to amend the list of third
countries in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 625/2009 was included
in Council Regulation (EC) No 427/2003[12].
Since the provisions of Title I of Regulation (EC) No 427/2003 on the
transitional product‐specific safeguard mechanism expired on 11 December 2013
and the provisions of Title II of that Regulation are now obsolete, it is
appropriate, in the interest of coherence, clarity and rationality, to
incorporate Articles 14a and 14b of that Regulation into this Regulation. Regulation (EC)
No 427/2003 should therefore be repealed.

ê 37/2014
Art. 1 and Annex .9 (adapted)

(21)     The
Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with
Article 290 of the Treaty for the purpose of amending Annex I to Ö this Õ Regulation, in
order to remove countries from the list of third countries contained in that
Annex when they become members of the Ö World Trade Organization Õ (WTO).

ê 37/2014
Art. 1 and Annex .20 (adapted)

(22)     Ö The Õ implementation
Ö of this Regulation Õ requires
uniform conditions for adopting provisional and definitive safeguard measures,
and for the imposition of prior surveillance measures. Those measures should be
adopted by the Commission in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011
of the European Parliament and of the Council[13].

(23)     The
advisory procedure should be used for the adoption of surveillance and
provisional measures given the effects of such measures and their sequential
logic in relation to the adoption of definitive safeguard measures. Where a
delay in the imposition of measures would cause damage which would be difficult
to repair, it is necessary to allow the Commission to adopt immediately
applicable provisional measures.

ò new

(24)     When Regulation (EC) No 625/2009
was amended, the second subparagraph of Article 18(2) was erroneously deleted.
That provision should be reinserted.

(25)     As Armenia, Russia, Tajikistan and Vietnam have become members of the WTO, those third countries need to be deleted from
Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 625/2009 by means of a Commission
delegated act. In the interest of clarity and rationality, they are not
included in the list of third countries now set out in Annex I to this
Regulation,

ê 625/2009
(adapted)

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Article 1

1. This Regulation applies to imports of
products originating in the third countries referred to in Annex I, with
the exception of textile products covered by Regulation (EC) No 517/94.

2. Imports into the Ö Union Õ of the
products referred to in paragraph 1 shall take place freely and so shall not be
subject to any quantitative restrictions, without prejudice to the measures
which may be taken under Chapter V.

CHAPTER II

Ö UNION Õ INFORMATION AND CONSULTATION PROCEDURE

Article 2

The Commission
shall be informed by the Member States if trends in imports appear to call for
surveillance or safeguard measures. This information shall contain the
available evidence on the basis of the criteria laid down in Article 6.
The Commission shall pass on this information to all Member States forthwith.

CHAPTER III

Ö UNION Õ INVESTIGATION PROCEDURE

Article 3

ê 37/2014
Art. 1 and Annex .20(3)

1. Where it is apparent to the Commission
that there is sufficient evidence to justify an investigation, the Commission
shall initiate an investigation within one month of the date of receipt of
information from a Member State and publish a notice in the Official Journal
of the European Union. That notice shall:

ê 625/2009
(adapted)

(a)          give a summary of the information
received, and Ö require Õ 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.

ê 37/2014
Art. 1 and Annex .20(3)

The Commission shall provide information to
the Member States concerning its analysis of the information normally within 21
days of the date on which the information is provided to the Commission.

2. The Commission shall seek all
information it deems necessary and, where it considers it appropriate,
endeavour to check that information with importers, traders, agents, producers,
trade associations and organisations.

ê 625/2009
(adapted)

The Commission shall be assisted in this
task by staff of the Member State on whose territory these checks are being
carried out, provided Ö that Õ this Member
State so wishes.

Interested parties which have made
themselves known in accordance with the first subparagraph of paragraph 1, as
well as the representatives of the exporting country, may inspect all
information made available to the Commission within the framework of the
investigation, as distinct from internal documents prepared by the authorities
of the Ö Union Õ or its Member
States, provided that it is relevant to the defence of their interests and not
confidential within the meaning of Article 5 and that it is used by the
Commission in the investigation. To this end, they shall address a written
request to the Commission indicating the information required.

3. 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. The Commission may hear the interested
parties. Such parties must be heard where they have applied in writing within
the period 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 investigations and that there are special
reasons for them to be heard orally.

5. Where information is not supplied within
the time-limits set by this Regulation or by the Commission Ö pursuant
to Õ this
Regulation, or the investigation is significantly impeded, findings may be made
on the basis of the facts available. Where 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.

ê 37/2014
Art. 1 and Annex .20(3)

6. Where it appears to the Commission that
there is insufficient evidence to justify an investigation, it shall inform the
Member States of its decision within one month of the date of receipt of the
information from the Member States.

ê 625/2009
(adapted)

è1 37/2014 Art. 1 and Annex .20(4)

Article 4

1. At the end of the investigation, the
Commission shall submit a report on the results to the Committee.

è1 2. Where the Commission considers, within nine
months of the initiation of the investigation, that no Union surveillance or
safeguard measures are necessary, the investigation shall be terminated within
a month. The Commission shall terminate the investigation in accordance with
the advisory procedure referred to in Article 22(2). ç 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 Ö Union Õ 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 period 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.

4. The provisions of this Chapter shall not
preclude the taking, at any time, of surveillance measures in accordance with
Articles 7 to 12 or, where a critical situation, in which any delay would cause
injury which it would be difficult to remedy, calls for immediate intervention,
safeguard measures in accordance with Articles 13, 14 and 15.

The Commission shall immediately take the
investigation measures it considers to be still necessary. The results of the
investigation shall be used to re-examine the measures taken.

Article 5

1. Information received Ö pursuant to Õ this Regulation shall be used only for the purpose for which it was
requested.

ê 37/2014
Art. 1 and Annex .20(5)

2. The Commission and the Member States, including the officials of either, shall not 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.

ê 625/2009
(adapted)

3. Each request for confidentiality shall
state the 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 Ö Union Õ authorities to
general information and in particular to reasons on which decisions taken in
pursuance of this Regulation are based. These authorities Ö shall Õ, however, take
into account the legitimate interests of the legal and natural persons
concerned that their business secrets should not be divulged.

Article 6

1. Examination of the trend in imports, of
the conditions in which they take place and of the serious injury or threat of
serious injury to Ö Union Õ 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 Ö Union Õ ;

(b)          the price of the imports, in
particular where there has been a significant price undercutting as compared
with the price of a like product in the Ö Union Õ ;

(c)          the consequent impact on the Ö Union Õ producers of
similar or directly competitive products as indicated by trends in certain
economic factors such as:

– 
production,

– 
Ö capacity Õ 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.

2. In conducting the investigation, the
Commission shall take account of the particular economic system of the
countries referred to in Annex I.

3. 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 Ö Union Õ ;

(b)          the export capacity in the
country of origin or export, already in existence or which will be operational
in the foreseeable future, and the likelihood that the resulting exports will
be to the Ö Union Õ.

CHAPTER IV

SURVEILLANCE

Article 7

1. Where the Ö Union’s Õ interests so
require, the Commission may, at the request of a Member State or on its own
initiative:

(a)          decide to introduce retrospective
Ö Union Õ surveillance
of certain imports, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the
Commission;

(b)          decide, for the purposes of
monitoring the trend of these imports, to make certain imports subject to prior
Ö Union Õ surveillance,
in accordance with Article 8.

ê 37/2014
Art. 1 and Annex .20(6)

2. Decisions adopted pursuant to paragraph
1 shall be taken by the Commission in accordance with the advisory procedure
referred to in Article 22(2).

ê 625/2009
(adapted)

3. The surveillance measures shall have a
limited period of validity. Unless otherwise Ö provided Õ 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 8

1. Products under prior Ö Union Õ surveillance
may be put into free circulation only on production of a surveillance document.
That 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 following receipt by the national competent authority of an
application by any Ö Union Õ importer,
regardless of his place of business in the Ö Union Õ . That
application shall be deemed to be received by the national competent authority
no later than three working days after submission, unless it is proven
otherwise.

2. The surveillance document shall be made
out on a form corresponding to the model in Annex II.

Except where the decision to impose
surveillance provides otherwise, the importer’s application for a surveillance
document shall contain only the following:

(a)          the full name and address of the
applicant (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
and 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,

– 
combined nomenclature code,

– 
place of origin and place of consignment,

(d)          the quantity declared, in
kilograms and, where appropriate, any other additional units (pairs, items,
etc.);

(e)          the value of the goods, CIF at Ö Union Õ 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 Ö Union Õ .’

3. The surveillance document shall be valid
throughout the Ö Union Õ , 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 the liberalisation of imports remain in force
in respect of the transactions concerned. Ö Such Õ surveillance documents may not in any event be used beyond the
expiry of the 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 under Article 7
so requires, the origin of products under Ö Union Õ surveillance
must be proven by a certificate of origin. This paragraph shall not prejudice
other provisions concerning the production of any such certificate.

7. Where the product under prior Ö Union Õ surveillance
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
thereof 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 and 65
grams per square metre. Their size shall be 210 × 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 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.

Article 9

Where the Ö Union’s Õ interests so
require, the Commission may, at the request of a Member State or on its own
initiative, if the situation referred to in Article 13(1) is likely to
arise:

– 
limit the period of validity of any surveillance
document required,

ê 37/2014 Art. 1
and Annex .20(7)

– 
make the issue of that document subject to
certain conditions and, as an exceptional measure, subject to the insertion of
a revocation clause.

ê 37/2014
Art. 1 and Annex .20(8)

Article 10

Where the import of a product has not been
made subject to prior Union surveillance, the Commission may introduce, by
means of implementing acts in accordance with the advisory procedure referred
to in Article 22(2) and in accordance with Article 15, surveillance confined to
imports into one or more regions of the Union.

ê 625/2009
(adapted)

Article 11

1. Products under regional surveillance may
be put into free circulation in the region concerned only on production of a
surveillance document. Ö Such Õ 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 Ö Union Õ importer,
regardless of his place of business in the Ö Union Õ . That
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 8(2) shall apply.

Article
12

1. Member States shall communicate to the
Commission within the first ten days of each month in the case of Ö Union Õ 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.

CHAPTER V

SAFEGUARD MEASURES

Article 13

1. Where a product is imported into the Ö Union Õ in such
greatly increased quantities or on such terms or conditions as to cause, or
threaten to cause, serious injury to Ö Union Õ producers of
like or directly competing products, the Commission, in order to safeguard the
interests of the Ö Union Õ , may, acting
at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, alter the import
rules for that product by providing that it may be put into free circulation
only 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.

ê 37/2014
Art. 1 and Annex .20(9)

2. The measures adopted shall be communicated
forthwith to the Member States and shall take effect immediately.

ê 625/2009
(adapted)

3. 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 15 they may be confined to one or
more regions of the Ö Union Õ .

However,
such measures shall not prevent the release for free circulation of products
already on their way to the Ö Union Õ provided that
the destination of such products cannot be changed and that those products
which, under Articles 8 and 11, may be put into free circulation only on
production of a surveillance document are in fact accompanied by such a
document.

ê 37/2014
Art. 1 and Annex .20(9)

4. Where intervention by the Commission has
been requested by a Member State, the Commission, acting in accordance with the
examination procedure referred to in Article 22(3), or, in cases of urgency, in
accordance with Article 22(4), shall take a decision within a maximum of five
working days of the date of receipt of such a request.

ê 625/2009

Article 14

ê 37/2014
Art. 1 and Annex .20(10)

1. The Commission may, in particular in the
situation referred to in Article 13(1), adopt appropriate safeguard measures
acting in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 22(3).

ê 625/2009
(adapted)

2. Article 13(3) shall apply.

Article 15

Where, on the basis, in particular, of the
factors referred to in Article 6, it emerges that the conditions laid down for
the adoption of measures under Chapter IV and Article 13 are met in one or more
regions of the Ö Union Õ , 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 Ö Union Õ .

Those measures must be temporary and must
disrupt the operation of the internal market as little as possible.

Those measures shall be adopted in
accordance with the procedures laid down in Articles 7 and 13 respectively.

ê 37/2014
Art. 1 and Annex .20(11)

Article 16

1. While any surveillance or safeguard
measure applied in accordance with Chapters IV and V is in operation, the
Commission may, either at the request of a Member State or on its own
initiative:

(a)          examine the effects of the
measure;

(b)          ascertain whether the application
of the measure is still necessary.

Where the Commission considers that the
application of the measure is still necessary, it shall inform the Member States
accordingly.

2. Where the Commission considers that any
surveillance or safeguard measure referred to in Chapters IV and V should
be revoked or amended, it shall, acting in accordance with the examination
procedure referred to in Article 22(3), revoke or amend the measure.

ò new

Where such a
decision concerns regional surveillance measures, it shall apply from the sixth
day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Union.

ê 625/2009
(adapted)

CHAPTER VI

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 17

1. This Regulation shall not preclude the
fulfilment of obligations arising from special rules contained in agreements
concluded between the Ö Union Õ and third
countries.

2. Without prejudice to other Ö Union Õ provisions,
this Regulation shall not preclude the adoption or application by Member States
of:

(a)          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)          special formalities concerning
foreign exchange;

(c)          formalities introduced pursuant
to international agreements in accordance with the Treaty.

The Member States shall inform the
Commission of the measures or formalities to be introduced or amended in
accordance with Ö the first subparagraph Õ.

In the event of extreme urgency, the
national measures or formalities in question shall be communicated to the
Commission immediately upon their adoption.

ê 37/2014
Art. 1 and Annex .20(12)

Article 18

The Commission shall include information on
the implementation of this Regulation in its annual report on the application
and implementation of trade defence measures presented to the European Parliament
and to the Council pursuant to Article 22a of Council Regulation (EC)
No 1225/2009[14].

ê 625/2009
(adapted)

Article 19

1. This Regulation shall be without
prejudice to the operation of the instruments establishing the common
organisation of agricultural markets or of Ö Union Õ or national
administrative provisions derived therefrom or of the specific instruments
adopted under Article Ö 352 Õ of the Treaty
applicable to goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products. It
shall operate by way of complement to those instruments.

2. In the case of products covered by the
instruments referred to in paragraph 1, Articles 7 to 12 and Article 16 shall
not apply to those in respect of which the Ö Union Õ rules on trade
with third countries require the production of a licence or other import
document.

Articles 13, 15 and 16 shall not apply to
those products in respect of which such rules make provision for the
application of quantitative import restrictions.

ê 37/2014
Art. 1 and Annex .9(7)

Article 20

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt
delegated acts in accordance with Article 21 concerning amendments of Annex I,
in order to remove countries from the list of third countries contained in that
Annex when they become members of the WTO.

Article 21

1. The power to adopt delegated acts is
conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this
Article.

2. The power to adopt delegated acts
referred to in Article 20 shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of
five years from 20 February 2014. The Commission shall draw up a report in
respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of
the five-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for
periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council
opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each
period.

3. The delegation of power referred to in
Article 20 may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the
Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of power
specified in that decision. It shall take effect on the day following the
publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union
or on a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any
delegated acts already in force.

4. As soon as it adopts a delegated act,
the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament
and to the Council.

5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to
Article 20 shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed
either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of two
months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the
Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament
and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object.
That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament
or of the Council.

ê 37/2014
Art. 1 and Annex .20(2)

Article 22

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the
Committee on Safeguards established by Regulation (EU) No [.../...] of
the European Parliament and of the Council[15]. That Committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU)
No 182/2011.

2. Where reference is made to this
paragraph, Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

3. Where reference is made to this
paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

4. Where reference is made to this
paragraph, Article 8 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011, in conjunction
with Article 5 thereof, shall apply.

ê 625/2009
(adapted)

Article 23

Ö Regulations Õ (EC) No Ö 427/2003
and (EC) No 625/2009 are Õ repealed.

References to the repealed Ö Regulations Õ shall be
construed as references to this Regulation and Ö shall Õ be read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex IV.

Article 24

This Regulation shall enter into force on
the Ö twentieth Õ day following Ö that
of Õ 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,

For the
European Parliament                         For the Council

The President                                                 The
President

[1]               COM(87) 868 PV.

[2]               See Annex 3 to Part A of the Conclusions.

[3]               Entered in the legislative programme for 2014.

[4]               See Annex III to this proposal.

[5]               OJ C [...], [...], p. [...].

[6]               Council
Regulation (EC) No 625/2009 of 7 July 2009 on common rules for
imports from certain third countries (OJ L 185, 17.7.2009, p. 1).

[7]               See Annex III.

[8]               Commission Regulation (EC) No 738/94 of 30 March 1994 laying down certain rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 520/94 establishing a Community procedure for administering quantitative quotas (OJ L 87, 31.3.1994, p. 47).

[9]               Commission Regulation (EC) No 3168/94 of 21 December 1994 establishing in the field of application of Council Regulation (EC) No 517/94 on common rules for imports of textile products from third countries not covered by bilateral agreements, protocols or other arrangements or by other specific Community import rules a Community import licence (OJ
L 335, 23.12.1994, p. 23).

[10]             Commission Regulation (EC) No 3169/94 of 21 December 1994 amending Annex III to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3030/93 on common rules for imports of certain textile products from third countries and establishing in the field of application of the Regulation a Community import licence (OJ L 335, 23.12.1994, p. 33).

[11]             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 (OJ L 67, 10.3.1994, p. 1).

[12]             Council Regulation (EC)
No 427/2003 of 3 March 2003 on a transitional product-specific safeguard
mechanism for imports originating in the People's Republic of China and amending Regulation (EC) No 519/94 on common rules for imports from
certain third countries (OJ L 65, 8.3.2003, p. 1).

[13]             Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers (OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13).

[14]             Council Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009 of 30
November 2009 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members
of the European Community (OJ L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 51).

[15]             Regulation (EU) No [.../...] of [...] of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for imports (OJ L [...], [...], p. [...]).

ê 625/2009
(adapted)

ANNEX I

LIST OF THIRD COUNTRIES

Armenia

Azerbaijan

Belarus

Kazakhstan

North Korea

Russia

Tajikistan

Turkmenistan

Uzbekistan

Vietnam

______________

ANNEX
II

é

ANNEX III

Repealed
Regulation with the amendment thereto

Council Regulation (EC) No 625/2009 (OJ L 185, 17.7.2009, p. 1) || ||

|| Regulation (EU) No 37/2014 of the     European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 18, 21.1.2014, p. 1) || Only point 9(7) and point 20 of the Annex

_____________

ANNEX IV

Correlation
Table

Regulation (EC) No 625/2009 || Regulation (EC) No 427/2003 || This Regulation

Article 1 || || Article 1

Article 2 || || Article 2

Article 4 || || Article 22

Article 5 || || Article 3

Article 6 || || Article 4

Article 7 || || Article 5

Article 8 || || Article 6

Article 9(1) || || Article 7(1)

Article 9(1a) || || Article 7(2)

Article 9(2) || || Article 7(3)

Article 10 || || Article 8

Article 11 || || Article 9

Article 12 || || Article 10

Article 13 || || Article 11

Article 14 || || Article 12

Article 15 || || Article 13

Article 16 || || Article 14

Article 17 || || Article 15

Article 18 || || Article 16

Article 19 || || Article 17

Article 19a || || Article 18

Article 20 || || Article 19

|| Articles 1 to 14 || -

|| Article 14a || Article 20

|| Article 14b || Article 21

|| Articles 15 to 24 || -

Article 21 || || Article 23

Article 22 || || Article 24

Annex I || || Annex I

Annex II || || Annex II

Annex III || || Annex III

Annex IV || || Annex IV

|| Annex I || -

|| Annex II || -

_____________