COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 653/94 of 21 March 1994 establishing ceilings and Community surveillance for imports of certain products originating in the Republics of Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (1994)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 113 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Whereas the Cooperation Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Republic of Slovenia which was signed on 5 April 1993 (1), the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Republic of Slovenia on textile trade, which was initialled on 23 July 1993, and Council Regulation (EC) No 3698/93 of 22 December 1993 concerning the arrangements applicable to the import into the Community of products originating in the Republics of Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (2) provide for exemption from customs duty and charges having an equivalent effect for almost all products falling within Chapters 25 to 97 of the combined nomenclature and originating in those Republics; whereas
Article 16
of the Cooperation Agreement, Article 15 of the Agreement on trade in textile products and Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 3698/93 stipulate that imports of the products listed in Annexes C I to C IV of that Regulation should be subject to annual import ceilings, the exceeding of which may result in re-introduction of the customs duties applicable to third countries; whereas, under these circumstances, the Commission must be kept regularly informed of the trend of imports of the said products; whereas it is therefore necessary for imports of those products to be subject to surveillance; whereas the said tariff ceilings should therefore be opened for 1994;
Whereas Community surveillance may be achieved by means of an administrative procedure based on charging imports of the products in question against the ceilings at Community level as and when those products are entered with the customs authorities for free circulation; whereas this administrative procedure must make provision for the possibility of re-introducing customs duties as soon as the ceilings are reached at Community level;
Whereas this administrative procedure requires close and particularly rapid cooperation between the Member States and the Commission and the latter must in particular be able to follow the progress of quantities charged against the ceilings and keep the Member States informed; whereas this cooperation has to be particularly close since the Commission must be able to take appropriate measures to re-introduce customs duties if one of the ceilings is reached,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. From 1 January to 31 December 1994 imports into the Community of certain products originating in the Republics of Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia and the former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia and listed in Annexes C I, C II, C III and C IV to Regulation (EC) No 3698/93 and in Annex V of the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Republic of Slovenia on textile trade shall be subject to ceilings and Community surveillance.
The description of the products referred to in the first subparagraph, their combined nomenclature codes and the corresponding ceilings or sub-ceilings are set out in the said Annexes. In Annex C II, the ceilings are indicated in column 4 (b).
The order numbers and combined nomenclature codes for the tariff ceilings opened by virtue of Annex V to the said Agreement with the Republic of Slovenia are indicated in the Annex to this Regulation.
2. The ceilings laid down for certain products listed in Annex C II which have been the subject of an outward processing operation in accordance with the Community rules on economic outward processing are indicated in column 4 (a).
3. Quantities shall be charged against the ceilings or sub-ceilings as and when the products are entered with customs authorities for free circulation accompanied by a movement certificate in accordance with the rules of origin adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 14 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 802/68 of 27 June 1968 on the common definition of the concept of origin of goods (3).
With regard to the ceilings established for categories 5, 6, 7, 8, 15 and 16 of column 4 (a) of Annex C II, re-imported goods which have been the subject of an outward processing operation in accordance with the Community rules on economic outward processing may be charged against the respective ceilings only if the movement certificate issued by the competent authorities of the Republic or territory in question contains a reference to the prior authorization provided for by the Community rules on economic outward processing.
Goods may be charged against a ceiling or sub-ceiling only if the movement certificate is presented before the date on which customs duties are re-introduced.
The extent to which the ceilings and sub-ceilings are used up shall be determined at Community level on the basis of the imports charged against them in the manner defined in the first, second and third subparagraphs.
Member States shall periodically inform the Commission of imports charged in accordance with the above procedure; such information shall be supplied in the manner laid down in paragraph 5.
4. As soon as the ceilings or sub-ceilings have been reached, the Commission may adopt a Regulation re-introducing, until the end of the calendar year, the customs duties actually applied in respect of third countries.
5. Member States shall send the Commission not later than the 15th day of each month statements of the quantities charged during the preceding month. If the Commission so requests, they shall provide such statements for a period of 10 days and forward them within five clear days of the end of each 10-day period.
Article 2
The Member States and the Commission shall cooperate closely to ensure that this Regulation is complied with.
Article 3
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
It shall apply with effect from 1 January 1994.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 21 March 1994.