COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 369/94 of 14 February 1994 opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas for certain agricultural and fishery products originating in Austria, Norway and Sweden
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 Community has concluded Agreements in the form of exchanges of letters in particular with Austria, Norway and Sweden, approved by Decisions 86/555/EEC (1), 86/557/EEC (2) and 86/558/EEC (3);
Whereas the above Agreements have been amended or supplemented by the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and by the bilateral Agreements in the form of exchanges of letters with Austria, Norway and Sweden, and approved by Decisions 93/734/EC (4), 93/737/EC (5) and 93/738/EC (6);
Whereas under the above Agreements the Community has undertaken, subject to certain conditions, to open Community tariff quotas each year at a reduced or zero rate of duty for a number of agriculture and fishery products originating in those countries; whereas the tariff quotas should accordingly be opened for 1994, specifying where necessary any conditions of eligiblity laid down; whereas in the interests of clarity the agricultural products subject to tariff quotas should be set out in Annex I to this Regulation by country of origin, specifying for each product the volume of the tariff quota, the rate of customs duty applicable and the period of validity;
Whereas all Community importers should be ensured equal and continuous access to the quotas and the duty rates laid down for the quotas should be applied without interruption to all imports of the products in question into all Member States until the quotas are exhausted;
Whereas it is the responsibility of the Community to open tariff quotas in performance of its international obligations; whereas in the interests of efficient common management of the quotas, however, there is nothing to prevent the Member States' being authorized to draw from the quotas the quantities necessary to cover actual imports; whereas this method of administration requires close cooperation between the Member States and the Commission, and the latter must in particular be able to monitor the rate at which the quotas are used up and inform the Member States accordingly;
Whereas since the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg are united within, and jointly represented by, the Benelux Economic Union, and any operation concerning the administration of these quota may be carried out by any one of its members,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. From 1 January to 31 December 1994, or for the periods shown in Annex I, the customs duties applicable to the products referred to in this Regulation shall be suspended or reduced to the levels indicated for each product, within the limit of the Community tariff quota shown for each product.
2. Entitlement to the tariff quotas referred to in the Annex by Order Nos 09.0803 and 09.0805 is reserved for wines accompanied by the following document:
- an approved commercial document, completed in accordance with Commission Regulation (EEC) No 986/89, Article 9 (2) (7). In this case the document must include the following endorsement, certified by the competent Austrian organization:
'This wine is a "quality wine/quality sparkling wine" (10)() in conformity with the 1985 Wine Law of the Republic of Austria.
'
Imports of such wines must comply with the free-at-frontier reference price. The tariff quotas will apply only where Article 54 of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 (8) is observed.
3. Imports of products referred to in the Annex under Orders Nos 09.0605, 09.0607, 09.0611, 09.0615,09.0703 and 09.0711 shall not qualify for the tariff quotas unless the free-at-frontier price established by the Member States in accordance with Article 22 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3759/92 of 17 December 1992 on the common organization of the market in fishery and aquaculture products (9) is at least equal to any reference price which has been fixed by the Community for the products or categories of products in question. For the calculation of the reference price, the following coefficients shall be applicable:
- whole herring: 1,
- flaps of herring: 2,32,
- pieces of herring: 1,96.
4. The Protocols on the definition of the concept of originating products and on methods of administrative cooperation annexed to the agreements between the European Community and the Kingdom of Sweden, the Kingdom of Norway and the Republic of Austria shall apply.
Article 2
The tariff quotas referred to in Article 1 shall be administered by the Commission, which may take any appropriate administrative measures in order to ensure efficient administration.
Article 3
Where an importer declares a product covered by the Regulation for free circulation in a Member State and applies to take advantage of the preferential arrangements, and that declaration is accepted by the customs authorities, the Member State concerned shall, by notifying the Commission, draw an amount corresponding to its requirements from the quota volume.
Requests for drawings, indicating the date of acceptance of the said declarations, must be sent to the Commission without delay.
The drawings shall be granted by the Commission by reference to the date of acceptance of the declaration for free circulation by the customs authorities of the Member State concerned, to the extent that the available balance so permits.
If a Member State does not use the quantities drawn, it shall return them to the corresponding quota volume as soon as possible.
If the quantities requests are greater than the available balance of the quota volume, the balance shall be allocated on a pro rata basis. The Commission shall inform the Member States of the drawings made.
Article 4
Each Member State shall guarantee importers of the products in question equal and continuous access to the quotas as long as the balance of the corresponding quota volume allows.
Article 5
Member States and the Commission shall cooperate closely in order to ensure compliance with this Regulation.
Article 6
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
It shall be apply as from 1 January 1994.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 14 February 1994.