COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 4246/88 of 21 December 1988 opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas for certain fisheries products originating in the Canary Islands (1989)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
Having regard to the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal, and in particular Article 3 of Protocol 2 thereto,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Whereas Article 3 of Protocol 2 and Article 10 of Protocol 3 to the Act of Accession provide that, within the limits of annual Community tariff quotas, fisheries products listed in the Annex and originating in the Canary Islands or Ceuta and Melilla are to qualify for reductions in duties when imported into the customs territory of the Community with the exception of Spain; whereas this tariff preference applies only to products which have been imported during 1982, 1983 or 1984; whereas there is no trade in the said products originating in Ceuta and Melilla and thus no need to open quotas for these products originating in those territories; whereas, calculated on the basis of the abovementioned Article 3, the quota volumes for these products originating in the Canary Islands are as follows:
- 604 tonnes of certain products falling within CN code ex 0301, ex 0302, ex 0303 or ex 0304,
- 3 429 tonnes of certain products falling within CN code ex 0306 or ex 0307,
- 539 tonnes of certain products falling within CN codes 1604 11 00 to 1604 30 90, and - 227 tonnes of products falling within CN code 2301 20 00;
Whereas there are no imports of the other products;
Whereas the products imported under these quotas are to qualify for the progressive reduction in customs duties according to the same timetable and under the same conditions as provided for in Article 173 of the Act of Accession, provided the reference prices are observed; whereas, by virtue of Regulation (EEC) No 3482/88 (1), the customs duty applicable to the import into the Community of Ten, of prepared or preserved sardines of the species Sardina pilchardus, coming from Spain, shall be subject to a flat-rate reduction of five points; whereas, however, where the products concerned are imported into Portugal, the duties applicable are to be calculated in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Act of Accession;
Whereas, by Council Regulation (EEC) No 839/88 of 28 March 1988 totally suspending certain customs duties applicable by the Community as constituted on 31 December 1985 to imports from Spain and Portugal (2), the collection of customs duties applicable in the Community of Ten pursuant to the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal to fishery products, imported from Spain and Portugal, shall be totally suspended as soon as they fall to the level of 2 % or less;
Whereas it is possible that for certain products indicated in the Annex to this Regulation the Community adopts a more favourable tariff regime to that currently applicable, in the framework of quotas or tariff suspensions; whereas it is appropriate, in the context, to grant to products originating in the Canary Islands treatment as favourable as that given to the same products from that part of Spain included in the customs territory of the Community, as is provided for in Article 3 of Protocol 2 of the Act of Accession;
Whereas equal and continuous access to the said quotas should be ensured for all Community importers and the rates laid down for the quotas should be applied consistently to all imports of the products in question into all Member States until the quotas are exhausted; whereas these quotas should not be allocated among the Member States, without prejudice to the drawing against the quota volumes of such quantities as they may need under the conditions and according to the procedure laid down in Article 2 (1); 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 quota is used and inform the Member States accordingly;
Whereas if, during the quota period, the tariff quota is almost totally used up, it is indispensable that Member States return to this quota the entirety of the drawings made which have not been used, in order to avoid one part of the Community tariff quota remaining unused in one Member State when it could be used in others;
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, any operation concerning the administration of the quota shares levied by that economic union may be carried out by any one of its members,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1 1. From 1 January to 31 December 1989 the customs duties applicable to imports into the Community with the exception of Spain of the products originating in the Canary Islands listed in the Annex shall be suspended at the levels indicated and within the limits of the Community tariff quotas shown.
Within the limits of these tariff quotas the Portuguese Republic shall apply customs duties calculated in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Act of Accession.
2. In order to qualify for these tariff quotas the products concerned must observe the reference prices which apply to them.
3. In whatever state the fisheries products referred to in this Article are presented, to the exclusion of flours, meals and pellets, of fish, crustaceans or molluscs, falling within CN code ex 2301 20 00, they shall not qualify for the tariff quotas unless, when they are presented to the authorities responsible for the import formalities with a view to their entry for free circulation in the customs territory of the Community, they are presented in packagings which bear in a clearly visible and perfectly legible form:
- the words ´Origin: Canary Islands' or ´Origin: Ceuta and Melilla' or the equivalent thereof in another official Community language printed in Roman type at least 20 millimetres high, and - the net weight in kilograms of the fish contained in the packagings.
In addition, the immediate packings of pre-packaged foodstuffs falling within CN codes 1604 11 00 to 1604 30 90 must bear the words ´Made in the Canary Islands' or ´Made in Ceuta and Melilla' or the equivalent thereof in another official Community language in a clearly visible, perfectly legible and indelible form.
This paragraph shall apply without prejudice to the specific rules contained in Council Regulation (EEC) No 103/76 of 19 January 1976 laying down common marketing standards for certain fresh or chilled fish (3), and Council Regulation (EEC) No 104/76 of 19 January 1976 laying down common marketing standards for shrimps of the genus ´Crangon' spp. (4), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 3940/87 (5).
4. In case of modification or full or partial suspension of the customs duties applicable to the third countries for one of the products indicated in the Annex to this Regulation, the duties applicable to this product originating in the Canary Islands must automatically be equal to those applicable to the same product coming from that part of Spain included in the customs territory of the Community.
Article 2 1. If an importer gives notification of imminent imports of the products in question into a Member State and applies to take advantage of the quotas, the Member State concerned shall inform the Commission and draw an amount corresponding to its requirements to the extent that the available balance of the quotas so permits.
2. Without prejudice to Article 3, shares drawn pursuant to paragraph 1 shall be valid until the end of the quota period.
Article 3 1. Once at least 80 % of the tariff quota as defined in Article 1 (1) has been used up, the Commission shall notify the Member States thereof.
2. It shall also notify Member States in this case of the date from which drawings on the tariff quota must be made according to the following provision:
If an importer presents in a Member State a declaration of entry into free circulation including a request for preferential benefit for a product covered by this Regulation, and if this declaration is accepted by the customs authorities, the Member State concerned shall draw from the tariff quota, by means of notification to the Commission, a quantity corresponding to these needs.
The requests for drawing, with the indication of the date of acceptance of the said declarations, must be communicated to the Commission without delay.
The drawings are granted by the Commission on the basis of the date of acceptance of the declaration of entry into 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 as soon as possible to the tariff quota.
If the quantities requested are greater than the available balance of the quota, allocation shall be made on a pro rata basis with respect to the requests. Member States shall be informed by the Commission in accordance with the same procedures.
3. Within a time limit laid down by the Commission starting from the date referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 2, Member States shall be required to return to the tariff quota all the quantities which have not been used on that date, within the meaning of Article 4 (3) and (4).
Article 4 1. Member States shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that their drawings pursuant to Article 2 (1) enable imports to be charged without interruption against their accumulated shares of the Community quotas.
2. Each Member State shall ensure that importers of the product concerned have free access to the quotas for such time as the residual balance of the quota volume so permits.
3. Member States shall charge imports of the product concerned against their drawings as and when the goods are entered with the customs authorities for free circulation.
4. The extent to which the quotas have been used up shall be determined on the basis of the imports charged in accordance with paragraph 3.
Article 5 At the request of the Commission, Member States shall inform it of imports of the product concerned actually charged against the quota.
Article 6 Member States and the Commission shall cooperate closely to ensure that this Regulation is complied with.
Article 7 This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1989.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 21 December 1988.