COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 261/94 of 24 January 1994 opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas and ceilings and establishing Community surveillance for certain fish and fishery products originating in the Faroe Islands (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 Council Decision 91/668/EEC of 2 December 1991 concerning the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Economic Community, the Government of Denmark and the Home Government of the Faroe Islands(1) ,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Whereas Articles 3 and 8 of the abovementioned Decision provide that customs duties applicable to imports into the Community of Ten of certain fish and fishery products listed in Protocol 1 attached to the said Decision will be abolished on 1 January 1992; whereas the abolition is subject to Community tariff quotas and ceilings and, for some of these products, Community statistical surveillance; whereas the said Community tariff quotas and ceilings in respect of products originating in the Faroe Islands should therefore be opened from 1 January 1992 for the volumes indicated respectively in Annexes I and II and Community statistical surveillance should be established in respect of the products listed in Annex III;
Whereas the preferential rates of duty indicated in Annexes I, II and III apply only where the free-at-frontier price determined by the Member States in accordance with Article 22 of Regulation (EEC) No 3759/92 of 17 December 1992 on the common organization of the market in fishery products and acquaculture(2) is at least equal to the reference price set, or to be set, by the Community for the products or categories of products concerned;
Whereas equal and continuous access to the quotas in respect of the products listed in Annex I should be ensured for all Community importers and the rates of duty laid down for the quotas should be applied consistently to all imports of the products in question in all Member States until the quotas are exhausted;
Whereas the decision for the opening, in the execution of its international obligations, of tariff quotas should be taken by the Community; whereas, to ensure the efficiency of a common administration of these quotas, there is no reasonable obstacle to authorizing the Member States to draw from the quota-volumes the necessary quantities corresponding to 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 the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg are joined in, and represented by, the Benelux economic union; whereas any operation concerning the administration of the quotas may therefore be carried out by one of its members;
Whereas, in respect of products listed in Annex II and subject to Community tariff ceilings, Community surveillance may be effected by charging imports of these products against the ceilings at Community level as and when the products are presented at customs and declared for free circulation; whereas this method of administering the ceilings should enable customs duties to be restored as soon as the ceilings in question are reached at Community level;
Whereas, this method of administering the ceilings calls for close and speedy cooperation between the Member States and the Commission, which must be able to monitor the level reached by imports charged against the ceilings and inform the Member States accordingly; whereas this cooperation should be close enough to allow the Commission to take the appropriate steps to restore customs duties as soon as one of the ceilings is reached;
Whereas, for the products listed in Annex III, it would seem appropriate to have recourse to the system of statistical surveillance administered by the Commission pursuant to the relevant provisions of Regulations (EEC) No 2658/87(3) and (EEC) No 1736/75(4) ,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
From 1 January to 31 December 1994, the customs duty applicable to imports into the Community of products listed in Annex I and originating in the Faroe Islands shall be suspended at the level indicated in the said Annex and within the limits of the Community tariff quotas specified therein.
Article 2
The tariff quotas referred to in Article 1 shall be administered by the Commission, which may take any appropriate administrative measure to ensure efficient operation.
Article 3
Where an importer enters a product covered by this Regulation for free circulation in a Member State accompanied by a request for preferential treatment and by a movement certificate, and his declaration is accepted by the customs authorities, the Member State concerned shall, by notifying the Commission accordingly, draw a quantity from the quota concerned to satisfy the requirement.
Applications for drawings from the quotas shall indicate the date on which the declarations were accepted and shall be sent to the Commission forthwith.
Drawings shall be granted by the Commission on the basis of the date when the declarations for free circulation were accepted by the customs authorities of the Member State concerned, provided the available balance is sufficient.
Where a Member State fails to use the quantities drawn it shall return them as soon as possible to the relevant quota.
Where the quantities applied for are in excess of the available balance, allocation shall be made in proportion to the requirements. The Member States shall be informed by the Commission of the quantities drawn.
Article 4
1. From 1 January to 31 December 1994 imports into the Community of certain products listed in Annexes II and III and originating in the Faroe Islands shall be subject respectively to import ceilings and Community surveillance.
The description of the products referred to in the first subparagraph, the ceilings and the customs duty applicable are specified in the said Annexes.
2. Imports shall be charged against the ceilings as and when the products are presented to customs undercover of declarations for free circulation accompanied by a movement certificate complying with the rules laid down in the Protocol concerning the definition of the concept of originating products and methods of administrative cooperation, attached to Decision 91/668/EEC.
Goods may only be charged against the ceiling where the movement certificate is presented before the date when collection of customs duty is resumed.
Utilization of ceilings shall be recorded at Community level on the basis of imports charged against them as specified in the first and second subparagraphs.
Member States shall inform the Commission of any import operation carried out in accordance with the procedure determined above at the intervals and within the deadlines laid down in paragraph 4.
3. As soon as the ceilings are reached, the Commission may, by adopting a Regulation, resume the collection of the customs duties applicable to third countries until the end of the calendar year.
4. Member States shall send the Commission, no later than the 15th of each month, the statements showing the quantities charged during the preceding month.
5. The statistical surveillance provided for in respect of products specified in Annex III to this Regulation shall be carried out at Community level on the basis of imports charged as specified in the first subparagraph of paragraph 2 and notified to the Statistical Office of the European Communities pursuant to Regulations (EEC) No 2658/87 and (EEC) No 1736/75.
Article 5
Rates of duty specified in Annexes I, II and III shall apply only where the free-at-frontier price determined by Member States in accordance with Regulations (EEC) No 3759/92 and (EEC) No 1891/93 is at least equal to the reference price set or to be set by the Community in respect of the products or categories of products concerned.
Article 6
The Commission shall adopt all appropriate measures, in close cooperation with the Member States, to apply this Regulation.
Article 7
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. It shall apply from 1 January 1994.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 24 January 1994.