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
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 113 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Whereas the common commercial policy must be based on uniform principles; whereas the common rules applicable to imports under Council Regulation (EEC) No 288/82 of 5 February 1982 on common rules for imports (1), Council Regulation (EEC) No 1765/82 of 30 June 1982 on common rules for imports from State-trading countries (2), Council Regulation (EEC) No 1766/82 of 30 June 1982 on common rules for imports from the People's Republic of China (3) and Council Regulation (EEC) No 3420/83 of 14 November 1983 on import arrangements for products originating in State-trading countries, not liberalized at Community level (4) form an important aspect of the policy; however, they still allow exceptions and derogations enabling Member States to continue applying national measures to imports of certain products, so that the policy needs to be completed;
Whereas under Article 7a of the Treaty, the internal market comprises since 1 January 1993 of an area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured;
Whereas completion of the common commercial policy as it pertains to rules for imports is therefore a necessary complement to the completion of the internal market and is the only means of ensuring that the rules applying to the Community's trade with third countries correctly reflect the integration of the markets;
Whereas in order to achieve greater uniformity in the rules for imports it is necessary to eliminate the exceptions and derogations resulting from the remaining national commercial policy measures and, in particular, the quantitative restrictions maintained by Member States under Regulation (EEC) No 288/82; whereas the economic and industrial repercussions of their elimination have been or can be taken into account in the Community's horizontal policies for the market concerned; whereas this uniformity must be achieved by laying down, as far as possible given the particular features of the economic system in third countries, provisions similar to those applied under the common rules for other third countries;
Whereas the liberalization of imports, namely the absence of any quantitative restrictions or their suspension, must therefore form the starting points for the Community rules;
Whereas, as a result of the completion of GATT Uruguay Round negotiations on the integration of the textile and clothing sector into normal World Trade Organization rules and disciplines, it is necessary that the exceptions and derogations resulting from the remaining national commercial policy measures should be suspended until such time as the products in question have been integrated in accordance with that Agreement;
Whereas, in addition, for a limited number of products originating in some third countries owing to the sensitivity of the textile sector of the Community, quantitative restrictions and surveillance measures applicable at Community level should be incorporated in this Regulation;
Whereas provision should be made for special rules for products re-imported under the arrangements for economic outward processing;
Whereas some imports of certain textile products from certain third countries may have to be subject to Community surveillance, quantitative limits or other appropriate measures;
Whereas if Community surveillance is applied, release for free circulation of the products concerned must be made subject to presentation of an import document meeting uniform criteria; whereas that document must, on simple application by the importer, be endorsed by the authorities of the Member States within a certain period but without the importer thereby acquiring any right to import; whereas the document must therefore be valid only during such period as the import rules remain unchanged;
Whereas it is in the interests of the Community that the Member States and the Commission should make as full as possible an exchange of information resulting from Community surveillance;
Whereas experience has shown that it is necessary to adopt more precise criteria for assessing possible injury and to introduce an investigation while still allowing the Commission to introduce appropriate measures in urgent cases;
Whereas, to this end, more detailed provisions should be introduced 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;
Whereas a new system for administering quantitative restrictions should be established based on the principle of a uniform common commercial policy, in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the Court of Justice of the European Communities and with the principle of the internal market;
Whereas it is necessary to establish an appropriate system for administering Community quantitative restrictions;
Whereas the administrative procedure must ensure that all applicants have fair access to quotas;
Whereas in the interests of uniformity in rules for imports, the formalities to be carried out by importers should be simplified and must be identical regardless of the place where the goods clear customs; whereas it is, therefore, desirable to provide that any formalities should be carried out using forms corresponding to the specimen annexed to the Regulation;
Whereas surveillance or safeguard measures confined to one or more regions rather than the whole of the Community may nevertheless prove necessary; whereas, however, such measures should be authorized only exceptionally and where no alternative exists; whereas it is necessary, in addition, to ensure that such measures are temporary and cause the minimum of disruption to the operation of the internal market;
Whereas the provisions of this Regulation and those governing its implementation should not prejudice existing national and Community legislation concerning professional secrecy;
Whereas it is desirable that the management and decision-making procedures should be those traditionally provided for in the textile and clothing sector;
Whereas, therefore, it is necessary for a Committee to be set up for this purpose, to examine the terms and conditions of importation, import trends and the various aspects of the economic and commercial situation and, where appropriate, the measures to be taken;
Whereas it is necessary to provide that this Committee shall also have the competence for reviewing and checking the measures taken on the basis of the system for the administration of the quotas in order to adapt them to changes in the situation;
Whereas it is no longer necessary to maintain two separate Regulations for State-trading countries and the People's Republic of China;
Whereas provision should be made for implementing the safeguard measures necessitated by the interests of the Community with due regard for existing international obligations;
Whereas the measures covered by this Regulation fall within the competence of the European Community and they are both necessary and appropriate in order to complete the common commercial policy and to safeguard the measures already taken by the Community in the textile and clothing sector;
Whereas Regulations (EEC) No 288/82, (EEC) No 1765/82, (EEC) No 1766/82 and (EEC) No 3420/83 should consequently be repealed, as far as their application to textile products is concerned,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
PART I
TITLE I General principles
Article 1
1. This Regulation applies to imports of textile products falling within Section XI of the Combined Nomenclature and of other textile products, as listed in Annex I, originating in third countries and not covered by bilateral agreements, protocols or other arrangements, or by other specific Community import rules.
2. For the purposes of paragraph 1 above, textile products falling within Section XI of the Combined Nomenclature shall be classified in categories as set out in Annex I A, with the exception of products covered by CN codes 5604 10 00, 6309 00 00 and 6310 which are listed in Annex I B.
3. For the purposes of this Regulation, the term 'originating products' and the methods for controlling the origin of those products shall be as defined by the relevant Community rules in force.
Article 2
1. Imports into the Community of products referred to in Article 1 and originating in third countries other than those listed in Annex II, shall be free and therefore not subject to any quantitative restriction, without prejudice to:
- the measures that may be taken under Title III;
- the measures that may be taken under specific common import rules for the duration of those rules, and
- the annual quantitative restrictions listed in Annex III A applicable on 31 December 1993 on the basis of Regulation (EEC) No 288/82 to imports of products listed in Annex I and originating in third countries other than those referred to in Annex II;
- the annual quantitative restrictions listed in Annex III B applicable to textile products originating in the countries indicated therein.
2. The quantitative restrictions listed in Annex III A are hereby suspended until such time as the products in question are integrated into normal World Trade Organization rules and disciplines in accordance with the agreement on textile and clothing products negotiated within the framework of the Uruguay Round GATT negotiations.
Article 3
1. Imports into the Community of textile products listed in Annex IV and originating in the countries indicated in that Annex shall be subject to the annual quantitative limits established in that Annex if these products are shipped on or after the date of application of this regulation. For the purposes of this paragraph, shipment of the goods shall be considered as having taken place on the date on which they were loaded on the exporting aircraft, vehicle or vessel.
2. The release for free circulation in the Community of imports subject to the quantitative limits provided for in paragraph 1 shall be subject to the presentation of an import authorization or equivalent document issued by the Member States' authorities in accordance with the procedure set out in this Regulation. The imports authorized in accordance with this paragraph shall be charged against the quantitative limits fixed for the calendar year for which quantitative limits have been fixed.
3. Any textile product referred to in Annex V and originating in the countries indicated therein may be imported into the Community provided an annual quantitative limit is established in accordance with the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25.
4. Imports into the Community of textile products other than those covered by paragraphs 1 and 3 above and originating in the countries indicated in Annex II shall be free, subject to measures that may be taken under Title III and to measures that have been or may be taken under specific common import rules for the duration of those rules.
Article 4
1. Without prejudice to measures that may be taken under specific common import rules or under Title III, re-imports into the Community of textile products after processing in countries other than those listed in Annex II shall not be subject to quantitative limits.
2. However, re-imports into the Community of textile products listed in Annex VI after processing in the countries listed therein shall not be subject to the annual quantitative limits referred to in Annex III B provided that they are effected in accordance with the rules on economic outward processing in force in the Community and up to the annual limits fixed in Annex VI.
Article 5
1. At the request of a Member State or on the Commission's initiative, Annexes III to VII may form the subject of deliberations within the Committee provided for in Article 25.
2. At the close of these deliberations, the Commission may adopt, in accordance with the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25, the measures required to adapt Annexes III to VII.
TITLE II Community information and investigation procedure
Article 6
1. In respect of the textile products in Annex I, Member States shall notify the Commission, within 30 days following the end of each month, of the total quantities imported during the month by country of origin and Combined Nomenclature code and the units, including where appropriate supplementary units of the CN code. The imports shall be broken down in accordance with the statistical procedures in force.
2. In order to enable the market trends in the products covered by this Regulation to be monitored, Member States shall communicate to the Commission, before 31 March each year, statistical data for the preceding year on exports. The statistical data relating to the production and the consumption of each product shall be forwarded under arrangements to be determined subsequently pursuant to the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25.
3. Where the nature of the products or particular circumstances so require, the Commission may, at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, alter the time-limits for communicating the abovementioned information under the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25.
4. In the urgent cases referred to in Article 13, the Member State or States concerned shall send the necessary import statistics and economic data to the Commission and the other Member States by telex.
Article 7
1. Where it is apparent to the Commission that there is sufficient evidence to justify an investigation, with regard to the conditions of imports of products mentioned in Article 1, the Commission shall, in accordance with the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25:
(a) announce the opening of an investigation in the Official Journal of the European Communities; such announcements shall give a summary of the information received, and stipulate that all relevant information is to be communicated to the Commission; it shall state the period within which interested parties may make known their views in writing;
(b) commence the investigation, acting in cooperation with the Member States.
2. In addition to the information supplied under Article 6, the Commission shall seek all information it deems to be necessary and, where it considers it appropriate, after consulting the Committee referred to in Article 25, endeavour to check this information with importers, traders, agents, producers, trade associations and organizations.
The Commission shall be assisted in this task by staff of the Member State on whose territory these checks are being carried out, provided this Member State so wishes.
3. The 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 natural and legal persons. 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 Communities, 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 the information requested by the Commission is not supplied within a reasonable period, or the investigation is significantly impeded, findings may be made on the basis of the facts available.
6. Where the Commission has been asked to act by a Member State and it finds that there is insufficient evidence to justify an investigation, it shall inform the Member State of its decision following consultations.
Article 8
1. At the end of the investigation, the Commission shall submit a report on the results to the Committee referred to in Article 25.
2. If the Commission considers that no Community surveillance or safeguard measures are necessary, it shall publish in the Official Journal of the European Communities, after consulting the Committee in accordance with the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25, a notice that the investigations are closed, stating the main conclusions of the investigations.
3. If the Commission considers that Community surveillance or safeguard measures are necessary, it shall take the necessary decisions in accordance with Title III.
Article 9
1. Information received in pursuance of this Regulation shall be issued only for the purpose for which it was requested.
2. (a) Neither the Council, nor the Commission, nor Member States, nor the officials of any of these, shall reveal any information of a confidential nature received in pursuance of this Regulation, or any information provided on a confidential basis, without specific permission from the supplier of such information.
(b) 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 authorize its disclosure in general terms or in the form of a summary, the information concerned may be disregarded.
3. Information will 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.
4. Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall not preclude reference by the Community authorities to general information and in particular to reasons on which decisions taken in pursuance of this Regulation are based. These authorities must, however, take into account the legitimate interest of the natural and legal persons concerned that their business secrets should not be divulged.
Article 10
1. The examination of the trend of imports, of the conditions in which they take place and of the serious injury or threat of serious injury to Community 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 Community;
(b) the prices of the imports, in particular where there has been a significant price undercutting as compared with the price of a like product in the Community;
(c) the consequent impact on the Community producers of similar or directly competitive products as indicated by trends in certain economic factors such as:
- production,
- utilization of capacity,
- 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 II.
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 Community;
(b) 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 Community.
TITLE III Surveillance and safeguard measures
Article 11
1. Where imports of textile products originating in third countries other than those listed in Annex II threaten to cause injury to Community production of like or directly competitive products, the Commission, acting at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, may:
(a) decide to introduce retrospective Community surveillance of certain imports, in accordance with the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25;
(b) decide, for the purposes of monitoring the trend of these imports, to make certain imports subject to prior Community surveillance, in accordance with the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25.
2. Where imports of textile products liberalized at Community level and originating in third countries listed in Annex II threaten to cause injury to the Community production of like or directly competitive products, or where the economic interests of the Community so require, the Commission, acting at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, may:
(a) decide to introduce retrospective Community surveillance of certain imports, in accordance with the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25;
(b) decide, for the purposes of monitoring the trend of these imports, to make certain imports subject to prior Community surveillance in accordance with the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25.
3. The measures referrred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 above shall, as a rule, be of a limited period of validity.
Article 12
1. Where imports of textile products originating in third countries other than those listed in Annex II take place in such increased quantities, absolute or relative, and/or under such conditions, so as to cause serious injury or actual threat thereof to the Community production of like or directly competitive products, the Commission may, acting at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, alter the import rules for the product in question by providing that it may be put into free circulation only on production of an import authorization, the granting of which shall be governed by such provisions and subject to such limits as the Commission shall lay down.
2. Where imports of textile products liberalized at Community level and originating in the third countries listed in Annex II take place in such increased, absolute or relative, quantities or under such conditions, so as to threaten to cause injury to the Community production of like or directly competitive products, or where the economic interests of the Community so require, the Commission may, acting at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, alter the import rules for the product in question by providing that it may be put into free circulation only on production of an import authorization, the granting of which shall be governed by such provisions and subject to such limits as the Commission shall lay down.
3. The measures referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 above or any other appropriate measure or modality of application shall be adopted in accordance with the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25.
4. The measures referred to in this Article and Article 11 shall apply to every product which is put into free circulation after the entry into force of those measures.
However, such measures shall not prevent the release for free circulation of products already shipped to the Community provided that the destination of such products cannot be changed and that those products which, under this Article and Article 11, may be put into free circulation only on production of an import document are in fact accompanied by such a document.
In accordance with Article 16, measures referred to in this Article and Article 11 may be confined to one or more regions of the Community.
Article 13
Where the Commission finds, upon its own initiative or on the request of a Member State, that the conditions set out in Article 12 (1) and (2) are fulfilled and considers that a given category of products listed in Annex I and not subject to any quantitative restriction should be subject to quantitative limits or prior or retrospective or surveillance measures, it shall in case of emergency put the matter to the Committee referred to in Article 25 within five working days following the close of the Committee's deliberation.
Article 14
1. Products subject to prior Community surveillance or safeguard measures may be put into free circulation only on production of an import document.
(a) In the case of surveillance measures, such a document shall be issued by the competent authority designated by Member States, free of charge, and within a maximum of five working days following receipt of a declaration by any Community importer to the national competent authority, regardless of his place of business in the Community, for any quantity requested. Such a declaration shall be deemed to be received by the national competent authority no later than three working days after submission, unless it is proven otherwise.
(b) In the case of safeguard measures, such a document shall be issued in accordance with the provisions of Title IV.
2. A form corresponding to the model given in Annex VII shall be used for the import document and the declaration by the importer.
Additional information may be required when the decision to impose surveillance or safeguard measures are taken.
3. The import document shall be valid for imports throughout the territory in which the Treaty establishing the European Community is applied under the conditions laid down in that Treaty, regardless of the Member State of issue, without prejudice, however, to measures taken under Article 16.
4. Import documents may not in any event be used beyond the expiry of the period which will be laid down at the same time and by means of the same procedure as the imposition of surveillance or safeguard measures, and which will take account of the nature of the products and other special features of the transactions.
5. Where a decision taken under the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25 so requires, the origin of products under Community surveillance or safeguard measures must be proved by a certificate of origin. This paragraph shall not prejudice other provisions concerning the production of any such certificate.
6. Where the product under prior Community surveillance is subject to regional safeguard measures in a Member State, the import authorization granted by that Member State may replace the import document.
Article 15
In accordance with the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25, the Commission may, at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, if the situation referred to in Article 12 (2) is likely to arise:
- reduce the period of validity of any import document required for the surveillance measures;
- make issue of this document subject to certain conditions and, as an exceptional measure, subject to insertion of a revocation clause, or, with the frequency and for the length of time indicated by the Commission, to the prior information and consultation procedure referred to in Articles 6 and 8.
Article 16
Where, on the basis, in particular, of the factors referred to in Articles 10, 11 and 12, it emerges that the conditions laid down for the adoption of surveillance or safeguard measures are met in one or more regions of the Community, the Commission, after having examined alternative solutions, may exceptionally authorize 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 Community.
These measures must be temporary and must disrupt the operation of the internal market as little as possible.
These measures shall be adopted in accordance with the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25.
PART II
TITLE IV Management of Community import restrictions
Article 17
1. The competent authorities of the Member States shall notify the Commission of the amounts of the requests for import authorizations which they have received.
2. The Commission shall notify its confirmation that the requested amount(s) of quantities are available for importation in the chronological order in which the notifications of the Member States have been received ('first come, first served' basis).
3. Where there is reason to believe that anticipated requests may exceed the quantitative limits, the Commission may, in accordance with the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25, divide the quantitative limits into tranches or fix maximum amounts per allocation. In accordance with the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25, the Commission may reserve a proportion of a specific quantitative limit for requests supported by evidence of past import performance.
4. Normally the notifications referred to in the previous paragraphs of this Article shall be communicated electronically within the integrated network setup for this purpose, unless for imperative technical reasons it is necessary to use other means of communication temporarily.
5. The competent authorities shall notify the Commission immediately after being informed of any quantity that is not used during the duration of validity of the import authorization. Such unused quantities shall automatically be transferred into the remaining quantities of the total Community quantitative limit.
6. The Commission may, in accordance with the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25, take any measure necessary to implement this Article.
Article 18
1. All Community importers, no matter where they are established in the Community, may submit authorization applications to the competent authority of the Member State of their choice.
2. For the purposes of the application of Article 17 (3), second sentence, importers' applications shall, where necessary, be accompanied by documentary evidence of previous imports for each category and each third country concerned.
Article 19
The competent authorities of the Member States shall issue import authorizations within five working days of notification of the Commission decision or within the time limit set by the Commission.
The said authorities shall inform the Commission that import authorizations have been issued, within ten days of issuing the authorizations.
Article 20
Where necessary and in accordance with the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25, import authorizations may be made conditional upon the lodging of a security.
Article 21
1. Without prejudice to measures taken under Article 16, import authorizations shall authorize the import of products which are subject to quantitative limits and shall be valid throughout the territory in which the Treaty establishing the European Community is applied under the conditions laid down in that Treaty, regardless of the place of import mentioned in the applications by the importers.
When the Community introduces temporary limits for one or more of its regions, in accordance with Article 16, these limits shall not preclude the importation into the region(s) concerned of products shipped before the date of introduction of the above limits.
2. The period of validity of import authorizations issued by the competent authorities of the Member States shall be six months. This period of validity may be modified where necessary, in accordance with the appropriate procedure provided for in
Article 25.
3. Applications for import authorizations shall be drawn up on forms conforming to a specimen the characteristics of which shall be established in accordance with the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25.
Article 22
Without prejudice to the specific provisions to be adopted in accordance with the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25, import authorizations may not be loaned or transferred, whether for a consideration or free of charge, by the person in whose name the document was issued.
Article 23
1. Import authorizations which are wholly or partly unused shall be returned to the competent authorities of the Member State of issue within fifteen days of their expiry date at the latest, except in cases of force majeure. This time limit may be modified, where necessary, in accordance with the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25.
2. Where the issue of import authorizations was conditional upon the lodging of a security, the security shall be forfeited where the time limit referred to above is not complied with, except in cases of force majeure.
Article 24
The competent authorities of the Member States shall inform the Commission, within 30 days following the end of each month, of the quantities of products subject to Community quantitative limits which have been imported during the preceding month.
PART III
TITLE V Decision making procedures and final provisions
Article 25
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee composed of the representatives of the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commission.
2. Where the procedure laid down in this Article is to be followed, the Chairman shall refer the matter to the committee, either on his own initiative or at the request of the representative of a Member State.
3. Without prejudice to paragraphs 4 and 5,
(a) the representative of the Commission shall submit to the committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148(2) of the Treaty in the case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal from the Commission. The votes of the representatives of the Member States within the committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in that Article. The chairman shall not vote.
(b) The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged if they are in accordance with the opinion of the committee.
(c) If the measures envisaged are not in accordance with the opinion of the committee, or if no opinion is delivered, the Commission shall without delay submit to the Council a proposal relating to the measures to be taken. The Council shall act by a qualified majority.
(d) If, within one month of the date of referral to the Council, the Council has not acted, the proposed measures shall be adopted by the Commission.
4. In the case of adoption of liberalization measures in respect of products and countries listed in Annexes III B, IV, V and VI to the Regulation, or in the case of the introduction of emergency safeguard measures pursuant to Article 13:
(a) The representative of the Commission shall submit to the committee a draft of the measures to be taken and the committee shall deliver its opinion in accordance with the procedure laid down in paragraph 3 (a).
(b) The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged if they are in accordance with the opinion of the committee.
(c) If the measures envisaged are not in accordance with the opinion of the committee, or if no opinion is delivered, the Commission shall without delay submit to the Council a proposal relating to the measures to be taken. The Council shall act by a qualified majority.
(d) If, within one month of the date of referral to the Council, the Council has not acted, the proposed measures shall be adopted by the Commission, save where the Council has decided against the said measures by a simple majority.
5. In the case of the introduction of safeguard measures other than the emergency measures referred to in paragraph 4:
(a) Before adopting a decision on the introduction of safeguard measures, the representative of the Commission shall submit to the committee a draft of the measures to be taken and the committee shall deliver its opinion in accordance with the procedure laid down in paragraph 3 (a).
(b) The Commission shall notify the Council and the Member States of any decision regarding safeguard measures.
(c) Any Member State may refer the Commission's decision to the Council within one month following the date of notification of the Commission's decision.
(d) The Council, acting by a qualified majority, may confirm, amend or revoke the decision adopted by the Commission. If the Council has not taken a decision within one month of the date on which the Member State has referred to the Council the Commission's decision, that decision is deemed to be revoked.
6. At the request of the Chairman, acting on his own initiative or in response to a request from one of the Member States' representatives, the committee shall examine any other issue relating to the application of this Regulation.
Article 26
1. This Regulation shall not preclude the fulfilment of obligations arising from special rules contained in agreements concluded between the Community and third countries.
2. (a) Without prejudice to other Community provisions, this Regulation shall not preclude the adoption or application by Member States:
- of prohibitions, quantitative restrictions or surveillance measures on grounds of public morality, public policy or publicy 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;
- of special formalities concerning foreign exchange;
- of formalities introduced pursuant to international agreements in accordance with the Treaty.
(b) The Member States shall inform the Commission of the measures or formalities to be introduced or amended in accordance with this paragraph. In the event of extreme urgency, the national measures or formalities in question shall be communicated to the Commission immediately upon their adoption.
Article 27
1. Regulations (EEC) No 288/82, (EEC) No 1765/82, (EEC) No 1766/82 and (EEC) No 3420/83 are hereby repealed, as far as their application to the textile products referred to in Article 1 of this Regulation is concerned.
2. However, textile products covered by this Regulation and shipped before the date of entry into force of this Regulation shall be governed by the provisions in force at the time of their shipment.
Article 28
Amendments to the Annexes to this Regulation which may be necessary to take into account the conclusion, amendment or expiry of agreements or arrangements with third countries or amendments made to Community rules on statistics, customs arrangements or common rules for imports shall be adopted in accordance with the appropriate procedure provided for in Article 25.
Article 29
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 7 March 1994.