COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 3637/93 of 16 December 1993 opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas bound in GATT for certain agricultural and industrial products
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 undertaken, within the framework of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), to open yearly reduced or zero-duty Community tariff quotas on certain conditions for certain agricultural and industrial products; whereas the tariff quotas in question should accordingly be opened for 1994, specifying, where appropriate, the agreed entry conditions;
Whereas all Community importers should be ensured equal and continuous access to the said quotas and the duty 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 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, 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 quantities drawn by that economic union may be carried out by any one of its members,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. The customs duties applicable to imports of the following products shall be suspended during the periods, at the levels and within the limits of the Community tariff quotas shown below:
>(1) ()"> ID="1">09.0006> ID="2">0302 40 90
0303 50 90
0304 10 93
ex 0304 10 98
0304 90 25
> ID="3">Herring, subject to compliance with the reference prices
> ID="4">From 16 June 1994 to 14 February 1995
> ID="5">34 000 tonnes
> ID="6">0
"> ID="1">09.0007
> ID="2">ex 0305 51 10
ex 0305 51 90
0305 59 11
0305 59 19
ex 0305 62 00
0305 69 10
> ID="3">Cod of the species Gadus morhua or Gadus ogac and fish of the species Boreogadus saida, dried, salted or in brine, whole, headless or in pieces
> ID="4">From 1 January to 31 December 1994
> ID="5">25 000 tonnes
> ID="6">0
"> ID="1">09.0009
> ID="2">ex 0302 69 65
ex 0303 78 10
ex 0304 90 47
> ID="3">Silver hake (Merluccius bilinearis), fresh, chilled or frozen
> ID="4">From 1 January to 31 December 1994
> ID="5">2 000 tonnes
> ID="6">8
"> ID="1">09.0011
> ID="2">ex 0304 20 29
> ID="3">Frozen cod fillets (Gadus morhua)
> ID="4">From 1 January to 31 December 1994
> ID="5">10 000 tonnes
> ID="6">8
"> ID="1">09.0013
> ID="2">ex 4412 19 00
ex 4412 99 90
> ID="3">Plywood of coniferous species, without the addition of other substances:
- of a thickness greater than 8,5 mm, the faces of which are not further prepared than the peeling process
- sanded, and of a thickness greater than 18,5 mm
> ID="4">From 1 January to 31 December 1994
> ID="5">600 000 m³
> ID="6">0
"> ID="1">09.0015
09 0017
> ID="2">4801 00 01
> ID="3">Newsprint(2) :
- from Canada
- from other third countries
> ID="4">From 1 January to 31 December 1994
> ID="5">600 000 tonnes
50 000 tonnes
> ID="6">0
0
"> ID="1">09.0019
> ID="2">7202 21 10
7202 21 90
7202 29 00
> ID="3">Ferro-silicon
> ID="4">From 1 January to 31 December 1994
> ID="5">12 600 tonnes
> ID="6">0
"> ID="1">09.0021
> ID="2">7202 30 00
> ID="3">Ferro-silicon-manganese
> ID="4">From 1 January to 31 December 1994
> ID="5">18 550 tonnes
> ID="6">0
"> ID="1">09.0023
> ID="2">ex 7202 49 10
ex 7202 49 50
> ID="3">Ferro-chromium containing not more than 0,10% by weight of carbon and more than 30% but not more than 90% of chromium (super-refined ferrochromium)
> ID="4">From 1 January to 31 December 1994
> ID="5">2 950 tonnes
> ID="6">0
"> ID="1">09.0039
> ID="2">0805 30 10
> ID="3">Lemons (Citrus limon, Citrus limonum)
> ID="4">From 15 January to 14 June 1994
> ID="5">10 000 tonnes
> ID="6">6
"> ID="1">09.0041
> ID="2">0802 11 90
0802 12 90
> ID="3">Almonds, whether or not shelled, other than bitter almonds
> ID="4">From 1 January to 31 December 1994
> ID="5">45 000 tonnes
> ID="6">2
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2. Imports of products listed in paragraph 1 which are subject to a lower or equal customs duty under other preferential tariff arrangements shall not be charged against the corresponding tariff quota.
Article 2
1. Without prejudice to the Community's international obligations, Member States may charge against the tariff quotas referred to in Article 1 (1) under order Nos 09.0015 and 09.0017 other types of paper corresponding, except as regards the criterion relating to watermarks, to the definition of newsprint contained in additional note 1 of Chapter 48 of Part Two of the combined nomenclature and falling within CN code 4801 00 90.
2. From 30 November 1994 imports of newsprint from Canada or from other third countries may be charged against the remainder of either of the quota volumes for newsprint referred to in Article 1 (1) not used by 29 November 1994 and not expected to be used by 31 December 1994.
Article 3
The tariff quotas referred to in Article 1 shall be managed by the Commission, which may take any appropriate administrative measures to ensure that they are managed efficiently.
Article 4
Where an importer presents a product covered by this Regulation for release for free circulation in a Member State, applying to take advantage of the preferential arrangements, and the entry 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 on which the entries were accepted, must be sent to the Commission without delay.
Drawings shall be granted by the Commission in chronological order of the dates on which the customs authorities of the Member States concerned accepted the entries for release for free circulation, to the extent that the available balance so permits.
If a Member State does not use a drawing in full, it shall return any unused portion to the corresponding quota volume as soon as possible.
If the quantities requested are greater than the available balance of the quota volume, the balance shall be allocated among applicants pro rata. The Commission shall inform the Member States accordingly.
Article 5
Each Member State shall ensure that importers of the products in question have equal and continuous access to the quotas for as long as the balance of the relevant quota volume so permits.
Article 6
Member States and the Commission shall cooperate closely to ensure that this Regulation is complied with.
Article 7
The Commission may, by means of a Regulation, suspend the application of the tariff quotas opened for lemons and almonds under order Nos 09.0039 and 09.0041 if the reciprocity provided for is no longer ensured.
Article 8
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1994.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 16 December 1993.