COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 314/94 of 7 February 1994 opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas and ceilings for certain agricultural and industrial products originating in Romania and Bulgaria (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 the proposal from the Commission,
Whereas the Europe Agreements between the European Community, the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community, on the one hand, and Romania and Bulgaria, on the other hand, were signed on 1 February 1993 and 8 March 1993 respectively; whereas pending the entry into force of these Agreements, the Community has concluded Interim Agreements (1), (2) on trade and trade-related measures with these countries, which were also signed on 1 February and 8 March 1993 and implemented on 1 May 1993 (Romania) and 31 December 1993 (Bulgaria);
Whereas Articles 4 and 15 of the Interim Agreements stipulate that certain products originating in the countries in question may attract a reduced or zero rate of duty on import into the Community, within the limits of tariff quotas or ceilings; whereas, pursuant to the provisions annexed to those Agreements, the volumes of the tariff quotas and ceilings established when the Europe Agreements were signed must be increased, from the date on which the Interim Agreements enter into force, by a percentage specific to each country and category of products;
Whereas the Interim Agreements have been amended by Additional Protocols initialled with the countries in question, the aim of which is to improve access to the Community market for products from those countries, in particular those listed in Annexes III, XII b (Romania) and XIII b (Bulgaria) to the Interim Agreements; whereas it is accordingly necessary to increase the tariff quotas and ceilings for the industrial products listed in Annex I to this Regulation by 10 % of the basic volume shown in Annex III to the several Interim Agreements from 1 July 1994, and to provide for the application from 1 January to 30 June 1994 of the tariff quotas for the agricultural products listed in Annex II to this Regulation, the volumes of which are to be adjusted pro rata, it being necessary to bring forward by six months the concessions granted for the third year of the Interim Agreements; whereas the tariff quota and ceiling volumes should be increased on 1 July 1994 by 10 % of the basic volumes laid down in the Interim Agreements;
Whereas it seems advisable, in the interests of clarity, to divide the products subject to tariff ceilings and quotas into two groups, in Annexes I and II to this Regulation, one for industrial products and one for agricultural products, specifying for each product the volume of its quota or ceiling and the rate of customs duty applicable;
Whereas the decision for the opening of Community quotas should be taken by the Community, in the execution of its international obligations, in the case of the products listed in Annexes I and II to this Regulation; whereas particular care should be taken to ensure that all Community importers have equal and continuous access to those quotas and that the rates laid down for the quotas are applied uninterruptedly to all imports of the products in question into all Member States until the quotas are exhausted; whereas, to ensure the efficiency of a common administration of these quotas, there is no obstacle to authorizing the Member States to draw from the quota volumes the necessary quantities corresponding to actual imports; whereas, however, 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, in the case of the products listed in Annex I to this Regulation which are subject to Community tariff ceilings, Community surveillance may be achieved by means of an administrative procedure based on charging imports of the products in question against the ceilings at Community level as and when products are entered with the customs authorities for free circulation;
Whereas this administrative procedure requires close and particularly rapid cooperation between the Member States and the Commission, and the latter must in particular be able to monitor quantities charged against the ceilings and inform the Member States accordingly; whereas this cooperation has to be particularly close, since the Commission must be able to take appropriate measures to re-establish customs duties once a ceiling is reached;
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 these tariff measures may be carried out by any one of its members,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. From 1 January to 31 December 1994 goods originating in Romania and from 31 December 1993 to 31 December 1994 goods originating in Bulgaria which are listed in Annex I to this Regulation shall be subject to Community tariff quotas or ceilings, according to the provisions contained within the said Annex.
2. From 1 January to 30 June 1994 for Romania, and from 31 December 1993 to 30 June 1994 for Bulgaria, goods which are listed in Annex II to this Regulation shall be subject to tariff quotas in accordance with the provisions contained within the said Annex.
Article 2
1. The tariff quotas referred to in Article 1 shall be administered by the Commission, which may take all appropriate administrative measures in order to ensure efficient administration thereof.
2. Where an importer declares a product covered by this 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.
3. If a Member State does not use the quantities drawn, it shall return them to the corresponding quota volume as soon as possible.
4. If the quantities requested 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 3
1. Quantities shall be charged against the ceilings as and when products are declared to the customs authorities for free circulation.
Goods may be charged against a ceiling only if the movement certificate is presented before the date on which levying of customs duties is re-established.
2. The level of utilization of the ceilings shall be determined at Community level on the basis of the imports charged against them in accordance with paragraph 1.
Member States shall send the Commission, not later than the 15th day of each month, statements of the quantities charged during the preceding month.
3. As soon as the ceilings have been reached, the Commission may adopt a regulation re-establishing the customs duties applicable to the third countries in question until the end of the calendar year.
When the adoption of such a regulation is requested by a Member State, the Commission shall examine the request within the following five days and shall inform the requesting Member State of the action it considers it should take as a result of the request, in the light in particular, of the statements sent as provided for in paragraph 2.
Article 4
The Protocol on the definition of the concept of originating products and methods of administrative cooperation, annexed to the Interim Agreements between the European Community and the European Coal and Steel Community, on the one hand, and Romania and Bulgaria, on the other hand, shall apply.
Article 5
In order to ensure compliance with this Regulation, the Commission shall take all appropriate measures, in close cooperation with the Member States.
Article 6
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
It shall apply with effect from 31 December 1993.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 7 February 1994.