COUNCIL DECISION of 11 November 1991 on import quotas to be opened by Member States in respect of State-trading countries in 1991 (91/667/EEC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
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 Council Regulation (EEC) No 3420/83 of 14 November 1983 on import arrangements for products originating in State-trading countries, not liber-alized at Community level (), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) N° 2158/91 (), requires the Council to lay down the import quotas to be opened by the Member States in respect of the various State-trading countries for the products listed in Annex III to that Regulation;
Whereas certain adjustments should be made to the import quotas established for 1990 in respect of State-trading countries in order to adapt them to the foreseeable economic situation in 1991;
Whereas, with regard to the quotas for imports under outward processing arrangements of the textiles falling within categories 4 to 8, a certain degree of flexibility should be maintained in the administration of these quotas by the Member States concerned by means of provision for automatic transfer of quantities from one category to another; whereas to this end the equivalences between categories provided for in Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) N° 4136/86 of 22 December 1986 on common rules for imports of certain textile products originating in third countries (), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) N° 1118/91 (), should be applied;
Whereas the specific quantitative restrictions in respect of certain central and eastern European countries have been abolished in all Member States whilst the non-specific quantitative restrictions in respect of the same countries have been suspended for 1991 in all Member States apart from Spain and Portugal;
Whereas access is needed, at least once a year, to all the statistical data concerning import authorizations granted and utilization by the Member States of each of the quotas opened by this Decision,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION :
Article 1
1. Member States shall open for 1991, in respect of State-trading countries, the import quotas set out in the Annexes hereto.
2. Imports authorized between 1 January 1991 and the date of adoption of this Decision shall be deducted from the corresponding quotas.
Article 2
1. In utilizing the quotas for imports of textiles of categories 4 to 8 under outward processing arrangements, Member States may each year transfer quantities from one or more categories to one or more other categories for the same non-member country of up to 20 % overall of each arrival quota.
Where the quantity resulting from the application of this rate is less than 100 000 pieces, such a quantity may be transferred for each arrival quota as long as equivalent quantities remain in the quota or quotas of origin.
2. The table of equivalence between categories set out in Annex I to Regulation (EEC) N° 4136/86 shall be applicable to the transfers referred to in paragraph 1.
3. The Committee referred to in Article 12 of Regulation (EEC) N° 3420/83 shall hold consultations three times a year on the utilization of the quotas for imports of textiles under outward processing arrangements.
The Member States concerned shall take this opportunity to provide the Committee with statistical data on the authorizations granted and imports effected under the quotas referred to in this Article.
These statistics shall be broken down by category and country of origin.
Article 3
Unless otherwise indicated, the import quotas for the United Kingdom for textile categories 1 to 114 shall apply only to products defined in Article 12 of the Arrangement regarding International Trade in Textiles.
Article 4
Member States shall send to the Commission, at its request and at least once a year, a final statement of the import authorizations granted and imports actually charged against each of the quotas opened under this Decision, their percentage utilization and any unused quantities at the end of the year.
Article 5
This Decision shall apply from 1 January 1991.
Article 6
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 11 November 1991.