1991R0599 — EN — 13.11.1991 — 002.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B ►M2 COUNCILREGULATION(EEC)No599/91
of5March1991
introducing a credit guarantee for exports of agricultural products and foodstuffs from the
Community,Bulgaria,Czechoslovakia,Hungary,Poland,Romania,Yugoslavia,Lithuania,Latvia
andEstoniatotheSovietUnion ◄
(OJ L 67, 14.3.1991, p. 21)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Council Regulation (EEC) No 1758/91 of 17 June 1991 L 158 4 22.6.1991
►M2Council Regulation (EEC) No 3281/91 of 22 October 1991 L 310 1 12.11.1991
NB: This consolidated version contains references to the European unit of account and/or the ecu, which from 1 January 1999
should be understood as references to the euro — Council Regulation (EEC) No 3308/80 (OJ L 345, 20.12.1980, p. 1) andCouncil Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 (OJ L 162, 19.6.1997, p. 1).
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COUNCILREGULATION(EEC)No599/91
of5March1991
introducingacredit guarantee forexports ofagricultural products
and foodstuffs from the Community, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia, Lithuania, Latvia and
EstoniatotheSovietUnion
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Articles 113 and 235 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament(2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee(3),
Whereas the Soviet Union has asked the Community to supply it with
agricultural and food products; whereas, in order to facilitate the exportof these products to the Soviet Union, the Community should provide acredit guarantee facility, without compromising the terms of normalsupplies in accordance with market rules;
Whereas provision should be made for the said Community guarantee
to be provided at the request of the Soviet Union for food exports inconjunction with contracts between the Soviet Union and Communityundertakings; whereas provision should also be made that the guaranteebe extended solely for the purchase of agricultural and food productsoriginating in the Community,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
A Community medium-term credit guarantee scheme, hereinafter
referred to as the ‘guarantee’, is hereby instituted to enable the SovietUnion to import agricultural and food products from the Community►
M2, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Yugo-
slavia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia ◄on the terms and conditions
set out in this Regulation.
Article 2
The guarantee, provided subject to payment of a surety commission,
shall cover, in the event of default, 98 % of the repayment of the prin-cipal and interest on loans in ecus granted to the Soviet Union by a
pool of commercial banks established in the Community for the
purchase and importation of agricultural and food products, in accor-dance with an agreement to be concluded between the Communityand the Soviet Union and negotiated by the Commission in consulta-tion with a committee composed of representatives of the Member
States.
This agreement shall contain, inter alia , a list of the products to be
purchased and the quantities of such products, the terms of purchaseand importation, and provisions governing the said loans. This agree-ment shall also mention guarantees on the part of the Soviet Unionregarding the effective nature of the distribution of the products1991R0599 — EN — 13.11.1991 — 002.001 — 2
(1) OJ No C 22, 30. 1. 1991, p. 9.
(2) Opinion delivered on 22 February 1991 (not yet published in the Official
Journal).
(3) Opinion delivered on 30 January 1991 (not yet published in the Official
Journal).▼M2
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purchased. To this end, an independent control body shall be respon-
sible for supervising the distribution of these products.
Article 3
The credit for which repayments are covered by the guarantee may not
exceed ECU 500 million. Reimbursement shall involve three instal-ments of an equal amount, paid 20, 31 and 42 months from the
signing of the agreement provided for in Article 2. Interest shall be
paid every six months. The first interest payment shall be made sixmonths after the end of the drawing period.
The credit, guaranteed by the Community, shall be backed by a
payment and transfer guarantee of a Soviet body empowered to coversovereign risk and to authorize foreign currency transfers.
The period for drawing upon the credit shall be limited to six months
as from the date of signing of the agreement provided for above. Thisloan may be drawn upon in tranches. Payment of these tranches shall
depend upon the degree to which the Soviet Union complies with the
provisions of the agreement referred to above and with the conditionslaid down for granting the guarantee.
Article 4
►
M2The guarantee shall be extended only where the trade contracts
financed with the credit backed by the guarantee are intended solely tocover the purchase of agricultural and food products originating in theCommunity. Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania,Yugoslavia, Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia and where there is free
competition to supply these products. ◄The other conditions under
which the guarantee will be extended to the pool of commercial banksshall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article6. In compliance with the conditions thus laid down, the Commissionshall conclude the guarantee with the pool of commercial banks.
Article 5
The Commission shall manage the guarantee in accordance with the
procedure laid down in Article 6.
Article 6
The Commission shall be assisted by a committee referred to as the
‘Soviet Union Guarantee Committee’ composed of representatives ofthe Member States and chaired by a representative of the Commission.
The representative of the Commission shall submit to the committee a
draft of the measures to be taken. The committee shall deliver itsopinion 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 Treatyin the case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt on aproposal from the Commission. The votes of the representatives of theMember States within the committee shall be weighted in the manner
set out in that Article. The chairman shall not vote.
The Commission shall adopt measures which shall apply immediately.
However, if these measures are not in accordance with the opinion of
the committee, they shall be communicated by the Commission to theCouncil forthwith. In that event:
— the Commission shall defer application of the measures which it has
decided for a period of two months from the date of communica-
tion;
— the Council, acting by a qualified majority, may take a different
decision within the time limit referred to in the first indent.1991R0599 — EN — 13.11.1991 — 002.001 — 3
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Article 7
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of 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.1991R0599 — EN — 13.11.1991 — 002.001 — 4