1991R0599 — EN — 23.06.1991 — 001.001 — 1
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►B COUNCILREGULATION(EEC)No599/91
of5March1991
introducing a credit guarantee for exports of agricultural products and foodstuffs from the
CommunitytotheSovietUnion
(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
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COUNCILREGULATION(EEC)No599/91
of5March1991
introducingacredit guarantee forexports ofagricultural products
andfoodstuffsfromtheCommunitytotheSovietUnion
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European EconomicCommunity, and in particular Articles113 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 contractsbetween the Soviet Union and Community
undertakings; whereas provision should also be made that the guarantee
be 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 asthe ‘guarantee’, ishereby ins tituted to enable the SovietUnion to import agricultural and food productsfrom the Community onthe termsand conditionss et out in thisRegulation.
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 thepurchase 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.
Thisagreement s hall contain, inter alia , a list of the products to be
purchased and the quantities of such products, the terms of purchase
and 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 productspurchased. To this end, an independent control body shall be respon-sible for supervising the distribution of these products.1991R0599 — EN — 23.06.1991 — 001.001 — 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).
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Article 3
The credit for which repaymentsare covered by the guarantee may not
exceed ECU 500 million. Reimbursement shall involve three instal-mentsof an equal amount, paid 20, 31 and 42 monthsfrom thesigning of the agreement provided for in Article 2. Interest shall bepaid every six months. The first interest payment shall be made six
monthsafter 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
asfrom the date of s igning of the agreement provided for above. Thisloan may be drawn upon in tranches. Payment of these tranches shalldepend upon the degree to which the Soviet Union complieswith the
provisions of the agreement referred to above and with the conditions
laid down for granting the guarantee.
Article 4
The guarantee shall be extended only where the trade contracts
financed with the credit backed by the guarantee are intended solely
to cover the purchase of agricultural and food products originating in
the Community and where there is free competition to supply theseproducts. The other conditions under which the guarantee will beextended to the pool of commercial bankss hall be adopted in accor-dance with the procedure laid down in Article 6. In compliance withthe conditions thus laid down, the Commission shall conclude the guar-
antee 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 of
the 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 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 bedelivered 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 the
Member Stateswithin the committee s hall 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 the
Council forthwith. In that event:
— the Commission shall defer application of the measures which it has
decided for a period of two monthsfrom 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.
Article 7
ThisRegulation s hall enter into force on the day following that of its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities .1991R0599 — EN — 23.06.1991 — 001.001 — 3
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ThisRegulation s hall be binding in itsentirety and directly applicable
in all Member States.1991R0599 — EN — 23.06.1991 — 001.001 — 4