1997R2135 — EN — 05.11.1997 — 000.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COUNCIL REGULATION (EC)No 2135/97
of 24 July 1997
on administering the double-checking system without quantitative limits in respect of the export of
certain steel products covered by the EC and ECSC Treaties from the Russian Federation to the
European Community
(OJ L 300, 4.11.1997, p. 1)
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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COUNCIL REGULATION (EC)No 2135/97
of 24 July 1997
on administering the double-checking system without quantitative
limits in respect of the export of certain steel products covered bythe EC and ECSC Treaties from the Russian Federation to the
European Community
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, andin particular Article 113 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,Whereas an Interim Agreement on trade and trade-related matters
between the European Community, the European Coal and SteelCommunity and the European Atomic Energy Community of the onepart, and the Russian Federation, of the other part(
1), entered into force
on 1 February 1996; whereas the Partnership and Cooperation
Agreement between the European Communities and their MemberStates and the Russian Federation signed in Corfu on 24 June 1994 will,on its entry into force, replace the Interim Agreement;
Whereas the situation relating to imports of certain steel products from
the Russian Federation into the Community has been the subject of
thorough examination and whereas on the basis of relevant information
supplied to them, the Parties have concluded an Agreement in the formof an Exchange of Letters(
2) which establishes a double-checking
system without quantitative limits for the period between the date ofentry into force of this Regulation in 1997 and 31 December 1999,
unless both Parties agree to terminate the system earlier,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. For the period running from the date on which this Regulation
enters into force to 31 December 1999, in accordance with theprovisions of the abovementioned Agreement in the form of anExchange of Letters, imports into the Community of certain steelproducts covered by the EC and ECSC Treaties originating in theRussian Federation, as listed in Appendix I, shall be subject to the
presentation of a surveillance document conforming to the model shown
at Appendix II issued by the authorities in the Community.
2. For the period running from the date on which this Regulation
enters into force to 31 December 1999, imports into the Community ofthe steel products originating in the Russian Federation and listed inAppendix I shall, in addition, be subject to the issue of an export
document issued by the competent Russian authorities. The export
document shall conform to the model shown in Appendix III. It shall bevalid for exports throughout the customs territory of the Community.Presentation by the importer of the original of the export document mustbe effected not later than 31 March of the year following that in which
the goods covered by the document were shipped.
3. An export document will not be required for goods originating in
the Russian Federation already shipped before the date on which thisRegulation enters into force, provided that the destination of suchproducts is not changed from a non-Community destination and thatthose products which, under the prior surveillance regime applicable in
1997, could be imported only on presentation of a surveillance
document are in fact accompanied by such a document.
4. Shipment is considered to have taken place on the date of loading
on to the exporting means of transport.1997R2135 — EN — 05.11.1997 — 000.001 — 2
(1) OJ L 247, 13. 10. 1995, p. 2.
(2) See page 37 of this Official Journal.
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5. The classification of the products covered by this Regulation is
based on the tariff and statistical nomenclature of the Community(hereinafter called the ‘combined nomenclature’, or in abbreviated form
‘CN’). The origin of the products covered by this Regulation shall be
determined in accordance with the rules in force in the Community.
6. The competent authorities of the Community undertake to inform
the Russian Federation of any changes in the Combined Nomenclature(CN) in respect of products covered by this Agreement before their date
of entry into force in the Community.
Article 2
1. The surveillance document referred to in Article 1 (1) shall be
issued automatically by the competent authority in the Member States,without charge for any quantities requested, within five working days ofpresentation of an application by any Community importer, wherever
established in the Community. This application shall be deemed to have
been received by the competent national authority no later than threeworking days after submission, unless it is proven otherwise.
2. A surveillance document issued by one of the competent national
authorities listed in Appendix IV shall be valid throughout the
Community.
3. The importer's application for a surveillance document shall
include the following elements:
(a) the name and full address of the applicant (including telephone and
telefax numbers, and possible identification number used by the
competent national authorities) and VAT registration number, if
subject to VAT;
(b) if applicable, the name and full address of the declarant or
representative of the applicant (including telephone and fax
numbers);
(c) the full name and address of the exporter;
(d) the exact description of the goods, including:
— their trade name,
— the combined nomenclature (CN) code(s),— the country of origin,— the country of consignment;
(e) the net weight, expressed in kg and also quantity in the unit
prescribed where other than net weight, by combined nomenclature
heading;
(f) the cif value of the goods in ecus at the Community frontier by
combined nomenclature heading;
(g) whether the products concerned are seconds or of substandard
quality(
1);
(h) the proposed period and place of customs clearance;
(i) whether the application is a repeat of a previous application
concerning the same contract;
(j) the following declaration, dated and signed by the applicant with the
transcription of his name in capital letters:
‘I, the undersigned, certify that the information provided in this
application is true and given in good faith, and that I am establishedin the Community.’
The importer shall also submit a copy of the contract of sale or purchase,
theproforma invoice and/or, in cases where the goods are not directly
purchased in the country of production, a certificate of production issuedby the producing steel mill.1997R2135 — EN — 05.11.1997 — 000.001 — 3
(1) Under the criteriagiven in Commission communica tion concerning
identification criteria of non-prime steel products from third countries
applied by customs services of Member States (OJ C 180, 11. 7. 1991, p. 4).
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4. Surveillance documents may be used only for such time as
arrangements for liberalization of imports remain in force in respect ofthe transactions concerned. Without prejudice to possible changes in the
import regulations in force or decisions taken in the framework of an
agreement or the management of a quota:
— the period of validity of the surveillance document is hereby fixed at
four months,
— unused or partly used surveillance documents may be renewed for an
equal period.
5. The importer shall return surveillance documents to the issuing
authority at the end of their period of validity.
Article 3
1. A finding that the unit price at which the transaction is effected
exceeds that indicated in the import document by less than 5 % or that
the total value or quantity of the products presented for import exceeds
the value or quantity given in the import document by less than 5 %shall not preclude the release for free circulation of the products inquestion.
2. Applications for import documents and the documents themselves
shall be confidential. They shall be restricted to the competent
authorities and the applicant.
Article 4
1. Within the first 10 days of each month, the Member States shall
communicate to the Commission:
(a) details of the quantities and values (calculated in ECU) for which
import documents were issued during the preceding month;
(b) details of imports during the month preceding the month referred to
in subparagraph (a).
The information provided by Member States shall be broken down by
product, CN code and by country.
2. The Member States shall give notification of any anomalies or
cases of fraud which they discover and, where relevant, the basis onwhich they have refused to grant an import document.
Article 5
Any notices to be given hereunder shall be given to the Commission of
the European Communities and shall be communicated electronicallywithin the integrated network set up for this purpose, unless for
imperative technical reasons it is necessary to use other means of
communication temporarily.
Article 6
Committee
1. In the implementation of this Regulation, the Commission shall be
assisted by a committee composed of representatives of the Member
States and chaired by a representative of the Commission.
2. The representative of the Commission shall submit to the
committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The committee shalldeliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the chairmanmay lay down according to the urgency of the matter. The opinion shallbe delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty in
the case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt on a
proposal from the Commission. The votes of the representatives of theMember States within the committee shall be weighted in the manner setout in that Article. The chairman shall not vote.
3. The Commission shall adopt measures which shall apply
immediately. However, if these measures are not in accordance with1997R2135 — EN — 05.11.1997 — 000.001 — 4
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the opinion of the committee, they shall be communicated by the
Commission to the Council forthwith. In that event:
— the Commission may defer application of the measures which it has
decided for a period of not more than one month from the date ofsuch communication,
— the Council, acting by a qualified majority, may take a different
decision within the time limit referred to in the first indent.
Article 7
Final provisions
Amendments to the Appendices which may be necessary to take into
account modifications to the Annex or Appendices attached to the saidAgreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters, or amendments madeto Community rules on statistics, customs arrangements, common rules
for imports or import surveillance, shall be adopted in accordance with
the procedure laid down in Article 6.
Article 8
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its
publication in the Official JournaloftheEuropeanCommunities .
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in
all Member States.1997R2135 — EN — 05.11.1997 — 000.001 — 5
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ANNEX
APPENDIX I
List of products subject to double-checking without quantitative limits
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Cold-rollednarrowstripofawidthnotexceeding 500mm
7211 23 99
7211 29 50
7211 29 907211 90 90
Grainnon-orientedelectrical sheet
7211 23 917225 19 107225 19 90
7226 19 10
7226 19 307226 19 90
Grain-orientedelectrical sheet
7226 11 901997R2135 — EN — 05.11.1997 — 000.001 — 6
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APPENDIX II
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APPENDIX III
1997R2135 — EN — 05.11.1997 — 000.001 — 11
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1997R2135 — EN — 05.11.1997 — 000.001 — 12
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APÉNDICE IV — TILLÆG IV — ANLAGE IV — ΠΡΟΣΑΡΤΗΜΑ IV —
APPENDIXIV—APPENDICEIV—APPENDICEIV—AANHANGSELIV—
APÊNDICEIV—LISÄYSIV—TILLÄGGIV
LISTA DE LAS AUTORIDADES NACIONALES COMPETENTES
LISTE OVER KOMPETENTE NATIONALE MYNDIGHEDER
LISTE DER ZUSTÄNDIGEN BEHÖRDEN DER MITGLIEDSTAATEN
∆ΙΕΥΘΥΝΣΕΙΣ ΤΩΝ ΑΡΧΩΝ ΕΚ∆ΟΣΗΣ Α∆ΕΙΩΝ ΤΩΝ ΚΡΑΤΩΝ
ΜΕΛΩΝ
LIST OF THE COMPETENT NATIONAL AUTHORITIES
LISTE DES AUTORITÉS NATIONALES COMPÉTENTES
ELENCO DELLE COMPETENTI AUTORITÀ NAZIONALI
LIJST VAN BEVOEGDE NATIONALE INSTANTIES
LISTA DAS AUTORIDADES NACIONAIS COMPETENTES
LUETTELO TOIMIVALTAISISTA KANSALLISISTA VIRANOMAISISTA
LISTA ÖVER BEHÖRIGA NATIONELLA MYNDIGHETER
BELGIQUE — BELGIË
Administration des relations économiques
Quatrième division: Mise en œuvre des politiques commerciales internationales
— Services ‘Licences’
Rue Général Leman 60
B-1040 BruxellesTélécopieur: (32 2) 230 83 22
Bestuur van de Economische Betrekkingen
Vierde Afdeling: Toepassing van het Internationaal Handelsbeleid — Dienst
Vergunningen
Generaal Lemanstraat 60
B-1040 Brussel
Fax: (32 2) 230 83 22
DANMARK
Erhvervsfremme Styrelsen
Søndergade 25
DK-8600 SilkeborgFax: (45) 87 20 40 77
DEUTSCHLAND
Bundesamt für Wirtschaft, Dienst 01Postfach 51 71D-65762 Eschborn 1Fax: (49) 61 96-40 42 12
ΕΛΛΑΣ
Υπουργείο Εθνικής ΟικονοµίαςΓενική Γραµµατεία ∆ΟΣ.
∆ιεύθυνση ∆ιαδικασιών Εξωτερικού Εµπορίου
Κορνάρου 1GR-105 63Αθήνα
Τέλεφαξ: (301) 328 60 29 /328 60 59/328 60 39
ESPAÑA
Ministerio de Economíay Ha ciendaDirección General de Cómercio ExteriorPaseo de la Castellana, 162
E-28046 Madrid
Fax: (34 1) 5 63 18 23/349 38 31
FRANCE
SERIBE
3-5, rue Barbet-de-Jouy
F-75357 Paris 07 SPTélécopieur: (33 1) 43 19 43 69
IRELAND
Licensing UnitDepartment of Tourism and TradeKildare StreetIRL-Dublin 2
Fax: (353 1) 676 61 541997R2135 — EN — 05.11.1997 — 000.001 — 13
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ITALIA
Ministero del Commercio con l'estero
Direzione generale per la politica commerciale e per la gestione del regime degli
scambi
Viale America 341
I-00144 Roma
Telefax: (39 6) 59 93 22 35/59 93 26 36
LUXEMBOURG
Ministère des affaires étrangères
Office des licences
Boîte postale 113
L-2011 Luxembourg
Télécopieur: (352) 46 61 38
NEDERLAND
Centrale Dienst voor In- en Uitvoer
Postbus 30003
Engelse Kamp 2
NL-9700 RD Groningen
Fax: (31-50) 526 06 98
ÖSTERREICH
Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Angelegenheiten
Außenwirtschaftsadministration
Landstrasser Hauptstraße 55-57
A-1030 Wien
Fax: (43-1) 715 83 47
PORTUGAL
Direcção-Geral do Comércio Externo
AvenidadaRepública , 79
P-1000 Lisboa
Telefax: (351-1) 793 22 10
SUOMI
Tullihallitus
PL 512
FIN-00101 Helsinki
Telekopio: +358-9 614 2852
SVERIGE
Kommerskollegium
Box 6803
S-113 86 Stockholm
Fax: (46 8) 30 67 59
UNITED KINGDOM
Department of Trade and Industry
Import Licensing Branch
Queensway House, West Precinct
Billingham, Cleveland
UK-TS23 2NF
Fax: (44) 1642 533 5571997R2135 — EN — 05.11.1997 — 000.001 — 14