Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community - Convention on the Transitional Provisions - Part Two - Relations between the Community and third countries - Chapter 1 - Negotiations with Third Countries - Article 15

In order to leave Member States entirely free to negotiate concessions from third countries, including in particular concessions in return for a lowering of customs duties on steel so as to harmonize with the least protective tariffs in the Community, Member States agree to the following arrangements, to take effect upon the establishment of the common market in steel:

- the Benelux countries shall continue to charge on products which are imported from third countries under tariff quotas and are bound for their own home markets the duties which they are charging at the date of entry into force of the Treaty;

- on imports in excess of the quota which are deemed to be bound for other Community countries, they shall charge duties equal to the lowest duty being applied in the other Member States, by reference to the Brussels Nomenclature of 1950, at the date of entry into force of the Treaty.

The tariff quota for each heading of the Benelux customs tariff shall be fixed by the governments of the Benelux countries, in agreement with the Commission, for a year at a time subject to quarterly revision, taking into account movements in demand and in trade flows. The initial quotas shall be fixed on the basis of the average imports of the Benelux countries from third countries over an appropriate reference period, account being taken where necessary of any intended change from importation to home production as newly installed capacity comes into service. Any imports in excess of the quota in response to unforeseen demand shall be notified forthwith to the Commission, which, should it find that shipments from the Benelux countries to other Member States show a substantial increase accounted for entirely by the importation of tonnages in excess of the quota, may prohibit such importation unless temporary controls are imposed on these shipments. Benelux importers shall be entitled to pay the lowest rate of duty only if they undertake not to re export the products in question to other Community countries.

The undertaking by the Benelux countries to operate a tariff quota shall cease to apply as provided in the agreement concluding the negotiations with Great Britain, and at latest at the end of the transitional period.

If the Commission finds, at the end of the transitional period or on the abolition of the tariff quota in advance of that date, that one or more Member States are justified in charging on imports from third countries customs du ties above the rates which would be chargeable if harmonized with the least protective tariffs in the Community, it shall, as provided in Article 29, authorize these States to take appropriate steps of their own to afford their indirect imports through Member States with lower tariffs the same degree of protection as that afforded by their own tariffs to their direct imports.

To facilitate the harmonization of the tariffs, the Benelux countries agree, where the Commission in consultation with their governments finds it necessary, to raise their present duties on steel by up to two points. They shall not be bound to do so until the tariff quotas provided for in the second, third and fourth paragraphs of this Article have been abolished and until one or more of the Member States bordering on the Benelux countries forgo the corresponding arrangements provided for in the preceding paragraph.