27.10.77 NoL275/3 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities
COUNCILREGULATION (EEC)No2338/77
of24October1977
opening,allocatingandadministering aCommunitytariffquotaforferro­
chromiumcontainingnotlessthan4%byweightofcarbon,fallingwithin
subheadingex73.02EIoftheCommonCustomsTariff,andextendingthe
benefitofthisquotatocertainimportsofferro-chromium containingaquan­
tityofbetween3and4%byweightofcarbon
quotainquestiontotheseimports,limitingit,
however,to20%ofthequotavolumetakingaccount
oftheexistenceofCommunityproduction ;
Whereasequalandcontinuousaccesstothequota
shouldbeensuredforallCommunityimportersand
therateofdutyforthetariffquotashouldbeapplied
consistentlytoallimportsuntilthequotais
exhausted;whereasinthelightoftheseprinciples
arrangements fortheutilizationofthetariffquota
basedonanallocationamongMemberStateswould
seemtobeconsistentwiththeCommunitynatureof
thequota;whereas,tocorrespondascloselyas
possibletotheactualtrendofthemarketinthe
productinquestion,allocationofthequotashouldbe
inproportiontotherequirements oftheMember
Statesascalculatedbyreferencetostatisticsofimports
fromthirdcountriesduringarepresentative reference
periodandtotheeconomicoutlookforthequota
periodinquestion;THECOUNCILOFTHEEUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES ,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishingtheEuropean
EconomicCommunity ,andinparticularArticle28
thereof,
HavingregardtothedraftRegulationsubmittedby
theCommission ,
Whereas,byitsRegulation(EEC)No270/77(*),the
Councilopenedfor1977andapportionedamongthe
MemberStatesaCommunitytariffquotaofatotal
sizeof52000tonnesforferro-chromecontainingnot
lessthan4%byweightofcarbonandhasextended
theapplicationofthisquotatocertainimportsof
ferro-chromecontainingbetween3and4%by
weightofcarbonfallingwithinsubheadingex73.02E
IoftheCommonCustomsTariff;
Whereas,fortheproductinquestion,Community
productionisinadequateandproducersareunableto
meetthetotalrequirementsofconsumerindustriesin
theCommunity ;whereas,havingregardtothemost
recenteconomicdatafor1977onconsumption ,
production,exportstothirdcountries,importsunder
theinwardprocessingarrangements orothertariff
preferenceschemeandtakingaccountofthestocks
heldbyanumberofMemberStateson31December
1976,thereisreasontoassumethattheadditional
Communityimportrequirements inrespectof
importsfromthirdcountriesmayreachthelevelof
90000tonnesduring1977;whereasitisthereforein
theCommunity'sinteresttosuspendinrespectofthis
metaltheapplicationoftheCommonCustomsTariff
dutyuntil31December1977,withinasuitabletariff
quota;whereas,inordernottoraisethequestionof
theprospectsfordevelopmentoftheCommunity
productionsector,itisappropriatetofixthequota
volumeandtherateofdutyapplicableatthelevelof
44300tonnesand3%respectively ;
Whereasrelativelylimitedimportsofferro-chromium
containingaquantityofbetween3and4%by
weightofcarbonareforeseeableforthisquotaperiod;
whereasprovisionshouldbemadeonatemporary
basisfortheextensionofthebenefitofthetariffWhereas,however,sincethequotaisanautonomous
Communitytariffquotaintendedtocoverimport
needsarisingintheCommunity,itmaybeallocated
onthebasisofthetemporaryimportneedsfromthird
countriesexpressedbyeachoftheMemberStates;
whereas,onthebasisofeconomicinformation
suppliedandallowingforduty-freesuppliesfromthe
Communityorcertainthirdcountries,theseneeds
wouldamounttothefollowingpercentagesofthe
tariffquota;whereasthissystemofallocationalso
ensurestheuniformapplicationoftheCommon
CustomsTariff:
Benelux
Denmark
Germany
France
Ireland
Italy
UnitedKingdom21-44,
0-19,
15-83,
17-21,
0-02,
6-77,
32-80;
Whereas,totakeaccountoffutureimporttrendsfor
theproductconcerned,thequotashouldbedivided
intotwotranches,thefirstbeingallocatedamongthe
MemberStatesandthesecondheldasareserveto (')OJNoL39,10.2.1977,p.2.

NoL275/4 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 27.10.77
coversubsequentlytherequirementsofMemberStates
whichhaveexhaustedtheirnewshares;whereas,to
giveimportersofMemberStatessomedegreeof
certainty,thefirsttrancheofthetariffquotashouldbe
fixedatarelativelyhighlevelwhichcouldbe41760
tonnes:saidtariffquota,importsofferro-chromium
containingaquantityofbetween3and4%by
weightofcarbon.
3.Withinthisquota,thecustomstariffdutyshall
besuspendedat3%.
Article2
1.Afirstinstalmentof41760tonnesofthis
Communitytariffquotashallbeallocatedamongthe
MemberStates;theshares,whichsubjecttoArticle5
shallbevaliduntil31December1977,shallbeas
followsforeachMemberState:
Benelux
Denmark
Germany
France
Ireland
Italy
UnitedKingdom9500tonnes,
84tonnes,
7014tonnes,
7624tonnes,
8tonnes,
3000tonnes,
14530tonhes.WhereasMemberStatesmayexhausttheirinitial
sharesatdifferentrates;whereastoavoiddisruption
ofsuppliesonthisaccountitshouldbeprovidedthat
anyMemberStatewhich,hasalmostusedupitsinitial
shareshoulddrawanadditionalsharefromthe
reserve;whereaseachtimeitsadditionalshareis
almostexhaustedaMemberStateshoulddrawa
furthershare,andsoonasmanytimesasthereserve
allows;whereastheinitialandadditionalshares
shouldbevaliduntiltheendofthequotaperiod;
whereasthisformofadministration requiresclose
collaboration betweentheMemberStatesandthe
CommissionandtheCommissionmustbeinaposi­
tiontokeepaccountoftheextenttowhichthequotas
havebeenusedupandtoinformtheMemberStates
accordingly ;
Whereasifatagivendateinthequotaperioda
considerablequantityofaMemberState'sinitialshare
remainsunuseditisessentialthatsuchStateshould
returnasignificantproportionthereoftothereserve,
inordertopreventapartofaquotafromremaining
unusedinoneMemberStatewhileitcouldbeusedin
others;
Whereas,sincetheKingdomofBelgium,the
KingdomoftheNetherlandsandtheGrandDuchyof
Luxembourgareunitedwithinandjointlyrepresented
bytheBeneluxEconomicUnion,anymeasure
concerningtheadministration ofthesharesallocated
tothatEconomicUnionmaybecarriedoutbyany
oneofitsmembers,2..Thesecondinstalmentof2540tonnesshall
constituteareserve.
Article3
1.AssoonasoneoftheMemberStateshasused
90%ormoreofitsinitialshareasfixedinArticle2
(1),orofthatshareminusanyportionreturnedtothe
reservepursuanttoArticle5,itshallforthwith,bynoti­
fyingtheCommission ,drawasecondshare,tothe
extentthatthereservesopermits,equalto10%ofits
initialshareroundedupasnecessarytothenext
wholenumber.
2.AssoonasoneoftheMemberStates,after
exhaustingitsinitialshare,hasused90%ormoreof
thesecondsharedrawnbyit,thatMemberStateshall
forthwith,inthemannerandtotheextentprovided
inparagraph 1,drawathirdshareequalto5%ofits
initialshare. HASADOPTEDTHISREGULATION
3.AssoonasoneoftheMemberStates,after
exhaustingitssecondshare,hasused90%ormoreof
thethirdsharedrawnbyit,thatMemberStateshall
forthwithandinaccordancewiththesameconditions,
drawafourthshareequaltothethird.
Thisprocessshallcontinueuntilthereserveis
exhausted.
4.Notwithstanding paragraphs 1to3,aMember
Statemaydrawshareslowerthanthosespecifiedin
thoseparagraphsiftherearegroundsforbelieving
thatthosespecifiedmaynotbeusedinfull.Any
MemberStateapplyingthisparagraphshallinform
theCommissionofitsgroundsforsodoing.Article1
1.FromthedateofentryintoforceofthisRegula­
tionanduntil31December1977atariffquotaof
44300tonnesshallbeopenedwithintheCommunity
inrespectofferro-chromium containingnotlessthan
4%byweightofcarbonfallingwithinsubheadingex
73.02EIoftheCommonCustomsTariff.
2.DuringthisperiodtheMemberStatesshallbe
authorizedwithinthe20%limitofthequotasallo­
catedtothemorwhichtheylevyonthereservein
accordancewithArticles2and3tochargeagainstthe

27.10.77 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoL275/5
Article4
AdditionalsharesdrawnpursuanttoArticle3shallbe
validuntil31December1977.
Article5
TheMemberStatesshallnotlaterthan15December
1977returntothereservetheunusedportionoftheir
initialsharewhichon1December1977exceeds
20%oftheinitialamount.Theymayreturnagreater
portioniftherearegroundsforbelievingthatsuch
portionmaynotbeusedinfull.
Notlaterthan15December1977theMemberStates
shallnotifytheCommissionofthetotalquantitiesof
theproductsinquestionimporteduptoand
including 1December1977andchargedagainstthe
Communityquotaandofanyportionoftheirinitial
sharesreturnedtothereserve.
Article6
MemberStatesmayrestricttheusetowhichproducts
chargedagainsttheirquotasmaybeput.notifytheamountofthatbalancetotheMemberState
makingthelastdrawing.
Article8
1.TheMemberStatesshalltakeallappropriate
measurestoensurethatadditionalsharesdrawn
pursuanttoArticle3areopenedinsuchawaythat
importationsmaybechargedwithoutinterruption
againsttheiraccumulatedshareofthetariffquota.
2.TheMemberStatesshallensurethatimporters
oftheproductinquestionestablishedintheirterrito­
rieshavefreeaccesstothesharesallocatedtothem.
3.TheMemberStateshallchargeimportsofthe
productinquestionagainsttheirsharesasandwhen
theproductisenteredwiththecustomsauthoritiesfor
homeuse.
4.TheextenttowhichtheMemberStateshave
useduptheirsharesshallbedeterminedonthebasis
oftheimportationschargedagainsttheirsharesin
accordancewithparagraph3.
Article9
AttherequestoftheCommission ,theMemberStates
shallinformitofimportschargedagainsttheirshares.
Article10
TheMemberStatesandtheCommissionshallcoop­
eratecloselytoensurethatthisRegulationis
compliedwith.
Article11
ThisRegulationshallenterintoforceontheseventh
dayfollowingitspublicationintheOfficialJournal
oftheEuropeanCommunities .Article7
TheCommissionshallkeepanaccountoftheshares
openedbytheMemberStatespursuanttoArticles2
and3andshall,assoonastheinformationreachesit,
informeachStateoftheextenttowhichthereserve
hasbeenusedup.
Notlaterthan20December1977itshallinformthe
MemberStatesoftheamountsstillinreserve
followinganyreturnofsharespursuanttoArticle5.
Itshallensurethatwhenanamountexhaustingthe
reserveisdrawn,theamountsodrawndoesnot
exceedthebalanceavailable,andtothisendshall
ThisRegulationshallbebindinginitsentiretyanddirectlyapplicableinallMember
States.
DoneatLuxembourg ,24October1977.
FortheCouncil
ThePresident
A.HUMBLET