6.11.76 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoL305/1
I
(Actswhosepublicationisobligatory)
COUNCILREGULATION (EEC)No2631/76
of19October1976
ontheopening,allocationandadministration ofaCommunitytariffquotaforcertain
plywoodsofconiferousspecies,fallingwithinheadingNoex44.15oftheCommon
CustomsTariff(1977)
THECOUNCILOFTHEEUROPEANCOMMUNITIES ,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishingthe
EuropeanEconomicCommunity,andinparticular
Articles28and113thereof,
HavingregardtotheproposalfromtheCommission ,Whereas,totakemorepreciseaccountoffuture
trendsinimportsoftheproductsconcerned,the
quotashouldbedividedintotwotranches,thefirst
beingallocatedamongalltheMemberStatesandthe
secondheldasareservetocoverthesubsequent
requirements ofMemberStateswhichhave
exhaustedtheirinitialshares;whereas,inorderto
offerimporterssomedegreeofsecurity,thefirst
trancheofthequotashouldbefixedatarelatively
highlevel,orabout96%ofitsfullamount;whereas,
onthebasisofMemberStates'estimatesoftheir
needs,theinitialsharesmaybefixedassetoutin
Article2;
WhereasMemberStatesmayuseuptheirinitial
sharesatdifferentrates;whereas,toprovideforthis
eventualityandtoavoiddisruptionofsupplies,any
MemberStatewhichhasalmostusedupitsinitial
shareshoulddrawanadditionalsharefromthe
reserve;whereas,eachtimeitsadditionalshareis
almostusedup,aMemberStateshoulddrawan
additionalshare,andsoonasmanytimesasthe
reserveallows;whereastheinitialandadditional
sharesshouldbevaliduntiltheendofthequota
period;whereasthisformofadministration requires
closecollaboration betweenMemberStatesandthe
Commission ,whichlattermust,inparticular,beable
tokeeparecordoftheextenttowhichthequotahas
beenusedupandtoinformtheMemberStates
accordingly ;
Whereasif,atagivendateinthequotaperiod,a
considerablequantityofaMemberState'sinitial
shareremainsunused,itisessentialthatthatMember
Stateshouldreturnasignificantproportiontothe
reserve,soastoavoidapartofthequotaremaining
unusedinoneMemberStatewhenitcouldbeusedin
others;Whereas,underProtocol11totheActof
Accession(1),theCommunity isrequiredtoopen
eachyearnildutyCommunitytariffquotasfor
certainplywoodsofconiferousspeciesfallingwithin
headingNoex44.15oftheCommonCustomsTariff,
thevolumethereoftohedecidedannuallywhenitis
establishedthatallpossibilitiesofsupplyonthe
internalmarketoftheCommunity havebeen
exhaustedduringtheperiodforwhichthequotasare
open;whereas,inviewoftheaforesaidpossibilities
ofsupplyandonthebasisofforecastsof
requirementsmadebytheMemberStates,thevolurrte
ofthetariffquotatobeopenedfor1977maybe
fixedat700000m3;whereastheopeningofthe
aforementioned tariffquotaalsocoversthe
commitmententeredintobytheCommunitywithin
theGATTtograntinrespectoftheseproductsan
annualduty-freetariffquotaof400000m3;whereas
theabovementioned requirements donotinclude
importstowhichotherpreferential tariff
arrangements mayapply;whereas,inviewofthe
relativelysmallquantitiesproducedinthe
Community ,itisnotnecessarytoapportionthis
amountbetweenthecategoriesofplywoodspecified
intheabovementioned Protocol11;whereasthe
fixingofthevolumeat700000m3onthebasisof
provisionalestimatesdoesnotexcludeanadjustment
duringthequotayear;
Whereas,sincetheKingdomofBelgium,the
KingdomoftheNetherlandsandtheGrandDuchyof (>)OJNoL73,27.3.1972,p.170.

NoL305/2 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 6.11.76
3.Thesecondtrancheof30000m8shall
constitutethereserve.Luxembourg areunitedwithinandjointly
representedbytheBeneluxEconomicUnion,any
measureconcerningtheadministration oftheshares
allocatedtothatEconomicUnionmaybecarriedout
byanyoneofitsmembers,
Article3
HASADOPTED THISREGULATION :
Article11.If90%ormoreofaMemberState'sinitial
shareasfixedinArticle2(2),orofthatshareminus
anyportionreturnedtothereservewhereArticle5
hasbeenapplied,hasbeenusedup,thatMember
Stateshallforthwith,bynotifyingtheCommission,
drawasecondshare,totheextentthatthereserveso
permits,equalto10%ofitsinitialshare,roundedup
asnecessarytothenextwholenumber.
2.If,afteritsinitialsharehasbeenexhausted,
90%ormoreofthesecondsharedrawnbya
MemberStatehasbeenusedup,thatMemberState
shall,inthemannerandtotheextentprovidedin
paragraph1,drawathirdshareequalto5%ofits
initialshare,roundedupasnecessarytothenext
wholenumber.
3.If,afteritssecondsharehasbeenexhausted,
90%ormoreofthethirdsharedrawnbyaMember
Statehasbeenusedup,thatMemberStateshall,in
themannerandtotheextentprovidedinparagraph
1,drawafourthshareequaltothethird.
Thisprocedureshallapplyuntilthereserveisused
up.1.Duringtheperiodfrom1Januaryto31
December1977,aCommunitytariffquotaof700000
m8shallbeopenedforthefollowingproductsfalling
withinheadingNoex44.15oftheCommonCustoms
Tariff:
(a)plywoodofconiferousspecies,withoutthe
additionofothersubstances,ofathickness
greaterthan9mm,thefacesofwhicharenot
furtherpreparedthanthepeelingprocess;
(b)^plywoodofconiferousspecies,withoutthe
additionofothersubstances,sanded,andofa
thicknessgreaterthan18-5mm.
2.Importsoftheproductsinquestionmaynotbe
chargedagainstthistariffquotaiftheyarealready
freeofcustomsdutiesunderotherpreferentialtariff
arrangements .
3.TheCommonCustomsTariffdutyshallbe
totallysuspendedwithinthelimitsoftheabove
quota.
4.NewMemberStatesshallapplyduties
calculatedinaccordancewiththerelevantprovisions
oftheActofAccessiontoimportswithinthelimits
oftheabovequota.4.Bywayofderogationfromparagraphs 1,2,and
3,MemberStatesmaydrawlessersharesthanthose
specifiedthereiniftherearegroundsforbelieving
thatthosespecifiedmaynotbeusedinfull.They
shallinformtheCommission oftheirreasonsfor
applyingthisparagraph. Article2
Article41.ThetariffquotareferredtoinArticle1(1)shall
bedividedintotwotranches.
2.Afirsttrancheof670000m3shallbeallocated
amongtheMemberStates.MemberStates'shares
which,subjecttoArticle5,shallbevaliduntil
31December1977,shallbeasfollows:AdditionalsharesdrawnpursuanttoArticle3shall
bevaliduntil31December1977.
incubicmetres
Article5Benelux 90000
Denmark 90000
Germany 100000
France 20000
Ireland 10000
Italy 25000
UnitedKingdom 335000MemberStatesshallreturntothereserve,notlater
than1October1977,theunusedportionsoftheir
initialshareswhich,on15September1977arein
excessof20%oftheinitialamounts.Theymay
returnagreaterportioniftherearegroundsfor
believingthatsuchportionmaynotbeusedinfull.

6.11.76 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoL305/3
MemberStatesshallnotifytheCommission ,notlater
than1October1977,ofthetotalquantitiesofthe
productsinquestionimporteduptoandincluding15
September1977andchargedagainsttheCommunity
quotaandofanyportionoftheirinitialshares
returnedtothereserve.2.MemberStatesshallensurethatimportersof
theproductsinquestionestablishedintheirterritory
havefreeaccesstothesharesallocatedtothem.
3.MemberStatesshallchargeimportsofthe
productsinquestionagainsttheirsharesasandwhen
theproductsareenteredwiththecustomsauthorities
forhomeuse.
4.TheextenttowhichaMemberStatehasused
upitsshareshallbedeterminedonthebasisof
importschargedagainstthatshareinaccordance
withparagraph3.Article6
Article8TheCommissionshallkeepanaccountoftheshares
openedbytheMemberStatespursuanttoArticles2
and3and,assoonasithasbeennotified,shall
informeachStateoftheextenttowhichthereserve
hasbeenusedup.
ItshallinformtheMemberStates,notlaterthan
5October1977,oftheamountstillinreserveafter
amountshavebeenreturnedtheretopursuantto
Article5.
Itshallensurethatthedrawingwhichexhauststhe
reservedoesnotexceedthebalanceavailableand,to
thisend,shallnotifytheamountofthatbalanceto
theMemberStatemakingthelastdrawing.AttheCommission'srequest,MemberStatesshall
informitoftheimportsactuallychargedagainsttheir
shares.
Article9
MemberStatesandtheCommissionshallcooperate
closelytoensurethatthisRegulationiscomplied
with. Article7
Article101.MemberStatesshalltakeallappropriate
measurestoensurethatadditionalsharesdrawn
pursuanttoArticle3areopenedinsuchawaythat
importsmaybechargedwithoutinterruptionagainst
theiraggregatesharesoftheCommunityquota.ThisRegulationshallenterintoforceon1January
1977.
ThisRegulationshallbebindinginitsentiretyanddirectlyapplicableinallMember
States.
DoneatLuxembourg ,19October1976.
FortheCouncil
ThePresident
M.vanderSTOEL