NoL59/34 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 5.3.73
REGULATION (EEC)No423/73OFTHECOUNCIL
of5February1973
opening,allocating andprovidingfortheadministration ofaCommunity tariffquota
fordriedfigsfallingwithinsubheading ex08.03BoftheCommonCustomsTariff,
originating inSpainandimportedinimmediate packingsofanetcapacityof15kg
orless
Whereas ,duringthelastthreeyearsforwhich
statisticsareavailable,thecorresponding importsby
eachoftheMemberStatesrepresentthefollowing
percentages oftheimportsintotheCommunity from
Spainoftheproductsconcerned :THECOUNCIL OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishing the
European Economic Community andinparticular
Articles43and113thereof;
HavingregardtotheproposalfromtheCommission ;
HavingregardtotheOpinionoftheEuropean
Parliament ;1969 1970 1971
Germany— —
Benelux 100(=It) 30 100(=5t)
France — 70 —
Italy— — —
Whereas ,inviewofthesedataandtheestimates
submitted bycertainMemberStatesaswellasthe
practical needtoensurethattheobligations
contracted undertheAgreement concerned are
allocatedfairlyamongalltheMemberStates,initial
quotasharesmaybefixedapproximately atthe
followingpercentages :Whereas theAgreement betweentheEuropean
Economic Community andSpain,signedat
Luxembourg on29June1970,providesinArticle
2(1)togetherwithArticle9ofAnnexIforthe
openingbythe_Community ofanannualCommunity
tariffquotaof200tonsofdriedfigsfallingwithin
subheading ex08.03BoftheCommon Customs
Tarifforiginating inSpainandimported in
immediate packingsofanetcapacityof15kgorless;
whereas,pursuanttoArticle9ofthesaidAnnexthe
quotadutyisequalto30%oftheCommonCustoms
Tariffdutyinrespectoftheproductconcerned ;
whereastherefore aCommunity tariffquotaof200
metrictonsatadutyrate3%fortheproduct
concerned shouldbeopenedfor1973;Germany
Benelux
France
Italy3
30
65
2;
Whereasitisinparticular necessarytoensuretoall
Community importers equalanduninterrupted access
totheabovementioned quotaanduninterrupted
application oftheratelaiddownforthatquotatoall
importsoftheproductconcerned intoallMember
Statesuntilthequotahasbeenusedup;whereas,
havingregardtotheprinciples mentioned above,the
Community natureofthequotacanberespected by
allocating theCommunity tariffquotaamongthe
MemberStates;whereas,inordertoreflectmost
accurately theactualdevelopment ofthemarketin
theproductconcerned ,suchallocation shouldbein
proportion totheneedsoftheMember States,
assessedbyreferencebothtothestatisticsofeach
State'simportsfromSpainoverarepresentative
periodandtotheeconomicoutlookforthequota
periodconcerned ;Whereas ,inordertotakeintoaccountimporttrends
fortheproductsconcerned inthedifferentMember
States,thequotaamountshouldbedividedintotwo
instalments ,thefirstinstalment beingallocated
amongtheMemberStates,andthesecondforminga
reserveintendedultimately tocovertherequirements
oftheMemberStateswhichhaveuseduptheirinitial
quotashares;whereas ,inordertoensureacertain
degreeofsecuritytoimporters ineachMemberState,
thefirstinstalment oftheCommunity quotashould
bedetermined atalevelwhich,underpresent
circumstances ,maybe80%ofthequotaamount ;
WhereastheinitialquotasharesoftheMember
Statesmaybeusedupatdifferenttimes;whereas ,in

5.3.73 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoL59/35
2.Thesecondinstalment ,amounting to40tons,
shallmakeupthereserve .ordertotakethisfactintoaccountandavoidany
"breakincontinuity ,itisimportant thatanyMember
Statehavingusedupalmostthewholeofitsintitial
quotashareshoulddrawanadditional quotashare
fromthereserve;whereas,thismustbedonebyeach
Member Stateasandwheneachofitsadditional
quotasharesisalmostentirelyusedup,andrepeated
asmanytimesasthereserveallows;whereasthe
initialandadditional quotasharesmustbeavailable
foruseuntiltheendofthequotaperiod;whereas
thismethod ofadministration callsforclose
cooperation between Member Statesandthe
Commission ,whichmust,inparticular ,beableto
observetheextenttowhichthequotaamountisused
andinformMemberStatesthereof;
Whereasif,ataspecifieddateinthequotaperiod,a
considerable balance remains inoneorother
Member StateitisessentialthatthatMember State
paysalargeamountofitbackintothereserve,in
ordertoavoidapartoftheCommunity quota
remaining unusedinoneMemberStatewhenitcould
beusedinothers;
Whereas ,sincetheKingdom ofBelgium ,the
KingdomoftheNetherlands andtheGrandDuchyof
Luxembourg areunitedinandrepresented bythe
BeneluxEconomic Union,alltransactions concerning
theadministration ofsharesgrantedtothe
abovementioned Economic Unionmaybecarriedout
byanyoneofitsmembers ;
HASADOPTED THISREGULATION :Article3
1.If90%ormoreoftheinitialshareofa
MemberState,aslaiddowninArticle2(1),or90%
ofthatsharelesstheamountreturned intothe
reserve,wheretheprovisions ofArticle5havebeen
applied,hasbeenexhausted ,thatMemberStateshall
proceedwithoutdelay,bynotifyingtheCommission ,
todrawasecondshareequalto15%ofitsinitial
share,rounded uptothenextunitwhere
appropriate ,totheextentthattheamountinthe
reserveallows.
2.If,afteritsinitialsharehasbeenexhausted ,
90%ormoreofthesecondsharedrawnbya
MemberStatehasbeenused,thatMemberStateshall
proceedwithout (jfelay,bynotifyingtheCommission ,
todrawathirdshareequalto7-5%ofitsinitial
share,rounded uptothenextunitwhere
appropriate ,totheextentthattheamountinthe
reserveallows .
3.If,afteritssecondsharehasbeenexhausted ,
90%ormoreofthethirdsharedrawnbyaMember
Statehasbeenused,thatMemberStateshallproceed,
pursuanttotheprovisions ofparagraph 2,todrawa
fourthshareequaltothethird.
Thisprocessshallbeapplieduntilthereserveis
exhausted .
4.Notwithstanding theprovisions ofparagraphs
1,2and3,the'MemberStatesmayproceedtodraw
sharessmallerthanthosefixedinthoseparagraphs ,if
thereisreasontobelievethatthosesharesmightnot
beusedup.TheyshallinformtheCommission ofthe
reasonswhichledthemtoapplythisparagraph .
Article4
Theadditional sharesdrawrj^pursuanttoArticle3
shallbevaliduntil31December 1973.Article 1
Asfrom1January1973anduntil31December 1973,
theCommonCustomsTariffdutyinrespectofdried
figsfallingwithinsubheading ex08.03B,originating
inSpainandimportedinimmediate packingsofanet
capacitynotexceeding 15kgsshallbepartially
suspended at3%withintheframework ofa
Community tariffquotaof200tons.
Article2
1.Afirstinstalment ,amounting to160tonsofthe
Community tariffquotareferredtoinArticle1shall
besharedamongtheMemberStates;theproportions
which,subjecttoArticle5,shallhevalidfrom1
Januaryuntil31December 1973shallconsistofthe
followingamounts ;
Germany 5metrictons
Benelux 48metrictons
France 104metrictons
Italy 3metrictonsArticle5
If,by15September 1973,aMemberStatehasnot
usedupitsinitialshare,itshall,notlaterthan10
October 1973,returntothereservetheunused
portionofthisshareinexcessof20%oftheinitial
amount .Itmayreturnalargerquantityifthereare
reasonstoconsiderthatsuchquantitymightnotbe
used.

NoL59/36 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 5.3.73
TheMemberStatesshall,notlaterthan10October
1973,notifytheCommission ofthetotalimportsof
theproductconcerned effectedupto15September
1973inclusive ,andchargedagainsttheCommunity
quotaand,whereappropriate ,theproportion oftheir
initialsharethatisbeingreturnedtothereserve.
Article6
TheCommission shallkeepaccountoftheshares
openedbyMemberStatesinaccordance withArticles
2and3andshallinformeachofthemoftheextent
towhichthereservehasbeenusedassoonasit
receivesthenotifications .
TheCommission shall,notlaterthan15October
1973,notifyMemberStatesoftheamountinthe
reserveafterthereturnofsharespursuant to
Article5.
TheCommission shallensurethatanydrawing
whichusesupthereserveislimitedtothebalance
availableand,forthispurpose,shallspecifythe
amountthereoftotheMember Statewhichmakes
thefinaldrawing .
Article7
1.TheMemberStatesshalltakeallappropriate
measures toensurethat,whenadditional sharesare
drawnpursuanttoArticle3,itispossibleforcharges
tobemadewithoutinterruption againsttheir
accumulated sharesoftheCommunity quota.2.TheMemberStatesshallguarantee toimporters
oftheproductconcerned established intheirterritory
freeaccesstothesharesallocated tothem.
3.TheMemberStatesshallchargeimportsofthe
productconcerned againsttheirsharesinsofaras
theproducthasbeenpresented forCustoms
clearance undercoverofdeclarations thatithasbeen
madeavailableforconsumption .
4.TheextenttowhichtheMember States'shares
havebeenusedupshallberecordedonthebasisof
theimportschargedintheconditions laiddownin
paragraph 3.
Article8
Member StatesshallinformtheCommission at
regularintervalsofimportsfromSpainactually
chargedagainsttheirshares.
Article9
TheMember StatesandtheCommission shall
cooperate closelyinordertoensurethatthe
provisions ofthisRegulation areobserved .
Article10
ThisRegulation shallenterintoforceonthethird
dayfollowing itspublication intheOfficialJournal
oftheEuropeanCommunities .
ThisRegulation shallbebindinginitsentiretyanddirectlyapplicable inallMember
States.
DoneatBrussels,5February 1973.
FortheCouncil
ThePresident
R.VANELSLANDE