COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) N° 3918/92 of 28 December 1992 opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas and ceilings for certain agricultural and industrial products and establishing a reduced variable component for certain processed agricultural products originating in Hungary, Poland and the territory of the former Czech and Slovak Federal Republic (CSFR) (1993)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 113 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas the European Agreements between the European Economic Community, the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community, on the one hand, and the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Poland and the Czech and Slovak Federal Republik (CSFR), on the other hand, were signed on 16 Decemer 1991; whereas, pending the entry into force of these Agreements, the Community has concluded Interim Agreements (1) (2) (3) on trade and trade-related measures with those countries, also signed on 16 December 1991 and implemented on 1 March 1992;

Whereas Articles 3 and 14 of the Interim Agreements stipulate that certain products originating in the countries in question may attract a reduced or zero rate of duty on import into the Community, within the limits of tariff quotas or ceilings; whereas, pursuant to the provisions annexed to those Agreements, the volumes of the tariff quotas and ceilings, established when the Europe Agreements were signed, must be increased, from the date on which the Interim Agreements enter into force, by a percentage specific to each country and category of products;

Whereas, further, for imports of some processed agricultural products not covered by Annex II to the Treaty, Article 13 and Protocol N° 3 of each of these Interim Agreements provide for the fixing of reduced variable components in accordance with each Protocol of the Agreements in question, within the limits of the quotas set or established in accordance with the Protocols concerned; whereas such Protocols provide for an annual increment of the volume of the quotas during the first five years of application;

Whereas it seems advisable, in the interests of clarity, to divide the products subject to tariff ceilings and quotas into two groups, in Annexes I and II to this Regulation, one for industrial products and one for agricultural products, specifying for each product the volume of its quota or ceiling and the rate of customs duty applicable; whereas Annexes III, IV and V to this Regulation, with their pertinent provisions, should group the processed agricultural products attracting a reduced variable component and originating, respectively, in Hungary, Poland and the territory of the former CSFR;

Whereas the decision for the opening of Community quotas should be taken by the Community, in the execution of its international obligations, in the case of the products listed in Annexes I, II, III, IV and V to this Regulation; whereas particular care should be taken to ensure that all Community importers have equal and continuous access to those quotas and that the rates laid down for the quotas are applied to all imports of the products in question into all Member States until the quotas are exhausted; whereas, to ensure the efficiency of a common administration of these quotas, there is no obstacle to authorizing the Member States to draw from the quota-volumes the necessary quantities corresponding to actual imports; whereas, however, this method of administration requires close cooperation between the Member States and the Commission and close cooperation between the Member States and the Commission and the latter must in particular be able to monitor the rate at which the quotas are used up and inform the Member States accordingly;

Whereas, in the case of the products listed in Annexes I and II to this Regulation which are subject to Community tariff ceilings, Community surveillance may be achieved by means of an administrative procedure based on charging imports of the products in question against the ceilings at Community level as and when those products are entered with the customs authorities for free circulation;

Whereas this administrative procedure requires close and particularly rapid cooperation between the Member States and the Commission, and the latter must in particular be able to monitor quantities charged against the ceilings and keep the Member States informed; whereas this cooperation has to be particularly close, since the Commission must be able to take appropriate measures to reintroduce customs duties once a ceiling is reached;

Whereas, since the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg are united within, and jointly represented by, the Benelux Economic Union, any operation concerning the administration of these tariff measures may be carried out by any one of its members,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

From 1 January to 31 December 1993 goods originating in Hungary, Poland and the territory of the former CSFR which are listed in Annexes I and II to this Regulation shall be subject to Community tariff quotas or ceilings, according to the provisions contained within the said Annexes.

Article 2

From 1 January to 31 December 1993 goods originating in Hungary, Poland and the territory of the former CSFR listed in Annexes III, IV and V to this Regulation shall be subject to a reduced variable component determined in accordance with Article 3, within the limits of the quotas and under the conditions set out in those Annexes.

Article 3

The reduced variable components applicable from 1 January to 31 December 1993 shall be calculated as follows:

(a) the difference established in accordance with Article 6 (2) of Regulation (EEC) N° 3033/80 of 11 November 1980 laying down the trade arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products (1), between the average threshold price and the average cif price or free-at-frontier price for each basic product shall be reduced by 20 %; however, the differences established, for common wheat, as far as Hungary is concerned, for the basic products falling within Chapter 4 of the combined nomenclature, as far as Poland and the territory of the former CSFR are concerned, and for barley, as far as the territory of the former CSFR is concerned, shall be reduced by 40 %;

(b) the amounts thus obtained shall apply to the quantities of basic products considered to have been used in the manufacture of the goods concerned in accordance with Article 4 (1) of Regulation (EEC) N° 3033/80.

Article 4

The variable components to be applied to those goods which are mentioned in the Annex to Regulation (EEC) N° 3033/80 but not mentioned in, respectively, Annexes III, IV and V to this Regulation, and to those goods which are mentioned in the said Annexes in amounts exceeding the quotas laid down in them, shall be those which are established by direct application of Article 6 of Regulation (EEC) N° 3033/80.

Article 5

1. The tariff quotas referred to in Articles 1 and 2 shall be administered by the Commission, which may take all appropriate administrative measures in order to ensure efficient administration thereof.

2. Where an importer declares a product covered by this Regulation for free circulation in a Member State and applies to take advantage of the preferential arrangements, and that declaration is accepted by the customs authorities, the Member State concerned shall, by notifying the Commission, draw an amount corresponding to its reuqirements fromt the quota volume.

Requests for drawings, indicating the date of acceptance of the said declarations, must be sent to the Commission without delay.

The drawings shall be granted by the Commission by reference to the date of acceptance of the declaration for free circulation by the customs authorities of the Member State concerned, to the extent that the available balance so permits.

3. If a Member State does not use the quantites drawn, it shall return them to the corresponding quota volume as soon as possible.

4. If the quantities requested are greater than the available balance of the quota volume, the balance shall be allocated on a pro rata basis. The Commission shall inform the Member States of the drawings made.

Article 6

1. Quantities shall be charged against the ceilings as and when products are declared to the customs authorities for free circulation.

Goods may be charged against a ceiling only if the movement certificate is presented before the date on which levying of customs duties is reintroduced.

2. The level of utilization of the ceilings shall be determined at Community level on the basis of the imports charged against them in accordance with paragraph 1.

Member States shall send the Commission, not later than the 15th day of each month, statements of the quantities charged during the preceding month.

3. As soon as the ceilings have been reached, the Commission may adopt a regulation reintroducing the customs duties applicable to the third countries in question until the end of the calendar year.

When the adoption of such a regulation is requested by a Member State, the Commission shall examine the request within the following five days and shall inform the requesting Member State of the action it considers it should take as a result of the request, in the light, in particular, of the statements sent as provided for in paragraph 2.

Article 7

If the Joint Committees established by the Interim Agreements between the European Economic Community and, respectively, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Hungary and the CSFR or the Association Councils established by the Association Agreements between these parties, decide to supplement the Annexes to Protocol N° 3 to the said Agreements, the Commission shall adjust the corresponding Annexes to this Regulation as a result.

Article 8

The Protocol on the definition of the concept of originating products and methods of administrative cooperation, annexed to the Interim Agreements between the European Economic Community, the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community, on the one hand, and Poland, Hungary and the CSFR, on the other hand, shall apply

Article 9

In order to ensure compliance with this Regulation, the Commission shall take all appropriate measures, in close cooperation with the Member States.

Article 10

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1993.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 28 December 1992.

For the Council The President D. Hurd

(3) OJ N° L 114, 30. 4. 1992, p. 2.

(2) OJ N° L 115, 30. 4. 1992, p. 2.

(3) OJ N° L 116, 30. 4. 1992, p. 2.

(1) OJ N° L 323, 29. 11. 1980, p. 1.

ANNEX I

List of industrial products subject to ceilings or quotas fixed duty-free amounts (1)

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ANNEX II

List of agricultural products subject to tariff quotas for reduced or zero duty (1)

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ANNEX III

List of goods originating in Hungary benefiting from a reduction of the variable components, cited in Article 2, within the limits of the quotas cited in Annex II

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ANNEX IV

Goods originating in Poland benefiting from a reduction in variable components within the limits of the quotas envisaged in Article 2

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ANNEX V

Goods originating in CSFR benefiting from a reduction in variable components within the limits of the quotas envisaged in Article 2

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