COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) N° 3917/92 of 21 December 1992 extending into 1993 the application of Regulations (EEC) N° 3831/90, (EEC) N° 3832/90, (EEC) N° 3833/90, (EEC) N° 3834/90, (EEC) N° 3835/90 and (EEC) N° 3900/91 applying generalized tariff preferences for 1991 in respect of certain products originating in developing countries, and adding to the list of beneficiaries of such preferences

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Articles 113 and 43 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas, in accordance with the offer it made within the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the European Economic Community introduced generalized tariff preferences in 1971 for finished and semi-finished industrial products, textile products and some agricultural products from developing countries; whereas the initial 10-year period of application of this system of preferences ended on 31 December 1980;

Whereas the positive role played by this system in improving access for the developing countries to the markets of the preference-giving countries was recognized at the ninth session of the UNCTAD Special Committee on Preferences; whereas it was agreed at that session that the objectives of the generalized system of preferences would not be fully achieved by the end of 1980, and that it should consequently be extended beyond the initial period, an overall review of the system having started in 1990;

Whereas it appears, after consultation of the President of the European Parliament, that it would be impossible to hold an extraordinary session of the European Parliament to enable it to adopt its opinion, in good time to allow the adoption and publication of the Regulation before the end of 1992;

Whereas the validity of the 1991 scheme of generalized preferences should be provisionally extended into 1993, pending the outcome of the review;

Whereas Regulations (EEC) N° 3831/90 (1), (EEC) N° 3832/90 (2), (EEC) N° 3833/90 (3), (EEC) N° 3834/90 (4) and (EEC) N° 3835/90 (5) were extended into 1992 by Regulations (EEC) N° 3587/91 (6) and (EEC) N° 3588/91 (7), supplemented and amended by Regulations (EEC) N° 3302/91 (8), (EEC) N° 3900/91 (9), (EEC) N° 282/92 (10), (EEC) N° 548/92 (11), (EEC) N° 1433/92 (12) and (EEC) N° 1509/92 (13);

Whereas, in the light of the advent of the single market on 1 January 1993, tariff quotas divide among the Member States should be replaced by fixed duty-free amounts; whereas Regulation (EEC) N° 3832/90 must therefore be amended;

Whereas the effect of this alteration will be to transfer accounting functions relating to preferential imports to the Commission;

Whereas in the interests of efficient joint administration of the fixed amounts, the Member States will be responsible for collecting requests for drawing and notifying importers of the Commission's response to those requests, in a framework of close cooperation between the Member States and the Commission, with the Commission informing the Member States of the degree to which the fixed amounts have been drawn on;

Whereas the economic situations of Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have worsened to the point that these 12 countries face difficulties comparable to those experienced by countries which have in the past been eligible for preferences;

Whereas Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan should consequently be mad eligible, by way of an exception and as a temporary measure, for the generalized system of preferences in order to increase their exports with a view to accelerating their economic development, promoting industrialization and improving growth rates;

Whereas the granting of preferential benefit is not justified in cases where an anti-dumping measure applies, which is based on a price not taking account of the preferential arrangements given to the country concerned;

Whereas Albania, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have undertaken commitments similar to the Arrangement regarding International Trade in Textiles (MFA), and have therefore become eligible for preferential tariff treatment with respect to products covered by that Arrangement;

Whereas the treatment established in 1992 for fishery products from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which is identical to that applied to Greenland, should now be applied to fishery products from Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan;

Whereas it is envisaged to implement in respect of Bulgaria and Romania, by means of interim agreements in 1993, the preferential system provided for under Europe agreements concluded with those countries;

Whereas, by a letter dated 22 October 1992, the Council consulted the European Parliament on the proposal of the Commission; whereas, by that same letter the Council asked the European Parliament to apply the urgency procedure provided for by the Rules of Procedure; whereas, at its meeting of 17 November 1992, the European Parliament decided to apply the urgency procedure;

Whereas an item relating to the proposal was included on the agenda of the session of the European Parliament of 14 to 18 December 1992; whereas nevertheless, at that session the European Parliament did not vote on that agenda item; whereas the Council is not, therefore, in possession of the opinion of the European Parliament on the proposal;

Whereas, it is imperative to avoid a legal vacuum that could seriously harm the Community's relations with the developing countries as well as the interests of economic operators; whereas, therefore, the regulation on the application in 1993 of the Community's regime of generalized tariff preferences must be adopted sufficiently early to enable it to enter into force on 1 January 1993;

Whereas it appears to the Council that a formal request to the European Parliament to hold an extraordinary session in order to adopt its opinion would serve no purpose, since it would be materially impossible, in view of the time of year, to convene such a session in good time to allow the adoption and publication of the rgulation before the end of 1992;

Whereas, in these exceptional circumstances, the regulation should be adopted in the absence of an opinion of the European Parliament;

Whereas the agreements with Romania have been initialled and the negotiations for the agreements with Bulgaria are nearing completion; whereas the interim agreements for both countries are expected to inte force early in 1993;

Whereas the Community generalized tariff preferences will no longer apply to these countries as from that date and these countries should therefore be withdrawn from the lists of beneficiaries;

Whereas, in order that the preferential advantages granted under the interim agreements should not be accumulated with those provided for in Regulation (EEC) N° 3832/90, changes should be made for these countries to the administration of the fixed amounts laid down in the said Regulation;

Whereas, to ensure the efficiency of the administration of these fixed amounts, the Member States will continue to apply the common method, which close cooperation between the Member States and the Commission;

Whereas by Regulation (EEC) N° 1509/91 (1), the words Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland were deleted from the list in Annex IV to Regulation (EEC) N° 3832/90 with effect from 1 March 1992; whereas Article 2(3) of the latter Regulation serves no further purpose and can therefore be deleted;

Whereas the list of least-developed countries should be aligned on that of the United Nations,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Subject to the following Articles, Regulations (EEC) N° 3831/90, (EEC) N° 3832/90, (EEC) N° 3833/90, (EEC) N° 3834/90, (EEC) N° 3835/90 and (EEC) N° 3900/91, applying generalized tariff preferences in respect of certain products originating in developing countries shall apply mutatis mutandis from 1 January 1993 to 31 December 1993.

References in the Regulations mentioned in the first subparagraph to specific dates in 1991, 1992 or 1993 shall be taken to refer to the same dates in 1992, 1993 or 1994 respectively.

Article 2

1. Where the products covered by the scheme are the subject of anti-dumping measures, the products and countries concerned shall not be granted access to preferences unless it is established that the said measures have been based on a price which takes into consideration the preferential tariff arrangements accorded to the country concerned.

2. The Commission shall draw up a list of the products and countries referred to in paragraph 1.

Article 3

Regulation (EEC) N° 3832/90 is herby amended as follows:

1. The expressions 'tariff quotas` and 'quotas` in the first suparagraph of Artice 1 (1) and in Article 1 (5) shall be deleted;

2. Article 2 (3) shall be replaced by the following:

'3. By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 and 2, the volumes of the fixed amounts listed in Annexes I and II and made available to Bulgaria and Romania for the period of 1993 preceding the entry into force of the preferential arrangements provided for under the interim agreements with those countries shall be limited on pro rata temporis basis.`;

3. Article 14 shall be replaced by the following:

'Article 14 1. Imports of the products in question shall be charged against the fixed duty-free amounts and the Community tariff ceilings as and when the products are entered for free circulation and are accompanied by a certificate of origin pursuant to the rules referred to in Article 1 (4).

2. Goods may be charged against a fixed duty-free amount or a Community tariff ceiling only if the certificate of origin referred to in paragraph 1 is presented before the date on which the levying of duties is reintroduced.

3. Th extent to which the fixed duty-free amounts and the Community tariff ceilings have been used up shall be determined at Community level on the basis of the imports charged in accordance with paragraph 1.`;

4. Article 8 (1) shall be replaced by the following:

'1. The total suspension of customs duties within the framework of the fixed amounts referred to in Article 1 (1) concerns the categories of products in Annexes I and II for each of which the volume of the amount is specified individually in column 6 of those Annexes, with regard to the countries or territories specified in column 5 of the same Annexes.`;

5. in Annex I, the heading for columns 6a, 7a, 6b and 7b shall be replaced by the following:

>TABLE>

The total of the quantities in, on the one hand, columns 6a and 7a and, on the other, in columns 6b and 7b shall be inserted in new columns 6A and 6B, respectively, in each case opposite the name of the appropriate country or territory;

6. in Annex I, the heading for columns 6 and 7 shall be replaced by the following:

>TABLE>

The amounts in columns 6 and 7 shall be added and the total inserted in the new column 6, in each case opposite the name of the appropriate country or territory;

7. in Annex I, column 8 shall become 7 and in the first indent of Article 10 the words 'column 8` shall be replaced by 'column 7`.

8. footnote 1 on page 47 shall be deleted. Footnote 1 on page 67 shall be replaced by the following: '(1) For this country, the fixed duty-free amount is counted by pieces and is expressed as 168 000 pieces`;

9. the first section of the Regulation shall be deleted;

10. the first subparagraph of Article 15 (2) shall be deleted.

Article 4

The following are added to Part A of Annex III to Regulation (EEC) N° 3831/90, Part A of Annex V to Regulation (EEC) N° 3832/90 and Part A of Annex III to Regulation (EEC) N° 3833/90:

072 Ukraine,

073 Belarus,

074 Moldova,

075 Russia,

076 Georgia,

077 Armenia,

078 Azerbaijan,

079 Kazakhstan,

080 Turkmenistan,

081 Uzbekistan,

082 Tajikistan,

083 Kyrgyzstan.

Footnote (c) in Annex II to Regulation (EEC) N° 3833/90 is replaced by the following:

'(c) Preferences are not to be granted in respect of products marked with two asterisks, originating in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine or Uzbekistan.`

Article 5

1. The following shall be added to Annex IV to Regulation (EEC) N° 3831/90, Annex VI to Regulation (EEC) 3832/90 and Annex V to Regulation (EEC) N° 3833/90:

268 Liberia,

322 Zaire,

370 Madagascar,

378 Zambia,

696 Cambodia,

806 Solomon Islands,

816 Vanuatu.

2. A footnote reference '(2)` shall be added to the names of the countries referred to in paragraph 1 in part A of Annex III to Regulation (EEC) N° 3831/90 and in part A of Annex V to Regulation (EEC) N° 3832/90.

3. The countries referred to in paragraph 1 shall be deleted from part A of Annex III to Regulation (EEC) N° 3833/90.

Article 6

Annex II to Regulation (EEC) N° 3832/90 shall be replaced by the following:

'ANNEX IV List of countries and territories referred to in Annex I column 5 Albania Latvia Argentina Lithuania Bolivia Macao Brazil Malaysia Bulgaria Mexico Chile Mongolia China Nicaragua Colombia Pakistan Costa Rica Paraguay Cuba Peru Ecuador Philippines Estonia Romania EL Salvador Singapore Guatemala South Korea Honduras Sri Lanka Hong Kong Thailand India Uruguay Indonesia Venezuela`.

Iran

Article 7

The technical amendments to the Annexes to Regulation (EEC) N° 3831/90, (EEC) N° 3832/90, (EEC) N° 3833/90, and (EEC) N° 3835/90 are contained in the Annexes to this Regulation.

Article 8

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, 21 December 1992.

For the Council The President D. HURD

(1) OJ N° L 370, 31. 12. 1990, p. 1.

(2) OJ N° L 370, 31. 12. 1990, p. 39.

(3) OJ N° L 370, 31. 12. 1990, p. 86.

(4) OJ N° L 370, 31. 12. 1990, p. 21.

(5) OJ N° L 370, 31. 12. 1990, p. 126.

(6) OJ N° L 341, 12. 12. 1991, p. 1.

(7) OJ N° L 341, 12. 12. 1991, p. 6.

(8) OJ N° L 315, 15. 11. 1991, p. 46.

(9) OJ N° L 368, 31. 12. 1991, p. 11.

(10) OJ N° L 31, 7. 2. 1992, p. 1.

(11) OJ N° L 63, 7. 3. 1992, p. 49.

(12) OJ N° L 151, 3. 6. 1992, p. 7.

(13) OJ N° L 159, 12. 6. 1992, p. 1.

(1) OJ N° L 150, 12. 6. 1992, p. 1.