COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 14.12.1995 
COM(95)660 final 
95/0352 (ACC) 
Proposal for a 
COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) 
opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas for certain 
fishery products as well as liver horses originating in Iceland 
(presented by the Commission) 

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 
1. The European Economic Community signed an Agreement with Iceland on 22 July 
1972. 
2. The Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden requires further adjustment of 
the above Preferential Agreement as from 1 January this year, to take into account 
the trade arrangements for fishery products between the three new Member States 
and Iceland. 
3. The Community has therefore concluded with Iceland, on the one part, an additional 
protocol to the preferential agreement and on the other part, an agreement under the 
form of an exchange of letters in which Community tariff quotas for certain fishery 
products and live horses originating in Iceland are opened respectively for a period 
running from 1 January to 31 December of each year. 
4. The purpose of the annexed proposal is to implement this tariff quota for an indefinite 
period. Accordingly and for reasons of efficiency and simplifying the implementation 
of the measures concerned it seems desirable that the regulation should be 
pluriannual. 
5. Furthermore, as the adaptations arising from the combined nomenclature of the 
TARIC and those concerning quotas volumes and quota rates laid down in Council 
or Commission decisions involve no change of substance, it is proposed that the 
Council should empower the Commission to implement theses measures by adopting 
regulations following receipt of an opinion from the Customs Code Committee. 
6. As in the case of other Community tariff quotas, the proposal does not provide for 
the allocation among the Member States of the quota volumes but enables the 
Member States to draw from the quota volumes the quantities required to cover the 
actual imports recorded. 
i 
Proposal for a 
COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) 
of 
opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas for certain 
fishery products as well as liver horses originating in Iceland 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular 
Article 113 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Whereas an Agreement was concluded between the European Economic Community and 
Iceland;* 
Whereas, following the accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, the above mentioned 
quotas have to be adjusted to take into account, inter alia, the existing trade arrangements 
for fishery products between these countries and Iceland; 
Whereas an Additional Protocol to the above Agreement as well as an agreement on the 
form of an exchange of letters has therefore been concluded between the Community and 
Iceland and approved by Council Decisions;^ whereas by the provisions of this Protocol 
the Community has undertaken to open Community tariff quotas at zero duty for a 
number of products originating in Iceland, from 1 January to 31 December each year; 
Whereas the tariff quota provided in the agreement in question relates to an indefinite 
period and accordingly, for reasons of efficiency and simplifying the implementation of the 
measures concerned, it appears suitable to provide that the application of this regulation 
should be placed on a pluriannual footing; 
Whereas, for reasons of simplification, provision should be made to empower the 
Commission to give effect, following receipt of the Customs Code Committe, to necessary 
amendments and technical adaptations of this regulation arising from amendments of the 
combined nomenclature and TARIC codes, the extensions of tariff measures, the 
necessary adaptations following the conclusion of protocols or exchange of letters, the 
modifications of this regulation for the bringing into play of any other act in the 
framework of this agreement as well as the adaptations of volume, periods and quota rates 
arising from decisions by the Council or Commission; 
Whereas all Community importers should be ensured equal and continuous access to the 
said quota and the duty rate laid down for the quota should be applied consistently to all 
imports of the product in question into all Member States until the quota is exhausted, 
during the whole period of validity of the EEC Iceland Agreement. 
1 OJ No L 301, 31.12.1972, p.2. 
2 OJNoL... ;OJNoL 
3 
Whereas the decision for the opening, in the execution of its international obligations, of 
tariff quotas should be taken by the Community, whereas, to ensure the efficiency of a 
common administration of these quotas, there is no reasonable obstacle to authorising the 
Member States to draw from the quota-volumes the necessary quantities corresponding to 
actual imports; whereas this method of administration requires 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, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
1. From 1 January to 31 December of each year, the customs duties applicable to the 
products referred to in this Regulation shall be suspended or reduced to the levels 
indicated for each product, within the limit of the Community tariff quota shown for each 
product. 
2. Imports of fishery products shall not qualify for the tariff quotas unless the free-at-
frontier price established by the Member States in accordance with Article 22 of Council 
Regulation (EEC) N° 3759/92 of 17 December 1992 on the common organization of the 
market in fishery and aquaculture products-* is at least equal to any reference price which 
has been fixed by the Community for the products or categories of products in question.. 
The provisions of the Protocol 3 of the Agreement between the European Economic 
Community and the Republic of Iceland defining the concept of originating products and 
setting out the arrangements for administrative cooperation as amended at last by 
Decision No. 1/94 of the EC-Iceland Joint Committee of the 8 March 19944 shall apply. 
Article 2 
The tariff quotas referred to in Article 1 shall be administered by the Commission, which 
may take any appropriate administrative measures in order to ensure efficient 
administration. 
Article 3 
If an importer presents in a Member State a declaration of entry into free circulation 
including a request for preferential benefit for a product covered by this Regulation, and if 
this declaration is accepted by the customs authorities, the Member State concerned shall 
draw, from the quota volume by means of notification to the Commission, a quantity 
corresponding to those needs. 
3 OJ N° L 388, 31.12.1992, p. 1. Regulation as last amended 
by Regulation (EC) N° 3318/94 (OJ N° L 350 , 31.12.1994, p. 1). 
4 OJ N° L 204, 6.8.94, p. 62 
The requests for drawing, with the indication of the date of acceptance of the said 
declarations, must be communicated to the Commission without delay. 
The drawings are granted by the Commission on the basis of the date of acceptance of the 
declaration of entry into free circulation by the customs authorities of the Member State 
concerned, to the extent that the available balance so permits. 
If a Member State does not use the quantities drawn, it shall return the as soon as possible 
to the corresponding quota volume. 
If the quantities requested are greater than the available balance of the quota volume, 
allocation shall be made on a pro rata basis with respect to the requests. Member States 
shall be informed thereof by the Commission. 
Article 4 
Each Member State shall guarantee importers of the products in question equal and 
continuous access to the quotas as long as the balance of the corresponding quota volume 
allows. 
Article 5 
1. The provisions necessary for the application of this Regulation, in particular: 
(a) the amendments and technical adaptations, insofar as necessary, arising from 
amendments of the combined nomenclature and Taric codes 
(b) the necessary adaptations resulting from the conclusion by the Council of 
protocols or exchange of letters between the Community and this country in the 
framework of the agreement envisaged by this Regulation 
(c) the prorogation of tariff measures conforming to the provisions contained in the 
agreement envisaged by this Regulation 
(d) the necessary adaptations of volumes, periods and quota duty arising from 
decisions adopted by the Council, and 
(e) the modifications of the present regulation necessary for the putting into practice 
of any other act in the framework of the agreement foreseen by this Regulation 
shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 6 
2. The provisions adopted under Paragraph 1 shall not authorise the Commission to 
carry over a balance of preferential quantities from one period to another, 
modify the timetable laid out in the agreements, 
transfer quantities from one quota to another, 
open and manage quotas resulting from new agreements, 
adopt legislation effecting the management of quotas which are the subject of 
certificates of importation 
Article 6 
1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Customs Code Committee set up by Article 
247 of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 (5). 
2. The representative of the Commission shall submit to the committee a draft of the 
measures to be taken. The committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a 
time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter. 
The opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148 (2) of the 
Treaty in the case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal 
from the Commission. The votes of the representatives of the Member States within 
the committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in that Article. The chairman 
shall not vote. 
The Commission shall adopt the measures, which apply immediately. However, if 
these measures are not in accordance with the opinion of the committee, they shall be 
communicated by the Commission to the Council forthwith. In that event: 
- the Commission shall defer application of the measures which it has decided for 
three months from the date of such communication; 
- the Council, acting by qualified majority, may take a different decision within 
the period referred to in the previous paragraph. 
3. The Committee may examine any question concerning the application of this 
Regulation which is raised by its chairman either on his own initiative or at the request 
of a Member State. 
Article 7 
Member States and the Commission shall cooperate closely in order to ensure that this 
Regulation is complied with. 
Article 8 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official 
Journal of the European Communities. 
It shall apply from 1 January 1995 for the whole period of validity of the Agreement... 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 
Done at Brussels, 
For the Council 
The President 
G 
ANNEX 
Order No 
09.0791 
09.0793 
09.0794 
09.0795 
09.0796 
09.0797 
09.0798 CN code 
0101 19 10 
0101 19 90 
0302 12 00 
0304 10 13 
0304 20 13 
0302 23 00 
0302 29 
0302 69 85 
0303 32 00 
0303 79 96 
0304 10 19 
0304 10 33 
0304 10 35 
EX 0304 10 38 
0304 10 98 
0304 20 19 
0304 90 35 
0304 90 38 
0304 90 39 
0304 90 41 
0304 90 47 
0304 90 59 
EX 0304 90 97 
0305 61 00 
0306 19 30 
1604 12 91 
1604 12 99 
1604 19 98 
EX 1604 20 90 Taric code 
-
-0304 1038 
*10 
20 
50 
90 
0304 90 97 
•31 
39 
50 
60 
70 
80 
90 
-
-
1604 20 90 
*20/80 
30/80 
35/80 
50/80 
90/80 Description 
Live horses 
Salmon, fresh or chilled 
Salmon fillets, fresh or chilled 
Frozen salmon fillets 
Sole, fresh or chilled 
Megrim and other flat fish, fresh or chilled 
Blue whiting fresh or chilled 
Frozen plaice 
Other frozen fish 
Coalfish fillets, chilled or frozen 
Fish of coalfisch, fresh or chilled 
Redfish fillets, fresh or chilled 
Other fish fillets, other than herring and Mackerel, 
fresh or chilled 
Other fish meat, fresh or chilled 
Frozen salmon fillets 
Frozen fillets of other freshwater fish 
Frozen cod meat of the species Gadus macrocephalus 
Frozen cod meat of the species Gadus morhua 
Frozen cod meat of the species Gadus ogac and frozen 
fish meat of the species Boreogadus saida 
Frozen coalfish meat 
Frozen hake meat of the genus Merluccius 
Frozen blue whiting meat 
Other frozen fish meat, except mackerel 
Herring, salted but not dried or smoked, and herring in 
brine 
Frozen Norway lobsters (Nephrops norvegicus) 
Other prepared or preserved herring, in hermetically 
sealed containers 
Other prepared or preserved herring, other 
Other prepared or preserved fish, whole or in pieces 
Other prepared or preserved fish meat, except herring 
and mackerel Amount of 
quotas 
100 
head 
50 T 
250 T 
1750T 
50 T 
2 400T 
50 T Quota 
duty 
(%) 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
¥ 
FINANCIAL STATEMENT 
1. Budget heading involved: Chap. 12, Art. 120 
2. Legal basis: Article 113 
3. Title: opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas for 
certain fishery products as well as liver horses originating in Iceland 
4. Objective: To honour the undertakings given by the Community 
5. Loss of revenue: 
Description 
Fresh or chilled fish 
Frozen fish 
Fish fillets and other 
fish meat 
Fish, dried, salted or 
in brine 
Crustaceans 
Prepared or 
preserved fish 
Live horses Quantity 
(t) 
300 
1 750 
50 
2 450 
100 
head Average price 
(ECU) 
2 305 
3 594 
4 165 
5 967 
3 600 
Ecu/head Normal average 
rate 
of duty (%) 
6.6 
12 
13 
7.9 
16,9 Duty applicable 
to quota (%) 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 Loss of revenue 
(ECU) 
45 639 
754 740 
27 072 
1 154 912 
60 840 
ECU 2 043 203 
& 
ISSN 0254-1475 
C0M(95) 660 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 02 03 11 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-95-747-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-98371-X 
Office for Official Publications of the Europâan Commimides 
1^2985 Luxembourg 
<5>