Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) temporarily withdrawing access to generalized tariff preferences for agricultural goods from the Union of Myanmar (97/C 80/10) COM(97) 58 final - 97/0041(ACC)

(Submitted by the Commission on 17 February 1997)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1256/96 of 20 June 1996 applying multiannual schemes of generalized tariff preferences from 1 July 1996 to 30 June 1999 in respect of certain agricultural products originating in developing countries, and in particular Article 12 (3) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Whereas pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1256/96 the Union of Myanmar is a beneficiary of generalized tariff preferences;

Whereas Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1256/96 provides that the preferences in question may be withdrawn temporarily in whole or in part in circumstances including the practice of any form of forced labour as defined in the Geneva Conventions of 25 September 1926 and 7 September 1956 and International Labour Organization Convention Nos 29 and 105;

Whereas on 2 January 1997 the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) notified the Commission that they were extending the scope of the joint complaint lodged under Article 9 of Council Regulation (EC) No 3281/94 of 19 December 1994 applying a four-year scheme of generalized tariff preferences (1995 to 1998) in respect of certain industrial products originating in developing countries (1) with a view to obtaining the withdrawal of the preferences accorded to agricultural goods from Myanmar under Regulation (EC) No 1256/96;

Whereas the evidence gathered during the Commission's investigation of the initial complaint by the ICFTU and ETUC and the resulting conclusions are broad enough in scope to provide a valid basis for examining the extended complaint lodged by those organizations on 2 January 1997, so rendering a specific investigation of the agricultural sector unnecessary;

Whereas, having completed its investigation, the Commission, on 18 December 1996, approved a proposal for a Regulation temporarily withdrawing the tariff preferences applicable to industrial goods originating in Myanmar until it has been established that the practices in question have been brought to an end;

Whereas the generalized tariff preferences applicable to agricultural goods originating in Myanmar should temporarily be withdrawn for the same reasons and on the same conditions;

Whereas goods en route to the European Union should be exempted from this measure, provided that they were dispatched before this Regulation entered into force,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Myanmar's access to the tariff preferences granted by Regulation (EC) No 1256/96 is hereby withdrawn.

Article 2

The Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission, shall bring the application of this Regulation to an end once it has observed on the basis of a Commission report that the use of forced labour in Myanmar has ceased.

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. It shall not apply to goods proven to have been dispatched to the European Union before that date.

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

(1) OJ No L 348, 31. 12. 1994, p. 1.