ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(74)474
Vol.1974/0079

Disclaimer
Conformément aurèglement(CEE,Euratom)n°354/83duConseildu1erfévrier1983
concernantl'ouvertureaupublicdesarchiveshistoriquesdelaCommunauté économique
européenneetdelaCommunautéeuropéennedel'énergieatomique(JOL43du15.2.1983,
p.1),telquemodifiéparlerèglement(CE,Euratom)n°1700/2003du22septembre2003
(JOL243du27.9.2003,p.1),cedossierestouvertaupublic.Lecaséchéant,lesdocuments
classifiésprésentsdanscedossierontétédéclassifiésconformément àl'article5dudit
règlement.
InaccordancewithCouncilRegulation(EEC,Euratom)No354/83of1February1983
concerningtheopeningtothepublicofthehistoricalarchivesoftheEuropeanEconomic
CommunityandtheEuropeanAtomicEnergyCommunity(OJL43,15.2.1983,p.1),as
amendedbyRegulation(EC,Euratom)No1700/2003of22September2003(OJL243,
27.9.2003,p.1),thisfileisopentothepublic.Wherenecessary,classifieddocumentsinthis
filehavebeendeclassified inconformitywithArticle5oftheaforementioned regulation.
InÜbereinstimmung mitderVerordnung(EWG,Euratom)Nr.354/83desRatesvom1.
Februar1983überdieFreigabederhistorischen ArchivederEuropäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft undderEuropäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI.L43vom15.2.1983,
S.1),geändertdurchdieVerordnung(EG,Euratom)Nr.1700/2003vom22.September2003
(ABI.L243vom27.9.2003,S.1),istdieseDateiderÖffentlichkeitzugänglich.Soweit
erforderlich,wurdendieVerschlusssachen indieserDateiinÜbereinstimmung mitArtikel5
dergenanntenVerordnungfreigegeben.

ct\rrc<-r«^.?.3 (T^^TTTT1'£T¥(P"Wr'X'TTw"'7TT!S"^1-^1LA:U-ii-i<–JJ^V<w'-£ W:'w \~-•--J–
COM(74)474final
Brussels,16April1974
DRAFTRESOLUTION OPTHECOUNCIL
concerningmeasurestobetakenwithaviewto
simplifying thetaskofthecustomsadministrations
(submittedtotheCouncilbytheCommission)
C0M(74)474final

Themultiplicity ofcustoms regimes which governs trade between
theCommunity andalarge number ofthird countries ;the conple::ity ofthe
regimes themselves based forthe most part onrules oforigin which are
difficult toapply ;theestablishment ofacommon agricultural policy
with itssystem oflevies andrestitutions subject tovariation from day
today ;thecontinued existence ofconsiderable difficulties inthemone­
tary field ,have alladded toandcomplicated totheextreme thework of
thenational customs administrators whohave the jobofimplementing all
the different kinds ofprovisions which apply totrade between theCommu­
nity andnon-member countries .Only toavery small extent has theprogres­
sive elimination ofcustoms duties between the member states made the task
ofthecustoms administrations anyless burdensome ,since their involvement
inalltheother aspects ofregulating international trade (which the
customs have traditionally been responsible forapplying )hascontinued
tobenecessary forlack ofanyreally important progress towards harmoni –
sation .Inpoint offact ,theaccession totheCommunity ofthree newmem­
ber states has setfresh problems forthecustoms administrations ,problems
which will notdisappear until after theendofthetransitional period .
Thecurrent situation hasbecome socomplixated that theheads
ofthecustoms administrations themselves saythey cannolonger invariably
guarantee that Community regulations etc .will bocorrectly applied ,and ,
asaresult that the economic objectives pursued inthose regulations will
beachieved .Forlack ofasufficiently effective control ,cases ofattempted
fraud become more andmore numerous ,with theeffect which this might have
ontheamount ofownresources intheCommunity budjet .Forthis reason
thecustoms administrations insist that the institutions oftheCommunity
paymuch more attention toquestions ofapplicability ofCommunity instru­
ments .
Itisofcourse difficult tobring about areally significant
simplification ofcommunity provisions currently inforce and itwill take
time .But itisclear that many difficulties could beresolved ifacertain

7*2«?
discipline were followed when customs legislation wasadopted ,particularly
that relating totheapplication oftheCommon Customs Tariff ,andalso
other community legislation which thecustoms areresponsible forapplying .
Thenational customs administrations complain that they areconfronted
atthelast minute with texts which they areresponsible forapplying ,and
forwhich they areable toissue instructions totheir offioials only
after their coming into effect .ItiBtherefore essential toprovide for
areasonable time limit «•sixweeks isproposed -between thedate of
publication ofaCommunity instrument intheOfficial Journal andthedate
fixed foritscoming into effect .Obviously this time limit ofsixweeks
could notaffect theperiodic instruments enacted bytheCommission in
theframework oftheCommon Agricultural Policy#
TheCommission also wonders whether itisnecessary tomaintain
such diversified tariff nomenclature ,particularly asregards products of
Annex IIoftheTreaty .Inthis context itwould bouseful torevise the
Common Customs Tariff with aview topossible 'reduction ofthonumber of
sub-positions .
Consequently ,theCommission submits totheCouncil that the
attached draft Resolution boadopted . '

DraftResolution oftheCornell
concerning measurestobetakenwithaviewto
simplifying thetaskofthecustomsadministrations
THECOUNCILOPTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
ConsideringthedraftoftheCommission,
Consciousofthedifficulties whichconfrontthenationalcustomsadminis­
trationsasaresultofthewiderangeandcomplexityofthetaskswhich
theyhavetocarryoutinconnectionwithexchangesofgoods,bothwithin
theCommunityandbetweenthelatterandthirdcountries;
Anxioustoimprovethissituationinordertoensurethecorrectapplication
ofthoseCommunityprovisionsforwhichthecustomsadministrations are
responsibleforexecutingandatthesamotimetosafeguardtheinterests
oftheeconomiccirclesconcerned .
HASADOPTSDTHISRESOLUTION :
I
TheCouncilemphasisestheneedforensuringthatprovisions
ofCommunitylawwhichthecustomsservicesarerequiredtoputinto
effectcanbeappliedwithoutexcessivedifficulties .
•••/«•

II
ThoCouncilattachesthegreatestimportancetotheadoption
oftariffprovisionsinsufficienttimetoallowthecustomsadministra­
tionstomakethoadministrative arrangements necessarytoensurethat
theyareproperlyapplied.Tothisend;
a)exceptinexceptionalcasesjustified "byoverwhelmingreasons
ofaneconomickind,itwilltakecaretoadoptallprovisionsontariff
matterswhetherofanautonomousorconventionalkind(changesinduties
oftheCommonCustomsTariff,changesintariffnomenclature andprovisions
governingitsapplication andinterpretation ,dutysuspensionsandtariff
quotas)insuchawaythat:
–theyarepublishedintheOfficialJournaloftheEuropean
Communitiesatleastsixweeksbeforethodatefixedfortheirimplemen~
tation}
–theytakeeffectatthemostontwooccasionseachyear,on
1January,andifnecessary1July;
–noneoftheseprovisionshasretrospective effect.
Asfarasisnecessary,anorderofpriorityforsuchdrafts
orproposalsoftheCommissionshouldbedrawnupbythePresidencyfor
consideration bytheCommitteeofPermanentRepresentatives andtheother
competentcommitteesandgroups:

I
i,
b)TheCouncil hopes that community measures involving achange
ofnomenclature will beaccompanied inthefield ofstatistical nomen­
clature ,byothers sothat the twonomenclatures remain harmonised .
The same principles shall apply asappropriate inmatters of
customs legislation .
III
TheCouncil considers itisnecessary tosimplify asmuch as
possible thenomenclature oftheCommon Customs Tariff ,which inrecent
jears has undergone considerable development ,particularly asaresult of
setting upthe comiron agricultural policy and common commercial policy .
With aview toavoiding all sources ofdifficulty and delay in
the customs clearance ofgoods ,aswell asthedevelopment ofsituations
particularly conducive tofraud ,itinvites theCommission tosubmit as
soon aspossible proposals designed tosimplify thepresent nomenclature
ofthe Common Customs Tariff .
Itexpresses ,moreover ,thewish that inthe coming multilateral
trade negotiations ,account should betaken ofthe need tosimplify this
nomenclature ,inparticular byreducing thepresent number ofsub-
positions .