COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
C0M(91) 40 final 
Brussels, 15 February 1991 
Proposal for a 
COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) 
on the tariff arrangements applicable to imports 
into the Community of products originating 
in the occupied territories 
(presented by the Commission) 
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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 
At its meeting of 23 and 24 June 1990 in Dublin, the European Council 
reviewed the various measures introduced by the Community and its 
Member States to halt the deterioration in the economic and social 
situation In the occupied territories. Where the Community's preferential 
trading arrangement for these territories is concerned, the 
European CounciI called on the Community institutions to take whatever 
steps were necessary to bring about a rapid improvement in conditions of 
access to the Community market for Palestinian agricultural exports, in 
which a certain increase had already been noticed. 
Agriculture is the biggest productive sector in the Palestinian economy and 
has suffered particularly from the deterioration in the economic situation 
in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. To this should be added the fact that 
inputs into this sector cost more here than in most other Mediterranean 
countries because the occupation of the territories makes it difficult to 
obtain supplies from the world market. The Gulf crisis has further 
aggravated the situation because all agricultural exports to Iraq have been 
stopped and there has been a major drop in exports to Jordan. This would 
result in a loss of revenue of the order of USD 40 million over a full 
year. 
Increasing exports to the Community might be an effective way of giving 
agriculture a new impetus. Experience gained during two seasons of direct 
exports to the Community has shown that, because of the limited quantities 
exported, Palestinian exporters lie Just below the threshold of 
profitability. A special effort should therefore be made by the Community 
to stimulate such exports even further. 
The Commission therefore proposes the following: 
- the immediate elimination of residual customs duties applied to products 
listed in Annex II of the Treaty which come under the preferential 
arrangement currently applicable to the occupied territories; 
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- application of the same arrangements to strawberries since an export 
potential exists; 
- for sensitive products, reference quantities will be fixed in the light 
of exports already effected or of export openings. If imports of any 
product exceed the reference quantity, the Community reserves the right 
to impose a tariff quota. Where this applies, the customs duty charged 
under the current preferential arrangement will be applied to any large 
quantities in excess of the quota. 
Reference quantities could also be fixed subsequently for the remaining 
products, if necessary. 
It goes without saying that the reference quantities will have to be 
subject to the annual increases provided for the period 1992-1995 under 
the new Mediterranean policy. 
The Commission considers that, except in the case of citrus fruits, a 
solution of this kind should not pose any particular problems in view of 
the limited export potential of the occupied territories. It would also be 
a particularly appropriate way of bringing about a rapid improvement in the 
conditions of access to the Community market for products which are of the 
greatest importance in the Palestinian economy, as requested by the 
European Counc11. 
The Commission therefore submits a proposal for a Council Regulation aimed 
at modifying the preferential arrangements currently applied to imports of 
agricultural products originating in the occupied territories. 
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Proposal for a 
COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) 
on the tariff arrangements applicable to imports 
into the Community of products originating 
in the occupied territories 
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 products originating in the West Bank of the River Jordan or the 
Gaza Strip (called the 'occupied territories'), both occupied by Israel, 
enjoy preferential treatment with regard to access to the Community market 
under Council Regulation (EEC) No 3363/86;1 
Whereas the preferential arrangements provide for free access to the 
Community market for industrial goods and preferential tariff treatment for 
certain agricultural products; 
Whereas it is appropriate to introduce measures to bring about a rapid 
improvement in the conditions of access to the Community market for 
agricultural products originating in the occupied territories and that, to 
achieve this objective, Regulation (EEC) No 3363/86 should be replaced by a 
new Régulât ion, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
1. Products other than those listed in Annex II to the Treaty and 
originating in the occupied territories shall be imported into the 
Community without quantitative restrictions or measures having 
equivalent effect and free of customs duties and charges having 
equivalent effect. 
1 OJ No L 306, 1.11.1986, p. 103. 
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2. In the case of products listed in the Annex to Council Regulation (EEC) 
No 3033/802, which list is set out in Annex 1 hereto, paragraph I shall 
apply only to the fixed component of the charge imposed on such goods 
imported into the Community. 
Article 2 
The customs duties on imports into the Community of the agricultural 
products set out in Annex 2 hereto and originating in the occupied 
territories shall cease to apply on the entry into force of this Regulation 
for the periods indicated. 
Article 3 
1. A reference quantity is set out in Annex 2 hereto for certain products. 
Where imports of any of these products exceed the reference quantity, the 
product concerned may be made subject to a Community tariff quota which 
shall apply to a volume equivalent to the reference quantity, if the 
amounts imported appear likely to cause difficulties in the Community 
market. 
2. In the case of products listed in Annex 2, other than those in 
paragraph 1, reference quantities may be set if the amounts imported appear 
likely to create difficulties in the Community market. 
These products may subsequently be made subject to tariff quotas under the 
conditions indicated in paragraph 1. 
3. The rates of reduction set out in Annex 2 shall apply to imports in 
excess of the quotas. 
Article 4 
The rules of origin to be applied shall be those laid down in Commission 
Regulation (EEC) No 4129/86;3 
2 OJ No L 323, 29.11.1980, p. 1. 
3 OJ No L 381, 31.12.1986, p. 1. 
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Article 5 
Regulation (EEC) No 3363/86 is hereby repealed. 
Article 6 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the fifteenth day following that 
of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in 
a 11 Member States. 
Done at Brussels, For the Council 
The President 
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'ANNEX 1 
CN code 
ex 0403 
0403 10 51 
to 
0403 10 99 
0403 90 71 
to 
0403 90 99 
071040 00 
0711 90 30 
ex 1517 
1517 10 10 
151790 10 
ex 1704 
1806 
1901 
1902 
1903 
1904 
1905 
2001 90 30 
2001 90 40 
2004 90 10 
2005 80 00 Description 
Buttermilk, curdled milk and cream, yoghurt, képhir and other fermented or acidified 
milk and cream, concentrated^ whether or not ; containing added sugar or other 
sweetening matter or flavoured or containing added fruit, nuts or cocoa : 
— Yoghurt, flavoured or containing added fruit or cocoa 
Other, flavoured or containing added fruit or cocoa 
Sweet corn (uncooked or cooked by steaming or boiling in water), frozen 
Sweet corn provisionally preserved (for example, by sulphur dioxide gas, in brine, in 
sulphur water or in other preservative solutions), but unsuitable in that state for imme­
diate consumption 
Margarine ; edible mixtures or preparations of animal or vegetable fats or oils or of frac­
tions of different fats or oils of this chapter, other than edible fats or oils or their frac­
tions of heading No 1516: 
— Margarine, excluding liquid margarine containing more than 10% but not more 
than 15% by weight of milk fats 
— Other, containing more than 10 % but not more than 15 % by weight of milk fats 
Sugar confectionery (including white chocolate), not containing cocoa ; excluding 
liquorice extract containing more than 10 % by weight of sucrose but not containing 
other added substances, falling within subheading No 1704 90 10 
Chocolate and other food preparations containing cocoa 
Malt extract ; food preparations of flour, meal, starch or malt extract, not containing 
cocoa powder or containing cocoa powder in a proportion by weight of less than 50 %, 
not elsewhere specified or included ; food preparations of goods of heading Nos 0401 
to 0404, not containing cocoa powder or containing cocoa powder in à proportion by 
weight of less than 10 %, not elsewhere specified or included 
Pasta, whether or not cooked or otherwise prepared excluding stuffed pasta falling 
within subheadings 1902 20 10 and 1902 20 30 
Tapioca and substitutes therefor, prepared from starch in the form of flakes, grains, 
pearls, siftings or similar forms 
Prepared foods-obtained by the swelling or roasting of cereals or cereal products (for 
example com flakes) ; cereals, other than maize (com), in grain form, pre-cooked or 
otherwise prepared 
Bread, pastry, cakes, biscuits and other bakers'wares, whether or not containing cocoa, 
communion wafers, empty cachets of a kind suitable for pharmaceutical use, sealing 
wafers, rice paper and similar products 
Sweet cornâ(2fû mays var. saccbarata)' PreP*Te<i or preserved by-vinegar or acetic acid 
Yams, sweet poutoes and similar edible parts of plants containing 5 */• or more by 
weight of stsiçh, prepared or preserved by vinegar or >cetk acid 
Sweet corn (Zea mays var.- saaharata/p**P***d «•*' preserved otherwise than by vinegar or acetic acid; frozen 
Sweet corn ^Zea mays var. saccharata) prepared or preserved otherwise than by vinegar 
or acetic acid; not frozen 
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CN code 
2008 99 85 
2008 99 91 
2101 30 19 
210130 99 
2102 10 31 
to 
210210 39 
2105 
ex 2106 
2202 90 91 
2202 90 95 
2202 90 99 
2905 43 
2905 44 
ex 3501 
ex 3505 10 
3505 20 
3809 10 
3823 60 Description 
Maize other than sweet *&]**.»* ™ ""chara"*' otherwise prepared or 
préservée, not conuining added spirit or added sugar 
Yams, sweet potatoes and similar edible parts of plants conuining 5 % or more by 
weight of surch, otherwise prepared or preserved, not conuining added spirit or added 
sugar 
Roasted coffee substitutes excluding roasted chicory 
Extracts, essences and concentrates of roasted coffee substitutes excluding those of 
roasted chicory 
Bakers' yeast 
Ice cream and other edible ice. whether or not conuining cocoa 
food preparations not elsewhere specified or included other than those falling within 
subheadings 2106 10 10 and 2106 90 91 and other than flavoured or coloured sugar 
syrups 
Non-alcoholic beverages, not including fruit or vegeuble juices of heading No 2009, 
conuining products of Nos 0401 to 0404 or obuined from products of heading Nos 
0401 to 0404 
Mannitol 
D-Glucitol (sorbitol) 
Caseins caseinates and other casein derivatives 
Dextrins and other modified starches, excluding esterified or etherified surches of 
subheading 3505 10 50 
Glues based on surches or on dextrins or other modified surches 
Prepared glazings and prepared dressings with a basis of amylaceous subsUnces 
Sorbitol other than of subheading 2905 44' 
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ANNEX2 
CN Description Rate of 
code reduction 
in customs 
duties (%)! 
0?02 00 10 Tomatoes, fresh or chilled: 
From 1 December to 31 March2 60 
0703 10 Onions: 
Prom 15 February to 15 May 60 
0700 30 00 Aubergines (egg-plants) 
From 15 January to 30 April3 60 
0709 60 10 Sweet peppers4 40 
0709 90 70 Courgettes 
From 1 December to end of February5 60 
0805 10 Oranges, fresh6 60 
0805 20 Mandarins (including tangerines and 
satsumas); Clementines, wilkings and 
similar citrus hybrids, fresh 60 
0805 30 Lemons (Citrus limon, Citrus Limonum), 
fresh 40 
0805 40 00 Grapefruit and pomelos 80 
0807 10 90 Melons 
From 1 November to 31 May 50 
0810 10 90 Strawberries > 
From 1 November to 31 March7 0 
0812 90 20 Oranges, coinirdnuted 80 
0904 20 39 Peppers other than sweet peppers, dried, 
neither crushed nor ground 80 
1 For imports in excess of the quota. 
2 Reference quantity 
3 Reference quantity 
4 Reference quantity 
5 Reference quantity 
6 Reference quantity 
7 Reference quantity 1 000 tonnes. 
15 000 tonnes. 
1 000 tonnes. 
300 tonnes. 
25 000 tonnes. 
500 tonnes. 
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ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(91) 40 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 02 
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