ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES 
DE LA COMMISSION 
 
 
 
COLLECTION RELIEE DES 
DOCUMENTS "COM" 
 
 
 
 
COM (84) 529 
 
 
Vol. 1984/0 209 
  
 
Disclaimer  
Conformém ent au règlement (CEE, Euratom) n° 354/83 du Conseil du 1er février 1983 
concernant l'ouverture au public des archives historiques de la Communauté économique 
européenne et de la Communauté européenne de l'énergie atomique (JO L 43 du 15.2.1983, 
p. 1), tel que modifié par le règlement (CE, Euratom) n° 1700/2003 du 22 septembre 2003 
(JO L 243 du 27.9.2003, p. 1), ce dossier est ouvert au public. Le cas échéant, les documents 
classifiés présents dans ce dossier ont été déclassifiés conformément à l'article 5 dudit 
règlem ent. 
In accordance with Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 354/83 of 1 February 1983 
concerning the openin g to the public of the historical archives of the European Econom ic 
Communit y and the European Atom ic Energy Communit y (OJ L 43, 15.2.1983, p. 1), as 
amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1700/2003 of 22 September 2003 (OJ L 243, 
27.9.2003, p. 1), this fi le is open to the public. Where necessary, classified documents in this 
file have been declassified in conformity with Article 5 of the aforementioned regulation.  
In Übereinstimmung mit der Verordnung (EWG, Euratom) Nr. 354/83 des Rates vom  1. 
Februar 1983  über die Freigabe der historischen Archive der Europäischen  
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft und der Europäischen Atomgem einschaft (ABI. L 43 vom  15.2.1983,  
S. 1), geändert durch die Verordnung (EG, Euratom) Nr. 1700/2003 vom 22. Septem ber 2003  
(ABI. L 243 vom 27. 9.2003, S. 1), ist diese Datei der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich. Soweit  
erforderlich, wurden die Verschlusssachen in dieser Datei in Übereinstimmung mit Artikel 5  
der genannten Verordnung freigegeben.  
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
C O M (84) 529 f in a l 
B russels, 1  October 1984
COMMISSION COMMUNICATION TO THE COUNCIL  
concerning application of the Stabex system to Kiribati
C O M(84) 529 f in a l

I. INTRODUCTION
1. The purpose of this communication is to propose that the "all destinations"  
derogation which it was decided to accord to Kiribati for years of  
application 1981 and 1982 should not be extended.
2. In its letter of 18 May 1983 to the ACP Secretary General, the Government  
of Kiribati asked the ACP-EEC Council of Ministers to decide to extend this  
treatment beyond the period specified. The matter was not subsequently  
discussed, however.
3. Kiribati has presented a transfer request for 1983 which is not admissible  
unless the "all destinations" arrangements apply to this year too. In a  
telex message of 25 January 1984, the Government of Kiribati pointed out  
that it had been expecting the special treatment to be tacitly extended.  
This telex message could be regarded as a request for such an extension.
II. BACKGROUND
4. By Decision No 4/81 of 7 April 1981 the ACP-EEC Council accorded Kiribati  
the derogation provided for in Article 46(3) of the second Lome Convention,  
which stipulates that "the system shall apply to [their] exports of the  
products in question whatever their destination". Under this Decision,  
however, the period of application of the derogation was limited to the two  
years of application 1981 and 1982.
5. The reason for the decision was the fact that the deposit of phosphates,  
which hitherto had been the main export product of the ACP State in  
question, had been worked out and copra had become Kiribati's main export.  
Prior to this development, virtually all the copra had been exported to the

-  2
Community, but from 1980 onwards, when dependence on exports of this  
product had reached over 90%, it became increasingly difficult to continue  
to send the bulk of exports to Europe, notably on account of the lack of  
regular shipping links. Hence it was partly in order to take account of  
the material changes that had taken place and partly with a view to the  
foreseeable trend that the derogation was granted for a period of just two  
years.
6. In the absence of a further decision on extending the "all destinations"  
treatment, Kiribati must be regarded as coming once more from the 1983 year  
of application onwards under the normal arrangements, whereby only exports  
to the Community are covered by the system.
III. GROUNDS FOR THE PROPOSAL
7. The subsequent trend of Kiribati's exports confirms that this return to
normal treatment is warranted. This trend, moreover, over a period  
coinciding exactly with the specified two-year period, confirmed the
expectations on the basis of which the derogation was granted, as the  
statistics show that exports to the Community, after declining steadily  
throughout the period prior to the request for the derogation, fell to zero  
in the two years covered by the derogation. In 1983, however, exports to  
the Member States made a spectacular recovery.^
IV.  PROPOSAL
8. For the foregoing reasons, the Commission proposes that the EEC Council  
confirm the conclusions of this report and that Kiribati's request for  
an extension of the "all destinations" derogation should be rejected.
1See annex.

ANNEX
EXPORTS OF COPRA FROM KIRIBATI
|  Year |Quantities exported (t)* 1  1
|  % to EEC |
1  1 
1  1all destinations |
1EEC
|  1976 | 5 634 | 5 634 |  100 |
|  1977 | 8 420 | 8 385 |  99.6 |
|  1978 | 9 033 | 6 489 1  71.8 [
|  1979 | 7 250 | 4 256 |  58.7 |
|  1980 | 6 940 | 2 118 |  30.5 |
|  1981 | 11 957 |- 1  0 1
|  1982 | 8 795 | - 1  0 1
|  1983 | 6 764 | 
13 646 |  53.9 |  
1  1
*Based on ACP data.