EN

Brussels, 16.11.2007

COM(2007) 719 final

Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

amending Regulation (EC) No 1255/96 temporarily suspending the autonomous common customs tariff duties on certain industrial, agricultural and fishery products

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1) Context of the proposal |

| Grounds for and objectives of the proposalThe Commission, assisted by the Economic Tariff Questions Group, has reviewed all the requests for temporary suspension of autonomous common customs tariff duties presented to it by the Member States. The attached proposal concerns certain industrial, agricultural and fishery products. Requests for suspension relating to the above products were examined in the light of the criteria set out in the communication from the Commission concerning autonomous tariff suspensions and quotas (see OJ C 128, 25.4.1998, p. 2). Following this review, the Commission considers that the suspension or the reduction of duties is justified for the products listed in the Annex to the attached proposal for a Regulation. Products for which suspension is no longer in the Community's economic interests have been withdrawn. The annex to this Regulation lists the products for which suspension is proposed, or for which the wording has to be changed. The validity period of the measure is limited, in order to carry out economic examinations of the individual suspensions in this period. The suspensions, whose cancellation or continuation is considered necessary by the Commission and Economic Tariff Questions Group shall be extended or deleted after this date. |

| General contextIt is in the interest of the Community to suspend partially or totally the autonomous common customs tariff duties for a number of new products not listed in the Annex to Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/96 temporarily suspending the autonomous common customs tariff duties on certain industrial, agricultural and fishery products. |

| Existing provisions in the area of the proposalOJ L 158, 29.6.1996, p. 1. Regulation last amended by Regulation (EC) No 729/2007 (OJ L 166, 28.6.2007, p. 4). |

| Consistency with the other policies and objectives of the UnionIn line with agricultural, trade, enterprise, development and external relations policies. Especially this proposal is not at the expense of developing countries enjoying a preferential trading agreement with the EU (e.g. GSP, ACP regime). |

2) Consultation of interested parties and impact assessment |

| Consultation of interested parties |

| Consultation methods, main sectors targeted and general profile of respondentsThe Economic Tariff Questions Group representing the industries of each Member State was consulted.Summary of responses and how they have been taken into accountAll listed suspensions correspond to the agreement of the discussions inside the group. |

| Collection and use of expertise |

| Scientific/expertise domains concernedExperts representing the MS on the Economic Tariff Questions Group Methodology usedOpen consultation Main organisations/experts consultedExperts designated by each of the MS Summary of advice received and usedThe existence of potentially serious risks with irreversible consequences has not been mentioned.Means used to make the expert advice publicly availablePublication of the Proposal |

| Impact assessmentNot applicableProposal not included in the Commission's Working and Legislative Programme 2008 |

3) Legal elements of the proposal |

| Summary of the proposed actionProposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1255/96 temporarily suspending the autonomous common customs tariff duties on certain industrial, agricultural and fishery products |

| Legal basisArt 26 |

| Subsidiarity principleThe proposal falls under the exclusive competence of the Community. The subsidiarity principle therefore does not apply. |

| Proportionality principleThe proposal complies with the proportionality principle for the following reason(s). |

| The proposed measures are in accordance with the objectives of the "Customs 2008" action programme. |

| This set of measures is in line with the principles set out to simplify the procedures for the operators engaged in foreign trade and in accordance with the Commission communication concerning autonomous tariff suspensions and quotas. |

| Choice of instruments |

| Proposed instruments: regulation. |

| Other means would not be adequate for the following reason(s).By virtue of Article 26 of the EC Treaty autonomous tariff suspensions are approved by the Council acting on a qualified majority on the basis of a Commission proposal. |

4) Budgetary implication |

| Uncollected customs duties with a total amount of 9 400 000 €/year. |

5) Additional information |

| Simplification |

| The proposal provides for simplification of legislation. |

| In the annex of the proposed regulation a consolidated list of all duty suspensions will be published, therefore it is no longer necessary to consult more than one regulation to find a certain measure. |

Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

amending Regulation (EC) No 1255/96 temporarily suspending the autonomous common customs tariff duties on certain industrial, agricultural and fishery products

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 26 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission [1],

Whereas:

(1) It is in the interest of the Community to suspend partially or totally the autonomous common customs tariff duties for sixty six new products not listed in the Annex to Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/96 [2].

(2) Six products which are currently listed in the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1255/96 should be withdrawn from the list because it is no longer in the Community’s interest to maintain suspension of autonomous common customs tariff duties for those products.

(3) In addition, for some products the description needs to be altered in order to take account of technical product developments and economic trends on the market. Those products should be considered as withdrawn from the list and should as a consequence be inserted in it as new products.

(4) For ease of comprehension, in view of the large number of amendments coming into force on 1 January 2007, the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1255/96 should be replaced by a completely new version which has effect from the same date and in which new and amended entries are indicated with an asterisk.

(5) Experience has shown the necessity to provide for an expiry date to the suspensions listed in Regulation (EC) No 1255/96 to ensure that account is taken of technological and economic changes. This should not exclude the premature termination of certain measures or their continuation beyond this period, if economic reasons are submitted, in accordance with the principles laid down in the Commission Communication of 1998 concerning autonomous tariff suspensions and quotas [3].

(6) Regulation (EC) No 1255/96 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(7) Since the validity periods laid down in this Regulation have to take effect from 1 January 2008, this Regulation should apply from the same date and enter into force immediately,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1255/96 is replaced by the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

The temporary suspensions of the autonomous duties of the Common customs tariff for the products set out in the Annex shall apply from 1 January 2008. They shall expire on the dates listed in that Annex.

Article 3

Suspensions of the autonomous duties of the Common customs tariff for the products with TARIC codes 0304 19 39 45, 0304 19 99 60, 0304 29 61 10, 0304 99 99 21, 2903 39 90 20, 2932 29 85 75, 2933 19 90 10, 2933 39 99 70, 3920 62 19 61 and 3920 62 19 63 are closed with effect from 1 January 2008.

Article 4

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 1 January 2008.

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

Done at Brussels,

For the Council

The President

ANNEX

[table to be inserted]

LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR PROPOSALS HAVING A BUDGETARY IMPACT EXCLUSIVELY LIMITED TO THE REVENUE SIDE

1. NAME OF THE PROPOSAL:

Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1255/96 temporarily suspending the autonomous common customs tariff duties on certain industrial, agricultural and fishery products

2. BUDGET LINES:

Chapter and Article: Chap. 12 art. 120

The loss for the following years mentioned in the column "validity period" will be calculated separately by the following regulations.

Amount budgeted for the year 2008: € 16 431 900 000

3. FINANCIAL IMPACT

Proposal has no financial implications

x Proposal has no financial impact on expenditure but has a financial impact on revenue – the effect is as follows:

(€ million to one decimal place)

| |

Budget line | Revenue [4] | 12 month period, starting dd/mm/aaaa | [Year 2008] |

Article 120 | Impact on own resources | 01/01/2008 | - 9.4 |

4. ANTI-FRAUD MEASURES

Checks on the end-use of some of the products covered by this Council Regulation will be carried out in accordance with Articles 291 to 300 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 laying down provisions for the implementation of the Community Customs Code.

5. OTHER REMARKS

In order to reduce the economic problems an expiry date has been set out.

This proposal contains the existing unchanged products as well as the amendments which must be made to the annex to the existing Regulation in order to take account of the following:

1. new requests for suspension which have been presented and accepted;

2. technical product developments and economic trends on the market resulting in the lifting of certain existing suspensions.

Therefore a consolidated annex will be published.

Addition

This Annex, in addition to the amendments resulting from changes to CN codes, contains 66 new products. The uncollected duties corresponding to these suspensions, calculated on the basis of expected imports into the requesting Member State for 2008, total MEUR 29.62.

On the basis of the existing statistics for the preceding years, it would appear, however, that this amount must be increased by an average factor, estimated at 1.8, to take account of imports into other Member States using the same suspensions. This means a loss of revenue of some MEUR 53.32/year.

Withdrawal:

6 products have been withdrawn from this annex reflecting the reintroduction of customs duties. This represents an increase of MEUR 44.37 in resources, as calculated from requests for suspension or available statistics (2006).

Estimated cost of this operation

Taking available statistics (2006) as a basis, the impact on the loss of revenue resulting from this Regulation may therefore be estimated at 8.95 MEUR (gross amount, expenses incurred in collection included) x 0.75 = 6.71 MEUR for the period 1.1.2008-31.12.2008.

[1] OJ C , , p. .

[2] OJ L 158, 29.6.1996, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 729/2007

- (OJ L 166, 28.6.2007, p. 4).

[3] OJ C128, 25.4.1998, p.2.

[4] Regarding traditional own resources (agricultural duties, sugar levies, customs duties) the amounts indicated must be net amounts, i.e. gross amounts after deduction of 25% of collection costs.

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