No C 185/4 Official Journal of the European Communities 15.7.87 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
COMMISSION 
Proposal for a Council Regulation on the application of the Combined Nomenclature to the 
statistics of trade between Member States and amending Regulation (EEC) No 1736/75 on the 
external trade statistics of the Community and statistics of trade between Member States 
COM(87) 308 final 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 2 July 1987) 
(87/C 185/04) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 235 
thereof; 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par­
liament, 
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 0000/87 of 
1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature 
and the common customs tariff established a 
nomenclature of goods known as the 'Combined 
Nomenclature' (CN) which, inter alia, meets the 
requirements of the Community's system of external 
trade statistics; whereas the Combined Nomenclature is 
to be applied by the Community and its Member States 
to these statistics; 
Whereas it is advisable, in particular for reasons of 
comparability, that the external trade statistics of the 
Community and the statistics of trade between Member 
States be compiled using the same nomenclature; 
whereas it is therefore necessary that the Community 
and its Member States also apply the CN to the latter 
statistics; 
Whereas the application of the CN both to the external 
trade statistics of the Community and to the statistics of 
trade between Member States renders inapplicable 
Council Regulation (EEC) No 1445/72 on the 
nomenclature of goods for the external trade statistics of 
the Community and statistics of trade between Member 
States (NIMEXE) ('); whereas the said Regulation should 
therefore be repealed; Whereas the repeal of Regulation (EEC) No 1445/72 
must be accompanied by the adaptation of certain 
provisions in Council Regulation (EEC) No 1736/75 (2), 
as last amended by Commission Regulation (EEC) No 
3396/84 O; 
Whereas it is appropriate that steps be taken at the same 
time to lay down the Member States' obligations 
regarding the breakdown, in accordance with the 
integrated customs tariff of the European Communities 
(TARIC) established under Regulation (EEC) No 0000/ 
1987, of the statistics which they forward to the 
Commission on their imports from non-member 
countries, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
The Combined Nomenclature (CN) introduced by Regu­
lation (EEC) No 0000/87 shall be applied by the 
Community and the Member States to the statistics of 
trade between Member States. 
Article 2 
Regulation (EEC) No 1736/75 is hereby amended as 
follows: 
1. Article 5 is replaced by the following: 
Article 5 
1. In the statistical information medium, goods 
shall be designated using the description laid down in 
the provisions concerning trade in goods in such a 
way that, without prejudice to paragraph 2, they may 
be easily and accurately classified under the appro­
priate subheading of the Combined Nomenclature 
(CN) introduced by Council Regulation (EEC) No 
0000/87. 
(') OJN0LI6I, 17.7. 1972, p. 1. (2) OJ No L 183, 14. 7. 1975, p. 3. 
(») OJ No L 314, 4. 12. 1984, p. 10. 
15.7.87 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 185/5 
2. The goods must be designated in accordance 
with paragraph 1, even when other Community regu­
lations require them to be designated at the same time 
in accordance with other nomenclatures. 
3. For each type of goods, the eight-digit code laid 
down in the Combined Nomenclature must be given.' 
2. In Article 7 (1), the phrase Tor each heading of the 
NIMEXE' is replaced by the following: 'Without 
prejudice to Article 5(1) and (2) of Regulation (EEC) 
No 0000/87, for each subheading of the Combined 
Nomenclature'. 
3. In Article 11 (a), second indent, the words 'in 
Chapter 99 of the NIMEXE' are replaced by the 
following: 'in Chapter 97 of the Combined 
Nomenclature'. 
4. Article 34 is replaced by the following: 
'Article 34 
The data referred to in the first subparagraph of 
Article 22 (1) shall be compiled: 
(a) in the case of exports to non-member countries 
and of trade between Member States, on the basis 
of the subheadings in the current version of the 
Combined Nomenclature, in accordance with 
Article 12 of Regulation (EEC) No 0000/87; 
(b) in the case of imports from non-member 
countries, on the basis of the TARIC subheadings, 
as defined in Article 2 of the said Regulation, 
using for this purpose the codes referred to in 
Article 3 (3) and (4) of the said Regulation. 
However, this Article shall apply without prejudice to 
Articles 5 (4) and 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 0000/ 
87.' 
5. Article 36 is replaced by the following: 
'Article 36 
the Commission shall publish in the Official Journal 
of the European Communities the country 
nomenclature for the external trade statistics of the 
Community and statistics of trade between Member 
States in the version applying on 1 January of each 
year, as it results from the decisions taken pursuant to 
Article 41.' 
6. Article 38 (1) and (2) are replaced by the following: 
'1. Member States shall forward to the Commission 
without delay, and no later than six weeks from the 
end of the reference month, the cumulative monthly 
results of their external trade statistics. These results 
shall give the data listed in the first subparagraph of 
Article 22 (1), compiled in accordance with Article 34. However, the results compiled using the code referred 
to in Article 3 (4) of Regulation (EEC) No 0000/87 
may be forwarded in a separate return and be 
prepared by a national department different from that 
responsible for compiling results using the code 
referred to in Article 3 (3) of the said Regulation. 
2. The following shall be regulated as necessary 
pursuant to Article 41: 
— forwarding arrangements, including — for the 
data referred to in the second subparagraph of 
Article 22 (1) and for the separate return drawn 
up in accordance with the second subparagraph of 
paragraph 1 above — the reference period, 
periodicity, forwarding interval and, where appro­
priate, the conditions for their compilation; 
— the provision of separate results.' 
7. In Article 39 (3) (a), the words 'the analytical tables 
based on the NIMEXE' are replaced by the following: 
'the analytical tables based on the Combined 
Nomenclature'. 
8. Articles 40 and 41 are replaced by the following: 
Article 40 
1. A "Committee for External Trade Statistics", 
referred to hereinafter as the "Committee", shall be 
set up to administer the methodology employed for 
the external trade statistics of the Community and 
statistics of trade between Member States; it shall be 
composed of representatives of the Member States 
and chaired by a representative of the Commission. 
2. The Committee shall draw up its rules of 
procedure. 
3. The Committee may examine any question 
relating to the application of this Regulation which is 
raised by its Chairman, either on his own initiative or 
at the request of the representative of a Member 
State. 
Article 41 
1. The necessary provisions shall be adopted in 
accordance with the procedure set out in paragraphs 2 
and 3 below for 
(a) the application of this Regulation, 
(b) the annual up-dating of the country nomenclature 
for the external trade statistics of the Community 
and statistics of trade between Member States. 
2. The Chairman shall submit to the Committee a 
draft of any measures to be taken. The Committee 
shall express its opinion on this draft within a period 
which the Chairman may determine according to the 
urgency of the matter in question. It shall express an 
opinion in accordance with the majority system set 
out in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty for the adoption 
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No C 185/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 15.7.87 
of decisions which the Council is called upon to take 
on a proposal from the Commission. When voting 
takes place within the Committee, the votes of the 
representatives of the Member States shall be 
weighted in the manner stipulated in the said Article. 
The Chairman shall not vote. 
3. The Commission shall adopt measures with 
immediate effect. However, if these measures are at 
variance with the opinion expressed by the 
Committee, the Commission shall at once 
communicate them to the Council. In such cases, the 
Commission may postpone the implementation of the 
measures which it has decided on for a maximum of 
two months from the date of the communication. 4. The Council, acting by qualified majority, may 
take a different decision during this two-month 
period.5 
Article 3 
Regulation (EEC) No 1445/72 is hereby repealed. 
Article 4 
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1988. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and 
directly applicable in all Member States.