ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(76)387
Vol.1976/0116

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COMMISSION !OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
./
COM(76)387 final.
Brussels,23July1976
ν\
i■'•
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\ -,I"•.!'
/
Proposalfora
■\ , . .
REGULATION (EEC)OFTHECOUNCIL
ontheopening,allocationandadministration ofaCommunity
tariffquotaforcertaineelsfallingwithinsubheadingex
03.01AIIoftheCommonCustomsTariff(firsthalfof1977)
(submittedtotheCouncilbytheCommission)
COM(76)387final.

GUD/735/76-E
Explanatory Memorandum
Inrecent years ,eelfishing inocrtain Community fishing areas was
forbidden ormaile impossible owing topollution ofthewaters .Efforts
were made toincrease production inother areas inorder tocompensate
atleast forthe losses ofthequantities available .Despite these
efforts ,itwasobserved that Community production wasstill insufficient
tosupply thedemands oftheMember States' fish processing industries .
This situation prompted theCouncil -onaproposal from theCommission –
toopen from 1971 aduty-free Community tariff quota forcertain fresh
eels (dead oralive ),chilled orfrozen ,falling within subheading
ex03.01 AIIoftheCommon Customs Tariff .
Thereafter ,thesituation onthemarkets ofthesector inquestion
didnotappreciably improve .
Afurther examination ofthemarket ineels andofimport requirement s
wascarried outameeting oftheEconomic Tariff Problems Group held
on10June 1976 .Attherequest oftheauthorities oftheFederal
Republic ofGermany ,thepossibility wasexamined ofchanging the
period oftheannual tariff quota totheperiod of1July to30June ,
sothat thequota might correspond better totrade requirements .
Indeed ,thefishing season being mainly intheautumn ,two-thirds of
German imports inparticular arecarried outfrom September toDecember .
According totherules ofreturn tothereserve usually applied inthe
administration ofquotas ,thereturn totheCommunity reserve is
expected asfrom August .Compliance with this provision does notmake
itpossible toachieve aneconomically rational useofthequotas *
Atthat meeting oftheEconomic Tariff Problems Group ,itemerged that
aunanimous agreement could bereached onasystem providing forthe
opening ofaquota forsixmonths asfrom 1January 1977 and ,thereafter ,
fortheopening ofanannual tariff quota fortheperiod from
1July 1977 to30June 1978 .
I

-2-GUD/735/76-E
«
Therefore,itwould,seemdesirabletore-openaCommunitytariff
quotaforavolumeof3100metrictonsfrom1Januaryto30June1977»
largelycorresponding tothestated,requirements oftheKemberStates
forimportsfromthirdcountries.
Asregardsthesubdivision oftheabove-mentioned volumeof3100metric
tons,afirsttrancheof26fj0metrictonsisallocatedamongthe
MemberStatesinproportiontorequirements.Thebalanceof450metric
tonswillconstitutetheCommunityreserve.
Thisistheobjectiveoftheattachedproposal.

Proposal for a
5ISyLATI0N _(EEÇ)_0£_THE_ÇCUNCIL
ontheopening,allocationandadministration ofaCommunitytariffquotaforcertain•
eelsfallingwithinsubheadingcx03.01AIIoftheCommonCustomsTariff(firsthalfof1977)
THECOUNCILOFTHEEUROPEANCOMMUNITIES ,shouldthereforebeopenedfor"thisperiod,
conditionssetoutabove:
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishingthe
EuropeanEconomicCommunity,andinparticular
Article
HavingregardtotheproposalfromtheCommission ;
HavingregardtotheOpinionoftheEuropean
Parliament(M;
Whereaseelfishinghasbeenprohibitedorhasbe­
comeimpossibleincertainCommunityproduction
centres;whereasthishasledtoadropinCommunity
productionofeelsingeneralandparticularlyof
fresheels(liveordead),chilledorfrozen,falling
withinsubheadingex03.01AIIoftheCommon
CustomsTariff,intendedforcuringorskinningor
foruseintheindustrialmanufactureofproducts
fallingwithinheadingNo16.04;whereasthe
processingindustriesintheCommunityconsequently
dependtoalargeextentonimportsfortheirsupplies
ofeels;whereas3t)theapplicationofthe
autonomousCommonCustomsTariffdutyshould
thereforebesuspendedtotallyonimportsofthe
relevantproductsuptoanappropriatequantitative
limit;whereas,withinthislimit,thenewMember
Statesshouldapplycustomsdutiesasprovidedinthe
ActofAccession(*);whereas,theintroductionof
aCommunitymeasureofthisnatureisunlikelyto
harmCommunityproduction;
)from1.January1977up"toand.including
30June1977
WhereascurrentdemandnotmetbyCommunity
production,whichmustthereforebemetbyimports,
canbeestimatedat3^100metrictonsforthefirsthalfof1977»whereasatariff
quotaforthe-relevanttypesofeel
(')Opiniondeliveredon.
(2)O]NoL73,27.3.1972,p.14. •Whereasitisinparticularnecessarytoensuretoall
importersintheMemberStatesequaland
uninterrupted accesstotheabovementioned quota
anduninterruptedapplicationoftheratelaiddown
forthatquotato'allimportsoftheproducts
concernedintoallMemberStatesuntilthequota
hasbeenusedup;whereas,inthelightofthese
principles,theCommunitynatureofthequotacan
berespectedbyallocatingthetariffquotaamong
theMemberStateslistedbelow;whereasstatistics
availablefortheseproductsdonotgiveaclear
pictureofthemarketsituationforthem;whereas,
therefore,itisnotpossibletoallocatethequota
amongtheMemberStatesonthebasisofimport
trendsfortherelevantproductsover,thepastfew
years;whereas,however,accordingtotheestimates
putforwardbytheMemberStates,initialsharesmay
befixedatthequantitiessetoutinArticle2;
Whereas,inordertotakeintoaccountimporttrends
fortheproductsconcerned,thequotaamountshould
bedividedintotwotranches,thefirsttranchebeing
allocated,andthesecondformingareserveintended
subsequentlytocovertherequirementsoftheMem­
berStateswhichhaveuseduptheirinitialshares;
whereas,inordertoensureacertaindegreeof
securityforimporters,thefirsttrancheofthe
Communitytariffquotashouldbefixedatalevel
which,underpresentcircumstances ,maybe
approximately 85c/°ofthequotaamount:
Whereastheinitialsharesmaybeusedupat
differentrates;whereas,inordertotakethisfact
intoaccountandtoavoidanybreakincontinuity,
anyMemberStatewhichhasalmostusedupits
totalinitialshareshoulddrawanadditionalshare
fromthereserve;whereasthismustbedonebyeach
MemberStateasandwheneachofitsadditional
sharesisalmostentirelyusedup,andrepeatedas
manytimesasthereserveallows;whereastheinitial
additionalsharesmustbevaliduntiltheendofthe
quotaperiod;whereasthismethodofadministration
requiresclosecooperationbetweenMemberStates
andtheCommission,whichmustbeabletokeep

accountoftheextenttowhichthequotaamount
hasbeenusedupandtoinformtheMemberStates
accordingly;
Whereasif,atagivendateinthequotaperiod,a
considerablebalanceremainsinoneorotherMember
Stateitisessential,topreventapartofthe
Communitytariffquotafromremainingunusedin
oneMemberStatewhileitcouldbeusedinothers,
thatthatMemberStateshouldreturnasignificant
proportionthereoftothereserve:
Whereas,sincetheKingdomofBelgium,theKingdom
oftheNetherlandsandtheGrandDuchyof
Luxembourg areunitedwithinandjointly
representedbytheBeneluxEconomicUnion,any
measureconcerningtheadministration oftheshares
allocatedtothatEconomicUnionmaybecarriedout
byanyoneofitsmembers,uptoand.including30June1977»shall
consistofthefollowingamounts:
inmetrictons
2.Thesecondtrancheof_450metrictonsshaj.]
constitutethereserve.
Article3
HASADOPTEDTHIS.REGULATION :
Article1
1«Duringtheperiod1Januaryupu
toandincluding30June1977.aCommunitytariffquotaof3,100metrictons
shallbeopenedforfresheels(liveordead)chilledor2
frozen,fallingwithinsubheadingex03.01AIIofthe0
CommonCustomsTariff,intendedforcuringorS
skinningorforuseintheindustrialmanufactureof^
productsfallingwithinheadingNo16.04,under^
conditionstobedeterminedbythecompetent u
authorities . e1.If90%ormoreofaMemberState'sinitial
shareasfixedinArticle2(1),orofthatshareminus
anyportionreturnedtothereservewhereArticle5
hasbeenapplied,hasbeenusedup,thatMember
Stateshallforthwith,bynotifyingtheCommission ,
drawasecondshare,totheextentthatthereserve
sopermits,equalto15%ofitsinitialshare,rounded
upasnecessarytothenextwholenumber.
2.If,afteritsinitialsharehasbeenexhausted,90%
ormoreofthesecondsharedrawnbyaMember
Stacehasbeenusedup,thatMemberStateshall
forthwith,bynotifyingtheCommission,drawa
thirdshareequalto7-5%ofitsinitialshare,rounded
upasnecessarytothenextwholenumber,tothe
extentthatthereservesopermits.
2.Withinthelimitsofthistariffquota,theCommon
CustomsTariffdutyshallbetotallysuspended.
3.ThenewMemberStatesshallapplyduties
calculatedinaccordancewiththerelevantprovisions
oftheActofAccessionwithinthisquota.
Article2
2.650
1.Afirsttrancheof/metrictonsofthis
Communitytariffquotashallbeallocatedamongthe
MemberStates.MemberStates'shares,which,
subjecttoArticle5,shallbevalidfrom1January3.If,afteritssecondsharehasbeenexhausted,90%
ormoreofthethirdsharedrawnbyaMember
Statehasbeenusedup,thatMemberStateshall,in
themannerprovidedinparagraph2,drawafourth
shareequaltothethird.
Thisprocedureshallapplyuntilthereserveisused
up.
4.Bywayofderogationfromparagraphs1,2and3,
MemberStatesmaydrawlessersharesthanthose
specifiedthereiniftherearegroundsforbelieving
thatthosespecifiedmaynotbeusedinfull.They
shallinformtheCommissionoftheirreasonsfor
applyingthisparagraph.

Article4 Article7
AdditionalsharesdrawnpursuanttoArticle3shall
bevaliduptoandincluding30June1977
ArticleS1.MemberStatesshalltakeallappropriate
measure*toensurethatadditionalsharesdrawn
pursuanttoArticle3areopenedinsuchawaythat
importsmaybechargedwithoutinterruptionagainst
theiraggregatesharesoftheCommunityquota.
MemberStatesshallreturntothereserve,notlater
than1May1977,theunusedportionsoftheir
initialshareswhich,on15April1977,are'nexcess
of20%oftheinitialamounts.Theymayreturna
greaterportioniftherearegroundsforbelievingthat
suchportionmaynotbeusedinfull.
MemberStatesshallnotifytheCommission,not
laterthan1May1977,~ofthetotalquantities
oftheproductsinquestionimporteduptoand
including15April1977r»ndchargedagainstthe
Communityquotaandofranyportionoftheirinitial
sharesreturnedtothereserve.
Article6
TheCommissionshallkeepanaccountoftheshares
openedbytheMemberStatespursuanttoArticles
2and3and,assoonasithasbeennotified,shall
informeachStateoftheextenttowhichthereserve
hasbeenusedup.
ItshallinformtheMemberStates,notlaterthan
•5May1977,^am°untstillinreserveafter
amountshavebeenreturnedtheretopursuantto
Article5.
Itshallensurethatthedrawingwhichexhauststhe
reservedoesnotexceedthebalanceavailable,and
tothisendshallnotifytheamountofthatbalance
totheMemberStatemakingthelastdrawing.2.MemberStatesshallensurethatimportersof
theproductsinquestionestablishedintheirterritory
havefreeaccesstothesharesallocatedtothem.
3.MemberStatesshallchargeimportsofthe
productsinquestionagainsttheirsharesasandwhen
theproductsareenteredwiththecustomsauthorities
forhomeuse.
4.TheextenttowhichaMemberStatehasused
upitsshareshallbedeterminedonthebasisofthe
importschargedagainstthatshareinaccordance
withparagraph3.
Article8
AttheCommission'srequest,MemberStatesshall
informitoftheimportsactuallychargedagainsttheir
shares.
Article9
MemberStatesandtheCommissionshallcooperate
closelytoensurethatthisRegulationiscomplied
with.
Article10
ThisRegulationshallenterintoforceon1January
1977•
ThisRegulationshallbebindinginitsentiretyanddirectlyapplicableinallMember
States.
DoneatBruxelles,
FortheCouncil
ThePresident