ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(80)150
Vol.1980/0047

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(80)150final.
Brussels,25April1980.
Proposalfora,
COUNCILREGULATION (EEC)
oncommonrulesforimportsofwhaleproducts
(submittedtotheCouncilbytheCommission)
/'V-tes\
/£?:? -'S....-•-•;jHc:– :
ν-·; . ■.νV*;/>/
COM(SO)150final*

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
1.Becausethesituationasregardsthestatusofthelargespeciesofwhale
isgivingrisetoconcern,severalMemberStateshavetaken,orareconsider­
ing,stepsaimedatprohibitingtheimportofwhaleproductstosupport
international measurestoensurethesurvivalofwhales.
2.A!suniformityinthecommoncommercialpolicyistobemaintained ,Community
measuresonthismatterarenecessary.Inconsequence ,theCommissionthinks
itappropriatetosubjecttheintroduction intotheCommunityofprimary
whaleproductstoasystemof1icences.T"-~.ecompetentauthorities shouldissue
theselicencesonlywhentheyhaveassuredthemselvesthattheproductsin
questionarenottobevisedforcommercialpurposes.
3.Earlierexperiencehasshownthattheprotectivemeasurestakenbythe
International WhalingCommission (IWC)havealmostalwaysbeeninadequate
orintroducedtoolatewhenstocksoftheendangeredspecieshadalready
fallentoverylowlevels.Consequently ,ithasbecomeverydifficult,not
tosayimpossible ,forthepopulationstorecovertheiroriginalsize.
TheCommunityassuchmustthereforeaccedetotheInternational Convention
ontheRegulationofWhalinginordertolendweighttoitspointofview
ontheconservation ofwhales.TheCommissionhasalreadysubmittedthe
relevantproposaltotheCouncil.^
4.Inanyevent,thereissomuchuncertaintyovertheconservation
statusofmostwhalespeciesthatitwouldseembesttoendhuntingand
tradinginthesespeciesasitmightleadtotheirextinctionandthusto
apermanentchangeinmarineecology.
(1)COM(79)364final,30.8.1979.

-2-
5.Substitutes arealready available forallproducts derived from whales
(oils andother products ).TheCommission therefore takes theview that
abandoning whale products will notcause insuperable problems for
industry ,provided itisallowed areasonable period inwhich adjust
itself .Acting onthis principle ,theUnited States have already been
able tobantheimport ofwhale products .Australia isconsidering
introducing asimilar measure asfrom 1January 1981 .
6.Adoption ofthis Regulation nowwould permit those nowusing theproducts
concerned tostart making thenecessary changes straight away .The
implementing rules will have tobeadopted atalater stage toalign them
with theimplementaion oftheConvention onInternational Trade inEn­
dangered Species ofWild Flora andFauna .
ι

Proposal foraCouncil Regulation oncommon rules forimports of
whale products .
THE COUNCIL OFTHE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
Having regard totheTreaty establishing theEuropean Economic Community ,
and inparticular Article 113thereof ;
Having regard toCouncil Regulation No136/66/EEC of22September
1966 ontheestablishment ofacommon organization ofthemarket inoils and
1 . ..._ ... -* – 2fats ,aslast amended byRegulation (EEC )No590/79,andinparticular
Article 3(1 )thereof ;
Having regard toCouncil Regulation (EEC )No827/68of28June 1968
onthecommon organization ofthemarket incertain products listed in
Annex IItotheTreaty ,aslast amended byRegulation (EEC )No1117/78,
andinparticular Article 2(1 )thereof ;
Having regard totheCommission proposal ;
Having regard totheOpinion oftheEuropean Parliament ;
Having regard totheOpinion oftheEconomic andSocial Committee ;
Whereas theconservation ofcertain species ofwhale calls formeasures
which will restrict international trade ;andwhereas these should beCom-
munity-level measures andshould atthesame time respect theCommunity 's
international obligations ;
Whereas itistherefore appropriate to make theintroduction into the
Community ofcertain products derived from whales subject totheproduction ofan
import permit ;andwhereas the competent authorities should not issue
such permits unless they have assured themselves that theproducts in
question arenottobeused forcommercial purposes ,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION
10JNo172of30September 1966 ,p.3025
2OJNoL78of30March 1979 ,p.1
3QJNoL151of30June 1968 ,p.16
4OJNoL142of30May1978 ,p.1

Article 1
From 1January 1982 theintroduction into theCommunity oftheproducts
listedinthe Annex hereto shall besubject totheproduction ofanimport
permit .Nosuch permit maybeissued inrespect ofproducts tobeused
for commercial purposes .
Member States shall notify theCommission before 1July 1981 ofthenames and
addresses oftheauthorities appointed bythem toissue theimport licences
referred toinparagraph 1.TheCommission shall immediately inform the
other Member States thereof .
Article 2
After consulting theMember States ,theCommission shall adopt rules
fortheimplementation ofthis Regulation ,and inparticular shall specify
theconditions under which import licences may beissued .
Ihis Regulation isbinding initsentirety andshall bedirectly applic­
able inall the Member States .
done atBrussels
For the Council

ANNEX
CCT No Products description
ex02.04 CI Whale meat andedible meat offals ,fresh ,
chilled orfrozen
ex02.06 CII Whalemeat andedible meat offals ,salted ,in
brine ,dried orsmoked
ex05.09 Whalebone ,unworked orsimply prepared butnot
eut toshape ~
ex05.15 B Whale meat and meat offals unfit for human
consumption ;whale meal andmeat extracts
ex15.04 Whale oils andfats ,whether ornotrefined
ex15.08 Whale oils ,boiled ,oxidized ,dehydrated ,
'. sulphurized ,blown ,polymerized byheat ina
vacuum oraninert gas ,orotherwise modified
ex15.12 Whale oils andfats ,wholly orpartly hydrogen­
ated ,orsolidified orhardened byanyother
process ,whether ornotrefined ,butnot
further prepared
15.15 A Spermaceti ofsperm-whales andother cetaceans ,
crude ,pressed orrefined ,whether ornot
coloured
ex16.03 Whale meat extracts andmeat juices .
exChapter 41 Jjeather ,treated with whale-oil oroilofother
cetaceans ,whether ornotmodified .