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COM (83) 623 
 
 
 
Vol. 1983/0 228 
  
 
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 open ing 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 file 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.  
C O M M IS S IO N  OF THE E U R O P E A N  C O M M U N IT IE S
CO M (83) 623 fin a l  
Brussels, 21 October 1983
Proposal for a  
C O U N C IL _ R E G U L A T IO N  (E E C )
opening and providing for the adm inistration of  
a  Community p re fe ren tia l ceilin g  for certain petroleum products  
refined in Turkey and establishing Community supervision  
of imports thereof (1984)
(submitted to the Council by the Commission)
COM (83) 623 fin a l

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
As a consequence of the Accession of the next Member States and the 
ensuring negotiations with Turkey for the purpose of adjusting her Associa­
tion Agreement with the Community and its Additional Protocol, the  
Community signed at Ankara, on 30 June 1973, a supplementary Protocol  
which will enter into force on ratification.
Pending entry into force of the Protocol the Community concluded an  
Interim Agreement, intended to be valid only until the Protocol does enter  
into force, in order to secure the application from 1  January 1974 of  
certain provisions of the Protocol relating to trade in goods.
The Supplementary Protocol and the Interim Agreement provide inter alia  
for the opening of an annual Community tariff quota of 340 000 tonnes for  
certain petroleum products falling under Chapter 27 of the Common  
Customs Tariff.
It is not possible to say at the moment whether the tariff measures laid  
down by these Agreements in Turkey's favour should be granted for 1984 on  
the basis of the Supplementary Protocol or of the Interim Agreement. The  
proposed Regulation annexed hereto is based on the Interim Agreement and  
would therefore have to be amended if the Supplementary Protocol entered  
into force on 1  January 1984 the latest.
The Commission is aware that this concession might be modified in the  
context of a future negotiation with Turkey. In the absence of a decision  
on this this proposal is an instrument which will allow respect of the  
engagements contracted by the Community.
Therefore the Commission reserves the possibility of modifying this  
proposal during the procedure to adapt it, if necessary, to the final result  
of the negotiations.

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2. As a result of the decision by the Council of Association in June 1983 that  
Turkey should be treated not less favourably than the countries benefiting  
from generalised tariff preferences, the Commission and the Turkish  
authorities have studied the problem of giving equivalent tariff treatment  
to both the developing countries and Turkey.
The Community tariff quotas opened in favour of the developing countries 
during the years 1971 to 1973 were converted with effect from 1  January  
1974 into Community ceilings, volumes being calculated by the usual  
method. For 1973 these volumes were fixed at the 1974 levels plus 12% ,  
for 1976 they were fixed at the 1975 level plus 15% , for 1977 at the 1976  
level plus (for the most pose) 4.6%, for 1978, 1979 and 1980 at the 1977  
levels, for 1981 at the 1980 level plus 2% , for 1982 at the 1981 level plus  
10% , for 1983 at the 1982 level plus 5%  and for 1984 at the 1983 level.
W hen the problem had been studied, the Comission ultimately recognized  
that already for 1976, in view of the provisions of paragraph 4 of the Sole  
Article of Annex I  to the Additional Protocol, the tariff quota of 340 000  
tonnes laid down in Turkey's favour should be converted into a Community  
ceiling with the volume increased provisionally in the proportions used for.
The only purpose of the proposed Regulation is to open in case of these  
products for 1984 a Community ceiling fixed at 539 570 tonnes and to set  
up Community supervision of importations of these products.
3. Adoption of precise common rules uniformy applied by the Member States  
will necessary if the ceilings system incorporating entitlement to reintro­
duce the customs duties is to work successfully. These requirements can  
be met by setting up a Community system for supervising imports actually  
made from the partner country. Member States will accordingly require to  
take steps to ensure that statistical date for the whole of the Community  
can be collected rapidly. For this purpose importations will be counted  
only as the goods are actually entered with the customs authorities for free  
circulation.

Statistics will be compiled by each Member State at the end of each month  
and will be forwarded to reach the Commission by the fifteenth day of the  
following month in order to enable it to communicate to Member States by  
telex an inclusive return of the imports system will call for the exercice of  
careful attention by the relevant departments in the Member States and  
for close cooperation between these departments and the Commission.
The following system will be adopted for setting off the mechanism for  
reintroducing duties :  when one of the inclusive monthly returns drawn up  
by the Commission shows that 75%  of the ceiling figure has been reached,  
the Commission will inform the Member States and consultations may then  
be held - particularly in the Group on Economic Tariff Problems- either at  
the request of a Member State or on the initiative of the Commission. The  
purpose of the consultations will be to consider whether or not to  
recommence collecting customs duties at the third-country rate whn the  
ceiling has actually been reached.
A monthly return will continue to be made for the product in question. If  
the Commission so requests, returns will be made every ten days by telex,  
within a time limit or 5 days.
The Commission will thus be in a position to take quick action to restore by  
regulation customs duties on imports from the partner country until the  
end of the calendar year. Naturally, in such a case réintroduction of the  
duties would be effective from a date fixed by the regulation ending the  
duty reduction laid down.
The proposed Regulation provides that the Council should delegate authori­
ty to the Commission as regards application of the rules on ceilings and  
introduction of duties.

-k-
The proposed Regulation only sketches a general framework for the  
exercice of these powers in order that the mechanism to be used can be  
flexibly and rapidly adjusted, in consultation with the Member States. It is  
precisely with this aim of optimum efficiency and rapidity that the  
proposed Regulation gives the Commission the task of reintroducing third  
country rate duties on imports of the goods in question from the partner  
country.
ANNEX :  1  Proposal for a Council Regulation.

Proposal for a
COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
opening and providing for the administration of a Community preferential ceiling for certain 
petroleum products refined in Turkey and establishing Community supervision of imports
thereof (1 9 8 4 )
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 113 
thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Whereas, pending the entry into force of the 
Supplementary Protocol signed in Ankara on 30 June 
1973 containing the adjustments to be made to the 
Agreement establishing an association between the 
European Economic Community and Turkey and to the 
Additional Protocol (') consequent on the accession of 
new Member States, the Community has undertaken, in 
an Interim Agreement (2) which runs only for a limited 
period prior to the entry into force of this Supplementary 
Protocol, which is applicable until 31 December 1974 but 
which has been extended for 1984 in accordance with the 
terms laid down in Article 13 thereof, to implement 
certain provisions of the Supplementary Protocol relating 
to trade in goods; whereas under Article 6 of the Interim 
Agreement amending the first paragraph of the Sole 
Article of Annex 1  to the Additional Protocol, the 
Community must totally suspend the customs duties 
applicable to certain petroleum products falling within 
Chapter 27 of the Common Customs Tariff, refined in 
Turkey, within the limit of an annual Community tariff 
quota of 340 000 tonnes; whereas, for the products 
concerned, a provisional adjustment should be made to 
these tariff preferences, consisting essentially of 
substituting for the Community tariff quota a 
Community ceiling which amounts, after successive 
increases, to 539 570 tonnes, above which the customs 
duties applicable to third countries may be 
reintroduced;
Whereas, in accordance with Article 119 of the 1979 Act 
of Accession, the Council adopted Regulation (EEC) No 
3555/80 of 16 December 1980 determining the 
arrangements to be applied with regard to imports into 
Greece, originating in Algeria, Israel, Malta, Morocco,Portugal, Syria, Tunisia or Turkey (3 ); whereas, as a 
result, this Regulation applies to the Community of 
Nine;
Whereas the application of the ceiling requires that the 
Community should be regularly informed of the trend of 
imports of these products refined in Turkey; whereas 
imports of these products should therefore be subject to a 
system of supervision;
Whereas this objective may be attained by means of an 
administrative procedure based on setting off imports of 
the products in question against the ceiling, at 
Community level, as and when these products are 
submitted to the customs authorities under cover of 
declarations that they have been made available for free 
circulation; whereas this administrative procedure must 
make provision for the réintroduction of the Common 
Customs Tariff duty as soon as the said ceiling has been 
reached at Community level;
Whereas this administrative procedure requires close and 
very rapid cooperation between the Member State and the 
Commission, which must be able to monitor the amounts 
set off against the ceiling and keep the Member States 
informed thereof; whereas this cooperation must be all 
the closer to enable the Commission to take adequate 
measures to reintroduce the Common Customs Tariff 
duty whenever the ceiling is reached,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. From 1  January to 31 December 1984 the Common 
Customs Tariff duties shall, subject to Article 2, be totally 
suspended in the Community of Nine for certain 
petroleum products, referred to hereinafter and refined in 
Turkey, within the limits of a Community ceiling of 
539 570 tonnes.
2. The petroleum products to which paragraph 1  
applies are the following:
(l) OJ No L 293, 29. 12. 1972, p. 4. 
(l) OJ No L 277, 3. 10. 1973, p. 2. (3) OJ No L 382, 31. 12. 1980, p. 1.

-  2 -
CCT
heading
NoDescription
27.10 Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals other than crude; preparations
not elsewhere specified or included, containing not less than 70 %  by weight of petroleum
oilor of oils obtained from bituminous minerals, these oils being the basic constituents of
the preparations:.
A.Light oils:
HI. For other purposes
B.Medium oils:
HI. For other purposes
C.Heavy oils: ' ■  ^
I. Gas oils:
c) For other purposes
1 1 . Fuel oils:
c) For other purposes
III. Lubricating oils, other oilst
c) To be mixed in accordance with the terms of Additional N ote-7 to this
chapter (a)
d) For other purposes
27.11 Petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons:
B.Other:
1. Commercial propane and commercial butane:
c) For other purposes
27.12f
Petroleum jelly:
A.Crude:
III. For other purposes
B.Other
27.13 Paraffin wax, micro-crystalline wax, slack wax, ozokerite, lignite wax, peat wax and
other mineral waxes, whether or not coloured:
B.Other:
I. Crude:
c) For other purposes
11. Other
27.14 Petroleum bitumen, petroleum coke and other residues of petroleum oils or of oils
« obtained from bituminous minerals:
C.Other
(a) Entry under thi» subheading in »ubject to condition» to be determined'· by the competent  
authoritici.

3. Imports of the petroleum products referred to in 
paragraph 1  shall be subject to Community 
supervision.
4. Imports of the products shall be set off against the 
ceiling as and when they are submitted to the customs 
authorities under cover of a declaration that they have 
been made available for free circulation.
5. The extent to which the ceiling has been used shall 
be determined at Community level on the basis of the 
imports set off against it in the manner defined in 
paragraph 4.
6. Member States shall inform the Commission at the 
intervals and within the time limits specified in Article 3 of 
any imports effected in accordance with the above 
rules.
Article 2
As soon as the ceiling referred to in Article 1(1) has been 
reached at Community level, the Commission may issue a 
Regulation reintroducing the Common Customs Tariffduties applicable to third countries until the end of the 
calendar year.
Article 3
Member States shall forward to the Commission not later 
than the 15th day of each month a statement of the 
imports effected during the preceding month. If the 
Commission so requests, they shall forward this 
statement, in respect of 10-day periods, within five clear 
days of the expiry of each such 10-day period.
Article 4
The Commission shall take all necessary measures for the 
implementation of this Regulation in close cooperation 
with the Member States.
Article 5
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1  January
1984.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member 
States.
Done at Brussels,
For the Council  
The President