ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(74)644
Vol.1974/0103

Disclaimer
Conformément aurèglement(CEE,Euratom)n°354/83duConseildu1erfévrier1983
concernantl'ouvertureaupublicdesarchiveshistoriquesdelaCommunauté économique
européenneetdelaCommunautéeuropéennedel'énergieatomique(JOL43du15.2.1983,
p.1),telquemodifiéparlerèglement(CE,Euratom)n°1700/2003du22septembre2003
(JOL243du27.9.2003,p.1),cedossierestouvertaupublic.Lecaséchéant,lesdocuments
classifiésprésentsdanscedossierontétédéclassifiésconformément àl'article5dudit
règlement.
InaccordancewithCouncilRegulation(EEC,Euratom)No354/83of1February1983
concerningtheopeningtothepublicofthehistoricalarchivesoftheEuropeanEconomic
CommunityandtheEuropeanAtomicEnergyCommunity(OJL43,15.2.1983,p.1),as
amendedbyRegulation(EC,Euratom)No1700/2003of22September2003(OJL243,
27.9.2003,p.1),thisfileisopentothepublic.Wherenecessary,classifieddocumentsinthis
filehavebeendeclassified inconformitywithArticle5oftheaforementioned regulation.
InÜbereinstimmung mitderVerordnung(EWG,Euratom)Nr.354/83desRatesvom1.
Februar1983überdieFreigabederhistorischen ArchivederEuropäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft undderEuropäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI.L43vom15.2.1983,
S.1),geändertdurchdieVerordnung(EG,Euratom)Nr.1700/2003vom22.September2003
(ABI.L243vom27.9.2003,S.1),istdieseDateiderÖffentlichkeitzugänglich.Soweit
erforderlich,wurdendieVerschlusssachen indieserDateiinÜbereinstimmung mitArtikel5
dergenanntenVerordnungfreigegeben.

COMMISSION OFIKESUSOI2AN COMMUNTOES
COM(74)644final
Brussels,13May197-r
RECOMMENDATION FORACOUNCILDECISION
authorizing theCommissiontoopennegotiations on"behalfofthe
CommunitywiththeKingdomofLaoswithaviewto
concludinganagreementwiththatcountryon
tradeinhand-madeproducts(handicrafts).
(submittedtotheCouncil "bytheCommission)
COM(74)644final

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
1. Following the commitment undertaken in1967 atthe time ofthe
GATT multilateral negotiations ,theCommunity opened anautonomous
duty-free tariff quota forallcountries forhand-made products (handi­
crafts )ofatotal value of5million u.a .with anupper limit of
500.000 UcB ,per tariff line .
Aspart oftheimplementation ofthedeclaration ofintent as
regards trade relations with certain Asian countries ,andhaving regard "r
totheneeds ofthenewMember States inconformity with theAct of
Accession ,this Community tariff quota hasbeen doubled for197^tothe
value of10million u.a .with anupper limit of1million u.a .per
1tariff line •
2. Duty-free importation issubject ,however ,toproduction to.the
Community customs authorities ofacertificate ,issued bytheauthorities
recognized bytheCommunity oftherecipient State ,certifying that the
products inquestion arehand-made .
India and Pakistan were the first countries towhich this tariff
quota applies .In19&9 an<*1970 theCommunity concluded twoseparate :■
agreements with those countries specifying theconditions forduty-free
importation andalist ofproducts covered bytheagreement wasestablished .
3« TheCouncil concluded two further agreements ,onewith India and
onewith Pakistan (decision ofNovember 1970 ),andanother with Uruguay
(decision ofOctober 1973)^toextend thelist ofproducts covered bythe
(1)Council Regulation (EEC)No3595/73of28December 1973i OJNoL3^5
of31December 1973
(2)Council Regulation (EEC)No2262/70of10November 1970 ,OJNoL2^5
of11November 1970
(3)Council Regulation (EEC )No2816/73of15October 1973 ,OJNoL291
of18October 1973

-2-
oldagreements toanumber' ofother products# Consequently ,hand-made
products falling within approximately thirty-one tariff headings are
noweligible forduty-free importation into theCommunity ,-
I
k. ThePhilippines ,Thailand ,Indonesia ,Iran ,SriLanka andBangla­
desh have given therequired' guarantees andconcluded separate agree­
ments with theCommunity sothat currently their products may beimported
duty-free under thesaid Community tariff quota onthe same basis as
those oftheother exporting countries referred to»
5. InaNote Verbale addressed totheCommission on3January 197 1*
(Annex II),theLaotian Mission totheEuropean Communities stated that
hisGovernment would like thesaid quota tobeextended toLaos . 1
6. AstheCommunity tariff quota inquestion wasopened forall
countries theCommission considers that theCommunity should give a
favourable reply totheLaotian request .
The same terms asthose obtaining under thepresent agreements
with the above-mentioned countries should therefore beincluded inthe
1agreement tobenegotiated with Laos .
t ,
TheCommission thus recommends that ,pursuant toArticle 113of
theTreaty ,theCouncil adopt thefollowing draft decision (Annex I).
-India ,Pakistan ,thePhilippines ,Thailand ,Indonesia ,Iran ,SriLanka ,
Uruguay andBangladesh """" '

aîh&Y i
RECOMMENDATION FOR ACOUNCIL DECISION
authorizing theCommission toopen negotiations
onbehalf oftheCommunity with theKingdom of
Laos with aview toconcluding anagreement with
that country ontrade inhand-made products
(handicrafts )
THE COUNCIL 0?THEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
Having regard totheTreaty establishing theEuropean Economic Community ,
and inparticular Article 113thereof ,
Having regard totheRecommendation oftheCommission ,
Whereas action should betaken upon theLaotian request byopening
negotiations with theCommunity following which certain craft products
originating inthat country may beimported duty-free under theCommunity
tariff quota forhand-made products (handicrafts )opened autonomously
bytheCommunity fcrallcountries byCouncil Regulation (E3C)No3595
of28December 1973^*
HAS DECIDED ASF0LL0WS :
Sole Article
TheCommission ishereby authorized toopen negotiations onbehalf
oftheEuropean Economic Community with theKingdom ofLaos with aview
toconcluding anagreement with that country ontrade inhand-made pro­
ducts onthe same terms asthose specified intheagreements concluded
bytheCommunity with other third countries .
Done atBrussels , For theCouncil
The Président
OJNoL365of31December 1973

ROYAUMEDULAOS
MINISTERE
DES
AFFAIRES ETRANGERESAJmEXEII
Vientiane,le3janvier1274
MonsieurleDirecteurGeneral,
J'ail'honneurdevousfaireconnaîtrequeleLaospossèdeun
patrimoineartistiquequisetraduitdansunartisanatsusceptible de
prendreuneplaceimportanteparmilesautresartisanatsduSud-Est
Asiatique.
Jusqu'àunpassérelativement récent,sesproductionsétaient
destinéesuniquementàlaconsommation locale,laqualitédesarticles,
sansaucuncontrôle,nepermettantpasd'envisagerleurexportation .
Depuisquelquesannées,deseffortsconstantsontétéfaitspour
quelaqualitédesarticlessoitconformeauxnormesinternationales
toutenleurgardantleurcaractèretraditionnel etoriginal.
Parmilesarticlesartisanauxexclusivement faitsàlamain,
onpeutciterprincipalement destissusdesoieetdecoton(écharpes,
tapisdetable^desobjetstraditionnels enargentpur(titrage999)t
despoteriesetdespanneauxdeboissculptéetc..»
LeGouvernement RoyalduLaosaconscienced'occuperdansce;
domaineuneplacedechoix.Ilsollicitedoncd'êtreinclusdansla
listedespaysautorisésàexporterleursproduitsartisanauxdans
"U>sEtatsmembresdolaCoranunautâEuropéenne.

Cettedemandeestfaiteconformément auxrèglementsduConseildela
CEEno2732/72du19/12/72(tissusfaitàlamain)etno2733/72du
19/t2/72(autresproduitsfaitàlamain),instituantdescontingents
tarifairespourcesproduits.
LorsqueleLaosseraautoriséàexportersesproduitsartisanaux
verslespaysmembresdelaCommunauté,ilseconformeraauxconditions
stipuléesdanslesrèglementsduConseildelaCEEprécitéset,enpar­
ticulier,àlaprésentation duCertificatd'Originedontlasignature
seraconfiéeauDirecteurduServiceNationaldel'Artisanatetde
l'Industrie.
Jevouspried'accepter,MonsieurleDirecteurGénéral,les
assurances demahauteconsidération .