Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) temporarily withdrawing access to generalized tariff preferences for industrial goods from the Union of Myanmar (97/C 35/08) COM(96) 711 final - 96/0317(ACC)

(Submitted by the Commission on 19 December 1996)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 3281/94 of 19 December 1994 applying a four-year scheme of generalized tariff preferences (1995 to 1998) in respect of certain industrial products originating in developing countries (1), and in particular Article 12 (3) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament,

Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Whereas pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 3281/94 the Union of Myanmar is a beneficiary of generalized tariff preferences;

Whereas Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 3281/94 provides that the preferences in question may be temporarily withdrawn in whole or in part in circumstances including the practice of any form of forced labour as defined in the Geneva Convention of 25 September 1926 and 7 September 1956 and International Labour Organization Conventions Nos 29 and 105;

Whereas on 7 June 1995 the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) made a joint complaint to the Commission and called for Myanmar to be temporarily withdrawn from the Community scheme of generalized tariff preferences because of its use of forced labour;

Whereas the Commission examined the complaint in consultation with the Generalized Preferences Committee, whereas the evidence put forward by the complainants was judged sufficient to justify the opening of an investigation, and whereas the Commission decided on 16 January 1996 (2) that an investigation should take place;

Whereas the Myanmar authorities were formally notified of the opening of the investigation; whereas they denied that the practices referred to in the complaint constituted forced labour, citing the exceptions in Article 2 (2) of ILO Convention No 29, and claiming that those exceptions covered the 1907 Town Act and the 1908 Village Act, which allow the population to be made to carry out works and services; whereas that interpretation has been challenged by the ILO, whose competent bodies have called for the immediate repeal of the laws in question in order to ensure compliance with the letter and the spirit of Convention No 29;

Whereas the written and oral statements collected by the Commission during the course of the investigation conducted in consultation with the Generalized Preferences Committee corroborate the allegations contained in the complaint; whereas it has emerged that the authorities in Myanmar have routinely used forced labour, not only for military operations but also for civilian and military infrastructure building projects, backed by coercion and frequently violent reprisals;

Whereas, seeking to add to the information it had gathered during the investigation, the Commission requested the authorities of Myanmar to cooperate with that investigation by allowing a fact-finding team into the country; whereas this request was denied, and whereas pursuant to Article 11 (5) of Regulation (EC) No 3281/94 the findings of the investigation could therefore be based on the information available;

Whereas the information available provides grounds to conclude that withdrawal of Myanmar's access to the scheme of generalized preferences for which it is eligible is justified;

Whereas the findings of the investigation have been reported to the Generalized Preferences Committee in accordance with Article 12 (1) of Regulation (EC) No 3281/94;

Whereas the fact that the practices condemned have been routine and widespread means that a complete withdrawal of access to the arrangements is warranted;

Whereas in the light of the foregoing the application of tariff preferences to industrial goods originating in Myanmar should be temporarily withdrawn until it has been established that the practices in question have been brought to an end;

Whereas goods in shipment to the European Union should be excluded from this withdrawal of preferences, provided that they were dispatched before this Regulation entered into force,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Myanmar's access to the tariff preferences granted by Regulation (EC) No 3281/94 of 19 December 1994 is hereby withdrawn.

Article 2

The Council, on a proposal from the Commission, shall bring the application of this Regulation to an end once it has observed on the basis of a Commission report that the use of forced labour in Myanmar has ceased.

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. It shall not apply to goods proven to have been dispatched to the European Union before that date.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

(1) OJ No L 348, 31. 12. 1994, p. 1.

(2) Notice No 96/C 15/03, OJ No C 15, 20. 1. 1996, p. 3.