COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
C0M(91) 460 final 
Brussels, 20 November 1991 
Proposal for a 
COUNCIL REGULATION. (EEC) 
amending Regulation (EEC) No 3420/83 
in order to liberalize or suspend quantitative restrictions 
in respect of Albania; extending the suspension of certain 
quantitative restrictions in respect of countries of Eastern and 
Central Europe and laying down the import arrangements applicable 
to products originating in the Baltic States. 
(presented by the Commission) 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 
1. This proposal has a threefold purpose: 
to lay down the import arrangements to be applied to products 
originating in the Baltic States; 
to extend to products originating in Albania and the said Baltic 
States the access to the Community market already granted to the 
countries of Eastern and Central Europe; 
to extend until 31 December 1991 the suspension of non-specific 
quantitative restrictions currently applicable to the Eastern and 
Central European countries until 31 December this year. 
2. There is an urgent need to lay down the trade arrangements applicable to 
imports originating in the Baltic States. Since the restoration of 
independence, the Community has adopted no practical measures in respect 
of these countries and there could be real problems, particularly at the 
level of Member States' customs administrations, regarding the treatment 
to be given to products originating in these countries. The 
Commission's proposed solution would grant the Baltic States the same 
treatment currently reserved for the other countries of Eastern and 
Central Europe. This appears to be the only way to meet the double 
requirement of according the Baltic States treatment no less favourable 
than that accorded to the Soviet Union and no more favourable than that 
accorded to the countries with which the Community is in the process of 
negotiating association agreements (Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia). 
This solution also concords with the Council's agreement of 30 September 
and 1 October on the principle of including these countries in the G-24 
programme of coordinated assistance, of which increased market access 
for the relevant countries' products is a major component. 
There is a separate proposal regarding the treatment to be accorded to 
textile products originating in the Baltic States. 
3. The extension to Albania of the same access to the Community market as 
that already granted to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe also 
follows upon the Council's agreement of 30 September and 1 October on 
the principle of including this country in the G-24 programme of 
coordinated assistance. The removal or suspension of quantitative 
restrictions is covered by the trade component of the PHARE programme. 
4. The extension until 31 December 1992 of the suspension of non-specific 
quantitative restrictions also seems advisable in order to permit future 
growth in the exports of the countries concerned and so contribute to 
the modernization of their economic fabric. In the cases of Hungary, 
Poland and Czechoslovakia this measure will automatically be 
incorporated into the corresponding association agreements, with effect 
from their entry into force. 
Proposal for a 
CounciI Régulât ion 
of ... 
amending Regulation (EEC) No 3420/83 
in order to liberalize or suspend quantitative restrictions 
in respect of Albania; extending the suspension of certain 
quantitative restrictions in respect of countries of Eastern and Central 
Europe and laying down the import arrangements applicable 
to products originating in the Baltic States. 
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 Council Regulation (EEC) No 3420/83 of 14 November 1983 on import 
arrangements for products originating in State-trading countries, not 
liberalized at Community level,1 as last amended by Regulation (EEC) 
No 2158/91,2 applies to products originating in, inter alia, Albania and 
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), of which Estonia, Latvia 
and Lithuania, hereinafter referred to as "the Baltic States", were part 
until the restoration of their sovereignty and independence; whereas the 
Baltic States should therefore be included in the list of countries in 
Annex I to the said Regulation (EEC) No 3420/83; 
Whereas the Community and its Member States, at the extraordinary meeting 
on European political cooperation held in Brussels on 27 August 1991, have 
confirmed their decision to establish diplomatic relations with the Baltic 
States and emphasized their commitment to support the said States in their 
economic and political development; 
Whereas, in view of the above, there is a need to define the import 
arrangements applicable to products originating in the Baltic States; 
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 1765/82 of 30 June 1982 on common rules 
for imports from the State-trading countries,3 as last amended by 
Regulation (EEC) No 1434/90,4 provides that imports of the products 
mentioned in the Annex thereto shall not be subject to quantitative 
restr ict ions; 
Whereas the Council, at its meeting in Brussels on 30 September and 
1 October 1991, has agreed in principle to the inclusion of the Baltic 
States and Albania in the G-24 programme of coordinated assistance; whereas 
this programme provides facilities for the access of products from the 
countries of Central and Eastern Europe to the Community market; 
1 0J No L 346, 8.12.1983, p.6. 
2 OJ No L 201, 24.7.1991, p.5. 
3 OJ No I 195, 5.7.1982, p.1. 
4 OJ No L 138, 31.5.1990, p.1. 
k 
Whereas, in order to contribute to the modernization of the economic fabric 
of these countries through, in particular, an increase in their exports, 
specific quantitative restrictions should therefore be removed and 
"non-specific" quantitative restrictions applicable to the release for free 
circulation in the Community of certain products originating in these 
countries suspended; whereas the Community has already adopted similar 
measures with regard to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and 
Czechoslovakia; whereas the suspension of quantitative restrictions has 
been granted to these countries only until 31 December 1991; 
Whereas it seems appropriate to extend the suspension until 
31 December 1992 and to extend its application to the Baltic States and 
Albania on the same conditions; 
Whereas this Regulation is adopted without prejudice to any present or 
future Community measures regarding the trade in textile products, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
Article 2(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 3420/83 is replaced by the following 
text: 
" 1. The release for free circulation of the products listed in Annex III 
originating in State-trading countries shall be subject to quantitative 
restrictions in the Member States as indicated in that Annex against 
those products. 
However, in respect of Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, 
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union, 
Member States may maintain quantitative restrictions only on products 
listed in Annex I, as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 196/91,5 to 
Regulation (EEC) No 288/82,6 as last amended by Regulation (EEC) 
No 2978/91.7 Notwithstanding this, the application of these 
quantitative restrictions to the release for free circulation of 
products originating in any of these countries other than the Soviet 
hereby suspended in all Member States but Spain and Portugal 
December 1992. The suspension is not applicable to textile 
reimported into the Community after undergoing processing or 
in Albania, Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania. In the event of Union is 
until 31 
products 
working any 
one of the products in question causing or threatening to cause economic 
difficulties in the Community or a region thereof, the relevant 
quantitative restriction may be reintroduced under the procedure laid 
down in Title IV." 
5 OJ No L 21, 26.1.1991, p.1. 
6 OJ No L 35, 9.2.1982, p.1. 
7 OJ No L 284, 12.10.1991, p.1 
Article 2 
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are hereby added to the list of countries 
contained in Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 3420/83 and the Annex to 
Regulation (EEC) No 1765/82. 
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 be applicable from 1 December 1991. 
This Regulation is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all 
Member States. 
Done at Brussels, 
For the CounciI 
The President 
FICHE 
IMPACT DE LA PROPOSITION SUR LES P.M.E 
ET SUR LE MARCHE DE L'EMPLOI 
Sur le plan économique, les produits albanais qui font l'objet de la 
mesure de libération des restrictions quantitatives sont actuellement 
très peu importés. De ce fait, la mesure envisagée a un impact 
économique minime. 
Pour ce qui est des Etats baltes, du fait que ces pays étaient 
incorporés dans l'URSS, l'absence de toutes données statistiques fiables 
et le peu d'informations dont on dispose sur le potentiel de ces pays, 
ne permettent pas à ce stade de procéder à une évaluation quelconque de 
l'impact économique des mesures envisagées. On peut néanmoins escompter 
que ces mesures auront plus un impact politique qu'économique. 
EN C0M(91) 460 final ISSN 0254-1475 
DOCUMENTS 
11 
Catalogue number : CB-ÇO-91-508-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-77510-6 
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 
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