7. 3. 77 Official  Journal  of the European  Communities No C 56/91 
the Council  gives  its approval  to certain  proposals 
for Directives  currently  under  consideration  (e.g.,  the 
proposals  dealing  with  quality  standards  for 
untreated  water  used  in the  production  of drinking 
water,  the discharging  of dangerous  substances  into 
the aquatic  environment,  and  standards  for  water 
used  in irrigation). 
3. Furthermore,  the  Rhine  has  a (particularly  high 
pesticide  content,  which  can  be  reduced  only  by 
implementing  other  legal  instruments.  The  aim  must 
be to reduce  the  levels  of pesticides,  particularly 
persistent  pesticides,  in run-off  water. 
4. Additional  measures  will  also  have  to  be 
introduced  to deal  with  the  problem  of thermal 
pollution. 5. The  Committee  would  ask  the  Commission  to 
consider  making  a special  examination  for  other 
heavily-polluted  international  waterways,  such  as 
the Scheldt,  which  are covered  in the  draft  conven-
tion on international  waterways. 
6. The  Committee  would  finally  draw  attention  to 
an error  in the  'Financial  Record'  appended  to the 
proposal.  6 590 u.a.  is not equivalent  to DM  45 000. 
Done  at Brussels,  15 December  1976. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic  and  Social  Committee 
Basil  de FERRANTI 
Opinion  on the proposal  for a Council  Regulation  amending  Regulation  (EEC)  No 97/69 
on measures  to be taken  for uniform  application  of the nomenclature  of the Common 
Customs  Tariff 
The text  referred  to the  Committee  has  been  published  in Official  Journal  of the 
European  Communities  No  C 274  of 19 November  1976,  page  2. 
A. LEGAL  BASIS  FOR  THE  OPINION 
On 12 November  1976,  the  Council  referred  the  abovementioned  proposal  to the 
Economic  and  Social  Committee  in accordance  with  Article  198  of the  Treaty 
establishing  the European  Economic  Community. 
B. OPINION  OF THE  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  COMMITTEE 
The Economic  and  Social  Committee  prepared  its opinion  on the above  matter  at its 
144ch  plenary  session,  held  in Brussels  on 15 and  16 December  1976. 
The full  text  of the opinion  is as follows: 
THE  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  COMMITTEE, 
Having  regard  to the  Treaty  establishing  the Euro-
pean  Economic  Community,  and  in particular  Article 
198 thereof, 
Having  regard  to the  request  made  by the  Council 
on 12 November  1976, Having  regard  to the decision  taken  by the  plenary 
session  on  26  November  1976,  instructing  Mr 
Marvier  to prepare  work  on the matter  in accordance 
with  Article  18 of the Rules  of Procedure, 
Having  regard  to the  draft  opinion  presented  by 
the rapporteur-general,  Mr Marvier, 
No C 56/92 Official  Journal  of the  European  Communities 7. 3. 77 
Having  regard  to the  discussions  at its 144th  plenary 
session  held  on 15 and  16 December  1976  (meeting 
of 16 December  1976), 
HAS  UNANIMOUSLY  ADOPTED  THE  FOLLOWING 
OPINION: 
1. The  aim  of the  proposal  in question  is to delete 
the reference  to 'a particular  heading  or subheading' 
in Regulation  (EEC)  No  97/69,  the  reason  being 
that the reference  is too  restrictive. 
The Committee  agrees  with  the  aim  of .the  proposal 
for it is vitally  important  to have  an accurate  basis 
for working  out  and  implementing  the many  different 
types  of EEC  trade  adjustment  measures.  This  is the 
only  way  to ensure  that  such  measures  are  fully 
applicable  to the  products  they  are intended  to cover, 
and these  products  alone. 
2. Having  expressed  its agreement  on the  substance, 
the Committee  has  the  following  comments  to make: 
The proposal  implicitly  recognizes  that  the  CCT 
nomenclature  is inadequate  from  the  point  of view 
of the  Community's  tariff  and  trade  policy.  The  CCT 
headings  and  subheadings  are  considered  to be insuf-
ficiently  precise  and  differentiated  for  the  purposes 
of detailed  measures.  Quota  and  tariff  measures  often 
relate  to specially  created  subdivisions  of  tariff 
headings  or subheadings,  and  these  are  frequently 
difficult  to apply  in practice  (cf.  use  of 'Ex  No'). 
The new  proposal  drops  the  objective  concept  of 
tariff  heading  or subheading,  and  introduces  instead 
the relative  notion  of  'a  favourable  tariff 
arrangement'.  As a result,  the  Commission  has  had to provide  a definition  of this  latter  notion  (Article  1 
(2)). In point  of fact,  this  'definition'  is no more 
than  a list  of the  specific  procedures  in existence 
today.  When  new  measures  are  adopted,  this  list  may 
prove  to be incomplete  or unsuitable. 
However,  the  Committee  considers  that  it is in the 
interests  of industry  and  trade  for  the  scope  of 
specific  measures  — which  by  their  nature  depart 
'from  the Common  Customs  Tariff  — to be precisely 
defined.  The  Committee  notes:  (a) that  each  Member 
State  uses  a nomenclature  of six,  seven  or even  more 
digits  for  its statistics;  (b)  that  at Community  level 
the six-digit  NIMEXE  system  (harmonized  nomen-
clature  for  the  foreign  trade  statistics  of the  EEC 
countries)  should  in  most  cases  be  sufficiently 
detailed  for the needs  of the common  tariff  policy. 
3. Whilst  reaffirming  its support  for  the  proposed 
amendment  the  Committee  expresses  the  hope  that 
measures  departing  from  the general  tariff  system  will 
be systematically  based  on  a rational,  uniform 
nomenclature.  The  backbone  of this  nomenclature 
should  be  formed  by  NIMEXE  even  though  the 
latter  might  need  to be expanded  in some  respects. 
Done  at Brussels,  16 December  1976. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic  and  Social  Committee 
Basil  de FERRANTI