ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
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DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(73)611
Vol.1973/0124

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(73)611 final
Brussels ,18April 1973
Recommendation from the Commission
for aDecision ofthe Council
concerning thedevelopment ofa
harmonised commodity description
andcoding system
Draft
Décision
oftheRepresentatives oftheGovernments
ofthe Member States ofthe ECSC
meeting inCouncil
concerning thepreparation ofaharmonised
commodity description andcoding system
(submitted totheCouncil bytheCommission )
COM(73 )611final

Backgrovnd
5\ibject:Negotiations leadingtothedevelopment ofaharmonised
commoditydescription andcodingsystem.
TheCustomsCo-operation Council,whosetasksinclude
thatofrunningtheBrusselsNomenclature ,hassince1970beenstudying
thepossibility ofestablishing aharmonised commoditydescription and
codingsystemwhichiscapableofsatisfyingtheneeds,tothegreatest
possibleextent,ofthevariousparticipants ininternational trade
(e.g.,customsadministrations ,statisticians *transportfirms).Such
asysteimwouldallowsimplification ofinternational tradeprocedures ,
particularlyifelectronictechniques wereused.-
TheStudyGroupsetupforthispurposehasjust
finishedsomepreliminary workculminating intheproductionofa
rerort,inwhichtheexpertsofcertainStatesr(e,g.MemberStatesof
theCommunity,USA,Canada),oftheCommissionandofcertaininter­
nationalorganisations haveallparticipated * ...
AtitssessioninMay19731theCustomsCooperation
Councilwillhavetopronounce .fororagainsttheharmonised commodity
description andcodingsystemafterexaminingthevariouselementsof
thereport.Infact,itmaybeanticipatedthattheirdecisionwill
dependupontheattitudeoftheCommunity.
Threebasicquestionisariseonthissubject:
-whatisthe/benefitof.theharmonised commodity
description andcodingsystem?
*whatwillbetherepercussions atCommunitylevel?
-whatprocedurewillneedtobeadoptedinorderto
guaranteetheCommunity'sparticipation assuchinthedecisionsand
workconcerningtheharmonisedsysteminquestion?

1*Benefitofthesystem
Atthepresentmoment,therJisnouniquecommodity
description syteminexistenceatinternational tradelevel.Afortiori
nogeneralised codingsystemexistseither.
1In.practice -Severalnomenclatures areusedforthe
I
description ofcommodities .Theymaybedivededintotwocategories :
a)thenomenclatures basedontheBrusselsTariff
Nomenclature (B.T.N.).'Thefollowingareexamples:
-theCommonCustomsTariffand"
-theNimexe(Import-exportstatistics),bothofwhich
arebeingappliedintheCommunity.
-theCustomstariffsof115countries(e.g.,Sweden,
Norway,Finland,Austria,Switzerland ,Spain,Morocco,Tunisia,
Israel,Turkey,Iran,JapanandJugoslavia.
Asaresultoftheircommonbase(B.T.N.)itis
possibleforcorrelations betweenthesevariousnomenclatures tobe
established withouttoomanydifficulties .
b)otherhotaensis^ure twhosestructures --are
veryvaried.Thefollowingareexamples:
^-theS»I«T»C»-"(StandardInternational TradeGlasSificati
usedforstatistical purposes
-theN.A.T.O.nomenclature
-thenomenclatures oftransportorganisations :e.g.
I.A.T.A.,Railways,3oadHaulage,andtheFreightTariffoftheAssociation ofVJestIndiaTrans-Atlantic
SteamshipLines
-theclassification established byComecon
-theCustomstariffsofcertaincountries :e.g.
CanadaandU.S.A..
Correlations betweenthesedifferentnomenclatures
couldonlybeestablishedatthecost.ofextremecomplications .

Itistherefore clear that theadoption ofacommon
orharmonised nomenclature Tinthevarious cases mentioned above ,would
result inthesimplification andclassification ofinternational trade
data .Iftheitems ofthis nomenclature were given anumerical code
which wassuitable foruse incomputers ,oneresult would bethe
possibility ofaconsiderable improvement intheinformation which is
indispensable fortheharmonicus development oftrade .
The useofjust such anomenclature ,which isatrue .„_
common language forallthose involved ininternational trade ,not
only offers clear advantages but infact isessential inthe face of
theincreasing volume and thewider diversity ofinternational trade .
II.Repercussions atCommunity level
Inthe field ofinternational trade relations ,the
European Communities use theCommon Customs Tariff (agricultural
products andindustrial products )andtheNimexe (import-export
statistics )*These twonomenclatures sireinter-related :the latter
incorporates the former almost inits entirety ,and invery many cases
develops it.Both are based onthe Brussels Nomenclature .
The Study Group ,inits report ,proposes totheCustoms
Co-operation Council :that thebasic structure tobeused insetting up
.theharmonised system envisaged should betheBrussels Nomenclature .
' Most ofthesubheadings oftheCommon Customs Tariff
and oftheNimexe will ,inter alia ,betaken into consideration for
the development .ofthis basic nomenclature .Nevertheless the Common
Customs Tariff ^ndthe Nimexe will need fundamental modification -when
theharmonised system isadopted andimplemented ..
For this reason ,thebasic numerical code ,which
currently comprises *+digits fortheCommon Customs Tariff ,will
change to6digits .
Moreover thenumber ofheadings orsubheadings ,which
amount toabout 3»600 forthis same Tariff ,will exceed 8,000 ,which is
thetotal envisaged forthe system itself .

-5-
III .Procédure
6. /Ashasbeen said above ,theStudy Group hascompleted
thepreparatory phase ofitswork .TheCustoms Co-operation Council
will give itsview onthebasis ofthereport produced .
TheMember States oftheCommunity ,intheir capacity
ascontracting parties totheCustoms Co-operation Council ,have
participated intheStudy Group intheperson oftheir experts .The
Commission hadbeen invited toparticipate intheGroup 'swork by
the same token ashad acertain number ofinter-Governmental organisa­
tions (e.g. O.E.C.D. ,UNCTAD ,NATO )orofinternational non-Govern -
mental organisations (e.g. I.A.T.A.,International Chamber ofShipping ,
International Union ofRailways ).Officials oftheCommission ,then ,
played anactive part inthepreliminary studies atthe same time asdid
the experts oftheMember States ,with whom acommon front had
previously been established .
Itfollows from the considerations set out above that
thesubject oftheharmonised system istheexclusive responsibility
ofthe Community .
Ineffect ,such asystem directly affects the
Community ,notably inregard totheessential instruments ofits
common commercial policies ,which are thenomenclature oftheCommon
Customs Tariff andtheNimexe (Regulation (EEC)No14^5/72ofthe
Council ,26.6.72 ).
Itisclear therefore that the development ofa
harmonised commodity description andcoding system -inaninternational
context -appertains totheprovisions ofArticles 113and11^ofthe
Treaty .
7. Inthis situation theCommission recommends theCouncil
togive itauthorisation toopen negotiations leading totheabove -
mentioned development :
< -with theassistance either oftheSpecial Committee
ofArticle 113fortheproducts covered bytheEECTreaty ,orofthe
representatives oftheMember States fortheproducts covered bythe
/
1ECSC Treaty
•onthebasis ofdirectives arising from theStudy
Group' sreport ,
*••/.••

Tothis end ,the Commission proposes that the_---- -
Council should adopt the Decision set out inAnnex Iand the
accompanying directives fornegotiation (Annex II);itfurther
proposes that theRepresentatives oftheGovernments oftheMember
States ofthe SCSC meeting inCouncil should adopt the Decision set
out inAnnex III and the accompanying directives fornegotiation
(Annex IV).

ANNEX I
Recommendation from the Commission
for aDecision ofthe Council
concerning thedevelopment ofa
harmonised commodity description
and coding system
The Council ofth-5European Communities ,
Having regard totherecommendation from theCommission ,
Having regard toArticle 113 oftheTreaty establishing theEuropean
Economic Community ,
Whereas under the auspices ofthe Customs Cooperation Council the
development ofaharmonised commodity description andcoding system
isenvisaged forparticular use within thetariff and statistical
fields ;
Whereas such asystem isnot only desirable but ,inthemedium term ,
isindispensable inorder offacilitate international trade ;
Whereas itisinthe interest oftheCommunity toparticipate inthe
development ofaharmonised commodity description andcoding system ,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION :
Sole Article
The Commission isauthorised toopen negotiations
within theCustoms Co-operation Council leading tothedevelopment of
aharmonised commodity description and .coding system inaccordance
with thedirectives setout intheAnnex andsubject tosubsequent
directives .
The Commission shall conduct these negotiations in
consultation with theSpecial Committee provided for inArticle 113
who shall assist them inthis task »
This decision isaddressed tothe Member States .
Done atBrussels ,
Bythe Council
The President

ANNITXII
i''J*'» . '
Directivesfornegotiation
Duringthe..development worktheCommunity6hall
seekthattheharmonisedcommoditydescription andcodingsystemis
established asfollows:
-astructurednomenclature basedessentially ontheBrussels
Nomenclature ,ofwhicheachitemiscapableofdevelopment inorder
tomeeteveryuser'sindividualreeds,
-a6-digitcodedevelopedasar.extensionofthe^~dig:Ltcodeof
the,BrusselsHomanclature ,withauniquecodenumberforeach
3-tem,
-alistofcommoditydescriptions ,
-analphabetical index,-
-explanatorynotes(eventually).
Inthestructurednomenclature andinthedescription
list,theproductsshallbeidentifiedasfaraspossiblebyreference
totheirtechnological characteristics .

Draft
Décision
oftheRepresentatives oftheGovernments
oftheMemberStatesoft-htHCSC
meetinginCouncil
concerningthepreparation ofaharmonised
commoditydescription andcodingsystem
TheRepresentatives oftheGovernments oftheMemberStatesoxthe
EuropeanCoalandSteelCommunitymeetinginCouncil
HASADOPTEDTHISDECISION s
Article1
TheCommission'isauthorisedtoopennegot*.rit2©B3
withintheCustomsCo-operation Councilleadingtothepreparation ,
ofaharmonised commoditydescription andcodingsystem.
Thesenegotiations willbeconductedinaccordancewiththedirective
setoutintheAnnexandsubjecttosubsequentdirectives .
TheCommissionshallconductthesenegotiations in
consultation withtheRepresentatives oftheMemberStateswhothail
assisttheminthistask.
Article2
TheMemberStatesshalltakethenecessarymeasures
fortheexecutionofthepresentdecision.
DoneatBrussels,
ThePresident

ANNEX IV
ι
Directives fornegotiatien
During thedevelopment work theCommunity shall seek
that theharmonised commodity description andcoding system is
established asfollows : .
-astructured nomenclature based essentially ontheBrussels Nomen­
clature .Each item must becapable ofdevelopment inorder tomeet
every user*s individual needs , v
-a6-c.igit code developed asanextension ofthe4-digit code ofthe
Brussels Nomenclature ,with aunique code number foreach item ,
-alist ofcommodity descriptions ,
-analphabetical index ,
-explanatory notes .(eventually ). >
Inthe structured nomenclature and inthe description
list ,theproducts will beidentified asfaraspossible byreference
totheir technological characteristics . "(