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DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(73)761
Vol.1973/0147

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COMMISSION OPTHEEUROPEANCOMMUNITIES
COM(73)761final
Brussels .16May1973
PROPOSALFORA
COUNCILREGULATION(EEC)
temporarily suspending "theautonomousdutiesinthe
CommonCustomsTariffonanumberofagricultural
duties.
(submittedtotheCouncil "bytheCommission)
COM(73)761final

EXPLMT.ft.TORY MEMORANDUM
1.Atitsmeetingon8February,26/27Marchand4April1973theJoint
GroupofgovernmentexpertswhichmeetsundertheaegisoftheCommission
tostudyeconomicproblemsrelatingtotheCommonCustomsTariffexamined ?.
-theadvisability ofextending,forcertainagricultural products,the
suspensionsofdutieswhichareduetoexpireon15or30June1973
-newapplications submittedbycertainMemberStatesforthesuspension
ofcommoncustomsdutiesonagricultural productsfrom16Juneto
1September1973.
2.Theapplications submittedconcernedproductsinrespectofwhichthe
MenberStatesconcernedconsideredthataprovisional reductionof
autonomousdutiesintheCommonCustomsTariffwasjustifiedforeconomic
reasons,owingtothenon-existence orinadequacyofproductioninthe
Communityandthelackofanypossibility ofsubstitution forother
productsalreadymanufactured withintheCommunity.
Theabove-mentioned groupfavouredunanimously thetotalorpartial
suspensionofcommoncustomsdutiesontheproductswhicharethesubject
oftheproposalforaRegulationannexedhereto.
3.TheCommissionproposesasuspensionofdutiesontheproductsin
questionchieflyforthefollowingreasons:
(a)Fishejryjjr^ucts(exceptoystersandfilletsoffishinbread-crumbs )
TheCommunity'sprocessingindustryforfisheryproductsisnotadequately
suppliedbyCommunityfishermen.'Communitycatchesarebecomingincreasingly
smaller,sothatsomeMemberStateshavebecomedependentonlarge
quantitiesofimportsfromthirdcountries.Nevertheless ,theduties
applicabletotheseproducts(basicmaterialsforpreservationinparticular)
reducethecompetitiveness oftheindustriesconcerned.

_2-
Suspension ofduties areintended toenable theprocessing industry to
compete with suppliers offinished products from third countries whose
prices aremore competitive .Inaddition ,suspensions ofduties oould
check theconstant increase intheprices ofprocessed fish .
Thefollowing table ,based ontheavailable statistical data ,could
serve toillustrate the economio situation inthis sector inthe -
Member States submitting applications forsuspensions ofduties .
1211
Federal Republic ofGermany
Description of
,products
Sprats ,
brinesalted orinNeeds •Supplies Imports
(inmetrio (inmetric from the from the from
tons ) tons ) :Sixorig-newMember third
inal ESC States (incount-
States metric tons )ries
(inmetric (inmet-
tons ) rictons )
Mackerel ,fresh ,
chilled orfrozen 7
Salmon ,fresh ,ohilled (
orfrozen , M
Salted Salmon (
Piked dog-fish ,fresh ,
chilled orfrozen 3
Black halibut ,fresh ,
chilled orfrozen 5
Coalfish ,salted or
inbrine 22
Sturgeons ,fresh ,
chilled orfrozen
Pilchards
(gardinops sagax Ocellata ),
fresh ,chilled orfrozen.855
.448
.506
709.8
.967
100
500
200617
98
330
55315241-570
5 •371
60
12.788886
0.6 1-320
101344144
919
55
2,230
3836.2
45
100
500
200

-3-
Descriptionjlleeds(in|Suppliesofproductsmetrictons)|(in
pétrie
[tons)
Anchovies,
saltedor
inbrine
Soluble
productsof
fish|Importa.f
|fromthe-|fromthird
jsixoriginal[fromthefcoitntries
iSECStatesknewMemberj(inmetric
|(inmetric
}tons)States
(inmetric
tons)tons)
r P avuiioj3
[-F^––
574- 37- 537
29407150069025.5001,717
–I–-■Γ- ΓΓΙ*-Π1-πητιIII–Β!ίIτΤίΙιΜίΙ I|Ι·Iιι|_ρ–ι·_ι·,Τα.1).-1.υ-4_.I
France
~l
Anchoviesρ–1
!saltedor
mbrine a7356400 72 2263
J L J(jL ι
i■1 iii.i..r–- ■
Bénélux
■--
Crabs 11.552 j126 1426
Shrimps 3-555 1944 1612
Asthissituationisnotexpectedtochangeinthenearfuture,
dutiesmustbesuspendedforoneyear,i.e.from1July1973to
30June1974*
AsmackerelareexemptfromtheCommonCustomsTarifffrom
15Februaryto15June,itisproposedthatthedutyonthese
fishbesuspendedfortheperiod16Jurie1973to14February
I974- '
Inthecaseofsardines(ClupeapilchardusWalbaum),suspension
ofdutyhasbeenrequestedonseasonalgroundsfortheperiod
1September1973to31March1974*

-4-
Inthecase ofmost fishery products thecurrent suspension ofduties i
which isduetoexpire on30June1973isto "beprolonged .Inthecase j
ofsprats ,salted orintrine ,andpilchards (Clupea pilchardus j
I
Walbaum )anewtariff measure isto "beintroduced .
.' i
b)Oysterg weighing nomore than 12geach ;oysters ofthe"Cassostrea ' :
gigas "variety weighing more than 100geach - • j
Asaresult firstly offrosts andsecondly ofpollution which is
spreading ceaselessly ,along thoAtlantic coast inparticular ,avery
high mortality rate hasbeen recorded intheoyster farms .Forthis
reason itisimpossible atpresent toobtain mother oysters andspat
with' asufficiently high resistance dndafast rate ofgrowth onthe I
Community market jthese products must therefore "beimported from third
countries ,inparticular Japan .
Notonly must oyster farms bereconstituted butthey must also continue !
togrow ,inview oftheconstantly increasing demand foradult oysters .
Inorder tomeet herneeds "in1971 ,Prance imported 364metric tons of . |
oyster spat from theCommunity andhadtoimport 7^5metric tons from !
third countries (Portugal andJapan ). •During thesame period she
imported JOmetric tons ofmother oysters from .third countries (Canada ). .
Inview ofthesituation itwould seem necessary toprolong thecurrent
total suspension ofduties until 30June 1974 . .
c)Fillets offish ,raw ,simply coated inbatter orbreadcrumbs ,orfrozen
Asaresult ofthese products being removed from subheading ex03»01 BIXa)an
placed under subheadings ex16.04 CandGoftheCommon Customs Tariff ,*
thecustoms duty wasraised from 15$to20^(Opinion ofthenomenclature
Committee oftheCouncil onCustoms Cooperation during their 27th
meeting ,doc .18.030 ,Annex c/10.)Inorder tomaintain theformer
115/oduty level ,thecurrent suspension ofduties attheabove-mentioned

-5-
levelmustbeprolongeduntil31December1973.Withthesameaim
inview,provisionhasbeenmadeforothertariffmeasurestobe
broughtintoforcelater.
d)Cantarelles,bilberriesandrosg-hir >s •'
TheneedsoftheCommunityprocessingindustryfortheseproductsmustbe
coveredbyimportsfromthirdcountries.Forexample,thestatistical
data(1971»inmetrictons)for.theFederalRepublicofGermanyareas
follows(notavailableforrose-hips):
Description Needs .Imports(inmetrictons)
ofproducts (inmetric •fromthesixfromthefrom
tons)originalEECnewthird
States Member countries
States
20 ·1,237
363 3171
Customsprotectiondoesnotseem'necessary ,foreconomioreasonsbecause
thehighwagesforpickingtheproductsmakedomesticproductionimpossible.
Suspensionofdutieswillenable -theCommunity'sprocessingindustryto
compete ,withoffersoffinishedproductsfromthirdcountriesxvhoseprices
aremorefavourable.;Itwouldthereforeseenrsufficienttoprolongthe
currentsuspensionofduties(cantarelles :4bilberries:4/»ard
rose-hips:0fo)until30June1974»
e)Dates
FrenchpackersarefindingitdifficulttoobtainsuppliesfromAlgeria
whichtendstoreserveitsproductsforlocalpackers.Theseproducts
mustthereforebeimportedfromthirdcountrieswhence,forexample,
14,505metrictonswereimportedin1971*Cantarelles 1257
Bilberries 3534

-6-
Asaresult of "these supplies thepacking industry hasbeen
able tosurvive andensure asatisfactory level of
employment with jobs forapproximately 3,000 workers ina
region –theSouth –where employment opportunities are
very limited .Asthesituation isnotchanging ,theCommission
considers itnecessary toprolong until 30June 1974 the
total suspension ofduties .
(f)Saffron
This produce isnotproduced within theCommunity ,butthere
isnevertheless aprocessing industry ,particularly inFrance ,
which needs 6metric tons ayear .Given that during the
past fewyears theprice ofimported saffron hasrisen
considerably ,there isadanger ofanincreasingly more
marked disaffection forsaffron becoming noticeable and
consequently theactivity of^heprooessing industry ,ceasing .
Itwould therefore seem desirable toprolong until 30June 1974
thesuspension ofduty atthepresent level of10$forthis
product .
(g)Ground paprika
This product ismixed with feeding stuffs forlaying hens
and isnotasubstitute foranyother agricultural product
used forthesame purpose .Community needs with regard to
this product must becovered entirely byimports from third
countries .Forexample ,theFederal Republic ofGermany
hadtoimport 1,630 metric tons ofpaprika from third
countries in1971 *
Intheinterests ofthecompetitiveness oftheCommunity 's
production ofanimal feeding stuffs ,thecurrent total
suspension ofduties must beprolonged until 30June 1974 *
(h)Bitter orSeville oranges
ThoCcanunity*s processing industry hasanurgent need forthis basic
product ,theproduction ofwhich isfairly limited .Italy isunable

-7-
tosupply -this industry sufficiently sothat thelatter
isdependant onimports from Spain .Porexamples
theneeds oftheindustry inquestion intheBenelux countries
in1971 }703metric tons ,could "becovered onlypartially
bysupplies from theCommunity (288metric tons).This industry
hadtoimport 415metric tons from third countries ,hence the
proposal toprolong until 30June 1974 thesuspension of
duties -atthepresent level of4$.
(4)Thegroup alsoexamined thepossibility ofsuspending
common customs duties onthefoilowing products
Heading No
03.01 BIh )1
03-01 BIi)1
03.01 BIk)1
03«01 BIIa)and b)
1,2and 3
ex15.07 DIa)3-Description ofGoods
Cod ,fresh orchilled
Coalfish ,fresh orchilled
Haddock ,fresh orchilled
Fillets offish ,fresh ,
chilled orfrozen
Coconut oil ,crude ,intended
fortechnical purposes other
than for the manufacture of
foodstuffs .
Unanimity within thegroup could notbereached onthis
point .TheCommission ,foritspart ,isnot infavour o.f
proposing asuspension ofduties onthese products atpresent
forthefollowing reasons .
(a)Cod ,coalfish ,haddock ,fresh orchilled ,fillets offish .
fresh ,chilled orfrozen
Therequest forthesuspension ofcommon customs duties wasmade
byanewMember State ,Denmark .Asfarasimports ofthese
products into this Member State areconcerned ,total suspension
ofcommon customs duties vis-a-vis third countries shall

-7a-
continue until 31December 1973 *Consequently theproblem
isnot ofimmediate interest toDenmark .
With regard totheimport ofthes6 fish into other Member
States ,suspension ofthecommon customs duty would benefit
oneoftheprincipal supplier third countries (Iceland )with
which some Member States have strained relations inthe
fishing sector .

-8-
(b)With regard totherequest forthesuspension ofduties
oncoconut oil ,itwasagreed with theexperts ofthe
Member States that thematter should "beexamined bythe
"Oils and Fats' "Management Committee ,while itwill still
bepossible todiscuss this matter within themore general
context oftheimprovement ofgeneralised tariff preferance3
infavour ofdeveloping countries .

Proposalfora
CCUHCILREGULATION (EEC)
"temporarilysuspendingtheautonomousdutiesintheCommonCustoms
Tariffonanumberofagricultural products
THEOOUiTCILOPTHEEUROPEANCOMMUNITIES ,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishing theEuropeanEconomicCommunity,
andinparticularArticle43thereof;
HavingregardtotheproposalfromtheCommission;
HavingregardtotheOpinionoftheEuropeanParliament ;
WhereasproductionintheCommunityoftheproductsspecifiedinthis
Regulationiscurrentlyinadequateornon-existent andwhereasproducers
thuscannotmeettheneedsofuserindustriesintheCommunity;
WhereasitisintheinterestoftheCommunityincertaincasespartially
tosuspendtheautonomousdutiesintheCommonCustomsTariffbecause
thesegoodsareproducedintheCommunity,andinothercasestoeffect
totalsuspension ;
Whereasinviewofthedifficultyofassessingaccuratelyshort-term
trendsintheeconomicsituationintherelevantsectors,suspension
measuresshouldbetakenonlyfortemporaryperiodsthelengthofwhich
istobedeterminedbyreferencetotheinterestsofCommunityproduction ;
HASADOPTEDTHISREGULATION :
Article 1
TheautonomousdutiesintheCommonCustomsTarifffortheproducts
listedinthetablesannexedtothisRegulationshallbesuspendedat
thelevelindicatedinrespectofeachofthem.

Thosesuspensionsshallbevalid:
-from16June1973to14February1974fortheproduotslistedin
TableIj
-from1Julyto31December1973fortheproductslistedin
TableIIj
-from1July1973to30June1974fortheproductslistedinTableIII
-from1September1973to31March1974fortheproductslistedin
TableIV.
Article2
ThisRegulationshallenterintoforceonthethirddayfollowingits
publicationintheOfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities .
ThisRegulationshallbebindinginitsentiretyanddirectly
applicableinallMemberStates.
DoneatBrussels FortheCouncil
ThePresident

j)imE2C
TableI
.CCT
headingNoDescription ofgoods Rateofduty
(autonomous)
ex03.01BIm)2Mackerel,fresh,chilledorfrozen,
whole,headless,orinpieces,
intendedfortheprocessingindustry'57°
TableII
I
CCT
headingNoDescriptionofgoods Rateofduty
(autonomous)
ex16.04CFilletsofherrings,raw,simplycoated
inbatterorbread-crumbs ,frozen m
ex16,04GFilletsofotherfish,raw,simplycoated
inbatterorbread-crumbs ,frozen 15%
TableIII
CCT
headingNoDescription ofgoods Rateofduty
(autonomous)
ex03.01Alb)
ex03.01Ble)
ex03.01Big)
ex03.01BIq)
(a)Thissuspensionshallbesubjecttosuchconditionsasmaybe
determinedbythecompetentauthorities.Salmon,fresh,chilledorfrozen
Pikeddog-fish(Squalusacanthias),
fresh,chilledorfrozen
Blackhalibut(Kippoglossusrein-
hardtius)
Sardinopssagaxocellata(known
as"pilchards"),fresh,chilledor
frozen,intendedforpreservation
(a)totalsuspension
totalsuspension
totalsuspension
M

-2-
MEEX.
ex03.01BIq)Sttirgeons,fresh,chilledorfrozen,
intendedfor"theprocessingindustry
(a)
ex03«02Aie)Anchovies(Engraulissp.p.),salted
orinbrine,inbarrelsorother
containersofanetcapacityof10kg
ormoreSfa
totalsuspension
ex03*02Aie)
ex03.02AIf)
ex03.02AIf)
m""-r .
ex03.03Bib)
ex03.03Bib)
ex07.01QII
ex08.01.ASalmon,saltedorinbrine,whole,
headlessorinpieces
Sprats,saltedorinbrine tc
Coalfish(gadusvirens),saltedorinbrine,
.inimmediatepackingsofanet
capacityof:
a)47kg"to57kgandcontaining
atmost50fishhalves
b)morethan57kgandcontaining
atmost60fishhalvestotalsuspension
totalsusoension
ex08.02AIIa)
andb)
B3.08C
ex08.09
ex09.0ABI
ex09.10CI
ex16.05AQystersweighingnomorethan
12geach
Qystersofthe"crassostreagigas"
varietyweighingmorethan100g
each
Canterelles ,
Dates,inimmediatepackingsof
anetcapacitynotexceeding35kg,
forrepacking,undercustomsor
equivalentadministrative control,
forretailsale
BitterorSevilleoranges
Bilberries
Rose-hips,fresh
Paprika,ground,forusein
animalfeeding(a)
Saffron,neithercrushednorground
Crabsofthe"King","Binasaki",
"Kegani"and"Queen"varieties,
simplyboiledinwaterandshelled,
whetherornotfrozen,inpackings
ofanetcapacityof2kgormore
forthecanningindustiy(a)totalsuspension
totalsuspension
4!°
totalsuspension
8,o
Ai
totalsuspension
totalsuspension
1QSfo
totalsuspension
(a)Thissuspensionshallbesubjecttosuchconditionsasmaybe
determined bythecompetentauthorities.

AMEX
ex16,05BShrimpsotherthanthoseofthe
Crangonvariety,boiledinvrater
andshelled,whetherornotfrozen, 10$
intendedfortheindustrial manu­
factureofproductsfallingwithin
HeadingKb16.05(a)
23.07A So–called"soluble"productsoffishormarinemammals 2^
TableIV2%
CCT Description ofgoods Rateofduty.
headingNo ■ (autonomous)
ex03.01BId)Sardines "(Clupeapilchardus
Walbaum),fresh,chilledor
frozen,whole,headlessorintotalsuspension
pieces,ofalengthof20cm
ormore
(a)Thissuspensionshallbesubjacttosuchconditionsasmaybe
determinedbythecompetentauthorities.