COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 20.11.1997 
COM(97) 608 final 
Proposal for a 
COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) 
temporarily suspending some or all of the autonomous Common Customs Tariff 
duties on certain fishery products (1998) 
(presented by the Commission) 

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 
1. During the third quarter of this year, the Commission, assisted by the Economic Tariff 
Problems Group, has reviewed all the requests for temporary suspension of autonomous 
Common Customs Tariff duties presented to it by the Member States, including requests 
for extending suspensions at present in force. 
2. The attached proposal concerns a number of fishery products. 
For industrial and agricultural products, the proposal for a Regulation temporarily 
suspending the autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties is also being prepared. 
3. The requests for suspension relating to the above products were examined in the light of 
the criteria set out in the communication from the Commission to the Council and the 
Member States concerning autonomous tariff suspensions (see OJ C 235, 13.9.1989, p. 2). 
Following this review, the Commission considers that the suspension of duties is justified 
for the products listed in the Annex to the attached proposal for a Regulation. 
4. As can be seen from Article 1 of the above-mentioned proposal for a Regulation, the 
period of validity of the proposed measure is 12 months. 
d. 
Proposal for a 
COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No /97 
of 1997 
temporarily suspending some or all of the autonomous Common Customs Tariff 
duties on certain fishery products (1998) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 28 
thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Whereas the Community relies at present on imports from third countries for supplies of 
certain fishery products; whereas it is in the interest of the Community to suspend partially or 
totally the customs duties for these products; whereas, in order to avoid endangering the 
prospects for developing the production of competitive products in the Community while 
ensuring that the industries concerned receive the necessary supplies, it is advisable to adopt 
these suspension measures only from 1 January to 31 December 1998, 
Whereas it is for the Community to decide to suspend these autonomous duties, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
1. From 1 January to 31 December 1998 the autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on 
the products listed in the Annex are hereby suspended at the level indicated for each product. 
2. Imports of these products shall qualify for the suspension referred to in paragraph 1 only 
provided that the free-at-frontier price laid down by the Member States, in accordance with 
Article 22 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3759/92 of 17 December 1992 on the common 
organisation of the market in fishery and aquaculture products, 1 is not lower than the reference 
price fixed or to be fixed by the Community for the products or categories of products in 
question. 
Article 2 
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1998. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 
Done at , 1997 
For the Council 
The President 
OJ No L 388, 31.12.1992, p. 1, as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1891/93 of 12.7.1993 
(OJNoL 172, 15.7.1993, p. 1). 
ANNEX 
CN code & TARIC Description 
0001 0302 65 20 
0303 75 20 
ex0304 10 98 60 
ex0304 90 97 31 Dogfish of the species Squalus acanthias, fresh, chilled or frozen Rate of 
autonomous 
duty (%) 
0002 ex0302 69 99 30 Sturgeons, fresh, chilled or frozen, for processing (a) (b) 
ex0303 79 96 30 
0003 ex0302 69 99 40 Lump fish {Cyclopterus lumpus) with roe, fresh or chilled, for 
processing (a) 
0004 ex0302 69 99 50 
ex0303 79 96 40 Red Snapper {Lutjanus purpureus), fresh, chilled or frozen, for 
processing (a) (c) 
0005 ex0302 70 00 11 
ex0302 70 00 31 
ex0302 70 00 41 
ex0302 70 00 91 
ex0303 80 90 10 
ex0303 80 90 19 Hard fish roes, fresh, chilled or frozen 
0006 ex0303 10 00 10 Pacific salmon {Oncorhynchus spp.), frozen and headiest, for the 
processing industry for manufacture into pastes or spreads (a) 
0008 ex0304 20 85 10 
ex0304 90 61 10 Fillets and meat of Alaska pollack [Theragra chalcogramma), in the 
form of industrial blocks, frozen, for processing (a) (b) 8.5 
0009 ex0305 20 00 11 
ex0305 20 00 19 Hard fish roes, salted or in brine 
0010 ex0306 19 90 10 
(;x0306 2 9 90 10 Krill for processing (a) 
0022 exl604 11 00 20 
exl604 20 10 20 Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), for the processing industry for 
manufacture into pastes or spreads (a) 
0023 exl604 30 90 10 Hard fish roes, washed, cleaned of adherent organs and simply salted 
or in brine, for processing (a) 
0024 exl605 10 00 11 
exl605 10 00 19 Crabs of the species 'King' (Paralithodes camchaticus), 'Hanasaki' 
{Paralithodes brevipes), 'Kegani' (Erimacrus isenbecki) , "Queen' and 
'Snow' (Chionoecetes spp.), 'Red' (Geryon quinquedens), 'Rough 
stone' (Neolithodes asperrimus), Lithodes antarctica, 'Mud' (Scylla 
serrata), 'Blue' [Portunus spp.), simply boiled in water and 
shelled, whether or not frozen, in immediate packings of a net 
content of 2 kg or more 
0025 exl605 10 00 92 
exl605 10 00 94 Crabs of the species Paralomis granulosa 
<f 
(a) Control of the use for this special purpose shall be carried out 
pursuant to the relevant Community provisions. 
(b) The suspension shall apply to fish intended to undergo any operation 
unless they are intended to undergo exclusively one or more of the 
following operations: 
- cleaning, gutting, tailing, heading, 
- cutting (excluding filleting or cutting of frozen blocks), 
- sampling, sorting, 
- labelling, 
- packing, 
- chilling, 
- freezing, 
- deep freezing, 
- thawing, separation. 
The suspension is not allowed for products intended, in addition, to 
undergo treatment (or operations) qualifying for suspension where such 
treatment (or operations) is (are) carried out at retail or catering 
level. The suspension of customs duties shall apply only to fish 
intended for human consumption. 
(c) However, the suspension is not allowed where processing is carried out 
by retail or catering undertakings. 
r 
FINANCIAL STATEMENT 
1. Budget heading involved: Chapter 12 Article 120 
2. Title of operation: Proposal for a Council Regulation temporarily suspending all or some 
of the autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on certain fishery products (1998). 
3. Legal basis: Article 28 of the EC Treaty. 
4. Objective: Suspension of the CCT duties for the above products. 
5. Measures aimed at prevention and protection: Checks on the end-use of some of the 
products covered by this Council Regulation will be carried out in accordance with 
Articles 291 to 304 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 laying down provisions 
for the implementation of the Community Customs Code. 
6. Cost: 
By contrast with the previous year (for which the cost of the entire operation was 
estimated at ECU 38 565 000 ), it is now proposed that: 
- one product be removed from the list of suspensions, i.e. "fillets and meat of hake" 
(CN headings 0304 20 55 10, 0304 20 58 10 and 0304 90 47 30) because the normal rate 
of duty will be some 9% from 1 January 1998 whereas, so far, the suspended rate has been 
10%; and 
- a suspension on "Paralomis granulosa crabs" be added. 
The result of the current estimate of revenue foregone, which takes into account the most 
recent known EUROSTAT statistics (1995), is a gain of ECU 1 100 000 in respect of the 
product deleted from the list, and a loss of ECU 33 000 in respect of the added product, 
i.e. an overall decrease of ECU 1 067 000 in the amount of duty not collected. 
Estimated cost of this operation (1 January 1998-31 December 1998) 
The amount of duty foregone as a result of the proposed measure may therefore be 
estimated at ECU 37 498 000, which is down ECU 1 067 000 from the recorded ECU 38 
565 000 foregone in respect of the previous measure (1 January 1997 to 31 December 
1997). 
& 
ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(97) 608 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 03 02 
Catalogue number : CB-C0-97-626-EN-C 
ISBN 92-78-27682-0 
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 
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