ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(73)621
Vol.1973/0124

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEANCOMMUNITIES
COM(73)621final
Luxembourg18April1973»
PROPOSAL FORA
Regulationof"theCouncil
subjectingtoauthoritization theimportationinto
Italyoftaperecordersfromthirdcountries
(submittedtotheCouncilbytheCommission)
COM(73)621final

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
1.Overthepastfewyearsimportsoftapereoorders(OCTheadingNo
92.11AIII)fromthirdcountriesandinparticularfromJapanhaveincreased
atanespeciallyfastrate.AsregardsItalyinparticular(cftablein
Annexi)theseimportshaveincreasedfrom99000in1969to478000units
in1972whichrepresentsanaverageannualincreaseof69f°»Duringthesame
periodimportsintothisMemberStatefromJapanhaverisenfrom90000units
to429000units(averageannualincrease:68%).Duringthelastyears,this
largeincreaseinimportswasaccompaniedbyareductioninItalianproduc­
tionfrom38O000unitsin1969toapproximately 136000unitsin1972.The•
importantincreaseinimportscomingalmostexclusively fromtheParEastto
supplytheItalianmarketisevidencedbytheincreasingproportionofthese
importsintheItaliandomesticmarket(imports+production-exports)
-in196913%ofthetaperecorderspurchasedinItalywereimported
fromthirdcountries(l6fowerefromJapan);
-in1972thispercentagerosetoapproximately 54i°(48%werefrom
Japan)•
•TheItalianauthorities havealsoindicatedthatimportsfromthemain
supplier(Japan)werebeingobtainedatpricesconsiderablylowerthanthose
forsimilarproductsmadeinItalyorimportedfromothercountries,in
particularfromotherMemberStates.In1971theaverageunit-pricefor
portableJapanesetaperecorderswasLit.5990,whereasforsimilarproducts
fromadifferentorigin(theNetherlandsandtheFederalRepublic6fGermany
inparticular),theaverageunit-pricewasLit.18000.In1972:theJapanese
unit-pricefelltoLit.4918,whereasthepriceforCommunityproducts
wasLit,16000.Thesituationasregardsnon–portabletaperecordersisthe
same.
./•

2. This trend hascaused substantial injury toItalian producers oftape
recorders .Inorder toremedy this injury theItalian Government hashad
several months ofdiscussion with Japan ,themain supplier ,which in1972 ,
accounted foralmost alltheimports from third countries .Thepurpose
ofthediscussions wastoexamine ways ofalleviating theproblems inthe
Italian market ,butnosatisfactory solution wasreached .Inview ofthe
persistent increase inimports andoftheaccompanying continued fall in
Italian production ,which poses serious social andregional problems for
several medium -size firms ,theItalian Government asked theCommission by
telex on9March 1973 »tosummon urgently theAdvisory Committees setup
under Article 5°fRegulation 1025/70andofRegulation 109/70.Following
upon this request aconsultation meeting washeld on23March 1973 .At
that meeting allthedelegations agreed that substantial injury wasbeing
caused toItalian producers ,duetotheincrease intheimports under
consideration andtotheconditions under which they were being imported
into the Italian market .
Themeeting also made itpossible toexamine thecorresponding situation
intheother Member States .Total imports (especially from Japan :oftable
inAnnex II)accounted foravery high share ofthedomestic market in
several Member States .These Member States (among them theFederal Republic
ofGermany andtheUnited Kingdom where Japanese tape recorders account for
over 50%ofthemarket )have contended that noinjury wasbeing suffered ,
andcontrasted thesuperior technical andfinancial conditions under which
their producers operate with those ofItalian producers .Under GATT as
under Community rules ,theexistence orthethreat ofserious injury
isaprerequisite totheadoption ofsafeguard measures .

3. Inthecircumstances described above theCommission considered it
advisable andnecessary ,asaprecautionary measure ,totake theurgent
step ofsubjecting theimportation into Italy oftape recorders tothe
production ofanimport authorization pursuant toArticle 10(l)(b )of
Regulation IO25/7OandArticle 7(3)ofRegulation IO9/7O,(Regulation
(EEC)No1060/73oftheCommission of18,4.1973 ).Theabsence ,atthepresent
time ofserbus injury to producers inother parts ofthe .^
Community means that there arenogrounds forextending the same ,
measures "tothewhole Community .
4« Inaccordance with Article 5(6)ofRegulation 1025/70andArticle
7(6)ofRegulation IO9/7O,theCommission shall ,within' tendays ofthe
entry into force oftheurgent measure referred toabove ,submit tothe
Council aproposal ontheappropriate measures which require tobe .taken .
Theproposal foraRegulation atAnnex III istherefore submitted tothe
Council inaccordance with those provisions .
5. Inview ofthefactors andofthereasons given above ,theproposed
measures donotdiffer from those oftheRegulation already adopted
provisionally bytheCommission . ' '
Those measures ,which apply only toItaly ,provide that imports into
that Member State shall berestricted toanamount which would limit the
injury nowsuffered andeliminate thethreat offurther injury .Itis
therefore proposed to :establish aquota of156000units forsixmonths j
from 1April totheendofSeptember 1973 ;this period will allow the
Commission tocontinue itsdetailed examination ofthesituation ,and ,if
necessary ,recommend that further measures betaken .
•/

-4-
Asregards thegeographical field ofapplication oftheproposed
measures ,itwould notappear advisable toapply theRegulation to
onemain supplier ,although theimports from thecountry concerned amount
toapproximately 90i0ofthetotal number ofimports from third countries
into Italy .Inview ofArticle XIX ofGATT itisindeed advisable to
adopt anon-discriminatory formula which would also include thecountries
listed inRegulation 109/70some ofwhich aremembers ofGATT .Inview ofthe
nondiscriminatory nature oftheproposed measures itisalso advi­
sable totake into consideration Article XXIV oftheGeneral Agreement as
regards free-trade areas andcustoms unions .
6. TheCommission reserves theright topropose ,ifnecessary ,the
amendment oftheproposed measures ,ortheir repeal when the
serious injury hasbeen eliminated ,asaresult ,possibly ,ofan
understanding with thethird countries concerned ;ortheextension of
measures toother parts oftheCommunity ,ortothewhole Community if
future trends intheimports inquestion should threaten tocause serious
injury toother countries intheCommon Market ,oriftheproposed
measure proved tobe inadequate toprotect theItalian industry .
7. Itistherefore proposed totheCouncil ,within thetime-limits
prescribed inArticle 10ofRegulation 1025/70»andArticle 7ofRegulation
IO9/7O,that itshould adorjt theproposal foraRegulation inAnnex III
hereto .
•/.

Statisticaldatarelatingtocombined ,
soundrecordersandreproducersinItaly
(CCÏheadingITo92.11AIII)
(inunitsof10C0)
1969 1970Rateof
increase
1969/701971Rateof
increase
1970/711972Rateof
increase
1971/72Averagerate
ofincrease
'1969/72
Totalimports 300 377 26 507 34 616 61(arithmetical
40
Importsfromnon-EEC
countries99 167 69 277 66 47B 73 69
IImportsfromJapan 89 156 73 263 69 429 63' 68
ITotalexports 119 85-29 86 164 !-26-18
Exportstonon-EEC
countries19 8-56.7--13 8 14-18-
!Production3o0 345 -9 305 -12 136'I-55-25
Shareoftotal
importsinthe
domesticmarket18 26 38 54
Shareofimports
fromJapaninthe
clomesticmarket16 24 36 48
Production +Totalimports-Totalexports.

ANNEXEII
ShareofimportsfromJapaninthedomesticmarkets
forcombined ,soundrecordersandreproducers
(CCTheadingNo92.11AIII)
1969197019711972
Germany 29.239.459.270.3
Ireland 41.347.147-246.8
(noproduction)
Denmark 20.529.536.531.3
HaIj 16.024.O'36.048
UnitedKingdom 21.834.647.453.3
France 1.93.36.6(7)
/

Annex III
Draft Regulation (EEC;No1060/73oftheCouncil
subjecting toauthorization theimportation into
Italy oftape recorders from third countries
THECOUNCIL OPTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
Having regard totheTreaty establishing theEuropean Eoonomic Community j
Having regard toCouncil Regulation (EEC)No1025/70 of25May1970 ,
establishing common rules forimports from third countries ,andinparticular
Article 10thereof 5
Having regard toCouncil Regulation (EEC)NO109/70 of19December 1969 j
establishing common rules forimports from state-trading countries and ,in
particular Article !7thereof ;
After consulation with theAdvisory Committees setupunder Article 5°£
Regulation 1025/70andofRegulation IO9/7O5
Having regard totheproposal from theCommission ;
Whereas ,on9March 1973 »theItalian Government informed theCommission ,
tgrtelex ,oftheincreased difficulties intheItalian tape recorder market
caused tytherising imports ofthese products andrequested theCommission
tosummon urgently meetings fortheconsultations required under Regula­
tions IO25/70andIO9/7O;
Whereas ,according totheinformation supplied bytheItalian Government ,
particularly theinformation given attheconsultation meetings ,andto
other information available totheCommission ,imports oftape recorders
-A
(1)OJNoL124 ,8June
(2)OJNoL19,26January 1970

-2-
fromthird,countriestoItalyhaveincreased ,considerably duringthelast
threeyears;whereasthisinformationdiclosesthatimportswhichamounted ,
to99000unitsin1969haveincreased ,to478000unitsin1972which
representsanaverageannualincreaseof69
WhereasduringthesameperiodtheannualItalianproductionofthose
productshasdecreasedfrom380000toapproximately 136000units;and
theshareofimportsfromthirdcountriesintheItaliandomesticmarket
hasincreasedcontinuously ,risingfrom18$in1969toapproximately
541oin19725
VJhereasthoseimports,especiallythoseoriginating fromaparticularsource,
areobtainedatrelativelylowprices,generallyatalevelconsiderably
lowerthanthatprevailing ontheItalianmarket;
Whereasitisclear,fromthefactsgivenabove,thattaperecordersare
beingimportedintoItalyinsuchgreatlyincreasedquantitiesandunder
suchconditionsastocauseseriousinjurytoItalianproducersoflike
products,andthattheinjurythreatenstogetworseandwouldbedifficult
torepair,•unlessimmediateactionweretakeninordertosafeguardthe
interestsoftheCommunity;
Whereas,atthepresenttime,theimportsinquestionarebeingparticularly
detrimentaltoItalybutarenotsofarcausingthesameinjurytoother
regionsoftheCommunity;anditisconsequentlyjustifiabletolimitthe
protectivemeasurestoimportsintoItaly;
Whereasdiscussionswiththemainsuppliercountryforthepurposeof
avoidingadeterioration ofthesituationintheItalianmarkethavenot
changedthetrendofimports;

-3-
Whereas itistherefore necessary asregards theimportation ofthose pro­
ducts into Italy totake interim protective measures consistent with the
relevant international rules jwhereas these measures must limit those imports ,
andwhereas ,given theprovisional andprecautionary nature ofthemeasures ,
theimports should helimited foraperiod notexceeding thetime necessary
toenable consideration ofthefurther measures which mayberequired ;
/
Whereas the serious injury caused isduetothegreatly increased quanti­
ties imported andtotheprice atwhich they areimported ;and itisthere­
fore advisable toadopt provisionally aceiling which would limit theinjury
andeliminate thethreat offurther injury ;
Whereas ,dependent onfuture trends inimports oftape recorders "into the
Community markets (including theItalian market ),thesafeguard measures
under consideration might beamended ;ormight berepealed when theserious
injury hasbeen eliminated ,asaresult ,possibly ,ofanunderstanding with
thethird countries concerned ;ormight beextended toother parts ofthe
Community ,ortothewhole Community iffuture trends intheimports in
question should threaten serious injury toother Community producers be­
sides theItalian producers ;
Whereas ,inview ofthenecessity totake urgent measures ,theCommission has
adopted ,inaccordance with Article 10ofRegulation IO25/7OandArticle ^
ofRegulation IO9/7O,aRegulation introducing asystem ofauthorization -
fortheimportation of .tape recorders from third countries into Italy ;
and ,inaccordance with theprovisions referred toabove ,,itisdesirable
that theappropriate measures should botaken ;
Regulation (EEC)No1060/73ofI8.4.I973

-4-
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
)
Article 1
i
1. Theimportation from third countries into Italy oftheproducts
listed 'below shall "besubject totheproduction ofanimport authorization ,
andshall notexceed ,inrespect oftheperiod 1April 1973 to31December
1973 thenumber ofunits given below i
CCT
heading
92.11 AIII Combined sound recorders and 150000units
reproducers
2. Paragraph (l)shall notapply toproducts ,imported into theCommu­
nity under anagreement establishing orproviding fortheestablishment
ofacustoms union orafree-trade area between theCommunity andoneor
more third countries .
3. Theimport authorizations referred toinparagraph (l)shall beissued
bytheItalian Republic .
Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force onthedayfollowing its
publication intheOfficial Journal oftheEuropean Communities .
This Regulation shall bebinding initsentirety anddirectly
applicable inallMember States .
Done atBrussels , 19 FortheCouncil
The President