ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(80)712
Vol.1980/0225

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(80)712final
Brussels-10thNovember1980
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BUTTERSHIPS
(ReportfromtheCommissiontotheCouncil)
C0M(80)712final

Report totheCouncil
Subject ;Butterships
Background
1.On22December 1976 theCommission adopted Regulation (EEC)No3186 /76
inorder toputanendwith effect from 15January 1977 toabuses
involving the ,sale atreduced prices onboard certain ships of
agricultural products forwhich export refunds hadbeen granted ,with
aview toreintroducing them into theCommunity free ofimport charges
intravellers' personal baggage .
Some firms continued such practices bysubstituting products from non-
member countries forCommunity products .These firms delivered tothe
ships ,with thesame aim asthat decribed above ,products from non-
member countries which came from free zones orbonded warehouses
situated intheCommunity .Such products are not subject tothe import
charges applicable intheCommunity andwere therefore sold atprices
lower than those ruling ontheCommunity market .
That situation wasextremely detrimental toCommunity products and to
products properly imported from non-member countries .
2.Therefore ,theCommission submitted on -17February 1977 totheCouncil
ν
aproposal for aRegulation oncertain measures toprevent abuses
resulting from thesale ofagricultural "products onboard ship .
According tothis proposal agricultural products could bedelivered ,
only when they were infree circulation within theCommunity ,and
products from non-member countries would thus besubject tonormal
import levies before being delivered onboard ship ..

-2-
3.TheproposalfromtheCommission wasnotacceptable for^theCouncilwho
^finallyadoptedaRegulation (Reg.3023/77)accordingtowhichthe
MemberStateswereauthorizedtograntexemptions fromimportduties
onproductsboughtonboardshipswhichhadnotcalledataportina
non-member country.However,suchexemptions shouldbelimitedtothe
followingquantities :
-onekilogramofbutter
-onekilogramofcheese
-onekilogramofmeat /
-twolitresofwine
-atotaloftwokilogramsofotheragricultural products.
"Thisenteredintoforceon1February~1978 .
4.WhentheCounciladoptedthecompromise,interalia,thefollowingtwo
declarations wereputintotheminute:_•
"Before31December1979theCouncilwillreviewtheprovisions
ofthisRegulationwithparticular referencetotheadvisability
ofsettingafinaltime-limitinthisRegulation."
and
"TheCouncilnotesthattheCommission hastheintentionto
suspendassoonaspossibletheapplication ofitsRegulation
(EEC)No3186/76of22December1976concerning exportrefundsto
productssoldordistributed onboardship."
t
5.TheCommission hassuspendedtheapplication ofRegulation (EEC)No
3186/76until1January1981.Communityproductsdeliveredforsaleor
distribution onboardshipmaythusbenefitfromexportrefunds.
Trends
1.Noofficialstatisticexistsasregardsthequantitiesofproducts
involved.WhenRegulation (EEC)No3023/77wasadopteditwas
estimatedthatthefollowingyearlyquantities wereinvolvedin
Germany:

-3-
14000tbutter
4000tcheese v
2500tmeat ^
400tsugar. %
However,GermanshipownershavefurnishedinformationtotheGerman
authorities indicatingthatthesalein1977shouldbeofthe
followinglevel:
8160tbutter
2825tcheese -
1650tmeat.
2.AccordingtodatagivenbytheMemberStatesthequantitiesdelivered
tobutter-ships during1978and1979areestimatedtobeofthe
followingsize: .\
ProductGERMANY BELGIUM NETHERLANDS IRELAND 'TOTAL
1978197919781979197819791978197919781979
(t)(t)(t)(t)(t)(t)(t)(t)(t)(t)I
Butter 62605985151244 110im 64116339
Cheese 19901645 12 19901657
Meat 7081090 *)
I347081124
*)InBelgium5500piecesofArdenner hamhavebeendelivered.
ThedatashownforGermanyindicatethesaleonboardthe-shipsand
thedeliveries 'fromDenmarkaretherefore
assumedtobeincorporated'intheGermandata.. ,
NoproductsaredeliveredinItalyorfromLuxembourg,andtheUnited
Kingdomhasnodataavailable.Francehassubmittedno.
information.^AsfarastheCommission knows,thatMemberStatedoesnot""
*applytheregulation. /
' . .:_ '1,
3.Fromthedatareferredtounder2itcanbeseenthatsaleonboard j
shiphasgoneback,butmoreMemberStatesareapplyingthepossibility
tograntexemptionfromimportduties.

-4-
Thedeclineinpercentages inrelationship tethe1977figureisshownbelow:
ι
TableAisbasedontheestimateusedwhenadoptingRegulation (EEC)
No3023/77,cfr.paragraph 1.
TableBisbasedontheinformation fromtheshipowners .
TABLEA TABLEB
1978 19791978 1979
Butter 54 5521 22
Cheese 5059I
I30 41
Neat 72 5557 I32
4.Itisestimatedthatdeliveriesduring1980willcorrespondtothosein1979.
Conclusion
Thedatashowthatthetrafficconcerned hasdeclinedandthattheCommunity
measureshaveledintherightdirection.Thedatashow,however,also
thatsuchtraffichasstabilized andthatthepresentmeasuresarenot
isufficientinordertobringittoanend.^ .