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DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(81)303
Vol.1981/0098

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(81 )303 final
Brussels ,12June 1981
DRAFT DECISION OFTHE ACP-EEC CUSTOMS COOPERATION COMMITTEE
derogating from thedefinition oftheconcept oforiginating products "
totake account ofthespecial situation ofFiji with regard toitspro­
duction ofcanned tuna
""?
Ν
;\
PROPOSAL FOR ACOUNCIL REGULATION (EEC )
regarding theapplication ofDecision No.,../ 81ofthe ACP-EEC Customs
Cooperation Committee derogating from thedefinition ofthe concept of
"originating products "totake into account thespecial situation of
Fiji with regard toitsproduction ofcanned tuna fish
(presented bytheCommission totheCouncil )
COM (81)303 final

EXPLANATORY NOTE
Inrecent time Fiji hasalready invested aconsiderable amount ofcapital
inthefishery sector .Thecountry hasacanning industry andinorder
tosupply thecanneries with fish ,particularly skipjack tuna caught mainly
inthe12miles territorial sea ,ithassetupitsownfleet ofvessels .
Next toskipjack tuna (which isnot landed insufficient quantities tomaintain
theeconomic viability ofthecanning industry )there isaneed tousealternative
types offish such asalbacore tuna which arecaught either within azone of
200 miles orelse outside this zone .
Bylettre No.ACP/L.078/81of23January 1981 theACPStates have submitted a
request onbehalf oftheGovernment ofFiji foraderogation from therules of
origin inrespect ofcanned tuna falling under heading 16.04 inProtocol No.1
tothe second ACP-EEC Convention . '
Thecannery inFiji isfaced with ashortage ofsupply ofsufficient quantities
offish foritsprocessing sector which ismainly duetotherelatively short
skipjack fishing season »Asaconsequence ofpoor catch seasons forskipjack
tuna andlack ofsupply ofalternative types offish thecannery waseven
forced into atemporary shutdown ofitsoperations inrecent times causing
part oftheworkforce tobelaid off .
Forthese reasons thecannery iscurrently operating atalevel ofonly 15tons
perdaywhich isfarbelow itspotential processing capacity of45tons perday .
Accordingly while thecompany could provide employment for350persons ifit
were operating atfull capacity thenumber ofemployees isatpresent only
210 .Theonly waytoreach this level ofemployment would betoextend the
canning season which would involve anincrease inthesupply ofalbacore tuna
cothecannery . v

-2~
Ast?Fijian fishir,g fleet isnotatpresent equipped forthespecialized type
oflisn ?ngrequired foralbacore tuna versels ofKorean andTaiwanese origin
have been chartered .Tn<:-se boats donot fulfil thecriteria asregards regis­
tration ,flag ,ownership andcrew inProtocol No.1andtherefore ,thefish
caught bythem andcanntcl afterwards inFiji ,does notacquire originating
status andaccordingly does notqualify forpreference intheCommunity .
Depending ontheoutcome ofthesurvey ontheeconomic feasability ofFiji
undertaking this type offishing ,thegovernment will proceed toacquire its
own long line vessels inthe future .
Inthis context reference should bemade toArticle 155 ofthe second ACP-EEC
Convention which applies toFiji andwhich provides forspecial measures tobe
introduced forisland ACP States inorder toenable them toovercome thespe­
cific difficulties resulting from their geographical location .According to
Article 30ofProtocol No.1theexamination ofthederogation request should
inparticular take into account this geographical situation .
TheFijjan Government has made arequest foraderoaation from therules of
origin for2000 tonnes of canned tuna which will beadded tothe
amount oforiginating tuna atpresent imported .onto theCommunity
market (United Kingdom principally ).
TheCommission hasnoted that Fiji already benefits from apreferential regime
accorded toACPStates fororiginating products -aregime which hasallowed
arapid progression ofexports from 1976 to1979 ofcanned tuna from this
country (c.f .Annex I).Itisnecessary that theCommunity market should
notbetheonly outlet fortheincrease inFijian production .Infact ,Canada
isusually themost important customer where Fiji benefits from preferential
access (1320 tonnes in1978 ,2130 tonnes in1979 ).Furthermore ,Fijian .canned
tuna mayalso benefit from preferential access ingeographically closer
third countries (Australia ,NewZealand ,Japan ).

-3-
Inconsequence ,inorder tofavourize theincrease inFijian production andto
encourage thediversification ofmarkets forFijian products ,theCommission
proposes toaccept aderogation from therules oforigin foraquantity calculated
onthebasis ofthe average over thelast three years (1978 ,1979 ,1980 )
inrespect ofwhich exports ofFijian canned tuna totheCommunity represent
37%oftotal world exports (c.f .Annex II).
TheCommission therefore proposes toaccord aderogation from therules of
origin fortwoyears toFiji fortuna conserves inrespect ofanamount of
750tonnes peryear .
Forreasons ofsimplicity andclarity adraft regulation toapply this decision
after itsadoption bytheEEC-ACP Customs Cooperation Committee intheCommunity
has also been annexed .

X
ΐϋ
i
tCommunity imports ofcanned tuna from Fiji (tonnes )
1976 1977 1978 1979 1980
215 639 788 1820 1024
523 1571 2032 .4533 3201Q (tonnes )
V(,000EUA )
Source :OECT )
t

-5-
1
ANNEX II
Fijian exports ofcanned tuna
V=Value in ,000#US
%=Percentage inrelation tototal value ofexports
Destination ~ 1977 1978 '1979 1980
CEE V 1164 1891 4554 4051
. % 16.7 21.2 44.6 47.0
Canada V 4035 -6541 4949 3785
% 58.0 73.5 . 47.4 '43.9
Australia V 510 296 782 629
% 7.3 3.3 7.5 7.3
USA V 1251 169 74 109
% 20.0 1.9 0.7 1.2
TOTAL V 6959 8896 10440 8616
% 100 100 100 100
Source :Fiji

DRAFT
Decision No/ 81oftheACP-EEC Customs Cooperation Committee derogating
from thedefinition oftheconcept of "originating products "totake account
ofth-special situation ofFiji with regard toitsproduction ofcanned tuna
THE CUSTOMS COOPERATION COMMITTEE ,
Havina regard tothesecond ACP-EEC Convention signed inLome on31October
1)1979 (hereinafter referred toas"theConvention "),
Whereas Article 30ofProtocol No.1totheConvention concerning the
definition oftheconcept of"originating products "andmethods ofadminis­
trative cooperation ,makes provision forderogations tobemade from the
rules oforigin bytheCustoms Cooperation Committee ,inparticular to
facilitate thedevelopment ofexisting industries orthecreation ofnew
industries ;
«
Whereas theAfrican ,Caribbean andPacific States (ACP )have submitted a
request from theGovernment ofFiji foraderogation from thedefinition
setcut inProtocol No.1inrespect ofcanned tuna produced byFiji ;
Whereas Fiji disposes ofafleet ofvessels inorder tosupply itscanning
industry with rawmaterial fortheproduction ofcanned tuna ;
Whereas atpresent this fleet cannot supply sufficient quantities oftuna
fish for thecanneries tomaintain theeconomic viability ofitscanning
operations ;
Whereas Fiji hasmade plans fortheextension ofitsfishing fleet ;whereas
these plans will take several years toimplement before thefleet is
sufficiently large tocatch therequired quantities oforiginating tuna fish
for thecanneries ;
(1)OJNoL347of22.12.1980 ,p.l

Whereas Fiji hasbeen unable toobtain supplies offish originating inother
ACP States ;
Where theFijian canning industry istherefore dependent upon supplies of
tuna fish ofthird country origin ;
Whereas inthese circumstances atemporary derogation from thedefinition of
theconcept oforiginating products should beaccorded ;
HAS DECIDED ASFOLLOWS :
Article 1
Bywayofderogation from thespecial provisions ofList AinAnnex II
toProtocol No.1,canned tuna manufactured inFiji andfalling within
heading NO.ex16.04 oftheCommon Customs Tariff shall beconsidered as
originating inFiji subject tothefollowing conditions .
Article 2
This derogation provided forinArticle 1shall relate to750tonnes perannum
ofcanned tuna falling within heading No.ex16.04 oftheCommon Customs Tariff
andexported from Fiji between 1stJune 1981 and31May 1983 .
Article 3
Theauthorities ofFiji shall take thenecessary steps tocarry outquan­
titative checks onexports oftheproducts referred toir.Article 2and
shall forward totheCommission every three months astatement ofthe
quantities inrespect ofwhich movement certificates EUR.l have been issued '
pursuant tothis Decision .

Article 4
Th-sACPStates ,theMember States andtheCommunity shall bebound ,each
totheextent towhich itisconcerned ,totake themeasures ,necessary
toimplement this Decision . ,
Article 5
»
This Decision shall enter into force on
Itshall apply from 1June 1981 until 31*31ay 1983 .
Done atBrussels , FortheACP-EEC Customs Cooperation
Commit tee
The Chairman

COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC )
regarding theapplication ofDecision No. /81oftheACP-EEC Customs
Cooperation Committee derogating from thedefinition oftheconcept of
"originating products "totake into account thespecial situation of
Fiji with regard toitsproduction ofcanned tuna fish
THECOUNCIL OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
Having regard totheTreaty establishing theEuropean Economic Community ,
andinparticular Article 113thereof .
Having regard totheproposal from theCommission ,
Whereas theACP-EEC Customs Cooperation Committee setupunder thesecond
ACP-EEC Convention ,signed inLomeon31December 1979^,adopted pursuant
toArticle 28(3 )and30(1 )ofProtocol No.ItotheConvention ,Decision
No. /81derogating from the definition oftheconcept of"originating
products "totake into account thespecial situation ofFiji with regard to .
itsproduction ofcanned tuna until' 31May 1983 ;
Whereas itisnecessary inaccordance with Article 33ofthesaid Protocol
No.1totake themeasures required toimplement that Decision ;
f
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
Article 1
Decision No. /81oftheACP-EEC Customs Cooperation Committee annexed to
this Regulation shall apply intheCommunity .
•••/•••
(1)OJNôL347of22.12.1980 ,p.l

I-2-
Article 2
Ihis Regulation shall enter into force onthedayofitspublication in
theOfficial Journal oftheEuropean Communities .
Itshall apply from 1st >June 1981 until 31May 1983 .
This Regulation shall bebinding initsentirety anddirectly applicable in
all Member States .
Done atBrussels . For the Council
The President