ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(81)210
Vol.1981/0077

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(81)210 final
Brussels,29thApril1981
DRAFTCOUNCILREGULATION (EEC)
opening,allocating andprovidingfortheadministration
ofaCommunitytariffquotaforcertaineelsfallingwithin
subheading ex03.01AIIoftheCommonCustomsTariff
(1July1981to30June1982)
(presentedbytheCommissiontotheCouncil)
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COM(81)210final

Explanatory memorandum
Inrecent years ,eelfishing hasbeen prohibited orhasbecome impossible
incertain Community production centres owing topollution ofthewaters .
Efforts have been made toincrease production inother centres inorder to
compensate atleast forthelosses ofthequantities available .Despite
these efforts ,ithas been observed that Community production has
remained insufficient tosupply thedemands oftheMember States' fish
processing industries .
This situation prompted theCouncil -onaproposal from theCommission -
toopen from 1971 aduty-free Community tariff guota forcertain fresh
eels liveordead ,chilled orfrozen ,falling within subheading ex03.01 AII
ofthe Common Customs Tariff . > *
The situation oftheeelmarket was reexamined atameeting ofthe
Working Party onEconomic Tariff Problems held on29January 1981 .
Atthat meeting itemerged that ;thesupply situation hadnotundergone
.anyappreciable change andconsequently itseemed advisable toenvisage
aprorogation ofthetariff measures currently inforce by'opening an
annual tariff quota fortheperiod from 1July 1981 to30June 1982 .The
volume ofthis tariff quota could befixed at 7 ,400tonnes ,this
corresponding broadly tothestated requirements oftheMember States
forimports from third countries .Any subsequent requirements could be
covered byadecision toincrease the vquota volume following a
reexamination ofthesituation .
As regards the subdivision ofthe above-mentioned volume of
7400tonnes ,afirst instalment of5920 tonnes isallocated among the
Member States inproportion torequirements .Thebalance of1480tonnes
willconstitute theCommunity reserve . . *. .:
This istheobjective oftheattached draft .

The'question was also raised concerning thebasis onwhich thecustoms
duties must becalculated onimports from Greece ofeels ,which are
subject tothetariff quota ,during theperiod when thisquota isopened .
Inthis ,connexion ,itisappropriate toreiterate that customs duties on
imports between theCommunity oftheNine andtheHellenic Republic
are determined byArticle 25ofthe 1979 Act ofAccession ancf are
conditional upon thebasic duty defined inArticle 24asbeing theduty
actually applied on 1July 1980 .
Onthat date ,moreover ,theCommunity oftheNine totally suspended the
Common Customs Tariff duty ,within the limits ofanerga omnes
Community tariff quota of7400 tonnes ,nopart of ,which was reserved
forthebenefit ofanythird country ,including Greece .
With regard totheeels inquestion ,itfollows that thebasic duty tobe
used inapplication ofArticle 25istobedetermined bythezero duty
applicable within thelimits ofthetariff quota opened in1980 until this
quota hasbeen totally used up,and bytheresidual duties actually applied
on 1July 1980 ineach Member State ,after thisquota hasbeen used up.
χ
Accordingly ,theduty onimports ofsuch eels from Greece will be(i)zero
duty until atariff quota ofavolume equivalent tothat opened in1980 ,
viz.7400tonnes ,hasbeen used up,and (ii)theresidual duty applicable on
1July 1980 ineach Member State ,reduced by1096,after this quota has
been used up.
Invoking theprovisions ofArticle 26istherefore notjustified atpresent .
The question would bereconsidered ifthe quota volume were tobe
increased during theyear . . .
However ,astheprovisions oftheAct ofAdhesion aredirectly applicable ,
/
noprecisions onthetariff regime inforce inside theCommunity should
figure inthetext oftheRegulation onthistariff quota .

3.The customs duties applicable inGreece onimport from theCommunity
ofNine ,aredetermined conforming tothesame provisions oftheAct of
Adhesion corresponding ,without prejudice tothe application of
Article 27,totheduties applicable on1July 1980 ;
U.Asconcerns the duty applicable inGreece inthecontext ofthis tariff
quota theRegulations forsee that theduty isfixed inapplication ofthe
provisions oftheAct ofAdhesion .

Draft
COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC )
opening ,allocating and providing fortheadministration ofaCommunity tariff
quota forcertain eels falling within subheading ex03.01 AIIoftheCommon
Customs Tariff (1July 1981 to30June 1983 .) ,
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES ,. ' '
Having regard totheTreaty establishing theEuropean
Economic Community ,and inparticular Article 28
thereof ,
Having regard tothedraft Regulation submitted by
theCommission ,
Whereas eel fishing has been prohibited orhas
become impossible incertain Community production
centres ;whereas this hasledtoadrop inCommunity
production ofeels ingeneral and particularly offresh
eels (live or.dead ),chilled orfrozen ,falling within
subheading ex03.01 AiloftheCommon Customs
Tariff ,intended forprocessing bycuring orskinning
enterprises orforuseintheindustrial manufacture of
products falling within heading No 16.04 thereof ;
whereas theprocessing industries intheCommunity'
consequently depend toalarge extent onimports for
their supplies ofeels ;whereas ,from 1July 1984 to30
June 1982,the application ofthe autonomous
Common Customs Tariff duty should therefore be
suspended totally onimports oftherelevant products
uptoanappropriate quantitative limit ;whereas the
introduction ofaCommunity measure ofthis nature
isunlikely toharm Community production ;
Whereas current demand not met byCommunity
production which must therefore bemet byimports
canbeestimated at7400tonnes fortheperiod 1July
1980 to30June 1981 ;whereas atariff quota forthe
relevant types ofeelshould therefore beopened for
this period ontheconditions setoutabove ;whereas
thefixing ofthequota volume atthis level does not,
however ,prevent itsreadjustment during thequota
period ;• '
Whereas itisinparticular necessary toensure toall
importers intheMember States equal and uninter­rupted access totheabovementioned quota andunin­
terrupted application oftherate laid down forthat
quota toallimports oftheproducts concerned into all
Member States until thequota has been used up;
whereas ,inthelight ofthese principles ,theCommu­
nity nature ofthequota canberespected byallocating
the tariff quota among the Member States listed
below ;whereas statistics available forthese products
donotgive aclear picture ofthemarket situation for
them ;whereas ,therefore ,itisnotpossible toallocate
thequota among theMember States onthe b-ofsis of
import trends fortherelevant products over thepast
few years ;whereas ,however ,according tothe esti­
mates putforward bytheMember States ,initial shares
may befixed atthequantities setout inArticle 2;
Whereas ,inorder totake into account import trends
fortheproducts concerned ,thequota amount should
bedivided into two instalments ,the first instalment ,
being allocated ,and the second forming areserve
intended subsequently tocover therequirements of
theMember States which have used uptheir initial
shares ;whereas ,inorder toensure acertain degree of
security forimporters ,the first instalment ofthe
Community tariff quota should befixed atalevel
which ,under present circumstances ,may beapproxi­
mately 80%ofthequota amount ;
Whereas theinitial shares may beused upatdifferent
rates ;whereas ,inorder totake this fact into account
and toavoid any break incontinuity ,any Member
State which hasalmost used upitstotal initial share
should draw anadditional share from the reserve ;
"Whereas this must bedone byeach Member State as
and when each ofitsadditional shares isalmost
entirely used up,and repeated asmany times asthe
reserve allows ;whereas the initial additional shares
must bevalid until theend ofthequota period ;
whereas this method ofadministration requires close
cooperation between Member States andtheCommis­
sion ,which must beable tokeep account ofthe
extent towhich thequota amount hasbeen used up
and toinform theMember States accordingly ;•

-2-
Whereas' if,atagiven date inthequota period ,a
considerable b.il.mcc remains inone orother Member
State itisessential ,toprevent apart oftheCommu­
nity tariff quota from remaining unused inone
Member State while itcould beused inothers ,that
thatMember State should return asignificant propor­
tion thereof tothereserve ; *
\
Whereas ,since the Kingdom ofBelgium ,the
Kingdom oftheNetherlands andtheGrand Duchy of
Luxembourg arcunited within andjointly represented
bythe Benelux Economic Union ,any measure
concerning theadministration oftheshares allocated
tothat economic union may becarried outbyany
one ofitsmembers ,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
Article I
1.During theperiod 1July 198-f to30June 1982 ,
aCommunity tariff quota of7400 tonnes shall be
opened lorfresh eels (liveordead )chilled orfrozen ,1
falling within subheading ex03.01 AIIofthe
Common Customs Tariff ,intended forprocessing by
curing orskinning enterprises orforuseintheindus­
trial manufacture ofproducts falling within heading - '
No 16.04 ofthe Common Customs Tariff ..
Control oftheuseforthis special .purpose shall be
carried outpursuant totherelevant Community provi­
sions . '/
 - .
2.Within the limits ofthis tariff quota ,the
Common Customs Tariff duty shall be totally
suspended .
Within these limits ,Greece shall apply duties calculated inaccordance with
therelevant provisions laiddown inthe1979 ActofAccession .
Article 2
1."Afirst instalment of59%o tonnes ofthis
Community tariff quota shall beallocated among the \
Member States .Member States' shares ,which ,subject
toArticle 5,shall bevalid from IJuly 1984 to30
June 1982 .shall consist ofthefollowing amounts :

-3-
Bénélux
Denmark
Germany
Greece
France
Ireland
Italy(tonnes )
2708
881
2015
3
57
3
4
United Kingdom 249
2.The second instalment of 1USO tonnes shall constitute thereserve .
1. If90%ormore ofaMember State sinitial share
asfixed inArticle 2(1),orofthat share minus any
portion returned tothereserve where Article 5has
been applied ,hasbeen used up,that Member State
shall forthwith ,bynotifying theCommission ,draw a
second share ,totheextent that thereserve sopermits ,
equal to 15%ofitsinitial share ,rounded upasneces­
sary tothenext whole number .
2. If,after itsinitial share has been exhausted ,
90%ormore ofthe second share drawn bya
Member State hasbeen used up,that Member State
shall forthwith ,bynotifying theCommission ,draw a
third share equal to7-5%ofitsinitial share ,rounded
upasnecessary to,thenext whole number ,tothe
extent that thereserve sopermits .
3.'If,after itssecond share has been exhausted ,
90%ormore ofthethird share drawn byaMember
State hasbeen used up,that Member State shall ,in
themanner provided inparagraph 2,draw afourth
share equal tothethird .
This procedure shall apply until thereserve isused
up.
4.Byway ofderogation from paragraphs I,2and
3,Member States may draw lesser shares than those
specified therein ifthere aregrounds forbelieving
that those specified may not beused infull.They
shall inform the Commission oftheir reasons for
applying this paragraph .Article 3

Artide 4
..S"™,;, 11rjrzr """""A"icie3 "*
Article S
^Member States shall return tothereserve notlater
than 1May 1982.,theunused portions oftheirinitial
shareswh.ch on15Apri!198j >areinexcess of20%
oftheinitial amounts .They mayreturn agreater
portion .fthere aregrounds forbelieving thatsuchportion may not beused infull.
atesshall notify theCommission ,notlater 2.Member States shall ensure thatimporters ofthe
ay198i ,ofthetotal quantities ofthe products inquestion established intheir territory have
vquestion imported ,uptoand including free access totheshares allocated tothem .
98J.and charged against theCommunity
ofany portion oftheir initial shares 3-Member States shall charge imports ofthe
>thereserve . products inquestion against their shares asandwhen
theproducts areentered with thecustoms authorities
A.•/.^ forfree circulation .
The Commission shall keep anaccount oftheshares
opened bytheMember States pursuant toArticles 2
and 3and ,assoon as-'it hasbeen notified ,shall inform
>each State oftheextent towhich the reserve has been
used up.
Itshall inform theMember States ,not later than 5
May 1982 oftheamount stillinreserve after amounts
have been returned thereto pursuant toArticle 5.
Itshall ensure that thedrawing which exhausts the
reserve does notexceed thebalance available ,and to
thisendshall notify theamount ofthat balance tothe
Member State making thelastdrawing .
Article 7
1.Member States shall take all appropriate
measures toensure that additional shares drawn
pursuant toArticle 3areopened insuch away that
imports may becharged without interruption against
their aggregate shares oftheCommunity quota .
This Regulation shall be.binding initsentirety anddirectly applicable inallMember
States . -
» -
Done at
- For theCouncil
The PresidentMember States shall notify theCommission ,notlater
than 1May 198% ofthe total quantities ofthe
products inquestion imported ,uptoand including
15April 198J-and charged against theCommunity
quota and ofany portion oftheir initial shares
returned tothe reserve .
Article 6
4.The extent towhich aMember State hasused up
itsshare shall bedetermined on the basis ofthe
imports charged against that share inaccordance with
paragraph 3. > ,
Article 8
Atthe Commission srequest ,Member States shall
inform itoftheimports actually charged against their
shares .
Article 9
Member States and theCommission shall cooperate
closely toensure that this Regulation iscomplied
with .
Article 10
!
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1July 198-f .