ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(80)818
Vol.1980/0259

Disclaimer
Conformément aurèglement(CEE,Euratom)n°354/83duConseildu1erfévrier1983
concernantl'ouvertureaupublicdesarchiveshistoriquesdelaCommunauté économique
européenne etdelaCommunauté européenne del'énergieatomique(JOL43du15.2.1983,
p.1),telquemodifiéparlerèglement(CE,Euratom)n°1700/2003du22septembre2003
(JOL243du27.9.2003,p.1),cedossierestouvertaupublic.Lecaséchéant,lesdocuments
classifiésprésentsdanscedossierontétédéclassifiés conformément àl'article5dudit
règlement.
Inaccordance withCouncilRegulation(EEC,Euratom)No354/83of1February1983
concerningtheopeningtothepublicofthehistoricalarchivesoftheEuropeanEconomic
Community andtheEuropeanAtomicEnergyCommunity (OJL43,15.2.1983,p.1),as
amendedbyRegulation(EC,Euratom)No1700/2003of22September2003(OJL243,
27.9.2003,p.1),thisfileisopentothepublic.Wherenecessary,classifieddocuments inthis
filehavebeendeclassified inconformitywithArticle5oftheaforementioned regulation.
InÜbereinstimmung mitderVerordnung(EWG,Euratom)Nr.354/83desRatesvom1.
Februar1983überdieFreigabederhistorischen ArchivederEuropäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft undderEuropäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI.L43vom15.2.1983,
S.1),geändertdurchdieVerordnung (EG,Euratom)Nr.1700/2003vom22.September2003
(ABI.L243vom27.9.2003,S.1),istdieseDateiderÖffentlichkeit zugänglich.Soweit
erforderlich,wurdendieVerschlusssachen indieserDateiinÜbereinstimmung mitArtikel5
dergenanntenVerordnungfreigegeben.

COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(80)818final
Brussels,8December1980
Proposalfora
COUNCILREGULATION (EEC)
opening,allocating andprovidingfortheadministration ofaCommunity
tariffquotaforcertainplywoodsofconiferousspecies,fallingwithin
headingNoex44.15oftheCommonCustomsTariff(1981)
(submittedtotheCouncilbytheCommission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
1.AttheLastGATTnegotiations theCommunityundertooktoopen,for
certainconiferous plywood,asListedbelow,ofheadingex44.15of
theCommonCustomsTariff,aCommunitytariffquotaatzerodutyof
atotalvolumeof600,000cubicmetres.
Plywoodofconiferous species,withouttheadditionofother
substances '
-ofthicknessgreaterthan8.5mm,thefacesofwhicharenot
furtherpreparedthanthepeelingprocess,or ,
-sanded,andofathicknessgreaterthan18,5mm.
InadditionProtocol No11totheActconcerning theConditions
ofAccession andtheAdjustments totheTreatiesandthebilateral
exchangeofLettersundertaken atthestart\oftheGATTnegotiations
foreseetheCommunityopeningautonomous Communitytariffquotasat
zerodutyfortheseproductsatvolumestobedecidedforeachyear
whenitisestablished thatallpossibilities ofsupplyonthe
intendedmarketoftheCommunitywillbeexhaustedduringtheperiod
forwhichthequotasareopen.
<. . • \
2.ThisproposedRegulation concernstheCommunitytariffquotasin
questiontobeopenedon1January1981andallocated amongMember
States. • ,
Theapplication ofProtocol No,11wasdealtwithatadvisorymeetings
ofexpertsfromtheMemberStatesheldsince1975,atwhichitbecame
*clearthattakingintoaccountthepossibilities of.supplyonthe.*
Communitymarket,whichareinfactsomewhatlimitedalthough
.increasing considerably ,andonthebasisofestimatedsubmitted
bytheMemberStates,thetariffquotasinquestioncouldyetbe
groupedunderasinglequota.
Thequotavolumetobeopenedfor1981wasdiscussed bythe
"EconomicTariffQuestions"groupon9September 1980.Itbecameclear
fromthediscussion that:

a)imports from third countries thought necessary byMember States would
exceed 900 000 m3for 1981 ;itshould benoted that effective use
made ofquotas inthe last three years wasonly 590000 m3in1977 ;
696 000 m3in1978 and 768 000 m3in1979 ;moreover ,neither
increased consumption nor thepresent economic situation inthe
construction sector canjustify theproposed increase ;
b)asstated bytheproducing Member States ,there isNarisk that
supplies tobeobtained ontheCommunity interna'l market maynot
beused upin1981 ,which maymake itdifficult toopen the
autonomous quota envisaged byProtocol No11ofthe Act ofAccession
«
c)Member States would interpret differently the question ofgranting '
thebenefit ofquotas already opened for laminated panels of
coniferous wood grooved and tongned before importation tofacilitate
assembly .
Ithas not yetbeen possible toestablish theprecise volume ofsuch
imports ,which must ,however ,besignificant .
3.Generally ,theCommission considers that ,taking account ofthe
uncertain level ofconsumption and the need forparallel growth
inCommunity production and supplies onfavourable terms touser
industries ,great care should betaken infixing thequota volume ,
soasnot toendanger themarket balance .
Ithastherefore been decided tolimit theinitial quota for 1981
totheGATT consolidated volume of600000 m3,and toreview the
situation ,ifnecessary ,during theyear .
4.Themethod ofadministration proposed isthesame asthat usually
adopted forautonomous Community tariff quotas and consists basically
ofthe following :
-thesetting upofareserve of30,000 cubic metres ;
-theallocation of .the first tranche inproportion totheneeds
expressed byMember States ;
-the charing ofimports against Member States *shares asand when
the products are entered with the customs authorities for free
circulation .

Whileadecisionontheitemshownatparagraph 2c)aboveisawaited,
thecurrentproposalmakesitpossibletocomplywithundertakings
madebytheCommunity andwiththeprovisions oftheResolutionof
27June1974.TheCommission thereforereservesthepowertochange
itsproposalasmattersdevelop/soastoadapt^it,ifnecessary,
tothefinaloutcomeofthecurrentdiscussions .

PROPCSAl F<~)RA
COUNCILREGULATION :EEC)
opening,allocatingandprovidingfortheadministration ofaCommunitytariff
quotaforcertainplywoodsofconiferousspecies,fallingwithinheadingNoex
44.15oftheCommonCustomsTariff(1981)
THECOUNCILOFTHEEUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES ,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishingthe
EuropeanEconomicCommunity,andinparticular
Article113thereof,
HavingregardtotheproposalfromtheCommission,
WhereastheCommunityhasundertakentoopenan
annualCommunitytariffquotaofatleast600000
m3forcertainplywoodsofconiferousspecies
fallingwithinheadingNoex44.15oftheCommon
CustomsTariff;
(1Whereas,underProtocol11totheActofAccession/
theCommunityisrequiredtoopeneachyearautono­
mousnildutyCommunitytariffquotasforthesame
products,thevolumethereoftobedecidedannually
whenitisestablishedthatallpossibilities of
supplyontheinternalmarketoftheCommunityhave
beenexhaustedduringtheperiodforwhichthequotas
areopen;whereasitappearsthatthecondition
imposedbythatProtocolisnotcurrentlymet;whereas
thelimitatthisfirststageshouldthereforebe
setatthecontractual volumeof600000cubic
metres;whereasfixingthequotavolumeatthat
leveldoesnot,moreover,excludepossiblere­
courseduringthequotaperiodtotheprovisions
ofProtocolNo11:WhereasMemberStatesmayuseuptheirinitial
sharesatdifferentrates;whereas,toprovideforthis
eventualityandtoavoiddisruptionofsupplies,any
MemberStatewhichhasalmostusedupitsinitial
shareshoulddrawanadditionalsharefromthe
reserve;whereas,eachtime•itsadditionalshareis
almostusedup,aMemberStateshoulddrawanaddi­
tionalshare,andsoonasmanytimesasthereserve
allows;whereastheinitialandadditionalshares
shouldbevaliduntiltheendofthequotaperiod;
whereasthisformofadministration requiresclose
collaboration betweenMemberStates >andthe
Commission ,whichlattermust,inparticular,beable
tokeeparecordoftheextenttowhichthequotahas
beenusedupandtoinformtheMemberStatesaccord­
ingly;
Whereasif,atagivendateinthequotaperiod,a
considerablequantityofaMemberState'sinitialshare
remainsunused,itisessentialthatthatMemberState
shouldreturnasignificantproportiontothereserve,
soastoavoidapartofthequotaremainingunusedin
oneMemberStatewhenitcouldbeusedinothers:
Whereas,sincetheKingdomofBelgium,the
KingdomoftheNetherlandsandtheGrandDuchyof
Luxembourgareunitedwithinandjointlyrepresented
bytheBeneluxEconomicUnion,anymeasure
concerningtheadministration ofthesharesallocated
tothateconomicunionmaybecarriedoutbyany
oneofitsmembers,
Whereas,totakemorepreciseaccountoffuture
.trendsinimportsoftheproductsconcerned,the
quotashouldbedividedintotwotranches,thefirst
beingallocatedamongalltheMemberStatesandthe
secondheldasareservetocoverthesubsequent
requirementsofMemberStateswhichhaveexhausted
theirinitialshares;whereas,inordertoofferimpor­
terssomedegreeofsecurity,thefirsttrancheofthe
quotashouldbefixedatarelativelyhighlevel,or
about95<y00f;£sfunamount;whereas,onthebasis
ofMemberStatesestimatesoftheirneeds,theinitial
sharesmaybefixedassetoutinArticle2;
(')OJNoL73,27.3.1972,p.170.HASADOPTEDTHISREGULATION :
ArticleÎ
1..Duringtheperiodfrom1Januaryto31
December1981,aCommunitytariffquotaof600000
m3shallbeopenedforthefollowingproductsfalling
withinheadingNoex44.15oftheCommonCustoms
Tariff:
(a)plywoodofconiferousspecies,withouttheaddi­
tionofothersubstances,ofathicknessgreater
than8-5mm,thefacesofwhicharenotfurther
preparedthanthepeelingprocess;

(b)plywoodofconiferousspecies,withouttheaddi­
tionofothersubstances ,sanded,andofathick­
nessgreaterthan18-5mm.
2.Importsoftheproductsinquestionmaynotbe~
chargedagainstthistariffquotaiftheyarealreadyfree•
ofcustomsdutiesunderotherpreferentialtariffarran­
gements.
3.TheCommonCustomsTariffdutyshallbe
totallysuspendedwithinthelimitsoftheabovequota.
Withinthelimits"ofthistariffquota,
Greeceshallapplydutiescalculated
inaccordancewiththerelevantpro­
visionsintheActofAccessionof
Greece(1).
Article2
1.ThetariffquotareferredtoinArticle1(1)shall
bedividedintotwotranches.
2.,Afirsttrancheof570000m5shallbeallocated
amongtheMemberStates.MemberStates'shares
which,subjecttoArticle5,shallbevaliduntil31
December1981,shallbeasfollows:
Bénélux
Denmark
Germany
Greece
France
Ireland
Italy
UnitedKingdomincubicmetres
141360
63897
99579^
285
-15390,
12882
21489
215118
3.Thesecondtrancheof30000m3shallconstitute
thereserve. ' ■
Article3
1.If90%ormoreofaMemberStatesinitialshare
asfixedinArticle2(2),orofthatshareminusany
portionreturnedtothereservewhereArticle5has
beenapplied,hasbeenusedup,thatMemberState
shallforthwith,bynotifyingtheCommission ,drawa
secondshare,totheextentthatthereservesopermits,
equalto10%ofitsinitialshare,roundedupasneces­
sarytothenextwholenumber.
2.If,afteritsinitialsharehasbeenexhausted,
90%ormoreofthesecondsharedrawnbya
MemberStatehasbeenusedup,thatMemberState
shall,inthemannerandtotheextentprovidedin
paragraph 1,drawathirdshareequalto5%ofits
initialshare,roundedupasnecessarytothenext
wholenumber.
(1)0JNoL291of19.11.1979,p.17If,afteritssecondsharehasbeenexhausted,
90%ormoreofthethirdsharedrawnbyaMember
Statehasbeenusedup,thatMemberStateshall,in
themannertotheextentprovidedinparagraph 1,
draw«fourthshareequaltothethird.
Thisprocedureshallapplyuntilthereserveisused
up.
4.Bywayofderogationfromparagraphs 1,2and
3,MemberStatesmaydrawlessersharesthanthose
specifiedthereiniftherearegroundsforbelieving
thatthose_specifiedmaynotbeusedinfull.They
shallinformthe*Commission oftheirreasonsfor
applyingthisparagraph.■
Article4
AdditionalsharesdrawnpursuanttoArticle3shallbe
validuntil31December1981...
Article5
MemberStatesshallreturntothereserve,ndtlater
than1October1981,theunusedportionsoftheir
initialshareswhich,on15September1981,arein
excessof20%oftheinitialamounts.Theymay
returnagreaterportioniftherearegroundsfor
believingthatsuchportionmaynotbeusedinfull.
MemberStatesshallnotifytheCommission ,notlater
than1October 1981,ofthetotalquantitiesofthe
productsinquestionimporteduptoandincluding15
September1981,andchargedagainsttheCommunity
quotaandofanyportionoftheirinitialshare^
returnedtothereserve.
Article6
TheCommission shallkeepanaccountoftheshares
openedbytheMemberStatespursuanttoArticles2
and3and,assoonasithasbeennotified,shallinform
eachStateoftheextenttowhichthereservehasbeen
usedup.
ItshallinformtheMemberStates,notlaterthan5
October1981,oftheamountstillinreserveafter
.amountshavebeenreturnedtheretopursuantto
Article5.
Itshallensurethat.thedrawingwhichexhauststhe
reservedoesnotexceedthebalanceavailableand,to
thisend,shallnotifytheamountofthatbalanceto
theMemberStatemakingthelastdrawing.
Article7
1.MemberStatesshalltakeallappropriate
measurestoensurethatadditional sharesdrawn
pursuanttoArticle3areopenedinsuchawaythat
importsmaybechargedwithoutinterruption against
theiraggregatesharesoftheCommunityquota.

-ν
2.MemberStatesshallensurethatimportersofthe
productsinquestionestablishedintheirterritoryhave
freeaccesstothesharesallocatedtothem.
3.MemberStatesshallchargeimportsofthe
productsinquestionagainsttheirsharesasandwhen
theproductsareenteredwiththecustomsauthorities
forfreecirculation.
4.TheextenttowhichaMemberStatehasusedup
itsshareshallbedeterminedonthebasisofimports
chargedagainstthatshareinaccordancewithpara­
graph3.Article8
AttheCommissionsrequest,MemberStatesshall
informitoftheimportsactuallychargedagainsttheir
shares.
Article9
MemberStates,andtheCommissionshallcooperate
closelytoensurethatthisRegulationiscomplied
with.
Article10
ThisRegulationshallenterintoforceon1January
1981-
ThisRegulationshallbebindinginitsentiretyanddirectlyapplicableinallMember
States.
DoneatBrussels,
FortheCouncil
ThePresident