No C 41/36 Official Journal of the European Communities 18. 2. 91 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) on the use in the Community 
of TIR carnets and, as transit documents, of ATA carnets (*) 
(91/C 41/11) 
On 12 June 1990 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under 
Article 100 A of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, to ask the 
Economic and Social Committee for an Opinion on the abovementioned proposal. 
The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services, which was responsible for preparing 
the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 9 November 1990. The 
Rapporteur was Mr Petersen. 
At its 281st plenary session (meeting of 20 November 1990), the Economic and Social 
Committee adopted the following Opinion unanimously. 
1. General comments 2.2. Article 12(2) 
1.1. The international Conventions on the tempor­
ary use of goods in a participating state under cover of 
ATA carnets and on the transit of goods under cover 
of TIR carnets have essentially proved their worth. 
1.2. The Committee regards the Commission pro­
posal as a natural consequence of the forthcoming 
removal of internal frontiers to create the Single Mar­
ket. It welcomes the possibility that, in future, goods 
from non-member countries can be carried within the 
Community not only under the external Community 
transit procedure but also under the provisions of the 
TIR and ATA Conventions. 
1.3. The designation of the Community as a single 
territory for the purposes of these Conventions will 
speed up the transit of goods and hence save time and 
money, especially for hauliers. 
2. Specific comments 
Notwithstanding this basically positive assessment, the 
Committee would recommend a further review, and if 
necessary correction, of the following Articles. 
2.1. Article 1, last phrase 
This refers to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2151/84 
of 23 July 1984 for the definition of the customs terri­
tory of the Community. The Committee, however, 
assumes that the Regulation on establishing a Com­
munity Customs Code(2) will also apply from 
1 January 1993. The final version of the Regulation 
under consideration should therefore contain a refer­
ence to Article 3 of the Customs Code, in which the 
customs territory of the Community is defined. 
(!) OJ No C 142, 12. 6. 1990, p. 6. 
(2) OJ No C 128, 23. 5. 1990, p. 1. In the Committee's view this provision runs counter to 
the principle enshrined in the TIR Convention that in 
the event of an offence or irregularity only a guarantee­
ing association can be called upon to pay any duties 
and other charges. Deviating from this principle, the 
present proposal provides for the possibility in certain 
cases of calling upon two guarantors — one from the 
Member States in which the offence or irregularity was 
detected and one from the Member State in which the 
offence or irregularity actually occurred. 
This double levy is indeed subject to a deadline, but 
the usually lenghty compensation procedures could lead 
to considerable interest losses, which are not acceptable. 
The Committee therefore proposes that Article 12(2) 
be reworded to read: 
'Where it is not possible to determine in which 
territory the offence or irregularity was committed, 
such offence or irregularity shall be deemed to have 
been committed in the Member State where it was 
detected. In such a case the Member State concerned 
shall levy the relevant duties and other charges. If 
at a later date the Member State where the said 
offence or irregularity was actually committed is 
determined, the duties and other charges to which 
the goods are subject in that State shall be refunded 
to it by the Member State which has levied them.' 
In addition, the Committee would ask the Commission 
to check whether the place of the offence or irregularity 
could be determined along the lines of the future pro­
visions on the Community transit procedure. Under 
these, an offence or irregularity of which the place 
cannot be determined is regarded as having been com­
mitted not in the Member State where it was detected 
but in the one to which the exit customs post belongs. 
Uniform rules to cover circumstances which have an 
identical result are in the interests both of those subject 
to customs checks and of the administration; the inter-
18. 2. 91 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 41/37 
national nature of the TIR Convention should not stand 
in the way of such a simplification. 
The Committee is of the considered opinion that the 
Member State's requirements as regards the documents 
covering the implementation of the TIR procedure are 
in urgent need of harmonization. 
2.3. Article 13(2) 
The planned exchange of all relevant findings, obser­
vations etc. among the competent authorities is particu­
larly to be welcomed. One aim of this must be to ensure that irregularities of any kind are prevented as far as 
possible, since, apart from other considerations, they 
can constitute a serious safety hazard. 
2.2. Article 14 
The Committee regards it as inappropriate to allow the 
Member States only a right to be consulted on questions 
concerning the application of this Regulation. Since 
implementing provisions can also have an effect on 
national administrative structures, it is all the more 
necessary for Member States to have an active right of 
co-determination. 
Done at Brussels, 20 November 1990. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Francis STAEDELIN 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) amending Regulation (EEC) 
No 1785/81 on the common organization of the markets in the sugar sector (*) 
(91/C 41/12) 
On 3 October 1990 the Council decided, in accordance with Article 198 of the Treaty 
establishing the European Economic Community, to ask the Economic and Social Committee 
for an Opinion on the abovementioned proposal. 
The Economic and Social Committee decided to make the Rapporteur-General, Mr Barbagli, 
responsible for the preparatory work on the matter. 
At its 281st plenary session (meeting of 20 November 1990), the Economic and Social 
Committee adopted the following Opinion by a large majority, with 3 votes against and 7 
abstentions. 
1. The Committee notes that the Commission pro­
posal is concerned with the renewal of existing measur­
es, particularly those dealing with such aspects of the 
common organization of the sugar market as the quota 
system, the system of self-financing funded by contri­
butions from growers and manufacturers, and the 
granting of different types of aid. 
2. The Committee takes note of the fact that Italy 
will continue to be authorized to grant digressive 
(!) OJ No C 258, 13. 10. 1990, p. 9. national adjustment aid and considers that the measure 
in question must be judged in the light of the role the 
sugar sector plays in reducing regional disparities. 
2.1. In this context the Committee believes that the 
proposal to henceforth totally exclude from aid the 
industrial part of the Italian sugar sector is too extreme. 
3. Bearing in mind 
— the trends emerging from the multilateral nego­
tiations of the General Agreement on Tariffs and 
Trade (GATT) on agriculture,