Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas for certain fishery products as well as liver horses originating in Iceland
Date: 1995-12-14
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Iceland, agreement (EU), equidae, fishery product, originating product, tariff quota

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels,  14.12.1995 
COM(95)660  final 

95/0352  (ACC) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) 

opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas for certain 
fishery products as well as liver horses originating in Iceland 

(presented by  the Commission) 

EXPLANATORY  MEMORANDUM 

1.  The European  Economic  Community  signed  an Agreement  with  Iceland  on  22 July 

1972. 

2.  The Act of Accession of Austria, Finland  and Sweden requires further  adjustment  of 
the  above Preferential  Agreement  as from  1  January  this year,  to  take  into  account 
the  trade  arrangements  for  fishery  products  between  the  three  new Member  States 
and Iceland. 

3.  The Community has therefore  concluded with Iceland, on the one part,  an additional 
protocol to the preferential  agreement and on the other part, an agreement under the 
form  of  an exchange  of letters in which  Community tariff  quotas for  certain  fishery 
products  and  live horses  originating  in Iceland  are opened  respectively  for  a period 
running from 1  January to 31 December of each year. 

4.  The purpose of the annexed proposal is to implement this tariff quota for an indefinite 
period. Accordingly and for  reasons of efficiency  and simplifying  the implementation 
of  the  measures  concerned  it  seems  desirable  that  the  regulation  should  be 
pluriannual. 

5.  Furthermore,  as  the  adaptations  arising  from  the  combined  nomenclature  of  the 
TARIC and  those concerning  quotas volumes and  quota  rates  laid  down  in Council 
or  Commission  decisions  involve  no  change  of  substance,  it  is  proposed  that  the 
Council should empower the Commission to implement theses measures by adopting 
regulations following receipt of an opinion from the Customs Code Committee. 

6.  As in the case of other  Community tariff  quotas, the proposal  does not  provide  for 
the  allocation  among  the  Member  States  of  the  quota  volumes  but  enables  the 
Member  States to draw from  the quota volumes the quantities required to  cover the 
actual imports recorded. 

i 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) 

of 

opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas for certain 
fishery  products as well as liver horses originating in Iceland 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community,  and  in  particular 
Article 113 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 

Whereas an Agreement was concluded between the European Economic Community and 
Iceland;* 

Whereas,  following  the  accession  of Austria,  Finland  and  Sweden,  the  above  mentioned 
quotas have to be adjusted to take into account, inter alia, the existing trade arrangements 
for fishery products between these countries and Iceland; 

Whereas  an Additional Protocol to the above Agreement  as well as an agreement  on the 
form of an exchange of letters has therefore been concluded between the Community and 
Iceland and approved by Council Decisions;^  whereas by the provisions of this Protocol 
the  Community  has  undertaken  to  open  Community  tariff  quotas  at  zero  duty  for  a 
number of products originating in Iceland, from 1  January to 31 December each year; 

Whereas the tariff quota provided in the agreement in question relates to an indefinite 
period and accordingly, for reasons of efficiency  and simplifying the implementation of the 
measures concerned, it appears suitable to provide that the application of this regulation 
should be placed on a pluriannual footing; 

Whereas, for reasons of simplification,  provision should be made to empower the 
Commission to give effect,  following receipt of the Customs Code Committe, to necessary 
amendments and technical adaptations of this regulation arising from amendments of the 
combined nomenclature and TARIC codes, the extensions of tariff measures, the 
necessary adaptations following the conclusion of protocols or exchange of letters, the 
modifications of this regulation for the bringing into play of any other act in the 
framework  of this agreement as well as the adaptations of volume, periods and quota rates 
arising from decisions by the Council or Commission; 

Whereas all Community importers should be ensured equal and continuous access to the 
said quota and the duty rate laid down for the quota should be applied consistently to all 
imports of the product in question into all Member States until the quota is exhausted, 
during the whole period of validity of the EEC Iceland Agreement. 

1 
2 

OJ No L 301, 31.12.1972, p.2. 
OJNoL... 

;OJNoL 

3 

Whereas the decision for the opening, in the execution of its international obligations, of 
tariff quotas should be taken by the Community, whereas, to ensure the efficiency  of a 
common administration of these quotas, there is no reasonable obstacle to authorising the 
Member States to draw from the quota-volumes the necessary quantities corresponding to 
actual imports; whereas this method of administration requires close cooperation between 
the Member States and the Commission and the latter must in particular be able to 
monitor the rate at which the quotas are used up and inform the Member States 
accordingly, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

1. From  1  January to 31 December of each year, the customs duties applicable to the 
products referred to in this Regulation shall be suspended or reduced to the levels 
indicated for each product, within the limit of the Community tariff quota shown for each 
product. 

2. Imports of fishery products shall not qualify for the tariff quotas unless the  free-at-
frontier  price established by the Member States in accordance with Article 22 of Council 
Regulation (EEC) N° 3759/92 of 17 December  1992 on the common organization of the 
market in fishery and aquaculture products-* is at least equal to any reference price which 
has been fixed by the Community for the products or categories of products in question.. 

The provisions of the Protocol 3 of the Agreement between the European Economic 
Community and the Republic of Iceland defining the concept of originating products and 
setting out the arrangements for administrative cooperation as amended at last by 
Decision No.  1/94 of the EC-Iceland Joint Committee of the 8 March  19944 shall apply. 

Article 2 

The tariff  quotas referred  to  in Article  1 shall be administered by the Commission,  which 
may  take  any  appropriate  administrative  measures  in  order  to  ensure  efficient 
administration. 

Article 3 

If  an  importer  presents  in  a  Member  State  a  declaration  of  entry  into  free  circulation 
including a request for preferential benefit for a product covered by this Regulation, and if 
this declaration is accepted by the customs authorities, the Member  State concerned  shall 
draw,  from  the  quota  volume  by  means  of  notification  to  the  Commission,  a  quantity 
corresponding to those needs. 

3  OJ N° L 388, 31.12.1992, p.  1. Regulation as last amended 

by Regulation (EC) N° 3318/94 (OJ N° L 350 , 31.12.1994, p. 1). 

4 OJ N° L 204, 6.8.94, p. 62 

The  requests  for  drawing,  with  the  indication  of  the  date  of  acceptance  of  the  said 
declarations, must be communicated to the Commission without delay. 

The drawings are granted by the Commission on the basis of the date of acceptance of the 
declaration  of entry into free circulation by the customs authorities of the Member  State 
concerned, to the extent that the available balance so permits. 

If a Member State does not use the quantities drawn, it shall return the as soon as possible 
to the corresponding quota volume. 

If  the  quantities  requested  are  greater  than  the  available  balance  of  the  quota  volume, 
allocation  shall be made on a pro  rata basis with respect  to  the requests. Member  States 
shall be informed thereof by the Commission. 

Article 4 

Each  Member  State  shall  guarantee  importers  of  the  products  in  question  equal  and 
continuous access to the quotas as long as the balance of the corresponding quota volume 
allows. 

1.  The provisions necessary for the application of this Regulation, in particular: 

Article 5 

(a)  the  amendments  and  technical  adaptations,  insofar  as  necessary,  arising  from 

amendments of the combined nomenclature and Taric codes 

(b)  the  necessary  adaptations  resulting  from  the  conclusion  by  the  Council  of 
protocols  or exchange of letters between the Community and this country in the 
framework  of the agreement envisaged by this Regulation 

(c)  the prorogation  of tariff measures conforming  to the provisions  contained  in the 

agreement envisaged by this Regulation 

(d)  the  necessary  adaptations  of  volumes,  periods  and  quota  duty  arising  from 

decisions adopted by the Council, and 

(e)  the modifications  of the present regulation necessary for the putting into practice 
of any other  act  in the framework of the agreement  foreseen  by this Regulation 
shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 6 

2.  The provisions adopted under Paragraph  1  shall not authorise the Commission to 

carry over a  balance of preferential  quantities from one period to another, 
modify the timetable laid out in the agreements, 
transfer  quantities from one quota to another, 
open and manage quotas resulting from new agreements, 
adopt  legislation  effecting  the  management  of  quotas  which  are  the  subject  of 
certificates of importation 

Article 6 

1.  The Commission shall be assisted by the Customs Code Committee set up by Article 

247 of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 (5). 

2.  The representative of the Commission shall submit to the committee a draft of the 
measures to be taken. The committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a 
time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter. 
The opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in Article  148 (2) of the 
Treaty in the case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal 
from the Commission.  The votes of the representatives of the Member States within 
the committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in that Article. The chairman 
shall not vote. 

The Commission shall adopt the measures, which apply immediately. However,  if 
these measures are not in accordance with the opinion of the committee, they shall be 
communicated by the Commission to the Council forthwith.  In that event: 

-  the Commission shall defer application of the measures which it has decided for 

three months from the date of such communication; 

-  the Council,  acting by qualified majority, may take a different  decision within 

the period referred to in the previous paragraph. 

3.  The Committee may examine any question concerning the application of this 

Regulation which is raised by its chairman either on his own initiative or at the request 
of a Member State. 

Article 7 

Member  States  and  the  Commission  shall  cooperate  closely  in  order  to  ensure  that  this 
Regulation is complied with. 

Article 8 

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the  Official 
Journal of the European Communities. 

It shall apply from 1 January  1995 for the whole period of validity of the Agreement... 

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the Council 
The President 

G 

ANNEX 

Order No 

CN code 

Taric code 

Description 

Amount of 
quotas 

Quota 
duty 
(%) 

09.0791 

09.0793 

09.0794 

0101 19  10 
0101 19 90 

0302 12 00 
0304 10 13 
0304 20 13 

0302 23 00 
0302 29 
0302 69 85 
0303 32 00 
0303 79 96 
0304 10 19 
0304 10 33 
0304 10 35 
EX 0304 10 38 

0304 10 98 
0304 20 19 
0304 90 35 
0304 90 38 

0304 90 39 

0304 90 41 
0304 90 47 
0304 90 59 
EX 0304 90 97 

100 
head 

50 T 

250 T 

Live horses 

-

Salmon, fresh or chilled 
Salmon fillets, fresh or chilled 
Frozen salmon  fillets 

Sole, fresh or chilled 
Megrim and other flat fish, fresh or chilled 
Blue whiting fresh or chilled 
Frozen plaice 
Other frozen fish 
Coalfish fillets, chilled or  frozen 
Fish of coalfisch, fresh or chilled 
Redfish fillets, fresh or chilled 
Other  fish  fillets,  other  than  herring  and  Mackerel, 
fresh  or chilled 

Other fish meat, fresh or chilled 
Frozen salmon  fillets 
Frozen fillets of other freshwater fish 
Frozen cod meat of the species Gadus macrocephalus 
Frozen cod meat of the species Gadus morhua 
Frozen cod meat of the species Gadus ogac and  frozen 
fish  meat of the species Boreogadus saida 
Frozen coalfish meat 
Frozen hake meat of the genus Merluccius 
Frozen blue whiting meat 
Other frozen fish meat, except mackerel 

-0304 1038 
*10 
20 
50 
90 

0304 90 97 
•31 
39 
50 
60 
70 
80 
90 

09.0795 

0305 61 00 

Herring, salted but not dried or smoked, and herring in 
brine 

1750T 

09.0796 

0306  19 30 

09.0797 

1604 12 91 

1604 12 99 

-

-

Frozen Norway lobsters (Nephrops norvegicus) 

Other  prepared  or  preserved  herring,  in  hermetically 
sealed containers 
Other prepared or preserved herring, other 

50 T 

2 400T 

09.0798 

1604 19 98 

Other prepared or preserved fish, whole or in pieces 

50 T 

EX 1604 20 90 

1604 20 90 
*20/80 
30/80 
35/80 
50/80 
90/80 

Other prepared  or preserved fish meat,  except herring 
and mackerel 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

¥ 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

FINANCIAL STATEMENT 

Budget heading involved:  Chap. 12, Art. 120 

Legal basis: Article 113 

Title: opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff  quotas for 

certain fishery products as well as liver horses originating in Iceland 

Objective:  To honour the undertakings given by the Community 

Loss of revenue: 

Description 

Quantity 
(t) 

Average price 
(ECU) 

Normal average 
rate 
of duty (%) 

Duty applicable 
to quota (%) 

Fresh or chilled fish 

Frozen fish 

300 

2 305 

6.6 

Fish fillets and other 
fish  meat 

Fish, dried, salted or 
in brine 

1 750 

3 594 

12 

Crustaceans 

50 

4 165 

Prepared or 
preserved fish 
Live horses 

2 450 

5 967 

100 
head 

3 600 
Ecu/head 

13 

7.9 

16,9 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

Loss of revenue 
(ECU) 

45 639 

754 740 

27 072 

1  154 912 

60 840 

ECU 2 043 203 

& 

ISSN 0254-1475 

C0M(95) 660  final 

DOCUMENTS 

EN 

02  03  11 

Catalogue number  : CB-CO-95-747-EN-C 

ISBN 92-77-98371-X 

Office  for Official Publications of the Europâan Commimides 

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