Report from the Commission to the Council - Application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1522/96 opening and providing for the administration of certain tariff quotas for imports of rice and broken rice under GATT Article XXIV (6)
Date: 1998-01-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: GATT, Thailand, import, rice, tariff quota

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels,  19.01.1998 
COM(1998)  12  final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

Application of Council Regulation  (EC) No 1522/96 opening and providing for the 
administration  of  certain  tariff  quotas  for  imports  of  rice  and broken  rice  under 
GATT Article XXIV (6). 

1. 

Introduction 

Under  the  negotiations  conducted  pursuant  to  GATT  Article  XXI V(6)  in  the  wake  of the 
accession  of  Austria,  Finland  and  Sweden  to  the  European  Union,  it  was  agreed  to  open 
from  1 January  1996  annual  import  quotas  for  63  000  tonnes  of  semi-milled  and  wholly 
milled  rice  at  zero  duty  and  for  20  000  tonnes  of  husked  rice  at  a  fixed  duty  of  ECU  88 
per tonne. 

Under  the  consultations  with  Thailand  pursuant  to  GATT  Article  XXIII,  an  annual  quota 
for  80  000  tonnes  of  broken  rice  at  an  import  duty  reduced  by  ECU  28  per  tonne  was 
opened  from  1 January  1996. 

The  arrangements  for  managing  these  quotas  were  laid  down  by  Council  Regulation  (EC) 
No  1522/96. • The  quotas  are  broken  down  by  country  of  origin  and,  in  order  to  prevent 
them  causing  disturbance  in the  normal  marketing  of  Community-grown  rice,  the  issue  of 
import  licences  is  staggered  over  the  year  in  a  number  of  tranches  so  that  the  quantities 
imported  can be absorbed  more easily by the Community  market. 

Management  of  the  quotas  for  imports  from  Thailand,  Australia  and  the  United  States  is 
the  responsibility  of  the  supplier  countries  acting  by  means  of  export  licences.  The 
Commission,  pursuant  to  Article  9(2)  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1522/96,  is  required  make 
an  annual  report  to  the  Council  on  the  application  of the  Regulation,  and  in  particular  on 
compliance  with  the  maximum  quantity  of  33  428  tonnes  of  rice  imported  in  small 
packages,  any changes  in flows  of trade  with  the  Community  and  the  risk  of  cross-subsidy 
between  exports  to  the  Community  benefiting  directly  from  Regulation  (EEC)  No 
1522/96 and  exports  subject  to the normal  duties on  imports. 

OJNoL  190, 31.7.1996. p. 1. 
The  measures  proposed  by  the  Commission  were  no!  in  accordance  with  the  opinion  of  the 
Management  Committee for Cereals as regards imports in small packages (5 kilograms or less) and 
the  risk  of cross-subsidy  In  accordance  with  Article  23(3)  of  Regulation  (liliC)  No  1766/92,  the 
Council therefore took a different  decision. 

The  quota  allocated  to  the  United  States  has  not  yet  been  opened.  Under  Article  1(4)  of 
Regulation  (EC)  No  1522/96  import  quotas  cannot  be  opened  for  wholly  milled  or  semi-
milled  rice  originating  in the United  States until  consultations  with  that  country  have  been 
completed. 

However,  although  consultations  are  still  in  progress,  a  quota  equivalent  to  one  year's 
quantity  was  opened  in December  1997  but  no  rice  had  yet  been  imported  at  the  time  of 
writing. 

2. 

Small  packages 

The  quantities  imported  in  packages  of  five  kilograms  or  less  are  entered  on  the  relevant 
import  licence  (Article  9(3)).  The  Member  States  are  required  to  notify  the  Commission 
"by the last working  day of each  month  following  the month  of release  for  free  circulation, 
of  the  quantities,  broken  down  by  CN  code  and  country  of  origin,  actually  released  for 
free  circulation."  (Article  8(b)) 

According  to  the  information  sent  by  the  Member  States  to  the  Commission,  the  quantity 
of  rice  in  small  packages  imported  during  the  first  year  of  application  of  this  Regulation 
(August  1996 to July  1997) was  1 940 tonnes,  well below the 33 428  tonnes  allowed. 

The  Annex  shows  the  imports  into  the  Community  of  small  packages  broken  down  by 
country  of origin. 

3. 

Cross-subsidy 

During  the  first  year  of  application  of  the  Regulation,  the  Commission  received  no  proof 
of  cross-subsidy. 

The  Thai  authorities  issue  export  licences  on  the  basis  of  past  exports  to  the  rest  of  the 
world,  excluding the European  Union. 

4. 

Flows  of trade with  the  Community 

Applications  for  import  licences  submitted  in  1996  and  1997  for  rice  originating  in 
Thailand  and  Australia  did  not  exceed  the  maximum  quantities  laid  down  in  the  quotas 
This  meant  that,  in  terms  of  compliance  with  quantities,  the  management  of  export 
licences by those  supplier  countries  did  not  give rise to  complications. 

As regards  the  quantities  allocated  to Thailand  in  1996  and  1997,  it  may  be  noted  that  the 
annual  quantities  of  I  812  tonnes  of  husked  rice  and  21  455  tonnes  of  wholly  milled  or 
semi-milled  rice  were  almost  fully  used  while  the  quota  of  3 I  200  tonnes  of  broken  rice 
was  not  filled.  In  January  1997,  in  order  to  take  account  of  certain  administrative 
problems  experienced  by Thailand  in  managing  the  quota  for  broken  rice,  a supplementary 
tranche  of almost  12 500  tonnes  of broken  rice  was  granted  to  that  country.  That  tranche 
has not  been  fully  used. 

The  1996  and  1997  quotas  allocated  to  Australia  resulted  in  the  issue  of  import  licences 
for  all the quantities  available. 

Regulation  (EC) No  1522/96 - Article  9(2) 

Packages of 5 kg or  less: maximum  (t) 
Total  notified  to  date (t): 

33  428 
1 940 

Member  States 

CN  code 

Origin 

Date 

Tonnes 

Sweden 
Sweden 
Portugal 
Portugal 
France 
France 
Sweden 
UK 
UK 
UK 
France 
France 
France 
France 
Sweden 
Sweden 
Sweden 

1006  30 
1006  40 
1006 20 
1006 30 
1006 40 
1006  30 
1006  30 
1006  30 
1006  30 
1006 40 
1006 40 
1006  40 
1006  30 
1006 40 
1006 30 
1006  30 
1006  30 

Thailand 
Thailand 
Argentina 
Argentina 
Thailand 
Thailand 
Thailand 
Thailand 
India 
Thailand 
Thailand 
Thailand 
Thailand 
Thailand 
Thailand 
Thailand 
Thailand 

17 October  1996 
17 October  1996 
29 October  1996 
29 October  1996 
December  1996 
January  1997 
January  1997 

May  1997 
May  1997 
June  1997 
July  1997 
April  1997 
April  1997 
April  1997 

539  020 
163.200 
17.560 
61.868 
20.000 
10.500 
94.043 
26.510 
10.000 
20.000 
19 500 
:  i ooo 
378 000 
20.000 
2 13 000 
25  500 
300  600 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(98)  12 final 

DOCUMENTS 

EN 

03  11 

Catalomie  number  :  CB-CO-98-0(K)-KN-C 

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