Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2008 of 20 December 2007 temporarily suspending customs duties on imports of certain cereals for the 2007/2008 marketing year
Date: 2007-12-20
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: cereals, customs duties, import, marketing, suspension of customs duties, third country

4.1.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 1/1

(Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is obligatory)

I

REGULATIONS

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1/2008

of 20 December 2007

temporarily suspending customs duties on imports of certain cereals for the 2007/2008 marketing
year

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

increases of around 50 % for common wheat, 30 % for
barley and between 20 % and 30 % for maize.

establishing the European
Having regard to the Treaty
Community, and in particular Articles 26 and 133(4) thereof,

(4)

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Council Regulation (EC) No 1784/2003 of 29 September
2003 on the common organisation of the market in
cereals (1) provides for protective measures against the
potential negative impact of imports, with the aim of
ensuring stability on the Community market.

For the most part, the customs duties applicable to agri-
cultural products under the World Trade Organisation
(WTO) agreements are laid down in the common
customs
imports
carried out within the context of tariff quotas resulting
from international agreements concluded in accordance
with the Treaty or from other acts of the Council are
subject to specific duties.

tariff. However,

some cereals,

for

In view of the structural rise in world demand as a result
of rising living standards in the emerging economies and
the increasing production of biofuels, at the end of the
2007/2008 marketing year world cereals stocks will be
in decline for the third consecutive year and are likely to
hit their lowest level since 1979/1980. Against this back-
ground, world cereals listings have shown a marked rise
since the start of the 2007/2008 marketing year, with

(1) OJ L 270, 21.10.2003, p. 78. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 735/2007 (OJ L 169, 29.6.2007, p. 6).

cereal

States,

estimated

production

in Community production relates

As a result of unfavourable weather conditions in most
Member
in
2007/2008 is 258 million tonnes, 8 million tonnes or
3 % down on the already modest 2006/2007 harvest.
to
The decline
common wheat and maize in particular, but it has reper-
cussions on the cereals sector as a whole, making it
difficult to ensure a balanced supply of the Community
market. The imbalance concerns feed grain in particular,
in view of the differences found across the regions of the
Community in the quality and quantities of the cereals
produced and the ensuing changes in operator behaviour
as regards the use of the different cereals available. The
be
overall
compensated by the very localised rise in the production
of barley, rye and oats.

in production cannot, moreover,

fall

(5)

the price of milling wheat

Community cereals markets have seen a spectacular
upsurge in prices since the start of
the 2007/2008
marketing year. The rise has been substantial both in
nominal terms and in terms of the exceptionally wide
gap between market prices and intervention prices. The
situation is tense as regards small-grain cereals and
the 2007/2008 marketing
maize. Since the start of
year,
in Rouen has risen
from EUR 179 per tonne to almost EUR 300 per
tonne at the start of September 2007 while the price
of feed barley in Rouen has more than doubled over
summer 2006 rates,
reaching up to EUR 270 per
tonne at the end of September 2007. Brewing barley
has also witnessed a strong increase, reaching almost
EUR 310 per tonne at
the end of September 2007.
French maize prices in Bayonne followed the same
trend, rising from EUR 183 per tonne at the start of
the new marketing year to a peak of EUR 255 per
tonne in mid-September 2007. This situation is the
result of
reduced Community common wheat and
maize stocks, average quality and the exhaustion of
Community intervention stocks,
currently down to
below 500 000 tonnes.

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Official Journal of the European Union

4.1.2008

(6)

(7)

(8)

In order to respond to this situation of strong tensions
on the markets, supply to the Community market in
cereals should be promoted, and to this end customs
duties on imports of
should be
suspended as regards both tariff quotas at reduced duty
and imports at normal rates. However,
this measure
should be limited to the 2007/2008 marketing year.

certain cereals

It should, moreover, be possible to rescind this measure
immediately in the event of disruption or threatened
disruption on the Community market. To this end,
provision should be made for the Commission to take
appropriate steps to reintroduce customs duties imme-
diately should the market situation so warrant, and to
lay down the criteria whereby this situation should be
considered as such.

These measures should be adopted in accordance with
Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying
down the procedures for the exercise of implementing
powers conferred on the Commission (1),

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

1003 00, 1005 90 00 and 1007 00 90 is hereby suspended
until 30 June 2008, for all imports at the normal rate carried
out
in accordance with Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No
1784/2003 or within the context of tariff quotas at reduced
duty opened in accordance with Article 12 of that Regulation.

2.
The Commission may reintroduce customs duties at the
levels and under the conditions provided for in Article 10 of
Regulation (EC) No 1784/2003 where, for one or more of the
the FOB export price
products referred to in paragraph 1,
recorded in Community ports is below 180 % of the inter-
vention price, or,
for products for which there is no inter-
vention price, 180 % of EUR 101,3 per tonne.

3. Where necessary, detailed rules for the implementation of
this Regulation shall be adopted in accordance with the
procedure referred to in Article 25(2) of Regulation (EC) No
1784/2003.

Article 2

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

1.
The application of customs duties on imports of products
falling within CN codes 1001 90 99, 1001 10, 1002 00 00,

It shall apply to imports carried out on the basis of import
licences issued from the day of its publication.

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

Done at Brussels, 20 December 2007.

For the Council
The President

F. NUNES CORREIA

(1) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. Decision as amended by Decision

2006/512/EC (OJ L 200, 22.7.2006, p. 11).