Proposal for a Council Regulation concerning the implementation of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Community and the Republic of Cuba pursuant to Article XXIV:6 of GATT 1994, amending and supplementing Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff
Date: 2008-09-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: CCT duties, Combined Nomenclature, Cuba, agreement (EU), tariff quota

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 16.9.2008 
COM(2008) 555 final 

2008/0179 (ACC) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

concerning the implementation of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters 
between the European Community and the Republic of Cuba pursuant to Article 
XXIV:6 of GATT 1994, amending and supplementing Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 
2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

2. 

Reference  is  made  to  Council  Decision  XXXX,  regarding  the  conclusion  of  an 
Agreement  with  the  Republic  of  Cuba  following  negotiations  in  the  framework  of 
Article XXIV:6 of GATT 1994.  

The  present  proposal  for  a  Council  Regulation  implements  the  Agreement  entered 
into by the Community. 

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2008/0179 (ACC) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

concerning the implementation of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters 
between the European Community and the Republic of Cuba pursuant to Article 
XXIV:6 of GATT 1994, amending and supplementing Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 
2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

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

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission1, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/872 established a goods nomenclature, hereinafter 
referred to as the ’Combined Nomenclature’, and set out the conventional duty rates of 
the Common Customs Tariff.  

By its Decision XX/XXX/EC of [day month] 2008 on the conclusion of an Agreement 
in  the  form  of  an  Exchange  of  Letters  between  the  European  Community  and  the 
Republic  of  Cuba,  the  Council  approved,  on  behalf  of  the  Community,  the  above-
mentioned Agreement with a view to closing negotiations initiated pursuant to Article 
XXIV: 6 of GATT 1994.  

(3) 

Regulation  (EEC)  No  2658/87  should  therefore  be  amended  and  supplemented 
accordingly, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

In Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87, Annex 7 entitled "WTO tariff quotas to be opened by the 
competent  Community  authorities",  of  Section  III  of  Part  Three  of  Annex  I,  shall  be 
supplemented with the volumes shown in the Annex to this Regulation. 

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2 

OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ  L  256,  7.9.1987,  p.  1.  Regulation  as  last  amended  by  Regulation  (EC)  No  129/2007  (OJ  L  56, 
23.2.2007, p. 1). 

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Article 2 

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

It shall apply two months after the date of the signed letter from the Republic of Cuba. 

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

Done at Brussels, […] 

For the Council 
The President 
[…] 

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ANNEX  

Notwithstanding the rules for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature, the wording 
for the description of the products is to be considered as having no more than an indicative 
value, the concessions being determined, within the context of this Annex, by the coverage of 
the CN codes as they exist at the time of adoption of the present Regulation. Where ex CN 
codes are indicated, the concessions are to be determined by application of the CN code and 
corresponding description taken together. 

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In Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87, Annex 7 entitled ‘WTO tariff quotas to be opened by the 
competent Community authorities’, of Section III of Part Three of Annex I, the other terms 
and conditions are the following: 

CN Code 

Description 

Raw cane sugar, for refining 

Tariff  item 
numbers  

1701 11 10 

terms  and 

Other 
conditions 

Add a country 
allocation of 20000 
tonnes for Cuba for 
marketing year 
2008/2009 in the 
EC tariff rate quota, 
in-quota rate 98€/t. 

Add a country 
allocation of 10000 
tonnes for Cuba as 
from marketing 
year 2009/2010 in 
the EC tariff rate 
quota, in-quota rate 
98€/t. 

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LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR PROPOSALS HAVING A 
BUDGETARY IMPACT EXCLUSIVELY LIMITED TO THE REVENUE SIDE 

1. 

NAME OF THE PROPOSAL: 

Proposal for a Council Regulation concerning the implementation of the Agreement 
between  the  European  Community  and  the  Republic  of  Cuba  relating  to 
compensatory adjustment as provided for by Article XXIV:6 of GATT 1994. 

2. 

BUDGET LINES: 

Chapter and Article: Chapter 10 - Agricultural duties 

Amount budgeted for the year concerned:  1 683.2 Mio € 

3. 

FINANCIAL IMPACT  

(cid:133) 

Proposal has no financial implications 

⌧  Proposal has no financial impact on expenditure but has a financial impact on 

revenue – the effect is as follows: 

(€ million to one decimal place)  

Budget line 

Revenue3 

12 month period, 
starting dd/mm/yyyy

Year 2008 

Article 100… 

Impact on own resources 

[…] 

- 2.4 

Article … 

Impact on own resources 

[…] 

[…] 

Situation following action 

[n+1] 

[n+2] 

[n+3] 

[n+4] 

[n+5] 

Article … 

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Regarding  traditional  own  resources  (agricultural  duties,  sugar  levies,  customs  duties)  the  amounts 
indicated must be net amounts, i.e. gross amounts after deduction of 25 % of collection costs. 

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Article … 

4. 

5. 

ANTI-FRAUD MEASURES 

OTHER REMARKS 

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