Proposal for a Council Regulation (EU) No …/… of amending Regulation (EU) No 7/2010 opening and providing for the management of autonomous tariff quotas of the Union for certain agricultural and industrial products
Date: 2010-05-04
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: agricultural product, import (EU), industrial product, tariff exemption, tariff quota

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 4.5.2010 
COM(2010)201 final 

2010/0111 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) No …/… 

of  

amending Regulation (EU) No 7/2010 opening and providing for the management of 
autonomous tariff quotas of the Union for certain agricultural and industrial products 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

Autonomous tariff quotas of the Union are needed for products where production in the Union 
is insufficient to meet the needs of the user industry in the Union for the current quota period. 
In  response  to  requests  from  several  Member  States,  the  Commission,  together  with  the 
government experts concerned, considered whether it is necessary to open autonomous tariff 
quotas for certain agricultural and industrial products. 

On  22 December 2009  the  Council  adopted  Regulation  (EU)  No 7/2010  opening  and 
providing  for  the  management  of  autonomous  tariff  quotas  of  the  Union  for  certain 
agricultural and industrial products and repealing Regulation (EC) No 2505/96 so that Union 
demand for the products in question could be met under the most favourable conditions. 

Tariff  quotas  of  the  Union  should  be  opened  at  zero  or  reduced  rates  of  the  autonomous 
Common  Customs  Tariff  duty  for  appropriate  volumes,  without  disturbing  the  markets  for 
such products. Discussions at meetings of the Economic Tariff Questions Group showed that 
the  Member  States  were  ready  to  open  a  new  quota  and  to  increase  quota  volumes  for  the 
products  covered  by  the  proposal  for  a  Regulation,  without  disturbing  the  markets  for  such 
goods. 

The proposal is in line with agricultural, trade, entreprise, development and external relations 
policies.  Especially  this  proposal  is  not  at  the  expense  of  countries  enjoying  a  preferential 
trading  agreement  with  the  EU  (e.g.  GSP,  ACP  regime,  candidate  and  potential  candidate 
countries of the Western Balkans). 

2. 

RESULTS  OF  CONSULTATIONS  OF  THE  INTERESTED  PARTIES  AND 
IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

The Economic Tariff Questions Group representing the industries of each Member State was 
consulted. All listed quotas reflect the agreement reached by the Group. 

There was no mention of potentially serious risks with irreversible consequences. 

This proposal will follow an inter service consultation procedure and will be published after 
its adoption by the Council. 

3. 

LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

Amendment  of  a  Council  Regulation  opening  and  providing  for  the  management  of 
autonomous tariff quotas of the Union for certain agricultural and industrial products on the 
legal basis of Article 31 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. By virtue of 
that Article autonomous tariff quotas are fixed by the Council acting on a qualified majority 
on the basis of a Commission proposal. 

The  proposal  falls  under  the  exclusive  competence  of  the  Union.  The  subsidiary  principle 
therefore does not apply. 

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This  set  of  measures  is  in  line  with  the  principles  for  simplifying  the  procedures  for  the 
operators  engaged  in  foreign  trade  and  with  the  Commission  communication  of  1998 
concerning autonomous tariff suspensions and quotas (C 128, 25.4.1998, p.2). 

4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATION 

Uncollected customs duties with a total amount of € - 1 613 617 

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2010/0111 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) No …/… 

of 

amending Regulation (EU) No 7/2010 opening and providing for the management of 
autonomous tariff quotas of the Union for certain agricultural and industrial products 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 31 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

To  ensure  sufficient  and  uninterrupted  supplies  of  certain  goods  insufficiently 
produced  in  the  Union  and  to  avoid  any  disturbances  on  the  market,  for  certain 
agricultural  and  industrial  products,  autonomous  tariff  quotas  have  been  opened  by 
Council Regulation (EU) No 7/20101 within which those products can be imported at 
reduced  or  zero  duty  rates.  For  the  same  reasons  it  is  necessary  to  open,  with  effect 
from  1  July  2010,  for  a  certain  product  a  new  tariff  quota  at  a  zero  duty  rate  for  an 
appropriate volume. 

The quota volumes for autonomous tariff quotas of the Union with order Nos 09.2814, 
09.2816  and  09.2807  are  insufficient  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  Union  industry. 
Consequently, those quota volumes should be increased. 

For  the  autonomous  tariff  quota  of  the  Union  with  order  No  09.2907  the  product 
description should be revised. 

Regulation (EU) No 7/2010 should therefore be amended accordingly. 

Since the tariff quotas provided for in this Regulation have to take effect from 1 July 
2010,  this  Regulation  should  apply  from  the  same  date  and  enter  into  force 
immediately, 

1 

OJ L 3, 7.1.2010,p.1. 

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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

The Annex to Regulation (EU) No 7/2010 is amended as follows: 

(1) 

the row set out in Annex I to this Regulation is inserted; 

the rows for the tariff quotas with order numbers Nos 09.2814, 09.2907 09.2816 and 

(2) 
09.2807 are replaced by the rows set out in Annex II to this Regulation. 

Article 2 

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

It shall apply from 1 July 2010. 

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in the Member States in 
accordance with the Treaties. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the Council 
The President 

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Tariff quotas referred to in Article 1(1) 

ANNEX I 

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Tariff quotas referred to in Article 1(2) 

ANNEX II 

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

1. 

NAME OF THE PROPOSAL: 

Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 7/2010 opening and providing for 
the management of autonomous tariff quotas of the Union for certain agricultural and 
industrial products 

2. 

BUDGET LINES: 

Chapter and Article: Chapter 12, Article 120 

Amount budgeted for the year 2010: € 14 079 700 000 € 

3. 

FINANCIAL IMPACT  

(cid:133) 

Proposal has no financial implications 

x(cid:133)  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 

Revenue2 

6 month period, 
starting 01/07/2010

[2010] 

Article 120 

Impact on own resources 

- 1.6 

2 

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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ANNEX I 

Effective from 1. 7.2010: 

Tariff quotas referred to in Article 1 

Description of 
product 

Quota amount 
(unit/tonnes) 

Estimated 
price (€ per 
km) 

Duty (%) 

Quota duty 

(2010 CCT) 

(%) 

Expected loss of revenue 
(in €)  

Optical fibres 

09.2635 

1 150 000 km 

6.66 

2.9 

0 

222 111 

Total loss of revenue:  
(€ 222 111 – € 55 529) = € 166 583 net.

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ANNEX II 

Effective from 1. 7.2010: 

Tariff quotas referred to in Article 2 

Description of 
product 

Variation in 
quota amount 
(tonnes/g) 

Estimated 
price (€ per 
tonne) 

Duty (%) 

Quota duty 

(2010 CCT) 

(%) 

Expected variation in the 
loss of revenue in relation 
to the previous quota 
period (in €)  

09.2814 

Catalyst 

09.2816 

Flakes 

 + 600 tonnes 

(initial 
amount: 

1 600 tonnes) 

 + 21 500 
tonnes 

(initial 
amount: 

37 000 tonnes) 

 + 40 000 g 

4 500 €/t 

6.5 

0 

+ 175 500 

933 €/t 

6.5 

0 

+ 1 303 868 

09.2807 

Hyaluronate 

(initial 
amount: 

173 081 
€/kg 

110 000 g) 

6.5 

0 

+450 011 

Total loss of revenue in relation to previous quota period:  
(€ 1 929 379 – € 482 345) = € 1 447 034 net.

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4. 

ANTI-FRAUD MEASURES  

Provisions  on  the  management  of  tariff  quotas  include  the  measures  needed  to 
prevent and protect against frauds and irregularities. 

5. 

OTHER REMARKS 

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