Council Regulation (EU) 2023/2720 of 27 November 2023 opening and providing for the management of the Union autonomous tariff quotas for certain fishery products for the 2024–2026 period
Date: 2023-11-27
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Belarus, Russia, crustacean, fish, fish product, fishery product, frozen product, import (EU), originating product, refrigerated product, tariff quota




L_202302720EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
Series L













2023/2720


6.12.2023







            COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) 2023/2720
of 27 November 2023
         
opening and providing for the management of the Union autonomous tariff quotas for certain fishery products for the 2024–2026 period
(Text with EEA relevance)


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)


Union supplies of certain fishery products currently depend on imports from third countries. In recent decades, the Union has become more dependent on imports to meet its demand for fishery products. In order to ensure that the Union’s production of fishery products is not jeopardised and that there is an adequate supply of fishery products to its processing industry, import duties should be suspended or reduced for a number of fishery products within tariff quotas of an appropriate volume. To ensure fair competition between imported fishery products and Union fishery products on the Union market, the impact of the measures on the competitiveness of Union fish producers should also be taken into consideration.












(2)


Council Regulation (EU) 2020/1706 (1) opened and provided for the management of autonomous Union tariff quotas for certain fishery products for the 2021–2023 period. Given that the period of application of that Regulation expires on 31 December 2023, a new regulation providing for tariff quotas should be adopted for the 2024–2026 period.












(3)


Since July 2014, the Union has progressively imposed restrictive measures against Russia. In its conclusions of 24 February 2022, the European Council stated that Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine is grossly violating international law and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and is undermining European and global security and stability.












(4)


Most recently, on 23 June 2023, the Council adopted an eleventh package of restrictive measures against Russia because of its continuous war of aggression against Ukraine.












(5)


While Russia is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Union can rely on the exceptions that apply under the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (‘WTO Agreement’), and in particular Article XXI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994, in particular with regard to the obligation to accord to products imported from Russia the advantages granted to like products imported from other countries (most-favoured-nation treatment).












(6)


In light of the deterioration of relations between the Union and Russia, in order to ensure coherence with the Union’s actions and principles in the field of the Union’s external action, it would therefore not be appropriate to allow products originating from Russia to enjoy duty-free treatment and most-favoured-nation treatment with regard to the products that fall within the scope of this Regulation.












(7)


Relations between the Union and Belarus have deteriorated over the past years, because of the Belarusian regime’s disregard for international law, fundamental rights and human rights. In addition, Belarus has provided extensive support to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine from its very beginning.












(8)


Since October 2020, the Union has progressively imposed restrictive measures against Belarus over continued human rights abuses, the instrumentalisation of migrants and the involvement of Belarus in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. As Belarus is not a member of the WTO, the Union is not obliged, by virtue of the WTO Agreement, to accord the most-favoured-nation treatment to products from Belarus.












(9)


In light of the deterioration of the relations between the Union and Belarus, in order to ensure coherence with the Union’s actions and principles in the field of the Union’s external action, it would therefore not be appropriate to allow products originating from Belarus to enjoy duty-free treatment with regard to the products that fall within the scope of this Regulation.












(10)


Exclusion of products from Belarus and Russia, notably Alaska pollock, from the scope of this Regulation will have impact on trade flows and will require adaptation by the Union industry. If, as a consequence, raw materials which are currently not covered by the scope of this Regulation are identified as equivalent to those products and urgently needed during the adaptation period, this Regulation may be revised to take those circumstances into account.












(11)


All Union importers should benefit from equal and uninterrupted access to the tariff quotas provided for in this Regulation, and the rates set out for the tariff quotas should be applied without interruption to all imports of the fishery products concerned into all Member States until the tariff quotas have been used up.












(12)


Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 (2) provides for a system of tariff-quota management which follows the chronological order of the dates on which the custom declarations for release for free circulation were accepted. Since the tariff quotas are intended to ensure the adequate supply of fishery products to the Union’s processing industry, a minimum level of treatment or operation should be required for quota entitlement.












(13)


To ensure that the tariff quotas are managed in an efficient way, Member States should be allowed to draw from the tariff quota amount the necessary quantities corresponding to their actual imports. Since that method of management requires close cooperation between the Member States and the Commission, the Commission should be able to monitor the rate at which the tariff quotas are used up and should inform the Member States accordingly,





HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:



Article 1
Import duties on the products listed in the Annex shall be suspended or reduced to fall within the tariff quotas at the rates, for the periods and up to the amounts indicated therein.


Article 2
The tariff quotas referred to in Article 1 of this Regulation shall be managed in accordance with Articles 49 to 54 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447.


Article 3
The tariff quotas shall be subject to end-use customs supervision in accordance with Article 254 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3).


Article 4

1.   The suspension or reduction of import duties shall apply only to products intended for human consumption.


2.   The tariff quotas shall not be available for products whose processing is carried out at retail or catering level.


3.   The tariff quotas shall not be available for products intended solely for one or more of the following operations:






(a)


cleaning, gutting, tailing and heading;










(b)


cutting;










(c)


repacking of frozen individually quick-frozen (IQF) fillets;










(d)


sampling and sorting;










(e)


labelling;










(f)


packing;










(g)


chilling;










(h)


freezing;










(i)


deep-freezing;










(j)


defrosting;










(k)


glazing;










(l)


thawing; and










(m)


separation.






4.   Notwithstanding paragraph 3, the tariff quotas shall be available for products intended for one or more of the following operations:






(a)


dicing;










(b)


cutting into rings and cutting into strips for materials under CN codes ex 0307 43 35, ex 0307 43 91, ex 0307 43 92 and ex 0307 43 99;










(c)


filleting;










(d)


production of flaps;










(e)


cutting of frozen blocks;










(f)


splitting of frozen interleaved fillet and cephalopod blocks to obtain individual fillets;










(g)


slicing for materials under CN codes ex 0303 66 11, ex 0303 66 12, ex 0303 66 13, ex 0303 66 19, ex 0303 89 70 and ex 0303 89 90;










(h)


treatment by packaging gases as defined in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) for products under CN codes 0306 16 99 (TARIC subdivision 20 and 30), 0306 17 92 (TARIC subdivision 20), 0306 17 99 (TARIC subdivision 10), 0306 35 90 (TARIC subdivisions 12, 14, 92 and 93), 0306 36 90 (TARIC subdivisions 20 and 30), 1605 21 90 (TARIC subdivisions 45, 55 and 62) and 1605 29 00 (TARIC subdivisions 50, 55 and 60);










(i)


dividing the frozen product or subjecting the frozen product to heat treatment to enable the removal of internal waste material for materials under CN codes 0306 11 10 (TARIC subdivision 10), 0306 11 90 (TARIC subdivision 20) and 0306 31 00 (TARIC subdivision 10);










(j)


pasteurisation under CN codes 0305 20 00 and 1604 32 00;










(k)


cleaning in case this operation is the only one that can be performed on a particular good and the cleaning is necessary to obtain the product acceptable for human consumption (fish roe from headings 0302, 0303 and 0305; shrimps from heading 0306; frozen fish, excluding fish fillets and other fish meat, of the species Gadus morhua for processing under CN code 0303 63 10, of the species Merluccius, excluding Merluccius merluccius, for processing under CN codes 0303 66 11, 0303 66 12, 0303 66 13 and 0303 66 19, and of the species Theragra chalcogramma for processing under CN code 0303 67 00); and










(l)


modified atmosphere packaging under CN code 1605 40 00.






5.   The tariff quotas shall not be available to products originating from Russia or Belarus.
For the purpose of establishing the origin of products under the quotas, non-preferential rules of origin shall apply in accordance with Article 60 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013.



Article 5
The Commission and the customs authorities of the Member States shall cooperate closely to ensure the proper management and control of the application of this Regulation.


Article 6
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2026.




This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 27 November 2023.


For the Council


The President

X. MÉNDEZ BÉRTOLO
            





(1)  Council Regulation (EU) 2020/1706 of 13 November 2020 opening and providing for the management of autonomous Union tariff quotas for certain fishery products for the 2021–2023 period (OJ L 385, 17.11.2020, p. 3).

(2)  Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 of 24 November 2015 laying down detailed rules for implementing certain provisions of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the Union Customs Code (OJ L 343, 29.12.2015, p. 558).

(3)  Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 October 2013 laying down the Union Customs Code (OJ L 269, 10.10.2013, p. 1).

(4)  Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on food additives (OJ L 354, 31.12.2008, p. 16).




ANNEX











Order No


CN code


TARIC code


Description


Annual amount of quota (tonnes) (1)



Quota duty


Quota period




09.2503


ex 0303 39 85 


80


Flatfish (Limanda aspera, Lepidopsetta bilineata, Pleuronectes quadrituberculatus, Limanda ferruginea, Lepidopsetta polyxystra, Eopsetta jordani), frozen, for processing


7 500 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




ex 0303 39 85 


90




09.2504


0302 11 20 


10


Trout of the species Oncorhynchus mykiss, with heads and gills on, gutted, weighing more than 1,2 kg each, or with heads off, gilled and gutted, weighing more than 1 kg each, for processing


10 000 


5  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




09.2505


ex 0303 54 10 


95 (2)



Chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus), whole, fillets and flaps, for processing


5 000 


7,5  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




ex 0304 89 49 


20




ex 0304 99 99 


12




09.2508


ex 0307 43 35 


10


Squid of the species Loligo gahi, frozen, for processing


75 000 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




09.2746


ex 0302 89 90 


30


Southern red snapper (Lutjanus purpureus), fresh, chilled, for processing


1 500 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




09.2748


ex 0302 91 00 


96


Hard fish roes, fresh, chilled or frozen, salted or in brine, for processing


5 700 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




ex 0303 91 90 


96




ex 0305 20 00 


41




09.2750


ex 0305 20 00 


35


Hard fish roes, washed, cleaned of adherent organs and simply salted or in brine, for manufacture of caviar substitutes


1 200 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




ex 1604 32 00 


20




09.2759


ex 0302 51 10 


20


Cod (Gadus morhua, Gadus ogac, Gadus macrocephalus) and fish of the species Boreogadus saida, excluding livers and roes, fresh, chilled or frozen, for processing


110 000 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




ex 0302 51 90 


10




ex 0302 59 10 


10




ex 0303 63 10 


10




ex 0303 63 30 


10




ex 0303 63 90 


10




ex 0303 69 10 


10




09.2760


ex 0303 66 11 


10


Hake (Merluccius spp. excluding Merluccius, Urophycis spp.), and pink cusk-eel (Genypterus blacodes and Genypterus capensis), frozen, for processing


10 000 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




ex 0303 66 12 


10




ex 0303 66 13 


10




ex 0303 66 19 


11




91




ex 0303 89 70 


10




ex 0303 89 90 


30




09.2761


ex 0304 79 50 


10


Blue grenadier (Macruronus Novaezelandiae) and Patagonian grenadier (Macruronus magellanicus), frozen fillets and other frozen meat, for processing


17 500 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




ex 0304 95 90 


11




ex 0304 79 90 


11




09.2762


ex 0306 11 10 


10


Rock lobster and other sea crawfish (Palinurus spp., Panulirus spp., Jasus spp.), live, chilled, frozen, for processing


200 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




ex 0306 11 90 


20




ex 0306 31 00 


10




09.2765


ex 0305 62 00 


20


Cod (Gadus morhua, Gadus ogac, Gadus macrocephalus) and fish of the species Boreogadus saida, salted or in brine, but not dried or smoked, for processing


2 000 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




25




29




ex 0305 69 10 


10




09.2770


ex 0305 63 00 


10


Anchovies (Engraulis anchoita), salted or in brine, but not dried or smoked, for processing


1 500 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




09.2772


ex 0304 93 10 


10


Surimi, frozen, for processing


60 000 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




ex 0304 94 10 


10




ex 0304 95 10 


10




ex 0304 99 10 


10




09.2774


ex 0304 74 15 


10


Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) and Argentine hake (Southwest Atlantic hake) (Merluccius hubbsi), frozen fillets and other meat, for processing


40 000 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




ex 0304 74 19 


10




ex 0304 95 50 


10




20




09.2776


ex 0304 71 10 


10


Cod (Gadus morhua, Gadus macrocephalus), frozen fillets and frozen meat, for processing


45 000 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




ex 0304 71 90 


10




ex 0304 95 21 


10




ex 0304 95 25 


10




09.2777


ex 0303 67 00 


10


Alaska pollack (Theragra chalcogramma), frozen, frozen fillets and other frozen meat for processing


340 000 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




ex 0304 75 00 


10




ex 0304 94 90 


10




09.2778


ex 0304 83 90 


21


Flatfish (Limanda aspera, Lepidopsetta bilineata, Pleuronectes quadrituberculatus, Limanda ferruginea, Lepidopsetta polyxystra), frozen fillets and other fish meat, for processing


10 000 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




ex 0304 99 99 


65




09.2785


ex 0307 43 91 


10


Pod (3) of squid (Ommastrephes spp. – excluding Todarodes sagittatus (synonym Ommastrephes sagittatus) –, Nototodarus spp., Sepioteuthis spp.) and Illex spp., frozen, with skin and fins, for processing


20 000 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




ex 0307 43 92 


10




ex 0307 43 99 


21




09.2786


ex 0307 43 91 


20


Squid (Ommastrephes spp. – excluding Todarodes sagittatus (synonym Ommastrephes sagittatus) -, Nototodarus spp., Sepioteuthis spp.) and Illex spp., frozen, whole or tentacles and fins, for processing


5 000 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




ex 0307 43 92 


20




ex 0307 43 99 


29




09.2790


ex 1604 14 26 


10


Filets known as ‘loins’ of tunas and skipjack, for processing


35 000 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




ex 1604 14 36 


10




ex 1604 14 46 


11




21




92




94




09.2794


ex 1605 21 90 


45


Shrimps and prawns of the species Pandalus borealis and Pandalus montagui cooked and peeled, for processing


4 500 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




55




62




ex 1605 29 00 


50




55




60




09.2798


ex 0306 16 99 


20


Shrimps and prawns of the species Pandalus borealis and Pandalus montagui, in shells, fresh, chilled or frozen for processing


2 000 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




30




ex 0306 35 90 


12




14




92




93




09.2800


ex 1605 21 90 


55


Shrimps and prawns of the species Pandalus jordani, cooked and peeled, for processing


4 000 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




ex 1605 29 00 


60




09.2802


ex 0306 17 92 


20


Shrimps and prawns of the species Penaeus Vannamei and Penaeus monodon, whether in shell or not, fresh, chilled or frozen, not cooked, for processing


48 000 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




ex 0306 36 90 


30




09.2804


ex 1605 40 00 


40


Crayfish tails of the species Procambarus clarkii, cooked, for processing


2 500 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




09.2821


0307 43 33 


10


Squid of the species Loligo pealeii, frozen, for processing


1 000 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




09.2822


ex 0303 11 00 


20


Pacific salmon of the species Oncorhynchus nerka (sockeye salmon (red salmon)), Oncorhynchus kisutch, Oncorhynchus keta and Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, headed and gutted, and in the form of fillets, frozen, for processing


10 000 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




ex 0303 12 00 


20




ex 0304 81 00 


20




09.2824


0302 52 00 


10


Haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) fresh, chilled or frozen with heads off, gilled and gutted, for processing


3 500 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




0303 64 00 


10




09.2826


ex 0306 17 99 


10


Shrimps and prawns of the species Pleoticus Muelleri, whether in shell or not, fresh, chilled or frozen, for processing


16 000 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026




ex 0306 36 90 


20




09.2515


ex 0304 61 00 


10


Frozen fillets of tilapia (Oreochromis spp.)


10 000 


0  %


1.1.2024–31.12.2026






(1)  Expressed in net weight, unless otherwise stated.

(2)  From 15 February to 15 June, the benefit of the tariff quota shall not be granted to goods declared for free circulation.

(3)  Body of cephalopod or the squid headless and without tentacle, with skin and fins.



ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/2720/oj
ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)