CELEX: 51996PC0380
Language: en
Date: 1996-07-23
Title: Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1981/94 opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas for certain products originating in Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Malta, Morocco, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Tunisia and Turkey, and providing detailed rules for extending and adapting these tariff quotas

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
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                                                Brussels, 23.07.1996
                                                COM(96) 380 final
                                                96/0191 (ACC)
                                  Proposal for a
                       COUNCIL REGULATION (EC)
  amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1981/94 opening and providing for the
  administration of Community tariff quotas for certain products originating in
Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Malta, Morocco, the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip, Tunisia and Turkey, and providing detailed rules for extending and
                          adapting these tariff quotas
                        (presented by the Commission)
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                           EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
Council Regulation (EC) No 1981/94 of 25 July 1994, opening and providing for the
administration of Community tariff quotas for certain products originating in the
Mediterranean countries, as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No
1099/96 of 19 June 1996, established in its Annex IV the tariff quotas granted to
certain products originating in Morocco under the cooperation agreement between that
country and the Community.
As a result of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, the reference price
arrangements stipulating payment of a countervailing charge on the import of certain
fruit and vegetables has been replaced by a system of specific customs duties linked to
the entry price.
Negotiations have been held with Morocco with a view to sign an association
agreement containing, inter alia, provisions relating to the adjustment of the existing
concessions. This agreement includes arrangements on the quantities of tomatoes,
courgettes, artichokes, cucumbers, clémentines and oranges eligible for a reduction in
the entry price and on an adjustment to the tariff quotas for flowers. It was agreed in
the Council to implement these concessions at the earliest possible opportunity without
waiting for the conclusion of the agreement by the Community and its ratification by
the Member States.
Council Regulation (EC) No 3057/95 of 22 December 1995 amending Regulation
(EC) N° 1981/94 brought these concessions into application from 1 November 1995.
A quantity of 5 000 tonnes of tomatoes, equivalent to the quota for October, could not
be taken into account when this regulation was adopted because the date of approval
of the measure was out of step with the period during which these imports are made.
It is therefore necessary to complete the Council's political undertaking, by amending
Regulation (EC) N° 1981/94.
For the sake of efficiency and the timely publication of regulations implementing the
 tariff quotas provided in the new Euro-Mediterranean Agreements, it is proposed to
 authorize the Commission to make, on the advice of the Customs Code Committee,
 any adaptation of Regulation (EC) N° 1981/94 made necessary by the entry into force
 of the new agreements.
 This is the purpose of the present proposal for a regulation.
                                         1
 ---pagebreak---                                           Proposal for a
                               COUNCIL REGULATION (ECi
        amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1981/94 opening and providing for the
   administration of Community tariff quotas for certain products originating in Algeria,
    Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Malta, Morocco, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,
  Tunisia and Turkey, and providing detailed rules for extending and adapting these tariff
                                              quotas
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article
113 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Whereas Council Regulation (EC) No 1981/94 of 25 July 94 opening and providing for the
administration of Community tariff quotas for certain products originating in Algeria, Cyprus,
Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Malta, Morocco, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Tunisia and
Turkey, and providing detailed rules for extending and adapting these tariff quotas, ' as last
amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1099/96,2 opens in its Annex IV Community
tariff quotas for certain products originating in Morocco as provided for under the cooperation
agreements between the Community and that country;
Whereas, as a result of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, the reference
price arrangements stipulating payment of a countervailing charge on the import of certain fruit
and vegetables have been replaced by a system of specific customs duties linked to the entry
price;
Whereas, the negotiations held with Morocco resulted in the conclusion of an association
agreement containing, inter alia, provisions relating to the adjustment of the existing
concessions; whereas this agreement contains specific provisions relating to the quantities of
tomatoes, courgettes, artichokes, cucumbers, clémentines and oranges eligible for a reduction
in the entry price and relating to an adjustment to the tariff quotas for flowers; whereas it has
been decided in the Council to implement these concessions as early as possible, without
waiting for the conclusion of the agreement by the Community and its ratification by the
Member States;
Whereas Council Regulation (EC) N° 3057/95 of 22 December 19953 amending Regulation
(EC) N° 1981/94, brought these concession into application; whereas when that regulation was
being adopted it was impossible to take account of a quantity of 5 000 tonnes of tomatoes,
which is equivalent to the quota for October, because the date of approval of the measure was
out of step with the period when these imports are made; whereas Regulation (EC) N° 1981/94
should therefore be amended so as to abide by Council's political undertaking;
 1 OJ No L 199, 02.08.1994, p. 1.
2 OJ No L 146, 20.06.1996, p. 8.
3
    OJ No L 326, 30.12.1995, p. 3.
                                               3
 ---pagebreak--- Whereas for the sake of efficiency and the timely publication of regulations implementing the
tariff quotas provided in the new Euro-Mediterranean agreements, it should be provided that
the Commission can make, on the advice of the Customs Code Committee, any adaptation of
regulation (EC) N° 1981/94 made necessary by the entry into force of these new agreements
between the Community and the countries in question,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
                                              Article 1
Regulation (EC) N° 1981/94 shall be amended as follows:
 1. The text of Article 6 (1) (c) is replaced by the following text:
          "the necessary adaptations arising from the conclusion of agreements, protocols or
          exchanges of letters between the Community and the countries referred to in this
          regulation; and
2. The fourth indent of Article 6 (2) is deleted.
3. In Annexe IV on the Community tariff quotas for certain products originating in Morocco,
    order N° 09.1189 is inserted as follows:
     Order     CN code        Taric                 Description               Quota        Rate
       No                      sub-                                        volume per     of duty
                            division                                          year or       (%)
                                                                            indicated
                                                                              period
                                                                           (in tonnes)
     09.1189   0702 00 40                 Tomatoes,freshor chilled:            5 000
                                          - From 1 to 31 October               (5X6)
                                              a
 ---pagebreak--- At the end of the table relating to Morocco, the first indent of footnote (5) shall be
replaced by the following:
         "— ECU 492/tonne for tomatoes, from 1 October to 31 December 1996 and
         ECU484/tonneinl997".
                                        Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official
Journal of the European Communities.
It shall applyfrom1 October 1996.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
States.
Done at
                                                  For the Council
                                                  The President
 ---pagebreak---                              FINANCIAL STATEMENT
1.   Budget headine involved           Chapter 12, Article 120
2.   Legal basis      Article 113 of the Treaty
3.   Title of operation
     Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1981/94
     opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas for
     certain products originating in Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Malta,
     Morocco, West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Tunisia and Turkey, and providing
     detailed rules for extending and adapting these tariff quotas
4    Objective
     Advanced implementation as authorized by the General Affairs Council of 10
     November 1995, of certain provisions of the agricultural part of the future Euro-
     Mediterranean between the Community and Morocco, with a view to allowing
     Morocco to maintain its traditional exports of tomatoes during October.
5.   Financial details
     The purpose of this measure is to maintain, for tomatoes imported from Morocco to
     the European Union in October, the arrangements applicable to imports of this product
     before the results of the Uruguay Round of multilateral made negotiations entrained
     into fore.
         CN code :                         0702 00 40
         Quota duty rate :                 identical to CN duty, but
                                           taking     account      of     a
                                           conventional entry price above
                                           which the additional specific
                                           duty is reduced to zero
          CN duty :                         16,8% plus additional specific
                                           duty linked to the entry price
    The application of this regulation entails no additional loss of revenue in
    comparison with the agreement with Morocco.
6. Anti-fraud measures
   Provisions on the management of tariff quotas provide the necessary measures to prevent
   and protect against frauds and irregularities.
                                               &
 ---pagebreak---                                                                    ISSN 0254-1475
                                                            COM(96) 380 final
                                              DOCUMENTS
EN                                                                   02 11 03
                                    Catalogue number : CB-CO-96-380-EN-C
                                                             ISBN 92-78-07347-4
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
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