CELEX: 51982PC0672
Language: en
Date: 1982-10-22
Title: Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for newsprint falling within subheading 48.01 A of the Common Customs Tariff (1983) and extending this quota to include certain other types of paper (submitted to the Council by the Commission)

ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DE LA COMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (82) 672
Vol. 1982/0210
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In accordance with Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 354/83 of 1 February 1983
concerning the opening to the public of the historical archives of the European Economic
Community and the European Atomic Energy Community (OJ L 43, 15.2.1983, p. 1), as
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In Übereinstimmung mit der Verordnung (EWG, Euratom) Nr. 354/83 des Rates vom 1.
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 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                      COM(82)672 final
                                                      Brussels , 22 October 1982
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                                      Proposal for a
                                   COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC )
         opening , allocating and providing for the administration of a
         Community tariff quota for newsprint falling within subheading 48.01 A
         of the Common Customs Tariff ( 1983 ) and extending this quota to in­
         clude certain other types of paper
                        ( submitted to the Council by the Commission )
C0M(82 ) 672 final
 ---pagebreak---                   EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
At the last multilateral GATT negotiations, the Community undertook to
open annually a nil-duty Community tariff quota for 1 500 000 tonnes of
newsprint falling within subheading 48.0 1 A of the Common Customs
Tariff .
Furthermore, the Community informed the Nordic delegation (text Nord k
of document NCG(67.)44 rev.) that it had decided to open a nil-duty tariff
quota each year under Article 28 of the Treaty of Rome of it were
established that all possibilities of supply on the internal market of the
Community had been exhausted during a given accounting period and after
having entirely used up the nil duty quota bound under GATT .
Moreover , Protocol No 13 annexed to the Act of Accession also provides
for the opening of an autonomous Community tariff quota for this product
when it has been established that all possibilities of supply on the internal
market of the Community have been exhausted during the period for which
the quota is opened.
Judging from market trends over the past few years it is already clear that
the 1983 Community tariff quota to be opened must be greater than the
1 500 000 tonnes originally established . The matter of the quota amount to
be provided for 1983 was the subject of a discussion by the Economic Tariff
Questions Group on 10 September 1982, at the conclusion of which it
transpired that :
(i ) the market for Community production in 1983 did not seem to be
guaranteed at the moment and, therefore, that the condition imposed on
the opening of an autonomous tariff quota by Protocol No 13, and by the
commitment entered into with the Nordic delegation , did not therefore
appear to be currently fulfilled ;
(ii) the estimates put forward by the Member States fixed their import
requirements from third countries at nearly 2 765 000 tonnes, according to
the level which might be reached by Community production ;
 ---pagebreak---                                       - 2 -
   the actual utilization of quotas opened for 1977, 1978 , 1979 , 1980 and 1981
   was 2 385 000, 2 500 000, 2660 000, 2 721 400 and 2 858 002 respectively
   and for 1982 the figure is likely to be similar .
   The consumption trend and the unfavourable current general economic
   situation do justify such requirements for 1983 .
3. Generally speaking, the Commission considers in this case that in view of
   the uncertainties regarding the levels of consumption , production and
   imports from third countries , as well as of the need to ensure parallel
   developement of Community production and of supplies for the consumer
   industries on satisfactory terms , it is necessary to show discretion in fixing
   the quota to be opened so as not to jeopardize the stablility of the market.
   For the above reasons, the Commission proposes that the quota be fixed for
   1983 at the anticipated minimum level of import requirements of the
   Member States, namely 2 700 000 tonnes, and that the situation be
   reviewed in the course of the year .
k. The tariff quota is allocated in accordance with the method which had
   normally been applied : allocation is based on past import figures and on
   estimates for the quota year in question .
   Furthermore, in view of the size of the quota proposed from the start, the
   Commission considers that it would be contrary to the Community nature
   of this quota to divide it up into shares allocated definitively to all the
   Member States. It therefore proposes a system of administration based on
   the establishment of a Community reserve limited to 5,5 %. This system
   of allocation and administration was, moreover, unanimously approved by
   all Member States at the time of the opening of the tariff quota for
   previous years.
5. Pending a definitive decision on the problem of watermark criteria,
   contained in the Additional Note to Chapter 48 , it is proposed to renew for
   1983 the possibility for the Member States to charge against the quota
   concerned other types of paper         which , leaving aside the criteria of
   watermarks , correspond to the definition of newsprint to be found in the
   abovementioned Additional Note .
 ---pagebreak---                                                        Proposal for a
                                  COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
              opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff
              quota for newsprint falling within subheading 48.01 A of the Common Customs
              Tariff ( 1983) and extending this quota to include certain other types of paper
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                 question until the quota is exhausted ; whereas in the
COMMUNITIES,                                                light of theses principles, arrangements for the utiliza­
                                                            tion of the Community tariff quota based on an alloca­
                                                            tion among Member States would seem to be
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European       consistent with the Community nature of the quota ;
Economic Community, and in particular Articles 28           whereas, in order that it may correspond as closely as
and 1 1 3 thereof,                                          possible to the actual trend of the market in the
                                                            product in question, allocation of the quota should be
                                                            in proportion to the requirements of the Member
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,          States as calculated by reference to statistics on
                                                            imports from third countries during a representative
                                                            reference period and to the economic outlook for the
Whereas the Community has undertaken to open an             year covered by the quota in question ;
annual duty-free Community tariff quota of 1 500 000
tonnes of newsprint falling within subheading 48.01
A ; whereas, in accordance with Protocol 13 annexed
to the 1972 Act of Accession , each year an auto­           Whereas, for the past three years for which complete
nomous Community tariff quota is to be opened for           statistics are available, the imports of each of the
this product when it has been established that all          Member States sharing in the above allocation
possibilities of supply on the internal market of the       amounted to the following percentages of total
Community have been exhausted during the period             imports of the products in question :
for which the quota is opened ;
                                                                                           1979    1980        1981
Whereas, in view of present Community production
capacity, the contractual quota volume of 1 500 000
                                                            Benelux                       1305    14-44        12 . 83
tonnes is insufficient to meet anticipated import
requirements ; whereas provisions should therefore be       Denmark                        5-85    5-49          5 . 81
made for an autonomous supplementary quota which,           Germany                       25-64   27-39        23   .8?
in order not to jeopardize the stability of the market      Greece                          1-16   1-11           1 . 74
and so as to ensure parallel development of the             France                        1208    12-15        10   . 23
market for Community production and of supplies for         Ireland                        1-76    0-39          η  .?ή
the consumer industries on satisfactory terms, should        Italy                   ]     1-03    1 -63         2  . 39
be fixed at a level so that the total quota does not         United Kingdom               39-43   37-40        42   . 92
exceed its anticipated minimum utilization, namely
2 700 000 tonnes ; whereas the fixing of a figure of
1 200 000 tonnes for the autonomous supplementary
quota does not rule out a       readjustment during the
quota period ; whereas a       Community tariff quota       Whereas, in view of the above and of the foreseeable
should therefore be opened    for 198 3 for a total quan­    trend on the market in newsprint, in general, and of
tity of 2 700 000 tonnes of    the product in question ;     Community production in particular during 198-5 the
                                                             initial quota may be allocated approximately in the
Whereas provision should be made for extending the           following percentages :
tariff quota in question to include certain types of
paper fulfilling all the conditions set out in the Addi­
                                                                     Bénélux                      13.05
tional Note to Chapter 48 except those relating to
water marks ;                                                        Denmark                        6.30
                                                                     Germany                      24.39
                                                                     Greece                         2.48
Whereas equal and continuous access to the quota                     France                       11 . 17
should be ensured for all Community importers and                    Ireland                        0.94
the rate of duty for the tariff quota should be applied              Italy                          1 . 20
without interruption to all imports of the product in                United Kingdom               40.47
 ---pagebreak---                                                     - I    -
Wlu.i         to t;ikc account of import trends (or the          2.     Member States may charge against this tariff
prxirct concerned , the quota should be divided into             quota the other types of paper complying with the
LV« u ^ ranches, the first being allocated among the             definition of newsprint contained in the Additional
Member States and the second held as a reserve to                Note to Chapter 48, except as regards the criteria
cover subsequently the requirements of Member States             governing watermarks .
which have exhausted their initial shares ; whereas, to
give importers some degree of certainty and yet
enable Community production to be disposed of on
                                                                 3 . Imports of newsprint shall not be charged
                                                                 against this tariff quota if they are already free of
satisfactory terms, the first tranche of the quota should        customs duties under other preferential tariff treat­
be fixed at about 94-5 % of the full amount ;
                                                                 ment. Furthermore, imports of any other paper
                                                                 referred to in paragraph 2 enjoying duty-free exemp­
Whereas Member States may exhaust their initial                  tion under the said tariff quota shall not be charged
shares at different rates ; whereas, to provide for this         against the target ceilings fixed under certain free
eventuality and avoid disruption of supplies, any                trade agreements.
Member State which has almost used up its initial
share      should   draw   an  additional    share   from    the
reserve ; whereas each time its additional share is              4.     The Common Customs Tariff duty shall be
almost      exhausted    a  Member State       should   draw a   totally suspended within the limit of the above quota.
further share, and so on as many times as the reserve-
allows ; whereas the initial and additional shares               Within the limits of the above quota, Greece shall
should be valid until the end of the quota period ;              apply duties calculated in accordance with the rele­
whereas this form of administration requires close               vant provisions laid down in the 1979 Act of Acces­
collaboration between the Member States and the                  sion .
Commission, and the latter must be in a position to
keep account of the extent to which the quota has
been used up and to inform the Member States accord­
                                                                                          Article 2
ingly ;
Whereas if at a given date in the quota period a                 1.     The Community tariff quota referred to in
considerable quantity of a Member State's initial share          Article 1 shall be divided into two tranches."
remains unused it is essential, to prevent a part of the
Community tariff quota from remaining unused in                  2.     A first tranche of 2 550 000 tonnes shall be allo­
one Member State while it could be used in others,
                                                                 cated among the Member States. Member States'
that such State should return a significant proportion           shares, which subject to Article 5 shall be valid from 1
thereof to the reserve ;                                         January until 31 December 198 3 shall be as follows :
                                                                                                           (tonnes)
Whereas, since the Kingdom of Belgium, the                                Bénélux                      332 775
Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of                         Denmark                      160 650
Luxembourg are united within and jointly represented
by the Benelux Economic Union , any transaction in                       Germany                       621 945
                                                                         Greece                         63 240
respect of the administration of the shares allocated to                  France                       284 835
that economic union may be carried out by any one                         Ireland                       23 970
of its members,
                                                                          Italy                         30 600
                                                                          United Kingdom            1 031 985
                                                                 3.     The second tranche, of 1 50 000 tonnes, shall
                                                                 constitute the reserve.
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
                            Article 1                                                     Article 3
                                                                 1.     If 90 % or more of a Member State s initial share
 1.      During the period 1 January to 31 December
 198 3 a Community tariff quota of 2 700 000 tonnes              as fixed in Article 2 (2), or of that share minus the
shall be opened in respect of newsprint falling within           portion returned to the reserve where Article 5 has
subheading 48.01 A of the Common Customs                         been applied, has been used up, it shall forthwith, by
Tariff ( ' ).                                                    notifying the Commission, draw a second share, to the
                                                                 extent that the reserve so permits, equal to l0 % of its
( ' ) Entry under this subheading is subject to conditions to be initial share, rounded up as necessary to the next
      determined by the competent .iuthorities.                  whole number .
 ---pagebreak--- 2.      If, after its initial share has been exhausted , amounts have been returned thereto pursuant to
90 % or more of the second share drawn by a              Article 5 .
Member State has been used up, that Member State
shall, in the manner and to the extend provided in       It shall ensure that when a quantity exhausting the
paragraph 1 , draw a third share equal to 5 % of its     reserve is drawn, the amount so drawn does not
initial share .                                          exceed the balance available, and to this end shall
                                                         notify the amount of that balance to the Member State
3 . If, after its second share has been exhausted,       making the last drawing.
90 % or more of the third share drawn by a Member
State has been used up, that Member State shall , in
the manner and to the extend provided in paragraph
                                                                                 Article 7
 1 , draw a fourth share equal to the third.
This procedure shall apply until the reserve is          1.     Member    States   shall    take   all    appropriate
                                                         measures    to  ensure   that   additional    shares  drawn
exhausted .
                                                         pursuant to Article 3 are opened in such a way that
                                                         imports may be charged without interruption against
4. Notwithstanding paragraphs 1 , 2 and 3, Member        their accumulated share of the quota.
States may draw lesser shares than those specified in
those paragraphs if there are grounds for believing
that those specified may not be used in full.They shall  2.     Member States shall take all measures necessary
inform the Commission of their reasons for applying      to ensure that the types of paper referred to in Article
this provision .                                         1 (2) included in this tariff quota are in fact intended
                                                         for the printing of newspapers, weekly papers or other
                                                         periodicals of heading No 49.02, published at least 10
                                                         times per. year.
                           Article 4
                                                         In such a case, the control of the use of the goods for
Additional shares drawn pursuant to Article 3 shall be   the prescribed end-use shall be carried out by
valid until 31 December 1983-                            applying the relevant Community provisions. •
                                                         3.     Member States shall ensure that importers of the
                           Article 5                     products in question                                    have
                                                         free access to the shares allocated to it.
The Member States shall return to the reserve, not
later than 1 October 198 3 the unused portion of their   4. The extent to which a Member State has used up
initial share which, on 15 September 198 3 is in         its shares shall be determined on the basis of imports
excess of 20 % of the initial amount. They may return    of the products in question entered with the customs
a greater portion if there are grounds for believing     authorities for free circulation .
that such portion may not be used in full .
Member States shall, not later than 1 October 198 3                              Article 8
notify the Commission of the total quantities of the
products in question imported up to and including 15     At the Commission s request, the Member States shall
September 198 3 and charged against the Community        inform it of imports actually charged against their
tariff quota and of any portion of their initial shares  shares.
returned to the reserve.
                                                                                 Article 9
                           Article 6
                                                         Member States and the Commission shall cooperate
The Commission shall keep an account of the shares       closely to ensure that this Regulation is complied
opened by the Member States pursuant to Articles 2       with .
and 3 and shall, as soon as it has been notified, inform
each Member State of the extent to which the reserve
has been used up.
                                                                                 Article 10
It shall inform the Member States, not later than 5      This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January
October 1983> of the amount still in reserve after       1983.
 ---pagebreak---                                              -   L -
This   Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
States .
Done at Brussels,
                                                           For the Council
                                                             The President