CELEX: 31977R2713
Language: en
Date: 1977-11-28 00:00:00
Title: Council Regulation (EEC) No 2713/77 of 28 November 1977 opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for preserved pineapples, in slices, half slices or spirals, originating in developing countries

No L 324/ 144                         Official Journal of the European Communities                                  19 . 12 . 77
                                        COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2713/77
                                                    of 28 November 1977
                 opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for
                   preserved pineapples, in slices, half slices or spirals, originating in developing countries
  THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                           whereas it appears appropriate, however, in view of the
                                                                     sensitiveness of the preserved fruit and vegetable sector
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European               generally and of the need to safeguard the interests of
 Economic Community, and in particular Article 43                    the ACP States in this field, to lay down for preserved
 thereof,                                                            pineapples, in slices, half slices or spirals, special con­
                                                                     ditions consisting in a reduction of the customs duty
                                                                     applicable to that product within the limits of a Com­
 Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                  munity tariff quota ;
 Having regard to the opinion of the European Parlia­
 ment ( x),                                                          Whereas the offer made by the Community includes a
                                                                     clause stating that the Community drew up the offer on
 Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                    the assumption that all the main industrialized countries
 Social Committee ( 2),                                              which are members of the OECD would participate in
                                                                     granting preferences and would make similar efforts in
Whereas in the Joint Declaration of Intent on the de­                this direction ; whereas, moreover, it is evident from the
 velopment of trade relations with Sri Lanka, India,                 conclusions worked out in UNCTAD that this offer,
Malaysia, Pakistan and Singapore (3), the Community                  while being of a temporary nature, does not constitute a
declared its readiness to seek solutions to the problems             binding commitment and, in particular, may be with­
which may arise in the field of trade with the countries             drawn wholly or in part at a later date; whereas this
referred to;                                                         possibility may be adopted inter alia with a view to
                                                                     remedying any unfavourable situations which might
                                                                     arise in the ACP States following the implementation of
Whereas in respect of several Asian countries of the                 the generalized preference scheme;
 Commonwealth and particularly as regards Malaysia,
preserved pineapples are an important export product
 and the flow of trade in such products is likely to be             Whereas tariff preferences have been applied as from
 changed as a result of the enlargement of the Com­                  the second half of 1971 ; whereas it is expedient to con­
munity; whereas the system of generalized tariff prefer­             tinue to apply them throughout 1978 ;
ences may constitute a solution to problems of this
nature; whereas certain forms of preserved pineapples
should therefore be included in the system of                        Whereas it is expedient, therefore, that the Community
generalized preferences;                                             should open for 1978 in respect of the said products,
                                                                     originating in the countries and territories listed in the
Whereas, within the context of UNCTAD, the Euro­                     Annex, a Community tariff quota limited to 28 000
pean Economic Community offered to grant tariff pre­                 tonnes and at a customs duty of 15% , increased by the
ferences on certain processed agricultural products of               levy on sugar where the sugar content exceeds 17% by
Chapters 1 to 24 of the Common Customs Tariff                        weight in the case of products falling within subheading
originating in developing countries; whereas the pre­                ex 20.06 B II a) 5 aa), and 19% by weight in the case of
ferential treatment proposed in that offer consists, in              products falling within subheading ex 20.06 B II b)
respect of certain goods which are subject to the trade              5 aa);
arrangements laid down in Regulation (EEC) No
1059/69, of a reduction in the fixed component of the
charge applicable to such goods by virtue of that Regu­             Whereas, in accordance with Protocol 23 to the Act of
lation, and, in respect of products which are subject to            Accession (4), the generalized tariff preference scheme
the single customs duty, of a reduction in such duty;               became fully applicable in the new Member States on
whereas preferential imports of the products concerned               1 January 1974 ;
could be effected without quantitative restrictions;
                                                                    Whereas the benefit of this tariff quota should be re­
                                                                    served for products originating in the countries and ter­
H OJ No C 266 , 7. 11 . 1977, p.16 .
                                                                    ritories under consideration, the concept of 'originating
(2) Opinion delivered on 26/27 October 1977 (not yet pub­
    lished in the Official Journal).
(3) OJ No L 73 , 27. 3 . 1972, p. 195 .                             (*) OJ No L 73 , 27. 3 . 1972, p. 14.
 ---pagebreak---  19 . 12 . 77                             Official Journal -of the European Communities                              No L 324/ 145
products' being determined in accordance with the                     be provided that any Member State which has almost
procedure laid down in Article 14 of Council Regu- •                  used up its initial share should draw an additional share
lation (EEC) No 802/68 of 27 June 1968 on the com­                    from the reserve; whereas this must be done by each
mon definition of the concept of the origin of goods ( 1);            Member State as and when each of its additional shares
                                                                      is almost entirely used up, and repeated as many times
                                                                      as the reserve allows; whereas the initial and additional
Whereas it is necessary to ensure equal and continuous                shares must be available for use until the end of the
 access for all Community importers to the abovemen­                  quota period; whereas, however, it seems advisable to
tioned quota and the uninterrupted application of the                 permit the Member States to limit the exercise of their
rate laid down for this quota to all imports of the                   total obligation to draw on the reserve amount to a
products concerned into all Member States until this                  level not exceeding 40% of their initial share ; whereas
 quota is used up ; whereas having regard to the princi­              this method of administration calls for close co­
ples set out above, the Community nature of the quota                 operation between Member States and the Commission
 can be respected by allocating the Community tariff                  which must, in particular, be able to observe the extent
 quota among Member States ; whereas, moreover, to                    to which the quota amount is used and inform Member
 this end and in the context of the utilization system, the           States thereof;
 actual charges against the quota may relate only to
products which have been entered for home use and
 which are accompanied by a certificate of origin ;
                                                                      Whereas if, at a specified date in the quota period, a
                                                                      considerable balance remains in one or other Member
Whereas, to take account of future import trends for the              State it is essential that that Member State pays a large
products in question in the various Member States, the                amount of it back into the reserve, in order to avoid a
quotas should be divided into two tranches, the first                 part of the Community quota remaining unused in one
being allocated among Member States and the second                    Member State when it could be used in others ;
held as a reserve to cover subsequently the requirements
of Member States which have exhausted their initial
shares; whereas, moreover, the reserve constituted in
the manner described above tends to avoid making the                  Whereas since the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of
system of utilization of the quota excessively rigid, to              the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
the detriment of the developing countries concerned and               are united in and represented by the Benelux Economic
will contribute to achieving the aim already- mentioned               Union, all transactions concerning the administration of
of improving the generalized preferences system;                      shares allocated to that economic union may be carried
whereas, to give importers in each Member State some                  out by any one of its members,
degree of certainty, the first tranche of the Community
quota might in this case be fixed at a relatively high
level, in this case at approximately 95% of the full
quota ;
                                                                      HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
Whereas the statistical data available cover only a rela­
tively brief period, and they should be weighted on the
basis of the estimates which may be made for the quota
                                                                                                 Article 1
year; whereas the percentage of the shares in the first
tranche may be drawn up as follows :
          Germany                               35-1% ,                1 . From 1 January to 31 December 1978 , a Com­
                                                                      munity tariff quota of 28 000 tonnes shall be opened by
          Benelux                                13-0% ,              the Community for the imports of preserved pineapples,
          France                                   1-0% ,             in slices, half slices or spirals, falling within the follow­
          Italy                                   2-8% ,
                                                                      ing subheadings of the Common Customs Tariff: ex
                                                                      20.06 B II a) 5 , ex 20.06 B II b ) 5 , ex 20.06 B II c) 1 dd)
          Denmark                                  2-7% ,             and ex 20.06 B II c) 2 bb). Within this tariff quota the
          Ireland                                  1-0% ,             customs duty shall be suspended at 15% , increased by
                                                                      the levy on sugar where the sugar content exceeds 17%
          United Kingdom                         44-4% ;              by weight in the case of products falling within sub­
                                                                      heading ex 20.06 B II a) 5 aa), and 19% by weight in
Whereas Member States may exhaust their initial shares                the case of products falling within subheading ex 20.06
for the products in question at different rates; whereas              B II b) 5 aa).
 to avoid disruption of supplies on this account it should
                                                                      2 . The benefit of this tariff quota shall be reserved for
                                                                      the products originating in the countries and territories
t 1) OJ No L 148 , 28 . 6 . 1968 , p. 1 .                                sted in the Annex. However, the imports already
 ---pagebreak---  No L 324/ 146                        Official Journal of the European Communities                                19 . 12 . 77
 benefiting from exemption of customs duties under                believing that those specified may not be used in full.
 another preferential tariff scheme granted by the                Any Member State applying this paragraph shall inform
 Community shall not be charged to this quota.                    the Commission of its grounds for so doing.
 For the purposes of implementirig this Regulation the            5 . Any Member State may limit the sum total of its
 concept of originating products shall be determined in           additional shares to 40% of its initial share, informing
 accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 14            the Commission that it is so doing.
 of Regulation (EEC) No 802/68 .
                                                                                         Article 4
                           Article 2
                                                                 Additional shares drawn pursuant to Article 3 shall be
 1.   A first tranche of 26 600 tonnes shall be allocated        valid until 31 December 1978 .
 among the Member States. The shares which, subject to
 Article 5 , shall be valid until 31 December 1978 , shall
 for each Member State be as follows :
                                                                                         Article 5
        Germany                       9 337 tonnes ,
        Benelux                       3 458 tonnes ,             A Member State which on 15 September 1978 has not
        France                          266 tonnes ,             exhausted one of its initial shares shall, not later than 1
                                                                 October 1978 , return to the reserve any unused portion
         Italy                          745 tonnes ,
                                                                 in excess of 20% of the initial amount. It may return a
        Denmark                         718 tonnes ,             greater portion if there are grounds for believing that
        Ireland                         266 tonnes ,
                                                                 such portion may not be used in full.
        United Kingdom               11 810  tonnes .
                                                                Member States shall, not later than 1 October 1978 ,
 2 . The second tranche of 1 400 tonnes shall constitute        notify the Commission of the total quantities of the
 the reserve.                                                   product in question imported up to and including 15
                                                                 September 1978 and charged against the Community
                                                                 quotas and of any portion of their initial shares re­
                                                                turned to the reserve.
                           Article 3
1 . If a Member State has used 90% or more of its in­
itial share as fixed in Article 2 ( 1 ), or of that share                                Article 6
minus any portion returned to the reserve pursuant to
Article 5, it shall forthwith, by notifying the Commis­         The Commission shall keep an account of the shares
sion, draw a second share, to the extent that the reserve       opened by the Member States pursuant to Articles 2 and
so permits, equal to 10% of its initial share rounded up        3 and shall, as soon as the information reaches it, in­
should the occasion arise to the nearest unit above .           form each State of the extent to which the reserve has
                                                                been used up.
2 . If a Member State, after exhausting its initial shares,
has used 90% or more of the second share drawn by it,           It shall, not later than 15 October 1978 , inform the
that Member State shall forthwith, by notifying the             Member State of the amount still in reserve following
Commission, draw a third share, equal to 5% of its in­          any return of shares pursuant to Article 5 .
itial share rounded up should the occasion arise to the
nearest unit above .
                                                                It shall ensure that when an amount exhausting the
                                                                reserve is drawn the amount so drawn does not exceed
3 . If a Member State, after exhausting its second share,       the balance available, and to this end shall notify the
has used 90% or more of the third share drawn by it,            amount of that balance to the Member State making the
that Member State shall, under the same conditions,             last drawing.
draw a fourth share equal to the third. This process
shall continue until the reserve has been exhausted.
                                                                The Member States shall take all appropriate measures
                                                                to ensure that additional shares drawn pursuant to
4. By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 , 2 and 3 , a         Article 3 are opened in such a way that importations
Member State may draw shares lower than those                   may be charged without interruption against their
specified in those paragraphs if there are grounds for          cumulative shares of the Community quota.
 ---pagebreak--- 19 . 12 . 77                           Official Journal of the European Communities                          No L 324/ 147
                          Article 7                               Such measures may also be taken in the case of actual
                                                                  or potential serious disadvantage in a single region of
1 . The Member States shall ensure free access to the             the Community.
shares which have been allocated to them for importers
of the said goods who are established in their territory.                                   Article 10
                                                                   1 . The Commission may decide, by means of a Regu­
2 . The extent to which a Member State has used up its            lation, to re-introduce the levying of customs duties for
share shall be determined on the basis of imports of the           a specified period, in order to ensure that Article 9 is
said goods which have been entered for home use, on                applied.
the basis of the customs value of the said goods, and
which are accompanied by a certificate of origin in               2 . In the event of such action being requested by a
accordance with the rules referred to in Article 1 (2 ).          Member State, the Commission shall decide within a
                                                                  period of not more than 10 working days after the
                                                                  request has been received and shall inform the Member
3 . Goods shall qualify for a tariff quota only if the            States of this decision .
certificate of origin referred to in paragraph 2 is submit­
ted before the date on which the levying of duties is             3 . Any Member State may refer to the Council the
re-introduced .                                                   measure taken by the Commission, within a period of
                                                                  not more than 10 working days after it has been in­
                                                                  formed thereof. The fact that the matter is referred to
                                                                  the Council shall not cause the measure to be sus­
                          Article 8                               pended. The Council shall meet immediately. It may, by
                                                                   acting on a qualified majority, amend or rescind the
                                                                   measure in question.
Member States shall inform the Commission at monthly
intervals of imports of the products in question charged
against their shares. This information shall show both                                      Article 1 1
the value expressed in units of account and quantity
 expressed in tonnes.                                             The provisions of Articles 9 and 10 shall not prejudice
                                                                   the application of the safeguard clauses drawn up in
                                                                   connection with the common agricultural policy pur­
                                                                   suant to Article 43 of the Treaty or those drawn up in
                          Article 9                                connection with the common commercial policy pur­
                                                                   suant to Article 113 of the Treaty .
If the Community finds that products benefiting from
                                                                                            Article 12
 the treatment provided for in Article 1 are imported
into the Community in such quantities or at such prices            Member States and the Commission shall collaborate
that Community producers of products similar to or in              closely to ensure that this Regulation is observed.
direct competition with them suffer or are likely to suf­
 fer from serious disadvantage, or that an unfavourable
 situation is created in the ACP States, the levying of                                     Article 13
 customs duties may be re-introduced in whole or in part
 on the products in question in respect of the countries          This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January
 or territories which are the cause of the disadvantage.           1978 .
                This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
                Done at Brussels, 28 November 1977.
                                                                                        For the Council
                                                                                         The President
                                                                                            L. OUTERS
 ---pagebreak---                                                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                                                19 . 12 . 77
No L 324/ 148
                                                                                ANNEX
                               List of developing countries and territories enjoying generalized tariff preferences ( x)
                                                               1 . INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES
660 Afghanistan                                          260 Guinea                                                             801 Papua New Guinea
208 Algeria                                              257 Guinea Bissau                                                      520 Paraguay
330 Angola                                              488 Guyana                                                              504 Peru
528 Argentina                                            452 Haiti                                                              708 Philippines
453 Bahamas                                              424 Honduras                                                           644 Qatar
640 Bahrain                                              664 India                                                              066 Romania
666 Bangladesh                                           700 Indonesia                                                          324 Rwanda
469 Barbados                                             616 Iran
                                                                                                                                 819 Samoa
284 Benin                                                                                                                        311 Sao Tome and Principe
                                                         612 Iraq
                                                                                                                                 632 Saudi Arabia
675 Bhutan                                               272 Ivory Coast
516 Bolivia                                              464 Jamaica                                                             248 Senegal
391 Botswana                                             628    Jordan                                                           355 Seychelles and Dependencies
                                                                                                                                 264 Sierra Leone
508 Brazil                                               696    Kampuchea, Democratic
676 Burma                                                346    Kenya                                                            706 Singapore
                                                                                                                                 342 Somalia
328 Burundi                                              728    Korea, Republic of
302 Cameroon                                             636 Kuwait
                                                                                                                                 669 Sri Lanka
                                                                                                                                 224 Sudan
247 Cape Verde Islands                                   684 Laos
                                                                                                                                 492 Surinam
306 Central African Empire                                604 Lebanon
244 Chad                                                  395 Lesotho                                                            393 Swaziland
512 Chile                                                 268 Liberia                                                             608 Syria
                                                                                                                                  352 Tanzania
480 Colombia                                              216 Libya
                                                                                                                                  680 Thailand
375 Comoros                                               370 Madagascar
318 Congo, People's Republic of                           3&6 Malawi                                                              280 Togo
436 Costa Rica                                            701 Malaysia                                                            817 Tonga
448 Cuba                                                  667 Maldive Islands                                                     472 Trinidad and Tobago
                                                          232 Mali                                                                212 Tunisia
 600 Cyprus
 338 Djibouti                                             228 Mauritania                                                          350 Uganda
                                                                                                                                  647 United Arab Emirates
 456 Dominican Republic                                   373 Mauritius
 500 Ecuador                                              412 Mexico                                                              236 Upper Volta
 220 Egypt                                                204 Morocco                                                             524 Uruguay
                                                                                                                                  484 Venezuela
 428 El Salvador                                          366 Mozambique
                                                                                                                                  690 Vietnam
 310 Equatorial Guinea                                    803 Nauru
                                                                                                                                  652 Yemen
 334 Ethiopia                                             672 Nepal
 815 Fiji                                                 432 Nicaragua                                                           656 Yemen, Democratic
 314 Gabon                                                240 Niger                                                                048 Yugoslavia
                                                                                                                                   322 Zaire
 252 Gambia                                               288 Nigeria
 276 Ghana                                                649 Oman                                                                 378 Zambia
 473 Grenada                                              662 Pakistan
 416 Guatemala                                            440 Panama
  ( J) The code number preceding the name of each beneficiary country or territory is that given in 'Geonomenclature 1977', published by the Statistical Office of the European
       Communities .
 ---pagebreak--- 19 . 12 . 77                                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                                      No L 324/ 149
                                                        II. COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES
             dependent or administered, or for whose external relations Member States of the Community or third
                                                      countries are wholly or partly responsible
             890 Australian Antarctic Territory
             421 Belize
             413 Bermuda
             890 British Antarctic Territory
             357 British Indian Ocean Territory
             812 British Pacific Ocean
             703 Brunei
             202 Canary Islands
             463 Cayman Islands and Dependencies
             205 Ceuta and Melilla
             802 Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Norfolk Island
             529 Falkland Islands and Dependencies
             822 French Polynesia
             890 French Southern and Antarctic Territories
             044 Gibraltar
             740 Hong Kong
             743 Macao
             377 Mayotte
             476 Netherlands Antilles
             809 New Caledonia and Dependencies
             808 Pacific Islands administered by the United States of America or under United States trusteeship (*)
             329 St Helena and Dependencies
             814 Territories for which New Zealand is responsible ( Cook Islands, Niue Island, Tokelau Islands )
             454 Turks and Caicos Islands
             457 Virgin Islands of the United States
             811 Wallis and Futuna Islands
             471 West Indies
             Note: The above lists may be amended subsequently to take account of changes in the international
                       status of countries or territories.
             (') The Pacific Islands administered by the United States of America include : Guam, American Samoa (including Swain's Island), Midway
                 Islands, Johnston and Sand Islands, Wake Island and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (the Caroline, Marianas and Marshall
                 Islands).