CELEX: 51988PC0613
Language: en
Date: 1988-11-08
Title: Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for ferro-chromium containing by weight more than 6% of carbon (1989) (presented by the Commission)

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COM (88) 613
Vol. 1988/0205
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 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                      COM(88 ) 613 final
                                                      Brussels , 8 November 1988
                                       Proposal for a
                               COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC )
        opening , allocating and providing for the administration of a
       Community tariff quota for ferro-chromium containing by weight
     more than 6% of carbon         ( 1989 )
                           ( presented by the Commission )
                      A, S
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                             10  00
 ---pagebreak---                                EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
1 . On the basis of an agreement concluded between producers and users of
    ferro-chromium containing by weight more than 6% of carbon, which
    guarantees priority market access for Community production , the Council has
    in the last few years opened autonomous tariff quotas covering the
    Community user industries' total requirements for imports from third
                                                                    should
    countries . The 1988 quota volume has twice been increased and| now stand at
    570 000 tonnes .
2 . The advisability of renewing this quota for 198 9 was examined at meetings
    with Government experts and the producers and users concerned . Their
    discussions revealed that :
    ( a ) there is a shortage of ferro-chromiun on the world market and this is
          leading to disturbances in traditional supplies , price increases and
          increased openings for Community production;
    ( b ) the user industries are still prepared to respect the agreement reached
          earlier concerning the provision of a satisfactory outlet for Community
          production;
    Cc ) more ferro-chromium is likely to be needed in 1989 than in 1988,
          although exact figures cannot be given at present ;
    ( d) therefore, in accordance with the agreements reached earlier , there is
          no reason why the expected additional needs between now and the end of
          the year should not be covered by a zero-duty tariff quota .
                                                                                  £
 ---pagebreak--- 3 . In view of commitments previously entered Into, the need to avoid
    disturbing market equilibrium and the possible future extension of the
    agreements concluded, the Commission proposes that this quota be opened for
    a volume which , on the basis of the statistics of imports from third
    countries during the first few months of 1988, is likely to cover needs
    until the first revision takes place , possibly before the summer recess of
    1989 . Of course this proposal should be amended or withdrawn if discussions
    within the Council show that a deterioration of the situation will prevent
    contractual commitments from being met in 1989 .
4 . As is customary in such cases ,  the quota volume has been divided into two
    parts , the first being allocated among certain Member States in proportion
    to foreseeable imports from non-preferential third countries and the
    balance being held as a Community reserve . In this case it is particularly
    important to set up such a reserve since it has not been possible to
    calculate the quota shares as exactly as would be desirable , and no quota
    shares have been allocated to Member States which are not traditional users
    of these products .
 ---pagebreak---                                                       Proposai for a
                                          сошса, ЕШААПШ (ЖЕС) Ме-
                                                        of
                opening, allocating and providing for die administration, of a Community tariff quota for
                fetro-ckroioium containing by weight more ti.au 6 % of carbon
  THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                          Whereas , to allow for possible changes in imports of the said
                                                                    product, the quota volume should be divided into two parts,
                                                                    the first being allocated among the Member States and the
                                                                    second held as a reserve to cover any subsequent
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European              requirements of Member States which have used up their
 Economic Community, and in particular Article 28
 thereof,                                                           initial shares; whereas, to afford importers some degree of
                                                                    certainty , the first part of the Community tariff quota should
                                                                    be fixed at a high level, which in this case could be 60% of the
                                                                   quota volume ;
 Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                                                                   Whereas the initial shares of the Member States may be used
                                                                   up at different rates; whereas , in order to avoid any break in
 Whereas there is a variable shortfall in Community                the continuity of supplies on this account, it should be
 production of ferro-chromium containing by weight more            provided that any Member State which has almost used up its
                                                                   initial share should draw an additional share from the
 than 6 % of carbon and producers are thus unable to meet the
 total needs of user industries; whereas it is therefore in the    reserve ; whereas each time one of its additional shares is
 Community’s interest to suspend totally the customs duties        almost used up a Member State should draw a further share,
 applicable to that metal for a period ending on 31 December       and so on as many times as the reserve allows; whereas the
                                                                   initial and additional shares must be valid until the end of the
 1989 within the limits of a tariff quota fixed at an
 appropriate volume; whereas, in order to avoid disturbing         quota period; whereas this form of administration requires
 the equilibrium of the market for that ferro-alloy and to         close cooperation between the Member States and the
                                                                   Commission and the latter must be able to monitor the extent
ensure both an oudet for Community production and
 sufficient supplies for Community user industries , the quota     to which the quota volume has been used up and inform the
volume should be fixed at a provisionaSOO 000 tonnes, thus         Member States accordingly;
covering immediate needs for imports from third countries;
whereas, moreover, Member States should be free to make            Whereas if at a given date in the quota period a considerable
the charging of products against that volume subject to            quantity of a Member State’s initial share remains unused, it
certain conditions concerning end use;                             is essential that the Member State concerned should return a
                                                                   significant proportion thereof to the reserve in order to
                                                                   prevent part of the Community tariff quota from remaining
                                                                   unused in one Member State when it could be used in
Whereas equal and continuous access to the quota should be         others ;
ensured for all importers and the rate laid down for the quota
should be applied consistently to all imports of the product in
question until the quota is exhausted; whereas, in the light of    Whereas since the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of the
these principles, allocation of the tariff quota among the         Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg are united
Member States would seem to preserve the Community                 within and jointly represented by the Benelux Economic
nature of the quota ; whereas, in order to correspond as           Union , any operation concerning the administration of the
closely as possible to the real trend of the market for the        quota shares allocated to that economic union may be carried
product in question the allocation should reflect                  out by any one of its members,
requirements of the Member States based on statistics of
imports of the said product from third countries during a
representative reference period and on the economic outlook
for the quota year in question;                                    HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Whereas , since this is an autonomous Community tariff                                           Article 1
quota intended to cover import needs arising in the
Community , the quota may                                    be
allocated on the basis of each Member State’s estimated            1.      From 1 January to31 December 19 ^ the customs duty
provisional needs for imports from third countries; whereas        applicable to imports of the following product shall be
these allocation arrangements also ensure the uniform              suspended at the level indicated and within the limits of a
application of the Common Customs Tariff;                          Community tariff quota as shown below:
                                                                                                                                     4
 ---pagebreak---        Order No              CN co<it                                                                  Volume of QUCU      Rite of duty
                                                                Description                                ( tonnes )          <% !
  09.2711                7202 41 90         Ferro-chromium containing by weight more than 6 %
                                            of carbon                                                   3ÜD ooo                 0
  2.    Within the limits of this tariff quota, the Kingdom of            share, rounded up where necessary to the next whole
  Spain and the Portuguese Republic shall apply customs duties            number .
  calculated in accordance with the relevant provisions of the
  1985 Act of Accession .                                                 3.     If, after its second share has been used up , a Member
                                                                          State has used 90% or more of its third share, it shall , using
  3.    Imports of the product in question which benefit from             the procedure provided for in paragraph 1 , draw a fourth
 exemption from customs duties under other preferential                   share equal to the third .
 tariff arrangements shall not be charged against this tariff
 quota .                                                                  This process shall continue until the reserve is used up.
                                                                          4.    By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 , 2 and 3 ,
                               Article 2                                  Member States may draw smaller shares than those specified
                                                                          in the said paragraphs if there is reason to believe that they
 1.     The Community tariff quota referred to in Article 1               might not be used in full. Member States shall inform the
 shall be divided into two parts .                                        Commission of their reasons for applying this paragraph .
 2.     The first part, amounting to1 8UU00 tonnes, shall be
 allocated among certain Member States ; subject to Article 5 ,
 the quota shares shall be valid until 31 December 1989 and                                           Article 4
 shall be as follows :
                                                                         Additional shares drawn pursuant to Article 3 shall be valid
                                                   (tonnes)              until 31 December 1989.
         Benelux                                      1 7 860
         Germany                                      72 320
         Spain                                        14 810
         France                                             280                                       Article 5
         Italy                                        22 790
         United Kingdom                               1 4 940            By 1 October 198? at the latest, Member States must return
                                                                         to the reserve the unused portion of their initial share which ,
 3.     The second part , amounting to12Q0 00 tonnes, shall              on 15 September 19891 is in excess of 20% of the initial
constitute the reserve .                                                 volume. They may return a greater portion if there is reason
                                                                         to believe that it might not be used.
4.     If an importer gives notification of imminent imports
of the product in question into a Member State to which no               By 1 October 198 9 at the latest , Member States must notify
initial share has been allocated and applies to take advantage           the Commission of the total quantities of the product
of the quota , the Member State concerned shall inform the               concerned imported on or before 15 September 1989 and
Commission and draw an amount corresponding to its                       charged against the Community quota and of any portion of
requirements to the extent that the available balance of the             their initial share that they are returning to the reserve.
reserve so permits .
                              Article 3                                                               Article 6
1.     If a Member State has used 90 % or more of its initial            Member States may decide that only products intended for
share as specified in Article 2 (2), or of that share less any           certain uses may be charged against their shares of the quota
portion returned to the reserve pursuant to Article 5 , it shall         for the products in question . In this case use of the products
forthwith , by notifying the Commission and to the extent               for the prescribed specific purpose shall be monitored by
that the reserve so permits, draw a second share equal to               application of the relevant Community provisions.
10% of its initial share , rounded up where necessary to the
next whole number .
                                                                                                      Article 7
2.     If, after its initial share has been used up , a Member
State has used 90 % or more of its second share as well , it
shall forthwith , using die procedure provided for in                   The Commission shall keep account of the shares drawn by
paragraph 1 , draw a third share equal to 5 % of its initial            Member States pursuant to Articles 2 and 3 and shall inform
 ---pagebreak---  each Member State of the extent to which the reserve has           question against their shares as and when the goods are
 been used up as soon as it has been notified .                     entered with the customs authorities for free circulation .
 It shall inform the Member States, not later than 5 October        4.    The extent to which Member States have used up their
 1 98 9, of the state of the reserve following any return of quota  shares shall be determined on the basis of the imports charged
shares pursuant to Article 5 .                                      in accordance with paragraph 3 .
It shall ensure that the drawing which exhausts the reserve
does not exceed the balance available, and to this end shall                                  Article 9
notify the amount of that balance to the Member State
making the final drawing.
                                                                    At the request of the Commission , Member States shall
                                                                    inform it of imports actually charged against their quota
                                                                   shares .
                               Article 8
1.      Member States shall take all appropriate measures to                                 Article 10
ensure that additional drawings of shares pursuant to
Article 3 enable imports to be charged without interruption        The Member States and the Commission shall cooperate
against their accumulated share of the Community quota .
                                                                   closely to ensure that this Regulation is complied with .
2.     Member States shall ensure that importers of the
product concerned have free access to the quota shares
allocated to them .                                                                          Article 11
3.     Member States shall charge imports of the product in        This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1989 .
                    This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
                    States .
                    Done at Brussels ,
                                                                                          For the Council
                                                                                           The President
 ---pagebreak---  FICHE FINANCIERE
 1.      Ligne budgétaire concernée : Cnap . 12 art . 120
2.       Base juridique : art . 28 du traité
3.       Intitulé de la mesure tarifaire : Proposition de règlement du
         Cbnseil portant ouverture , répartition et mode de gestion d' un
         contingent tarifaire conmunautaire de certaines qualités de
         ferrochrome .
4.       Objectif : Assurer un approvisionnement satisfaisant des industries
         utilisatrices communautaires .
5.       Mode de calcul :
         Cbde de la N. C.      :  720
                                  72022 4 411 90
        Volume du contingent :    300 000
                                  300    000 tonnes
                                              tonnes
        Droit à appliquer      :  0 %%
                                  0
         Droit normal          :  8%
6.       Perte de recettes :
        Valeur d' une tonne            :         1 100 écus
        Valeur des 300 000 tonnes      : 330 000 000 écus
        Perte de recettes              :   26 400 000 écus
        Par rapport au oontingent initial ouvert en 1988 : augmentation des
        pertes de 26 400 000 écus - 15 624 000 écus = 10 776 000 écus
 ---pagebreak---               FICHE D' IMPACT SUR LA COMPETITIVITE ET L' EMPLOI
1. Quelle est la justification principale de la mesure ?
   Volonté des Etats membres d' assurer , à des conditions favorables la
   couverture des besoins des industries utilisatrices
2. Caractéristiques des entreprises concernées : Non recherchées
   En particulier :
   - Y a- t- il un grand nombre de PME ?
   - Note t-on des concentrations dans des régions :
     - éligibles aux aides régionales des E.M. ?
     - éligibles au Feder ?
3. Quelles sont les obligations imposées directanent aux entreprises ?
   Néant
4. Quelles sont les obligations susceptibles d' être             imposées
   indirectement aux entreprises via les autorités locales ?
   Néant
5. Y a- t- il des mesures spéciales pour les EME ?    Non
   - Lesquelles ?
6. Quel est l' effet prévisible ?
   - sur la compétitivité des entreprises ?
     Effet bénéfique pour les entreprises d' aciers spéciaux qui peuvent
     ainsi concurrencer les entreprises des pays tiers .
   - sur 1 ' enploi ?
     Maintien ou amélioration de l' anploi
7.
7. Les partenaires sociaux ont-ils été consultés ?      Non
   - avis des partenaires sociaux