CELEX: 51987PC0308
Language: en
Date: 1987-06-30
Title: Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) on the application of the Combined Nomenclature to the statistics of trade between Member States and amending Regulation (EEC) No 1736/75 on the external trade statistics of the Community and statistics of trade between Member States (submitted by the Commission)

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DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (87) 308
Vol. 1987/0184
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 ---pagebreak---  COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                         COM(87) 308 final
                                                         Brussels , 30 June 1987
                                  Proposal for a
                            COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC )
on the application of the Combined Nomenclature to the statistics of trade
   between Member States and amending Regulation ( EEC ) No 1736 / 75 on the
     external trade statistics of the Community and statistics of trade
                             between Member States
                        ( submitted by the Commission )
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 C0M(87 ) 308 final
 ---pagebreak---                              EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
1. The Commission recently submitted to the Council a proposal for a
   Regulation on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the common
   customs tariff . If the Council adopts the Commission 's proposal , it will
   introduce , as of 1 January 1988, a nomenclature of goods , known as the
   Combined Nomenclature , to be applied in particular to the external trade
   statistics of the Community .
2. The rules regarding the nomenclature of goods which have so far been
   observed by the Community and the Member States are those adopted by the
   Council in 1972 . These rules establish the unity of the nomenclature of
   products to be used for the external trade statistics of the Community and
   the statistics of trade between Member States .    As it must be assumed that
   the principle of breaking down the external trade of the Member States
   according to a single nomenclature of goods , regardless of whether the
   trading partner is a Member State or a non-member country , will remain
   inviolate at least until the completion of the large market , it is
   necessary for the Council at all events until 1992 , to extend to trade
   between Member States the provisions that it has approved for trade with
   non-member countries .
3. The Council will thus have put an end to the rules introduced in 1972 and,
   consequently , rendered inapplicable the Regulation which brought these
   rules into force . It follows that certain provisions in the second of the
   Regulations on which the Community statistics on trade in goods have been
   based , namely the Regulation of 1975 on concepts , definitions and methods ,
   must be amended since they refer to a legal act which is now a dead letter .
   Those articles in the Regulation that concern the description of goods and
   the data to be collected , compiled and transmitted to the committee
   responsible for administering Community rules on the methodology of trade
   statistics therefore    have to   be redrafted to take account of the new
   situation .
4. Finally , if the Council accepts the abovementioned Commission proposal and
   thereby assigns the Commission the task of implementing the integrated
   customs tariff of the European Communities ( TARIC ), it can also expect to
   benefit , in using this tariff ,, from all the advantages, in particular in
   the field of information, of having a single system encompassing a large
   number of specific Community regulations . That is why the Council is asked
   to lay down that Member States , in addition to the breakdown obtained by
   applying the Combined Nomenclature , should provide TARIC-coded information
   on their imports from non-member countries at an even more detailed level .
   As a result of these changes , the partial returns sent to the Commission by
   the Member States , either in the agricultural and textile sectors or with a
   view to assessing the operation of the system of generalized preferences or
   carrying out selective monitoring of certain imports , will be replaced by a
   uniform system of recording data and will be subject to the same systematic
   processing . In general , rationalizing the supply of information in this way
   should   lead  to a  more economical   and efficient   use  of the  resources
   employed .
 ---pagebreak---                                       Proposal for a
                               COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC )
on the application of the Combined Nomenclature to the statistics of trade
     between Member States and amending Regulation ( EEC ) No 1736 / 75 on the
       external trade statistics of the Community and statistics of trade
                                 between Member States
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community ,              and
in particular Article 235 thereof ;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,^*
Whereas Council Regulation ( EEC ) No          / 87 of               1987 on the tariff and
statistical nomenclature and the common customs tariff ( 2 ) established a
nomenclature of goods known as the " Combined Nomenclature " ( CN ) which , inter alia ,
meets the requirements of the Community 's system of external trade statistics ;
whereas the Combined Nomenclature is to be applied by the Community and its
Member States to these statistics ;
Whereas it is advisable, in particular for reasons of comparability , that the
external trade statistics of the Community and the statistics of trade between
Member States be compiled using the same nomenclature ; whereas it is therefore
necessary that the Community and its Member States also apply the CN
to the latter statistics ;
Whereas the application of the CN both to the external trade
statistics of the Community and to the statistics of trade between Member
States     renders   inapplicable    Council   Regulation    ( EEC )   No 1445 /72 on the
nomenclature of goods for the external trade statistics.^ the Community and
statistics of trade between Member States              ( NIMEXE );       whereas the said
Regulation should therefore be repealed ;
Whereas the repeal of Regulation ( EEC ) No 1445 / 72 must be accompanied by the
adaptation of certain provisions in Council Regulation ( EEC ) No 1736/ 75 ( 4 ),
as last amended by Commission Regulation ( EEC ) No 3396 / 84*5 );
Whereas it is appropriate that steps be taken at the same time to lay down the
Member States'       obligations regarding the breakdown,          in accordance with the
integrated customs tariff of the European Communities ( TARIC ) established under
Regulation ( EEC ) No         / 1987, of the statistics which they forward to the
Commission on their imports from non-member countries .
( 1 ) OJ No C      ,         1987, p .
( 2 ) OJ No L      ,         1987 , p .
( 3 ) OJ No L 161 ,    17.7.1972 , p . 1
( 4 ) OJ No L 183 ,    14.7.1975 , p . 3
( 5 ) OJ No L 314 ,    4.12.1984, p . 10
 ---pagebreak---                                            - 2 -
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
                                         Article 1
The Combined Nomenclature ( CN ) introduced by Regulation ( EEC ) No
         / 87 shall be applied by the Community and the Member States to the
statistics of trade between Member States .
                                         Article 2
Regulation ( EEC ) No 1736 / 75 is hereby amended as follows :
1 . Article 5 is replaced by the following :
     " Article 5
     1 . In the statistical information medium, goods shall be designated using
         the description laid down in the provisions concerning trade in goods in
         such a way that , without prejudice to paragraph 2 , they may be easily and
         accurately classified under the appropriate subheading of the Combined
         Nomenclature ( CN ) introduced by Council Regulation ( EEC ) No       /87 .^*
     2 . The goods must be designated in accordance with paragraph 1 , even when
         other Community regulations require them to be designated at the same
         time in accordance with other nomenclatures .
     3 . For each type of goods , the eight-digit code laid down in the Combined
         Nomenclature must be given .
 (*)
       OJ No L
2 . In Article 7 ( 1 ), the phrase " For each heading of the NIMEXE" is replaced by
    the following : " Without prejudice to Article 5 ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) of
    Regulation ( EEC ) No             / 87, for each subheading of the Combined
    Nomenclature ".
3 . In Article 11 ( a ), second indent , the words " in Chapter 99 of the NIMEXE"
    are replaced by the following : " in Chapter 97 of the Combined Nomenclature".
4 . Article      34 is replaced by the following :
     " Article 34
     The data referred to in the first subparagraph of     Article 22 ( 1 ) shall be
     compi led :
 ---pagebreak---                                                - 3 -
     a ) in the case of exports to non-member countries and of trade between
          Member States , on the basis of the subheadings in the current version of
          the Combined Nomenclature,       in accordance with Article 12 of Regulation
          ( EEC ) No      / 87;
     b ) in the case of imports from non-member countries , on the basis of the
          TARIC subheadings ,       as defined in Article 2 of the said
          Regulation, using for this purpose the codes referred to in Article 3 ( 3 )
          and ( 4 ) of the said Regulation .
          However , this Article shall apply without prejudice to Articles 5(4 ) and
          13 of Regulation ( EEC ) No . /87 ."
5 . Article 36 is replaced by the following :
   " Article 36
     the Commission shall publish in the Official Journal of the European
     Communities the country nomenclature for the external trade statistics of
     the Community and statistics of trade between Member States in the version
     applying on 1 January of each year , as it results from the decisions taken
     pursuant to Article 41 ."
6 . Article 38 ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) are replaced by the following :
     " 1 . Member States shall forward to the Commission without delay , and no
            later than six weeks from the end of the reference month , the cumulative
            monthly results of their external trade statistics . These results shall
            give the data listed in the first subparagraph of Article 22 ( 1 ),
            compiled in accordance with Article 34 .
            However , the results compiled using the code referred to in Article 3
            ( 4 ) of Regulation ( EEC ) No    / 87 may be forwarded in a separate return
            and be prepared by a national department different from that responsible
            for compiling results using the code referred to in Article 3 ( 3 ) of the
            said Regulation .
       2 . The following shall be regulated as necessary pursuant to Article 41 :
            - forwarding arrangements , including - for the data referred to in the
                second subparagraph of Article 22 ( 1 ) and for the separate return
               drawn up in accordance with the second subparagraph of paragraph 1
                above - the reference period , periodicity , forwarding interval and,
                where appropriate , the conditions for their compilation;
            - the provision of separate results ."
7. In Article 39 ( 3 ) ( a ), the words "the analytical tables based on the NIMEXE”
     are replaced by the following : " the analytical tables based on the Combined
     Nomenclature ".
 ---pagebreak---                                         - 4 -
8 . Articles 40 and 41 are replaced by the following :
    " Article 40
    1 . A " Committee for External Trade Statistics ", referred
        to hereinafter as      the " Committee ", shall be set up to
        administer the methodology employed for the external trade statistics of
        the Community and statistics of trade between Member States ; it shall be
        composed of representatives of the Member States and chaired by a
        representative of the Commission .
    2 . The Committee shall draw up its rules of procedure .
    3 . The Committee may examine any question relating to the application of
        this Regulation which is raised by its Chairman , either on his own
        initiative or at the request of the representative of a Member State .
    Article 41
    1 . The necessary provisions shall be adopted in accordance with            the
        procedure set out in paragraphs 2 and 3 below for
        a ) the application of this Régulation ,
        b ) the annual up-dating of the country nomenclature for the external
            trade statistics of the Community and statistics of trade between
            Member States .
    2 . The Chairman shall submit to the Committee a draft of any measures to be
        taken . The Committee shall express its opinion on this draft within a
        period which the Chairman may determine according to the urgency of the
        matter in question . It shall express an opinion in accordance with the
        majority system set out in Article 148 ( 2 ) of the Treaty for the adoption
        of decisions which the Council is called upon to take on a proposal from
        the Commission . When voting takes place within the Committee , the votes
        of the representatives of the Member States shall be weighted in the
        manner stipulated in the said Article . The Chairman shall not vote .
    3 . The Commission shall adopt measures with immediate effect . However , if
        these measures are at variance with the opinion expressed by the
        Committee , the Commission shall at once communicate them to the Council .
        In such cases , the Commission may postpone the implementation of the
        measures which it has decided on for a maximum of two months from the
        date of the communication .
    4 . The Council , acting by       qualified majority ,   may take a different
        decision during this two-month period ."
 ---pagebreak---                                Artide 3
Regulation ( EEC ) No 1445 / 72 is hereby repealed .
                                Article 4
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1988 .
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable
in all Member States .
Done at                                              For the Counci l
                                                      The President
 ---pagebreak---          COMPETITIVENESS AND EMPLOYMENT IMPACT STATEMENT .
I.    What is the main reason for introducing the measure ?
The main reasons are twofold .
The    first   is   to   implement   on   1.1.88 .     the   International
Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and
Coding System ( Harmonized System ) which was signed on behalf
of the Community on 10 June 1985 and approved by the Council
on 7 April 1987 .        The stated objectives of this convention
are to     facilitate     international    trade ;    to   facilitate   the
collection ,     comparison     and   analysis      of    statistics ,   in
particular     those    on  international     trade ;      to reduce    the
expense incurred in redescribing , reclassifying and recoding
goods as they move from one classification system to another
in the course of international trade ; and to facilitate the
standardization of        trade  documentation and transmission of
data .
In   implementing      the Harmonized      System ,    the   Community   is
taking      the    opportunity      of     introducing        a    Combined
Nomenclature and a European Communities' integrated tariff
( TARIC ).   This   is   the   second   reason    for    the    measure  in
question .
The Combined Nomenclature will replace the present Common
Customs Tariff and NIMEXE , whilst the TARIC brings together
in a single instrument with a common coding system the
multiplicity of          tariff measures which             are currently
scattered over a whole host of Community regulations . This
will render Community tariff requirements more transparent
and will simplify their application . The introduction of a
common coding system based upon a new international
commodity description and coding system will also facilitate
the use of electronic data exchange techniques .
II .   Features of the businesses in question .
The measure will affect only those firms which are engaged
in international or intra-Community trade .                No estimate of
the    number   of   firms    involved    or   of    their    location   is
available .        They are , however , likely to be spread
throughout the regions of - the Community . The measure will
affect all such firms but it has no special implications for
SMEs .
III .    What obligations does this measure impose directly on
business ? .
The new commodity description and coding system is not
fundamentally different in nature from the present Community
 ---pagebreak--- system but      it  differs   substantially    in   detail .    Firms
involved in international and intra-Community trade will ,
therefore , have to master the new system .          They will also
have to adapt their commodity records to include the new
descriptions and codes . In some cases they will also have
to modify their computer programs and files . However , the
majority of small firms use forwarding agents to process
their customs declarations .        The direct impact of the new
measure on firms which use forwarding agents is likely to be
negligible .
SMEs which have to master the new requirements and to modify
their computer       systems will clearly be involved in
additional costs     in  the  short  term .   However ,  the measure
aims   at   making   tariff   information    more   transparent ,  at
simplifying the application of a vast range of complicated
Community tariff requirements , and at facilitating the use
of electronic data exchange techniques .           Consequently , it
should lead to a reduction in operating costs in the longer
term .
TV ,   What   indirect   obligations    are national ,   regional or
local authorities likely to impose on business"
The TARIC will be used by the Member States as the basis for
their own national " working tariffs ".             The measure in
question enables them to add further nomenclature sub¬
divisions    and   codes   for   national   statistical    and  other
purposes .     This is a situation which applies at present
under the existing system . The powers of the Member States
are , however , clarified and codified .
V.   Are there any special measures in respect of SMEs ?.
None .
VI .   What is the _likely effect on the competitiveness of
business and on employment ?
The measure is unlikely to have any significant effect on
competitiveness or on employment .
VII     Have  the   relevant   representative    organisations been
consulted ?
The Harmonized System was developed over a period of ten
years and representative European and national federations
were extensively consulted in the course of this work .
Meetings have recently been held with UtflCE and with the
federations    which   are  Members   of  the  Customs  Consultative
Committee . There is general support for the new measure but
concerns have beer, expressed about the amount of work
involved in order to implement it and the limited time
available between new and 1.1.38 .