CELEX: 51976PC0175
Language: en
Date: 1976-04-28
Title: DRAFT REGULATION (EEC) OF THE COUNCIL opening, allocating and administering a Community tariff quota for ferrochromium containing not less than 4 % by weight of carbon falling within subheading ex 73.02 E I of the Common Customs Tariff and extending the benefit of this quota to certain imports of ferro-chromium containing a quantity of between 3 and 4 % by weight of carbon. (Submitted by the Commission to the Council)

ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DE LA COMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (76) 175
Vol. 1976/0055
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In accordance with Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 354/83 of 1 February 1983
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 ---pagebreak---  COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                 COM(76)175 final
                                                 Brussels , 28th April 1976
                                       ,                   |
                                       i                   !
                                                             \
                       DRAFT REGULATION (EEC ) OP THE COUNCIL
opening, allocating and administering a Community tariff quota for ferro­
chromium containing not less than 4 % Toy weight of carbon falling within
subheading ex 73.02 E I of the Common Customs Tariff and extending the be­
nefit of this quota to certain imports of ferro-chromium containing a
quantity of between 3 and 4 % by weight of carbon .
                 ( Submitted by the Commission to the Council )
COM (76 ) 175 final
                   /
 ---pagebreak---                   E^LAITATORY MORAÏTDUM
     As the result of requests put forward by the United. Kingdom,
the departments of the Commission were induced, at various meetings
of the "Economic Tariff Problems" Group , to examine the problem
which would arise from opening autonomous Community tariff quotas
for 1976 i*1 respect of certain grades of ferro-chromium falling
within subheading ex 73.02 E I of the Common Customs Tariff .
These requests cover ,    in particular the following :
a) " charge chrome" : a variety of ferro-chromium, the definition
   of which has still to be ascertained,    containing not less
   than 6 % of carbon .
b) "high carbon" ferro-chromium, containing at least 4 ^ hy weight
   of carbon ( and with a limited quantity at 3 $)•
In the oourse of discussions it was found that :
- the fact that there is no representative production of the
  above-mentioned first grade of ferro-chromium in the Community
  gives rise to no major difficulties in connection with the
  opening of a quota ;
- since the use of that same grade of ferro-chromium by Community
  industries is a fairly recent event , the Community requirements
  of imports of that product from third countries cannot be estimated
  with any degree of exactitude ;
- owing to the lack of confidence now overshadowing the various
  sectors of the econon^y, following the present world crisis ,
  the uncertainty resulting from the inability to make a firm
  assessment of the first-quality grade of ferro-chromium and
  the existence of a production capacity within the Community ,
  the Community requirements of the second grade of ferro-chromium
  cannot be accurately stated .
It is for these reasons that the Commission proposes to follow
the solution already adopted in preceding years , which is ,
 ---pagebreak---                            2
   notably, to open a single tariff quota, covering the two
   qualities of the abovementioned ferro-chromium, and to
   fix the volume of this quota at a provisional level of
   50.000 tonnes with the possibility of a seriew during
   the quota period .
   On the other hand, it is proposed to fix at 0 % the quota
   duty applicable within this quota .
3.    As is customary in such cases , the proposed quota volume
   has been split into two tranches , the first being shared among
   the Member States proportionately to their respective forecast
   requirements , the second constituting the Community reserve .
   The constitution of such a reserve is all the more justified
   in the present circumstance since the quota volume is susceptible
   of being reviewd , during the year to satisfy the actual
   requirements of the consuming industries better#
 ---pagebreak---                                                  DKÀFT
                        REGULATION (EEC) N0 ../76 OF THE COUNCIL
                                                of
         opening, allocating           ^Uhiinistering a Community tariff quSt* for fot-ro-chro-
         mittm eeiHrtining not less than 4                by weight ef earbon falling within
         subheading ex 73.02 E I of the Common Customs Tariff and extending the
         benefit of this quota to certain imports of ferro-chromium containing a quan­
                            tity of between 3 and 4 % by weight of carbon
                                     I
                    *                !
  THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN
  COMMUNITIES,
  Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
  Economic Community, and in particular Article 28
 thereof ;
  Having regard to the draft Regulation submitted by
 the Commission ;
Whereas for ferro-chromium containing not less than 4 % by
weight of carbon, Community production is , to a variable degree ,
inadequate , and producers are unable to meet the total requirements
of oonsumer industries in the Community j whereas it is there­
fore in the Community's interest to suspend totally ill
respect of this metal the application of the Common
Customs Tariff duty until .51 December 19 /^6, within a
suitable tariff quota ; whereas in order not to raise the
question of the prospects for development of the
Community production sector and taking into
account the uncertainties which surround the different
ferro-alloy consumption sectors, it is appropriate to fix
the quota volume at the provisional level of
  50 000 tonnes :
whereas the fixing of this amount, relating to prudent
estimates, does not exclude future adjustment ; ,
Whereas relatively limited imports of 'ferro-chromium
containing .1 quantity of between 3 and 4 % by
 weight of carbon arc foreseenble for this quota period ;
 whereas provision should be made on a temporary
 basis for the extension of the benefit of the tariff
 quota in question to these imports, limiting it
 however to 20 % of the quota volume taking account
 of the existence of Community production ;
 Whereas equal and continuous access to the quota
should be ensured for ail Community importers and
 the rate of duty for the tariff quota should be applied
consistently to' all imports until the quota is
exhausted ; whereas in the light of these principles
arrangements for the utilization of the tariff quota
 based on an allocation among Member States would
seem to be consistent with the Community nature of
 the quota ; whereas, to correspond as closely as
 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
States as calculated by reference to statistics of imports
from third countries during a representative reference
 period and to the economic outlook for the quota
period in question ;
 ---pagebreak---                                                          2
  Whereas, however, since the quota is an autonomous
  Community tariff quota intended to cover import
  needs arising in the Community, it may, as an experi­
  ment, be allocated on the basis of the temporary
  import needs from third countries expressed by each
  of the Member States ; 'whereas this system of allocation also ensures
   the uniform application of the Common Customs Tariff ;
Whereas, to take account of future import trends for
the product concerned, the quota should be divided
into two tranches, the first being allocated among the
                  Member States and the second held
as a reserve to cover subsequently the requirements of
Member States which have exhausted their initial shares (
                             whereas, to give importers
of Member States some degree of certainty, the first
tranche of the tariff quota should be fixed at a rela­
tively high level which could be       40 000 metric "tons J
Whereas Member States may exhaust their initial
shares at different rates ; whereas to avoid disruption
of supplies on this account it should iv provided that
tiny 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
almost exhausted a Member State should draw a
further share, and so on as many times as the reserve
allows, whereas the initial and additional shares
should be valid until the end of the quota period ;
whereas this form of administration requires close
collaboration between the Member States and the
Commission and the Commission must be in a posi­
tion to keep account of the extent to which the quotas
have been used up and to inform the Member States
accordingly ;
Whereas if at a given date in the quota period a
considerable quantity of a Member State's initial share
remains unused it is essential that such State should
return a significant proportion thereof to the reserve,
in order to prevent a part of a quota from remaining
unused in one Member State while it could be used in
others ;
Whereas, since the Kingdom of Belgium, the
Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of
Luxembourg are united within and jointly represented
by the Benelux Economic Union, any measure
concerning the administration of the shares allocated
to that Economic Union may be carried out by any
one of its members,
 ---pagebreak---                                                         3
  HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
         '                Artide 1
  1.     From the date of entry into force of this Rcgula-
 tion and until 31 December 19 76 a tariff quota of
50 OOOfietric tons shall be opened within the
 Community in respect of ferro-chromium containing
 not less than 4 % by weight of carbon falling within
 subheading ex 73.02 E I of the Common Customs
Tariff.
 2.      During this period the Member States shall be
 authorized within the 20 % limit of the quotas allo­
 cated to them or which they levy on the reserve in
 accordance with Articles 2 and 3 to charge against the
 said tariff quota, imports of ferro-chromium
 containing a quantity of between 3 and 4 % by
weight of carbon .
3»       Importations of the products in question, which
already benefit             from exemption of customs duties
under another preferential tariff system, are not
to be charged against this tariff quota .
4.       Within this quota, the customs tariff duty
shall be totally suspended .
  5 • New Member States shall apply duties on
     imports within this quota calculated in accordance
     with the relevant provisions of the Act of Accession .
                            Article 2
      1.   A first instalment of 4O000 metric tons of this
     Community tariff quota shall be allocated among the
     Member States ; the shares, which subject to Article J?
     shall be valid until 31 December 1976 , shall be as
     follows :
 ---pagebreak---                                                        4
                 Bénélux                                      9 416 metric "tons ,
                •Denmark                                         S4 metric tons ,
                 Federal Republic of Germany                  7 116 metric tons .
                 France                                       7 624 metric tons .
                 Ireland                                          8 metric tons .
                 Italy                                        2 540 metric tons .
                United Kingdom                              13 212 metric  tons .
2,          The second instalment of 10 000 metno tons r shall constitute
a reserve .
                                                  Article 3
   1 . As soon as one of the Member States has used
   90 % or more of its initial share as fixed in Article 2
   ( I ), or of that share minus any portion returned to the
   reserve pursuant to Article 5. it shall forthwith, by noti­
   fying the Commission, draw a second share, to the
   extent that the reserve so permits, equal to 10 % of its
    initial share rounded up as necessary to the next
   whole number.
   2.       As soon as one of the Member States, after
   exhausting its initial share, has used 90 % or more of
   the second share drawn by it, that Member State 'shall
   forthwith , in the manner and to the extent provided
   in paragraph 1 , draw a third share equal to 5 % of its
   initial share.
                               t
            As soon as one of the Member States, after
   exhausting its second share, has used 90 % or more of
   the share drawn by it, that Member State shall forth-,
   with and in accordance with the same conditions,
   draw a fourth share equal to the third. .
   This process shall continue until the reserve is
   exhausted .
   4.       Notwithstanding paragraphs 1 to 3, a Member
   State may draw shares lower than those specified in
   those paragraphs if there are grounds for believing
   that those specified may not be used in full . Any
   Member State applying this paragraph shall inform
   the Commission of its grounds for so doing.
 ---pagebreak---                                             5
                        Artide 4
Additional shares drawn pursuant to Article 3 shall be
valid until 31 December 19 ^.
                        Article 5
The Member States shall not later than 1 November
I97^i return to the reserve the unused portion of their
initial share which on 1.5 October 1970 exceeds 20 %
of the initial amount. They may return a greater
portion if there are grounds for believing that such
portion may not be used in full .
Not later than 1 November 1976 the Member States
shall notify the Commission of the total quantities of
the products in question imported • up to and
including 15 October 197° and charged against the
Community quota and of any portion of their initial
shares returned to the reserve.
                         Artide 6
 The Commission shall keep an account of the shares
 opened by the Member States pursuant to Articles 2
 and 3 and shall , as soon as the information reaches it,
  inform each State of the extent to which the reserve
  has been used up.               •     '
  Not later than 5 November 1976 it shall inform the
  Member States of the amounts still           in  reserve
  following any return of shares pursuant to Article 5 •
  It shall ensure that when an amount exhausting the
  reserve is drawn, the amount so drawn does not
  exceed the balance available, and to this end shall
  notify the amount of that balance to the Member State
  making the last drawing.
                          Article 7
   1 . The Member States shall take all appropriate
   measures to ensure that additional shares drawn
   pursuant to Article 3 are opened in such a way that
   importations may be charged without interruption
  against their accumulated share of the tariff quota.
   2.   The Member States shall ensure that importers
   of the product in question established in their territo­
   ries have free access to the shares allocated to them .
   3.    The Member State shall charge imports of the
   product in question against their shares as and when
   the product is entered with the customs authorities for
   home use.
 ---pagebreak---                                                           6
      4. . The extent to which the Member States have
      used up their shares shall be determined on the basis
      of the importations charged against their shares in
      accordance with paragraph 3.
                             Artide 8
      At the request of the Commission , the Member States
      shall inform it of imports charged against their shares.
                            Article 9
      The Member States and the Commission shall coop­
      erate closely to ensure that this Regulation is
      complied with.
                            Article 10
        This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following
        its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities .
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly 'applicable in all Member
States.
                               i         "
Done at Brussels.
                                                             For the Council
                                                               The ÇrcsûUnt