CELEX: 51982PC0243
Language: en
Date: 1982-05-06
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for rum, arrack and tafia falling within subheading 22.09 C I of the Common Customs Tariff and originating in the ACP States (1982/1983) (presented by the Commission to the Council)

ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DE LA COMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (82) 243
Vol. 1982/0096
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 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                COM(82)243 final
                                                Brussels , 6th May 1982
                        PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC )
              opening , allocating and providing for the administration
              of a Community tariff quota for rum , arrack and tafia fal­
              ling within subheading 22.09 C I of the Common Customs
              Tariff and originating in the ACP States ( 1982 / 1983 )
                      ( presented -by the Commission to the Council )
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                                    ■/      '
 COM ( 82 ) 243 final
 ---pagebreak---                                                    Ci) M
                   MEMO FOR THE ATTENTION OF THE COUNCIL -
The Commission notes that certain provisions adopted - by the Council
in the regulat ion* opening Community tariff quotas for the importation
of the products of subheading 22.09 C I of the CCT originating in the
African , Carribean and Pacific States are incompatible with the rules
of the EEC Treaty .
It  informs the Council' of its firm intention to have recourse to the
          «      i            •
provisions of Article - 169 of the Treaty should the founcil again adept
such provisions .    '
The Commission i s ready to seek appropriate solutions to prevent any
disturbance of the market for the products in question .
 ---pagebreak---                                              - 2 -
                                   EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
  v 1 . Protocol No 5 annexed to the Convention between the ACP States and
         the EEC ( Lome II ) provides that the products falling within sub­
         heading No 22.09 C I of the CCT ( rum , arrack , tafia ), originating
          in the ACP States , shall be imported duty free into the Community .
         These preferential arrangements are restricted to a quantity which
         is to be fixed annually by the Community on the basis of the largest
         quantities imported annually from the ACP States during the last
         three years for which statistics are available , increased by certain
         annual growth rates .       ,
    2 . Jhe preferential system in question should therefore be put into
         force and a Community tariff quota should be opened for rum ,
         arrack and tafia originating in the ACP States .         Because there
*        has already been taken a „ „                measure until 30 June 1982
         this tariff quota should be opened for the period 1 July x 1982 to
       . 30 June 198 3.     '                 ■   ~
   3 . Community imports , of the goods concerned during the last three
         years were as follow :
                                       - m hectolitres of pure alcohol -
                                4
                                        1979            1980       1981
               Benelux              4 897            15 860       5 .656
               Oenmark              1   661           1  959      2 004
               Germany             24 587            34 295      38 971
               Greece                    38               41          35
               France               2 899             4 194       2 705
               Ireland              2 337             2 124       2 619
               Italy                    474              413         328
               United Kingdom      94 778            85 423      93 888
               EC                 131 671           144 309    146 206
 ---pagebreak---                                        3 -
;   The quota volume to be taken into account on this basis for the period
    1 July 1982 to 30 June '1983 should be 193 178 hectolitres of pure alcohol .
4 . The administration of this tariff measure in the form' of a Community
    tariff quota has the aim of ensuring that :
    - imports of the products in question do not exceed the global volume
      fixed ,
    - each Community importer has equal and continuous access to the said
      quota ,
    - the preferential rate is applied without interruption to all imports
      in all the Member States , and
    - in particular , the preferential rate is applied uniformly and     constan­
      tly throughout the Community .
    The facility for drawing supplementary quota-shares from the Community
    reserve and the obligation to return unused quantities - two fundamental
    rules in the context of Community measures - are capable of being run in
    accordance with these principles .
5 . For these reasons the provisions of the Regulation provide for the
    splitting up of the quota volume into two parts , the first of which
    will be allocated among the Member States as quota shares , with the
    second forming a reserve .
    The calculation of these shares is based on the imports of the products
    in question from ACP States during the prevaous three years , 1979 , 1980 ,
    1981 and the economic outlook for the period in question , respecting ,
    however , the growth rates mentioned under point 1 .
6 . The annexed table shows in detail the amounts actually charged , against
    the tariff quotas in question ( periods 1978 / 79 , 1979 / 80 1980 / 81
    •u mum )
7 . It is proposed that the draft for a Council Regulation described above
    should be approved ( see annex ) .
                                                                              ./...
 ---pagebreak---                                                            ACP - Rum - heading 22.09 C I
                                         Amounts actually charged against the tariff             quotas
                                         opened for 1978 / 79 , 1979 /80 , 1980 /81 and 1981 / 82
                         1978 / 79                           1979 / 80                        1980 / 81                                1981 /82 Cmi.gl )
               Volume     of    Amount actual " Volume of         Amount actual-      Volume of       Amount    Actua " Volume of           Amount actual-
   Member                                                                                             ly charged
   State
               the quota        ly charged        the quota       ly     charged     the quota                               the quota      ly charged
                   - hl-        - hi -       %       - hl-        - hi -        %         - hl-       - hl -      %               - hl-     - hi -     %
Benelux           6 000            5 816     97        6 912         5 731      83      7 631            7 631   100           15 262          3 500   23
Denmark            3 698           1 448     39     , 3 722              938    25      2 443             1 235    50           2 157          1 063   49
Germany          ¿4 706          24 706     100      33 979         28 531      84     35 714           32 194     90         45 000         21    409 48
Greece                                                                                                                              49               0   0
France            9 022            3 551     39        6 449         1   144    18      5 438            4 236    78            4 585              948 21
Ireland            1 000               492   49       2 704          1   154    43      3 209            2 008    63      •     2 678          1   176 44
Italie                424              424  100          426             351    82 ' .     535               429  80              522              147 28
United Kingd .  116 957         103 872      89    122 645          85 256     69 ;  123 330            78 097    63        118 825          60 246    50
C.  E.          161 807         140 309      87  ; 176 837        123 105       70   178 300           125 830    71        189 078          88 489    47
                                                                                                                      I
                                                                                                                        r –   ·
 ---pagebreak---                              PROPOSAL FOR A
                    COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC) No
                                    of            1982
opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff
quota for rum, arrack and tafia failing within subheading 22.09 C I of the
    Common Customs Tariff and originating in the ACP States ( 1982 / 3 )
                THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN
                COMMUNITIES,
              ' Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
                Economic Community, and in particular Article 113
                thereof,
                Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                Whereas Protocol 5 annexed to the second ACP-EEC
                Convention, signed at Lome on 31 October 1979(1 )^
                provides that products originating in the ACP States
                which fall within subheading 22.09 C I of the
                Common Customs Tariff shall, until the entry into
                force of a common organization of the market in
                spirits, be allowed into the Community free of
                customs duties under conditions such as to permit the
                development of traditional trade flows between the
                ACP States and the Community and between the
                Member States ; whereas the Community shall fix
                each year the quantities which may be imported free
                of customs duties on the basis of the largest quantities
                imp6rted annually from the ACP States into the
             _j_Q5mmunity in the past three years for which statistics
             ' are available, increased by an annual growth rate of
                40% on the market of. the United Kingdom and
                 18 % on the other markets of the Community ;
                 Whereas, having regard to the levels reached by
                 imports of the products concerned into the Commu­
                 nity and' the Member States during the past three
                 years for which statistics are available, the size of the
                 tariff quota for the period 1 July 1982 to 30 June
                 198 3should be fixed at 1931 78 hectolitres of pure ,
                 alcohol ;
             ( 1 ) 0J No 347 , 22.12.1980, p. 141 .
 ---pagebreak---                                    -6 -
        Whereas it is in particular necessary to ensure for all
        Community importers equal and uninterrrupted
        access to 1 the abovementioned quota and
        uninterrupted application of the rates laid down for
        that quota to all imports of the products concerned
        into all Member States until the quota has been used
        up ; whereas, having regard to the above principles,
        the Community nature of the quota can be respected
        by allocating the Community tariff quota among the
        Member States ; whereas, in order to reflect as
        accurately as possible the actual trend of the market
        in the products in question, such allocation should be
        in proportion to the requirements of the Member
        States, calculated by reference to the statistics of each
        State's imports of the said products from the countries in question
Over a. representative reference period and also to the
        economic outlook for the quota period in question ;
          Whereas, during the past three years for which statis­
          tics are available, the corresponding imports by each
          of the Member States    represent the following percen­
          tages of the imports    into the Community from the
          countries in question   of the products concerned :
                  Member States        1979       1980     1981
          Benelux   ·                    3.71 11.00          4.04
          Denmark                        1.261 1.35          1.23
                                       18.67 23.77         24.00
          Germany
           Greece '                      0.03     0.03       0.03
          France                         2.2C     2.90       1 . 93
          Ireland                        1 , 77j 1.46        1 . 46
          Italy                          0.3d ■ 0.29         0.23
          United Kingdom'              72 . OC 59.20       67.08
          Whereas, in view of these factors of market forecasts
          for the products in question and of the estimates
          submitted by certain Member States, initial quota
          shares may be fixed approximately at the following
          percentages :
                  Benelux                       6.25
                  Denmark                       1.33
                  Germany                      23.18
                   Greece                       0.03
                  trance                        2.32
                  Ireland                       1.68
                  Italy                         0.28
                  United Kingdom               64.93
 ---pagebreak--- Whereas, in order to take into account import trends
for the products concerned in the various Member
States, the quot^ volume should be divided into two
instalments, the first being shared among the Member
States and the second constituting a reserve to cover
at a later date the requirements of Member States
which have used up their initial quota shares ;
whereas, in order to give importers in each Member
State a certain degree of security, the first instalment
of the Community quota should, under the present
circumstances, be fixed at90 % of the quota volume ;
Whereas the Member States' initial shares may be
used up at different times ; whereas, in order to take
this fact into account and avoid any break in
continuity, any Member State which has almost used
up its initial share must draw an additional share from
the reserve ; whereas this must be done by each
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 shares must be valid until the end of
the quota period ; whereas ' this method of
administration requires close cooperation between the
Member States and–the Commission,               and the
Commission must be in a position to monitor the
extent to which the quota volume has been used up
and inform the Member States thereof;
Whereas if, at a given date in the quota period, a
considerable quantity is left over in any Member
State, it is essential that that Member State should
return a significant ' proportion to the reserve to
prevent a part of the Community quota from
remaining unused 'in one Member State when 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
operation relating to the administration of the quota
shares allocated to that economic union may be
carried out by any pne of its members,
 ---pagebreak---                                   - 8 -
      HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
                                Article 1
  1 . From 1 July 1982 to 30 June 1983 rum, arrack and
      tafia falling within subheading 22.09 C I of the
      Common Customs Tariff and originating in the ACP
      States, shall be imported duty free into the Commu­
      nity             within the limits of a Community tariff
      quota of 19378 hectolitres of pure alcohol.
                                    as indicated in Article 2
   2 . 'Within the limit of its share, / the Hellenic
        Republic shall apply customs duties calculated in
        accordance with the relevant provisions of the 1979
        Act of Accession and of Regulation (EEC) No
        439/81 (").).
                               Article 2
     1 . The Community tariff quota referred to in
   _ Article 1 shall be divided into two instalments.
     2. A first instalment, amounting to 174000
     hectolitres shall be shared among the Member States ;
     the respective shares, which subject to Article 5 shall
     be valid until 30 June 198 5 shall be as follows :
                                - in hectolitres of pure alcohol-
       – Bénélux :                   10   870
      – Denmark :                  ~~2
                                    " 2   320   ■"
      – Germany :                    40   330
      – Greece :                           50
      – France :
                                       4 030
                                       2 930
      – Ire and :                      " X"
      – i»ly;                             A9°
                                          490
      – United Kingdom :            112 980
                                    112 980
       3.    The second instalment of        I  hectolitres shall
       constitute the reserve.            19 178
                                Article 3
       1.    If 90% or more of a Member State's initial
       share yk specified in Article 2 (2), or of that share
-      miptt# the portion returned to the reserve, where
      Article 5 is applied, has been used up, that Member
       State shall without delay, by notifying the
       Commission, draw a second share equal to 10 % of
       its initial share, rounded up where necessary to the
       next unit, to the extent permitted by the amount of
       the reserve .
( 1 ) 0J No L 53 , 27.2.1981 , p. 19 .
                     ι
 ---pagebreak---                                  - 9 -
  2 . If, after its initial share has been used up, 90 %
  or more of the second share drawn by a Member
  State has been used up, that Member State shall, in
  accordance           with the  conditions laid down  in
  paragraph 1 , draw a third share equal to 5 % of its
  initial share, rounded up where necessary to . the next
  unit.
  3. If, after its second share has been used up, 90 %
  or more of the third share drawn by a Member State
 has been used up, that Member State shall , in
 accordance with the same conditions,. draw a fourth
 share equal to the third.
 This process shall continue until the reserve is used
 up.
                 I        / '
 4. By. way of derogation from paragraphs 1 , 2 and
 3 , a Member State may draw shares smaller than
 those fixed in those paragraphs if there is reason to
 believe that they might not be used up. It shall inform
 the Commission of its reasons for applying this
.paragraph.
                              Article 4
 Additional shares drawn pursuant to Article 3 shall be
 valid until 30 June 198 3 .
                              Article 5
 The Member States shall return to the reserve, not
 later than 1 April 198 3 l^e unused portion of their
 initial share which, on l£ March 198 3/s in excess of
 20 % of the initial volume. They may return a larger
 quantity if there are grounds for believing that this
 quantity may not be used.
                   ι
 The Member States shall, not later than 1 April 1983 ,
 notify the Commission of the total quantities of the
 said goods imported, up to 15 March 1983 inclusive -
 and charged against the Community quota, and of
 any quantities of the initial shares returned to the
 reserve. '    .
                     I
 ---pagebreak---                                  - 10-
                             Article 6
     The Commission shall keep an account of the shares
     opened by thei Member States pursuant to Articles 2
     and 3 and shall as soon as it has been notified , inform
     each State of the extent to which the reserve has been
     used up.
     It shall inform the Member States, not later than
     5 April 198 3 of the amount in the reserve after
     quantities have been returned pursuant to Article 5.
    The Commission shall ensure that the drawing which
     uses up the reserve is limited to the balance available
     and to this end shall specify the amount thereof to the
     Member State which makes the last drawing.
                            Article 7
    1.   The Member States shall take all measures
   necessary to ensure that additional shares drawn
   pursuant to Article 3, are opened in such a way that
   imports may be charged without interruption against
   their accumulated shares of the Community quota.
   2. The Member States shall ensure that importers
 : of the said products established in their territory have
   free access to the shares allocated to them .
   3.    The extent to which a Member State has used
   up its share shall be determined on the basis of the
   imports of the goods in question entered with the
   customs authorities for free circulation .
                           Article   8
  1.     Member States shall inform the Commission
  each month of imports actually charged against the
  tariff quota.
  2 . The Commission shall regularly inform the
  Member States of the extent to which the tariff quota
  has been used up.
  3 . Where necessary, consultations may be held at
  the request of a Member State or on the initiative of
  the Commission .
                          Article 9
The lumber' States and the Commission shall
cooperate closely in order to ensure that this Regu­
lation is complied with.
 ---pagebreak---                                      Article 10
               Council Regulation (EEC) No 1470/80 of 9 June 1980
               on the safeguard measures provided for in the second
               ACP-EEC Convention ( ') shall apply in respect of the
               products covered by this Regulation.
                                     Article 11
              This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 July 1982 ,
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
States.
Done at Brussels,           1982 .
                                                                    For the Council
                            . ,                                       The President
  V) OJ No L 147/ 12. 6. 1980, p. 4.