CELEX: 31977R0524
Language: en
Date: 1977-03-14 00:00:00
Title: Council Regulation (EEC) No 524/77 of 14 March 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 73 /40                            Official Journal of the European Communities                              21 . 3 . 77
                                       COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 524/77
                                                     of 14 March 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,                          that Regulation, and , in respect of products which are
                                                                  subject to the single customs duty, of a reduction in
                                                                  such duty ; whereas preferential imports of the prod­
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the Euro­                ucts concerned could be effected without quantitative
pean Economic Community, and in particular Article                restrictions ; whereas it appears appropriate, however,
43 thereof,                                                       in view of the sensitiveness of the preserved fruit and
                                                                  vegetable sector generally and of the need to
                                                                  safeguard the interests of the ACP States in this field,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                                                                  to lay down for preserved pineapples, in slices, half
                                                                  slices or spirals, special conditions consisting in a
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parlia­              reduction of the customs duty applicable to that
ment (*),                                                         product within the limits of a Community tariff
                                                                  quota ;
Whereas in the Joint Declaration of Intent on the
development of trade relations with Sri Lanka, India,
Malaysia, Pakistan and Singapore (2), the Community               Whereas the offer made by the Community includes
declared its    readiness    to   seek   solutions  to  the       a clause stating that the Community drew up the
problems which may arise in the field of trade with               offer on the assumption that all the main industrial­
                                                                  ized countries which are members of the OECD
the countries referred to ;
                                                                  would participate in granting preferences and would
                                                                  make similar efforts in this direction ; whereas, more­
Whereas in respect of several Asian countries of the              over, it is evident from the conclusions worked out
Commonwealth and particularly as regards Malaysia,                in UNCTAD that this offer, while being of a tem­
preserved pineapples are an important export product              porary nature, does not constitute a binding commit­
and the flow of trade in such products ^s likely to be            ment and, in particular, may be withdrawn wholly
changed as a result of the enlargement of the Com­                or in part at a later date ; whereas this possibility
munity ; whereas the system of generalized tariff                 may be adopted inter alia with a view to remedying
preferences may constitute a solution to problems                 any unfavourable situations which might arise in the
of this nature ; whereas certain forms of preserved               ACP States following the implementation of the
pineapples should therefore be included in the system             generalized preference scheme ;
of generalized preferences ;
Whereas, within the context of UNCTAD , the Euro­                 Whereas tariff preferences have been applied as from
pean Economic Community offered to grant tariff                   the second half of 1971 ; whereas it is expedient to
preferences on certain processed agricultural products            continue to apply them throughout 1977;
of Chapters 1 to 24 of the Common Customs Tariff
originating in developing countries ; whereas the
preferential treatment proposed in that offer consists,           Whereas it is expedient, therefore, that the Com­
in respect of certain goods which are subject to the              munity should open for 1977 in respect of the said
trade arrangements laid down in Regulation ( EEC )                products, originating in the countries and territories
No 1059/69, of a reduction in the fixed component                  listed in the Annex, a Community tariff quota limited
of the charge applicable to such goods by virtue of               to 28 000 tonnes and at a customs duty of 15% ,
                                                                  increased by the levy on sugar where the sugar
                                                                  content exceeds 17% by weight in the case of prod­
                                                                   ucts falling within subheading ex 20.06 B II a) 5 aa),
0 ) OJ No C 30, 7. 2 . 1977, p. 25 .                              and 19% by weight in the case of products falling
H OJ No L 73 , 27. 3 . 1972 , p. 195 .                             within subheading ex 20.06 B II b ) 5 aa);
 ---pagebreak--- 21 . 3 . 77                          Official Journal of the European Communities                           No L 73 /41
Whereas, in accordance with Protocol 23 to the Act              "Whereas the statistical data available cover only a
of Accession (*), the generalized tariff preference             relatively brief period, and they should be weighted
scheme became fully applicable in the new Member                on the basis of the estimates which may be made for
States on 1 January 1974;                                       the quota year; whereas the percentage of the shares
                                                                of the quota amount may be drawn up as follows :
                                                                         Germany                          35-1%
Whereas, for the said products, this scheme would,                       Benelux                          13-0%
however, involve the application in the new Member
States in 1977 of customs duties higher than or very                     France                            1-0%
close to those which will be applied by the new                          Italy                             2-8%
Member States to non-member countries in general
on the basis of the provisions of the abovementioned                     Denmark                           2-7%
Act; whereas this situation would comply neither                         Ireland                           1-0%
with the spirit nor with the very nature of the general­
ized preference scheme; whereas, in order to main­                       United Kingdom                   44-4%
tain an equivalent preferential margin for these prod­
ucts , also, reduced customs duties should be applied
to them, in accordance with detailed rules based on             Whereas, without affecting the Community nature of
the principle of maintaining, in the new Member                 the tariff quota under consideration, it appears pos­
States, a preference proportional to that which exists           sible to provide temporarily for a utilization scheme
between the duties of the Common Customs Tariff                 based on a single allocation among the Member
and the duties given in Article 1 to this Regulation ;          States ; whereas, moreover, the allocation set out by
whereas, with a view to granting the beneficiary                this Regulation in no way prejudices the possibility
developing countries the best possible treatment, in            of adopting the general method of allocation of
accordance with the objectives of the preference                Community tariff quotas comprising the setting up of
scheme, the duties given in the abovementioned                  a reserve share ; whereas at this transitional stage
Article 1 should also be applied wherever the duties            it appears feasible that such allocation could be made
calculated according to the abovementioned detailed             according to the percentage set out in the above
rules prove to be higher than them ;                            table ;
                                                                Whereas the percentage for the shares of the Member
Whereas the benefit of this tariff quota should be              States in the Community tariff quotas, in view of
reserved for products originating in the countries and           their duration and their amount, does not appear in
territories under consideration, the concept of                 this instance to compromise the equal access for
'originating products' being determined in accordance           Community importers to Community tariff quotas ;
with the procedure laid down in Article 14 of Coun­             whereas for this same reason it would appear expedi­
cil Regulation (EEC) No 802/68 of 27 June 1968 on                ent to allow each Member State to choose the system
the common definition of the concept of the origin               for administering its share;
of goods (2);
                                                                Whereas since the Kingdom of Belgium, the King­
                                                                dom of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of
Whereas it is necessary to ensure equal and contin­             Luxembourg are united in and represented by the
uous access for all Community importers to the                  Benelux Economic Union, all transactions concerning
abovementioned quota and the uninterrupted appli­               the administration of the share allocated to that
cation of the rate laid down for this quota to all              economic union may be carried out by any one of
imports of the products concerned into all Member                its members,
States until this quota is used up ; whereas having
regard to the principles set out above, the Com­
munity nature of the quota can be respected by
allocating the Community tariff quota among                     HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
Member States ; whereas, moreover, to this end and
in the context of the utilization system, the actual
charges against the quota may relate only to products                                    Article 1
which have been entered for home use and which
are accompanied by a certificate of origin;                      1 . From 1 January to 31 December 1977, a Com­
                                                                munity tariff quota of 28 000 tonnes shall be
                                                                opened by the Community for the imports of
                                                                preserved pineapples in slices, half slices or spirals,
 H OJ No L 73, 27. 3. 1972, p. 14.                              falling within (the following subheadings of the
(2) OJ No L 148, 28. 6. 1968, p. 1 .                             Common Customs Tariff: ex 20.06 B II a) 5, ex 20.06
 ---pagebreak--- No L 73 /42                          Official Journal of the European Communities                               21 . 3 . 77
B II b) 5 , ex 20.06 B II c) 1 dd) and ex 20.06 B II c)                                  Article 3
2 bb). Within this tariff quota the customs duty shall
be suspended at 15% , increased by the levy on sugar            1 . The Member States shall ensure free access to
where the sugar content exceeds 17% by weight in               each of the shares which have been allocated to them
the case of products falling within subheading ex               for importers of the products concerned who are
20.06 B II a) 5 aa), and 19% by weight in the case             established on their territory.
of products falling within subheading ex 20.06 B II
b) 5 aa).
                                                               2 . The extent to which the shares of Member States
                                                                have been used up shall be determined on the basis
                                                               of imports of the said goods which have been entered
On importation into Denmark, Ireland and the United            for home use, and which are accompanied by a
Kingdom, there shall be applied to the abovemen­                certificate of origin in accordance with the rules
tioned products the customs duty obtained by multi­             referred to in Article 1 (2).
plying, by a coefficient equal to the margin of pre­
ferences existing between the duty of 15% given in
paragraph 1 and the Common Customs Tariff duties               3 . Goods may qualify for a tariff quota only if the
applicable, the duties obtained by reducing by 80%              certificate of origin referred to in paragraph 2 is
the difference between the lowest duty applied on               submitted before the date on which the levying of
                                                                duties is re-introduced .
1 January 1972 to the developing countries set out
in the Annex and the Common Customs Tariff.
                                                                                         Article 4
However, the duty of 15% given in the first subpara­            Member States shall inform the Commission at
graph shall be applied when the customs duty                    monthly intervals of imports of the products in
resulting from the abovementioned calculation is                question charged against their shares. This
higher than it.                                                 information shall cover both the value expressed in
                                                                units of account and quantity expressed in tonnes.
2. The benefit of this tariff quota shall be reserved
for the products originating in the countries and                                         Article 5
territories listed in the Annex. However, the imports
already benefiting from exemption of customs duties             If the Community should find that the products
under another preferential tariff scheme granted by             benefiting under the arrangements provided for in
the Community shall not be charged to this quota.               Article 1 are being imported into the Community
                                                                in quantities or at prices such as to put or be likely
                                                                to put Community producers of similar or directly
For the purpose of implementing this Regulation the             competitive products at a serious disadvantage or to
concept of originating products shall be determined             create an unfavourable situation in the ACP States,
in accordance with the procedure laid down in                   the customs duties applied within the Community
Article 14 of Regulation (EEC) No 802/68 .                      may be re-introduced in part or in full for imports
                                                                of the products in question from the country or
                                                                countries or territory or territories which are the
                                                                 cause of such disadvantage. Such measures may also
                         Article 2                               be taken in the event of a serious disadvantage, either
                                                                 actual or foreseeable, which is confined to a single
                                                                 region of the Community.
The Community tariff quotas mentioned in Article 1
shall be allocated in shares which in respect of each
Member State shall be of the amount indicated below :                                     Article 6
         Germany                    9 820 tonnes,                1 . In order to ensure that Article 5 is applied, the
         Benelux                    3 640 tonnes,                Commission may, by way of a Regulation, re-intro­
                                                                 duce Common Customs Tariff duties for a fixed
         France                       280 tonnes,                period.
         Italy                        780 tonnes,
                                                                 2. If the Commission has acted at the request of
         Denmark                      770 tonnes,                a Member State, the former shall give its decision
         Ireland                      280 tonnes,                within a maximum period of 10 working days from
                                                                 the date of receipt of the request and shall inform the
         United Kingdom            12 430 tonnes .               Member State of the action taken .
 ---pagebreak--- 21.3.77                            Official Journal of the European Communities                             No L 73 /43
3 . Each Member State may refer the measure taken                                       Article 8
by the Commission to the Council within a period
of 10 working days following the date it was                   1 . Council   Regulation       (EEC)     No 3029/76   of
notified . The fact that the matter has been referred          13 December 1976 opening, allocating and providing
to the Council shall not constitute the suspension of         for the administration of a Community tariff quota
the measure. The Council shall meet without delay.             for preserved pineapples, in slices, half slices or
Acting on a qualified majority, it may amend or                spirals, originating in developing countries ('), is
repeal the measure in question.                                hereby repealed.
                                                              2. All references to the Regulation repealed by viirtue
                        Article 7
                                                              of paragraph 1 shall be treated as references to this
                                                               Regulation .
The provisions of Articles 5 and 6 shall not prejudice
the application of the safeguard clauses drawn up in
                                                                                        Article 9
connection with the common agricultural policy
pursuant to Article 43 of the Treaty or those drawn
up in connection with the common commercial                   This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 April
policy pursuant to Article 113 of the Treaty.                  1977.
              This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
             States.
              Done at Brussels, 14 March 1977.
                                                                               For the Council
                                                                                 The President
                                                                                   J. SILKIN
                                                              («) OJ No L 349, 20. 12 . 1976 , p. 158 .
 ---pagebreak--- No L 73/44                          Official Journal of the European Commanities                                21 . 3. 77
                                                       ANNEX
                   List of developing countries and territories enjoying generalized tariff preferences
                                            I. INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES
Afghanistan                               Guyana                                    Philippines
Algeria                                   Haiti                                     Qatar
Angola                                    Honduras                                  Romania
Argentina                                 India                                     Rwanda
Bahamas                                   Indonesia                                 Sao Tome and Principe
Bahrain                                   Iran                                      Saudi Arabia
Bangladesh                                Iraq                                      Senegal
Barbados                                  Ivory Coast                               Seychelles
Bénin                                     Jamaica                                   Sierra Leone
Bhutan                                    Jordan
                                                                                    Singapore
Bolivia                                   Kenya                                     Somalia
Botswana                                  Khmer Republic                            Sri Lanka
Brazil                                    Korea (South )
                                                                                    Sudan
Burma                                     Kuwait
                                                                                     Surinam
Burundi                                   Laos
                                                                                    Swaziland
Cameroon                                  Lebanon
                                                                                    Syria
Cape Verde Islands                        Lesotho
                                                                                    Tanzania
Central African Republic                  Liberia
                                                                                    Thailand
Chad                                      Libya
                                                                                    Togo
Chile                                     Malagasy Republic                         Tonga
Colombia                                  Malawi
                                                                                    Trinidad and Tobago
Comoros                                   Malaysia                                  Tunisia
Congo, People's Republic of               Maldive Islands
                                                                                    Uganda
Costa Rica                                Mali
                                                                                    United Arab Emirates :
Cuba                                      Mauritania
                                                                                          Abu Dhabi
Cyprus                                    Mauritius                                       Dubai
Dominican Republic                        Mexico                                          Ras al Khaimah
Ecuador                                   Morocco                                         Fujairah
Egypt, Arab Republic of                   Mozambique                                      Ajman
El Salvador
                                                                                          Sharjah
                                          Nauru
                                                                                          Ummal Qaiwain
Equatorial Guinea                         Nepal                                     Upper Volta
Ethiopia                                  Nicaragua                                 Uruguay
Fiji                                      Niger                                     Venezuela
Gabon                                     Nigeria                                   Vietnam
Gambia                                    Oman
                                                                                    Western Samoa
Ghana                                     Pakistan
Grenada
                                                                                     Yemen, People's Democratic
                                        ' Panama                                    Republic of
Guatemala                                  Papua New Guinea                          Yemen Arab Republic
Guinea                                    Paraguay                                  Yugoslavia
Guinea Bissau                             Peru                                       Zaire
                                                                                    Zambia
 ---pagebreak--- 21 . 3 . 77                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                         No L 73/45
                                                  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
             Afars and Issas (Territory of the)
             Australian Antarctic Territory
             Belize
             Bermuda
             British Antarctic Territory
             British Indian Ocean Territory (Aldabra, Farquhar, Chagos Archipelago, Desroches)
             British Pacific Ocean (*)
             Brunei
             Cayman Islands and Dependencies
             Christmas Island
             Cocos (Keeling) Islands
             Corn Islands and Swan Islands
             Falkland Islands and Dependencies
             French Polynesia
             French Southern and Antarctic Territories
             Gibraltar
             Heard Island and McDonald Islands
             Hong Kong
             Leeward Islands (*)
             Macao
             Mayotte
             Netherlands Antilles
             New Caledonia and Dependencies
             Norfolk Island
             Pacific Islands administered by the United States of America or under United States trusteeship (*)
             Portuguese Timor
             St Helena (including Ascension, Gough Island, and Tristan da Cunha)
             Spanish territories in Africa
             Territories for which New Zealand is responsible (Cook Islands, Niue Island, Tokelau Islands
                  and Ross Dependency)
             Turks and Caicos Islands
             Virgin Islands of the United States (St Croix, St Thomas, St John, etc.)
             Wallis and Futuna Islands
             Windward Islands (*)
             Note: The above lists may be amended subsequently to take account of changes in the inter­
                       national status of countries or territories.
            (') Gilbert Islands, Tuvalu, British Solomon Islands, New Hebrides Condominium, and Pitcairn Islands.
             (') Antigua, Montserrat, St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla, British Virgin Islands.
             (*) 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).
            (*) Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent.