CELEX: 51991PC0040
Language: en
Date: 1991-02-15
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) ON THE TARIFF ARRANGEMENTS APPLICABLE TO IMPORTS INTO THE COMMUNITY OF PRODUCTS ORIGINATING IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                   C0M(91)  40 final
                                   Brussels, 15 February 1991
                         Proposal for a
                   COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
       on the tariff arrangements applicable to imports
          into the Community of products originating
                  in the occupied territories
                 (presented by the Commission)
 ---pagebreak---                                         - 2 -
                              EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
At   its meeting of 23 and 24 June 1990          in Dublin,     the European Council
reviewed   the    various  measures     introduced    by   the    Community      and   its
Member States    to   halt  the   deterioration     in   the   economic      and    social
situation In the occupied territories.         Where the Community's preferential
trading     arrangement     for    these      territories      is     concerned,       the
European CounciI    called on the Community        institutions      to take whatever
steps were necessary to bring about a rapid improvement               in conditions of
access to the Community market        for Palestinian agricultural          exports, in
which a certain increase had already been noticed.
Agriculture is the biggest productive sector in the Palestinian economy and
has suffered particularly from the deterioration in the economic situation
 in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.       To this should be added the fact that
 inputs into this sector cost more here than           in most other       Mediterranean
countries because the occupation of the territories makes it difficult to
obtain   supplies    from  the   world   market.   The    Gulf   crisis     has    further
aggravated the situation because all agricultural exports to Iraq have been
stopped and there has been a major drop in exports to Jordan.                 This would
result   in a loss of revenue of the order of USD 40 million over a full
year.
 Increasing exports to the Community might be an effective way of giving
agriculture a new impetus.       Experience gained during two seasons of direct
exports to the Community has shown that, because of the limited quantities
exported,     Palestinian    exporters     lie   Just    below     the    threshold     of
profitability.     A special effort should therefore be made by the Community
to stimulate such exports even further.
The Commission therefore proposes the following:
-   the immediate elimination of residual customs duties applied to products
    listed   in Annex II of     the Treaty which      come under      the   preferential
    arrangement currently applicable to the occupied territories;
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 3 -
-  application of the same arrangements to strawberries since an export
   potential exists;
-  for sensitive products, reference quantities will be fixed in the light
   of exports already effected or of export openings.     If imports of any
   product exceed the reference quantity, the Community reserves the right
   to impose a tariff quota.   Where this applies, the customs duty charged
   under the current preferential arrangement will be applied to any large
   quantities in excess of the quota.
   Reference quantities could also be fixed subsequently for the remaining
   products, if necessary.
    It goes without saying that the reference quantities will have to be
   subject to the annual increases provided for the period 1992-1995 under
   the new Mediterranean policy.
The Commission considers that, except     in the case of citrus fruits, a
solution of this kind should not pose any particular problems in view of
the limited export potential of the occupied territories.   It would also be
a particularly appropriate way of bringing about a rapid improvement in the
conditions of access to the Community market for products which are of the
greatest   importance in  the  Palestinian  economy,  as  requested  by  the
European Counc11.
The Commission therefore submits a proposal for a Council Regulation aimed
at modifying the preferential arrangements currently applied to imports of
agricultural products originating in the occupied territories.
 ---pagebreak---                                        - 4 -
                                  Proposal for a
                            COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
               on the tariff arrangements applicable to imports
                   into the Community of products originating
                           in the occupied territories
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 products originating      in the West Bank of the River Jordan or the
Gaza Strip (called the 'occupied territories'), both occupied by Israel,
enjoy preferential treatment with regard to access to the Community market
under Council Regulation (EEC) No 3363/86; 1
Whereas  the   preferential   arrangements    provide   for    free   access   to  the
Community market for industrial goods and preferential tariff treatment for
certain agricultural products;
Whereas  it is appropriate to introduce measures to bring about a rapid
improvement   in the    conditions of    access   to   the   Community    market   for
agricultural products originating in the occupied territories and that, to
achieve this objective, Regulation (EEC) No 3363/86 should be replaced by a
new Régulât ion,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
                                     Article 1
1. Products   other   than   those   listed   in  Annex II     to   the   Treaty   and
   originating   in the occupied      territories shall     be    imported   into the
   Community    without    quantitative     restrictions     or    measures     having
   equivalent   effect   and   free   of  customs    duties    and   charges    having
   equivalent effect.
1  OJ No L 306, 1.11.1986, p. 103.
 ---pagebreak---                                         - 5 -
2. In the case of products listed in the Annex to Council Regulation (EEC)
    No 3033/80 2 , which list is set out in Annex 1 hereto, paragraph I shall
    apply only to the fixed component of the charge imposed on such goods
    imported into the Community.
                                      Article 2
The    customs   duties on   imports   into the Community    of   the    agricultural
products     set  out  in Annex    2  hereto    and originating    in   the  occupied
territories shall cease to apply on the entry into force of this Regulation
for the periods indicated.
                                      Article 3
1.    A reference quantity is set out in Annex 2 hereto for certain products.
Where imports of any of these products exceed the reference quantity, the
product concerned may be made subject to a Community            tariff quota which
shall    apply   to a volume equivalent       to the reference   quantity,     if the
amounts     imported  appear  likely to cause difficulties        in the    Community
market.
2.    In the case of      products   listed    in Annex  2, other     than  those   in
paragraph 1, reference quantities may be set if the amounts imported appear
 likely to create difficulties in the Community market.
These products may subsequently be made subject to tariff quotas under the
conditions indicated in paragraph 1.
3.    The rates of reduction set out        in Annex 2 shall apply to imports in
excess of the quotas.
                                      Article 4
The rules of origin to be applied shall be those laid down in Commission
Regulation (EEC) No 4129/86; 3
2    OJ No L 323, 29.11.1980, p. 1.
3   OJ No L 381, 31.12.1986, p. 1.
 ---pagebreak---                                    - 6 -
                                 Article 5
Regulation (EEC) No 3363/86 is hereby repealed.
                                 Article 6
This Regulation shall enter into force on the fifteenth day following that
of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in
a 11 Member States.
Done at Brussels,                       For the Council
                                        The President
 ---pagebreak---                                                  - 7 -
                                             'ANNEX 1
     CN code                                           Description
ex 0403       Buttermilk, curdled milk and cream, yoghurt, képhir and other fermented or acidified
              milk and cream, concentrated^ whether or not ; containing added sugar or other
              sweetening matter or flavoured or containing added fruit, nuts or cocoa :
   0403 10 51 — Yoghurt, flavoured or containing added fruit or cocoa
   to
   0403 10 99
   0403 90 71     Other, flavoured or containing added fruit or cocoa
   to
   0403 90 99
   071040 00  Sweet corn (uncooked or cooked by steaming or boiling in water), frozen
   0711 90 30 Sweet corn provisionally preserved (for example, by sulphur dioxide gas, in brine, in
              sulphur water or in other preservative solutions), but unsuitable in that state for imme-
              diate consumption
ex 1517       Margarine ; edible mixtures or preparations of animal or vegetable fats or oils or of frac-
              tions of different fats or oils of this chapter, other than edible fats or oils or their frac-
              tions of heading No 1516:
   1517 10 10 — Margarine, excluding liquid margarine containing more than 10% but not more
                  than 15% by weight of milk fats
   151790 10  — Other, containing more than 10 % but not more than 15 % by weight of milk fats
ex 1704       Sugar confectionery (including white chocolate), not containing cocoa ; excluding
              liquorice extract containing more than 10 % by weight of sucrose but not containing
              other added substances, falling within subheading No 1704 90 10
    1806      Chocolate and other food preparations containing cocoa
    1901      Malt extract ; food preparations of flour, meal, starch or malt extract, not containing
              cocoa powder or containing cocoa powder in a proportion by weight of less than 50 %,
              not elsewhere specified or included ; food preparations of goods of heading Nos 0401
              to 0404, not containing cocoa powder or containing cocoa powder in à proportion by
              weight of less than 10 %, not elsewhere specified or included
   1902       Pasta, whether or not cooked or otherwise prepared excluding stuffed pasta falling
              within subheadings 1902 20 10 and 1902 20 30
    1903      Tapioca and substitutes therefor, prepared from starch in the form of flakes, grains,
              pearls, siftings or similar forms
    1904      Prepared foods-obtained by the swelling or roasting of cereals or cereal products (for
              example com flakes) ; cereals, other than maize (com), in grain form, pre-cooked or
              otherwise prepared
    1905      Bread, pastry, cakes, biscuits and other bakers'wares, whether or not containing cocoa,
              communion wafers, empty cachets of a kind suitable for pharmaceutical use, sealing
              wafers, rice paper and similar products
   2001 90 30 Sweet cornâ(2fû mays var. saccbarata)' PreP*Te<i or preserved by-vinegar or acetic acid
   2001 90 40 Yams, sweet poutoes and similar edible parts of plants containing 5 */• or more by
              weight of stsiçh, prepared or preserved by vinegar or >cetk acid
   2004 90 10 Sweet corn (Zea mays var.- saaharata/p**P***d «•*' preserved otherwise than by vinegar or acetic acid; frozen
   2005 80 00 Sweet corn ^Zea mays var. saccharata) prepared or preserved otherwise than by vinegar
              or acetic acid; not frozen
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 8-
     CN code                                       Description
                Maize other than sweet *&]**.»*              ™ ""chara"*'     otherwise prepared    or
   2008 99 85  préservée, not conuining added spirit or added sugar
   2008 99 91 Yams, sweet potatoes and similar edible parts of plants conuining 5 % or more by
              weight of surch, otherwise prepared or preserved, not conuining added spirit or added
              sugar
   2101 30 19 Roasted coffee substitutes excluding roasted chicory
   210130 99  Extracts, essences and concentrates of roasted coffee substitutes excluding those of
              roasted chicory
   2102 10 31 Bakers' yeast
   to
   210210 39
   2105       Ice cream and other edible ice. whether or not conuining cocoa
ex 2106       food preparations not elsewhere specified or included other than those falling within
              subheadings 2106 10 10 and 2106 90 91 and other than flavoured or coloured sugar
              syrups
   2202 90 91 Non-alcoholic beverages, not including fruit or vegeuble juices of heading No 2009,
   2202 90 95 conuining products of Nos 0401 to 0404 or obuined from products of heading Nos
   2202 90 99 0401 to 0404
   2905 43    Mannitol
   2905 44    D-Glucitol (sorbitol)
ex 3501       Caseins caseinates and other casein derivatives
ex 3505 10    Dextrins and other modified starches, excluding esterified or etherified surches of
              subheading 3505 10 50
   3505 20    Glues based on surches or on dextrins or other modified surches
   3809 10    Prepared glazings and prepared dressings with a basis of amylaceous subsUnces
   3823 60    Sorbitol other than of subheading 2905 44'
 ---pagebreak---                               - 9 -
                                                             ANNEX2
       CN                       Description              Rate of
      code                                               reduction
                                                         in customs
                                                         duties (%)!
   0?02 00 10   Tomatoes, fresh or chilled:
                From 1 December to 31 March2                 60
   0703 10      Onions:
                Prom 15 February to 15 May                   60
   0700 30 00   Aubergines (egg-plants)
                From 15 January to 30 April3                 60
   0709 60 10    Sweet peppers4                              40
   0709 90 70   Courgettes
                From 1 December to end of February5          60
   0805 10      Oranges, fresh6                              60
   0805 20      Mandarins (including tangerines and
                satsumas); Clementines, wilkings and
                similar citrus hybrids, fresh                60
   0805 30      Lemons (Citrus limon, Citrus Limonum),
                fresh                                        40
   0805 40 00   Grapefruit and pomelos                       80
   0807 10 90   Melons
                From 1 November to 31 May                    50
   0810 10 90   Strawberries >
                From 1 November to 31 March7                 0
   0812 90 20   Oranges, coinirdnuted                        80
   0904 20 39   Peppers other than sweet peppers, dried,
                neither crushed nor ground                   80
1 For imports in excess of the quota.
2 Reference quantity   1 000 tonnes.
3 Reference quantity   15 000 tonnes.
4 Reference quantity   1 000 tonnes.
5 Reference quantity   300 tonnes.
6 Reference quantity 25 000 tonnes.
7 Reference quantity   500 tonnes.
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                                                                                    ISSN 0254-1475
                                                                       COM(91) 40 final
                                                            DOCUMENTS
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