CELEX: 31977R2712
Language: en
Date: 1977-11-28 00:00:00
Title: Council Regulation (EEC) No 2712/77 of 28 November 1977 opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for preserved pineapples, other than in slices, half slices or spirals, originating in developing countries

No L 324/ 138                            Official Journal of the European Communities                               19 . 12 . 77
                                         COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2712/77
                                                     of 28 November 1977
                opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for
                preserved pineapples, other than in slices, half slices or spirals, originating in developing
                                                            countries
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,                           whereas it appears appropriate, however, in view of the
                                                                    sensitiveness of the preserved fruit and vegetable sector
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European               generally and of the need to safeguard the interests of
Economic Community, and in particular Article 43                    the ACP States in this field, to lay down for preserved
thereof,                                                            pineapples, other than in slices, half slices or spirals,
                                                                    special conditions consisting in a reduction of the cus­
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                  toms duty applicable to that product within the limits of
                                                                    a Community tariff quota ;
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parlia­
ment ( x),                                                          Whereas the offer made by the Community includes a
                                                                    clause stating that the Community drew up the offer on
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                    the assumption that all the main industrialized countries
Social Committee (2),                                               which are members of the OECD would participate in
                                                                    granting preferences and would make similar efforts in
Whereas in the Joint Declaration of Intent on the de­               this direction ; whereas, moreover, it is evident from the
velopment of trade relations with Sri Lanka, India,                 conclusions worked out in UNCTAD that this offer,
Malaysia, Pakistan and Singapore ( 3), the Community                while being of a temporary nature, does not constitute a
declared its readiness to seek solutions to the problems            binding commitment and, in particular, may be with­
which may arise in the field of trade with the countries            drawn wholly or in part at a later date; whereas this
referred to;                                                        possibility may be adopted inter alia with a view to
                                                                    remedying any unfavourable situations which might
Whereas in respect of several Asian countries of the                arise in the ACP States following the implementation of
Commonwealth and particularly as regards Malaysia,                  the generalized preference scheme;
preserved pineapples are an important export product
and the flow of trade in such products is likely to be              Whereas tariff preferences have been applied as from
changed as a result of the enlargement of the Com­                  the second half of 1971 ; whereas it is expedient to con­
munity; whereas the system of generalized tariff prefer­            tinue to apply them throughout 1978 ;
ences may constitute a solution to problems of this
nature; whereas certain forms, of preserved pineapples              Whereas it is expedient, therefore, that the Community
should therefore be included in the system of
                                                                    should open for 1978 in respect of the said products,
generalized preferences;                                            originating in the countries and territories listed in the
                                                                    Annex, a Community tariff quota limited to 45 000
Whereas, within the context of UNCTAD , the Euro­                   tonnes and at a customs duty of 12% , increased by the
pean Economic Community offered to grant tariff pre­                levy on sugar where the sugar content exceeds 17% by
ferences on certain processed agricultural products of              weight in the case of products falling within subheading
Chapters 1 to 24 to the Common Customs Tariff                       ex 20.06 B II a) 5 aa), and 19% by weight in the case of
originating in developing countries; whereas the pre-,              products falling within subheading ex 20.06 B II b)
ferential treatment proposed in that offer consists, in             5 aa);
respect of certain goods which are subject to the trade
arrangements laid down in Regulation (EEC) No
 1059/69, of a reduction in the fixed component of the              Whereas, in accordance with Protocol 23 to the Act of
charge applicable to such goods by virtue of that Regu­             Accession (4 ), the generalized tariff preference scheme
lation, and, in respect of products which are subject to            became fully applicable in the new Member States on
the single customs duty, of a reduction in such duty;               1 January 1974 ;
whereas preferential imports of the products concerned
could be effected without quantitative restrictions ;                Whereas the benefit of this tariff quota should be re­
                                                                     served for products originating in the countries and ter­
                                                                     ritories under consideration, the concept of 'originating
                                                                     products' being determined in accordance with the
(!) OJ No C 266 , 7. 11 . 1977, p. 16 .
(2) Opinion delivered on 26/27 October 1977 (not yet pub­
    lished in the Official Journal).
(3) OJ No L 73 , 27. 3 . 1972, p. 1 95 .                             (4 ) OJ No L 73 , 27 . 3 . 1972 , p. 14 .
 ---pagebreak--- 19 . 12 . 77                            Official Journal of the European Communities                           No L 324/ 139
procedure laid down in Article 14 of Council Regu­                 used up its initial share should draw an additional share
lation (EEC) No 802/68 of 27 June 1968 on the com­                 from the reserve; whereas this must be done by each
mon definition of the concept of the origin of goods (1 );         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
Whereas it is necessary to ensure equal and continuous             shares must be available for use until the end of the
access for all Community importers to the abovemen­                quota period; whereas, however, it seems advisable to
tioned quota and the uninterrupted application of the              permit the Member States to limit the exercise of their
rate laid down for this quota to all imports of the pro­           total obligation to draw on the reserve amount to a
ducts concerned into all Member States until this quota is         level not exceeding 40% of their initial share; whereas
used up ; whereas having regard to the principles set out          this method of administration calls          for close co­
above, the Community nature of the quota can be re­                operation between Member States and the Commission
spected by allocating the Community tariff quota                   which must, in particular, be able to observe the extent
among Member States; whereas, moreover, to this end                to which the quota amount is used and inform Member
and in the context of the utilization system, the actual           States thereof;
charges against the quota may relate only to products
which have been entered for home use and which are
accompanied by a certificate of origin;
                                                                   Whereas if, at a specified date in the quota period, a
                                                                   considerable balance remains in one or other Member
Whereas, to take account of future import trends for the           State it is essential that that Member State pays a large
products in question in the various Member States, the             amount of it back into the reserve, in order to avoid a
quotas should be divided into two tranches, the first              part of the Community quota remaining unused in one
being allocated among Member States and the second                 Member State when it could be used in others ;
held as a reserve to cover subsequently the requirements
of Member States which have exhausted their initial
shares; whereas, moreover, the reserve constituted in              Whereas since the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of
the manner described above tends to avoid making the               the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
system of utilization of the quota excessively rigid, to            are united in and represented by the Benelux Economic
the detriment of the developing countries concerned and             Union, all transactions concerning the administration of
will contribute to. achieving the aim already mentioned             shares allocated to that economic union may be carried
of improving the generalized preferences system;                    out by any one of its members,
whereas, to give importers in each Member State some
degree of certainty, the first tranche of the Community
quota should be fixed at 80% of the full quota;
                                                                   HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
Whereas the statistical data available cover only a rela­
tively brief period, and they should be weighted on the
basis of the estimates which may be made for the quota
year; whereas the percentage of the shares in the first                                      Article 1
tranche may be drawn up as follows :
         Germany                               20-5% ,              1 . From 1 January to 31 December 1978 , a Com­
         Benelux                                4-9% ,             munity tariff quota of 45 000 tonnes shall be opened by
                                                                   the Community for the imports of preserved pineapples,
         France                                 0-5% ,
                                                                   other than in slices, half slices or spirals, falling within
         Italy                                  2-0% ,             the following subheadings of the Common Customs
         Denmark                                 1-9% ,            Tariff: ex 20.06 B II a) 5 , ex 20.06 B II b) 5 , ex 20.06 B
                                                                   II c) 1 dd) and ex 20.06 B II c) 2 bb). Within this tariff
         Ireland                                 10% ,             quota the customs duty shall be suspended at 12% ,
         United Kingdom                        69-2% ;             increased by the levy on sugar where the sugar content
                                                                   exceeds 17% by weight in the case of products falling
                                                                   within subheading ex 20.06 B II a) 5 aa), and 19% by
                                                                   weight in the case of products falling within subheading
Whereas Member States may exhaust their initial shares             ex 20.06 B II b) 5 aa).
for the products in question at different rates; whereas
to avoid disruption of supplies on this account it should
be provided that any Member State which has almost
                                                                   2. The benefit of this tariff quota shall be reserved for
                                                                   the products originating in the countries and territories
                                                                   listed in the Annex. However, the imports already ben­
(») OJ No L 148 , 28 . 6. 1968 , p. 1 .                            efiting from exemption of customs duties under another
 ---pagebreak---  No L 324/ 140                           Official Journal of the European Communities                               19 . 12 . 77
preferential tariff scheme granted by the Community                 specified in those paragraphs if there are grounds for
shall not be charged to this quota.                                 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.
For the purposes of implementing this Regulation the
concept of originating products shall be determined in              5 . Any Member State may limit the sum total of its
 accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 14
of Regulation (EEC) No 802/68 .
                                                                    additional shares to 40% of its initial share, informing
                                                                    the Commission that it is so doing.
                           Article 2                                                         Article 4
 1 . A first tranche of 36 000 tonnes shall be allocated
                                                                     Additional shares drawn pursuant to Article 3 shall be
among the Member States. The shares which, subject to                valid until 31 December 1978 .
Article 5 , shall be valid until 31 December 1978 , shall
for each Member State be as follows :
                                                                                             Article 5
         Germany                        7 380 tonnes,
         Benelux                        1 764 tonnes,
         France                            180 tonnes,              A Member State which on 15 August 1978 has not
                                                                    exhausted one of its initial shares shall, not later than
         Italy                             720 tonnes,              1 September 1978 , return to the reserve any unused
         Denmark                           684 tonnes ,             portion in excess of 20% of the initial amount. It may
                                                                    return a greater portion if there are grounds for believ­
         Ireland                           360 tonnes,
                                                                    ing that such portion may not be used in full .
         United Kingdom               24 912      tonnes .
                                                                   Member States shall, not later than 1 September 1978 ,
                                                                   notify the Commission of the total quantities of the
2 . The second tranche of 9 000 tonnes shall consti­
                                                                   product in question imported up to and including 15
 tute the reserve.
                                                                   August 1978 and charged against the Community
                                                                    quotas and of any portion of their initial shares re­
                                                                    turned to the reserve.
                          Article 3
                                                                                             Article 6
 1.  If a Member State has used 90% or more of one of
its initial shares as fixed in Article 2 ( 1 ), or of that share
minus any portion returned to the reserve pursuant to               The Commission shall keep an account of the shares
Article 5 , it shall forthwith, by notifying the Com­               opened by the Member States pursuant to Articles 2 and
mission, draw a second share, to the extent that the                3 and shall, as soon as the information reaches it, in­
reserve so permits, equal to 10% of its initial share               form each State of the extent to which the reserve has
rounded up should the occasion arise to the nearest unit            been used up .
above.
                                                                    It shall, not later than 15 September 1978 , inform the
2. If a Member State, after exhausting one of its initial           Member State of the amount still in reserve following
shares, has used 90% or more of the second share
                                                                    any return of shares pursuant to Article 5 .
drawn by it, that Member State shall forthwith, by
notifying the Commission , draw a third share, equal to
5% of its initial share rounded up should the occasion              It shall ensure that when an amount exhausting the
arise to the nearest unit above .
                                                                    reserve is drawn the amount so drawn does not exceed
                                                                    the balance available, and to this end shall notify the
3 . If a Member State, after exhausting its second share,           amount of that balance to the Member State making the
has used 90% or more of the third share drawn by it,                last drawing.
that Member State shall, under the same conditions,
draw a fourth share equal to the third. This process
shall continue until the reserve has been exhausted.                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
4 . By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 , 2 and 3 , a            may be charged without interruption against their
Member State may draw shares lower than those                       cumulative shares of the Community quota.
 ---pagebreak--- 19 . 12 . 77                           Official Journal of the European Communities                           No L 324/ 141
                          Article 7                                                         Article 10
1 . The Member States shall ensure free access to the              1 . The Commission may decide, by means of a Regu­
shares which have been allocated to them for importers            lation, to re-introduce the levying of customs duties for
of the said goods who are established in their territory.          a specified period, in order to ensure that Article 9 is
                                                                   applied.
2 . The extent to which a Member State has used up its
share shall be determined on the basis of imports of the          2 . In the event of such action being requested by a
said goods which have been entered for home use, on                Member State, the Commission shall decide within a
the basis of the customs value of the said goods, and              period of not more than 10 working days after the
which are accompanied by a certificate of origin in                request has been received and shall inform the Member
accordance with the rules referred to in Article 1 (2 ).           States of this decision.
3 . Goods shall qualify for a tariff quota only if the             3 . Any Member State may refer to the Council the
certificate of origin referred to in paragraph 2 is submit­        measure taken by the Commission, within a period of
ted before the date on which the levying of duties is              not more than 10 working days after it has been in­
re-introduced .                                                   'firmed thereof. The fact that the matter is referred to
                                                                   the Council shall not cause the measure to be sus­
                                                                   pended. The Council shall meet immediately. It may, by
                                                                   acting on a qualified majority, amend or rescind the
                          Article 8                                measure in question.
Member States shall inform the Commission at monthly                                        Article 11
intervals of imports of the products in question actually
charged against their shares. This information shall
 show both the value expressed in units of account and             The provisions of Articles 9 and 10 shall not prejudice
the quantity expressed in tonnes.                                  the application of the safeguard clauses drawn up in
                                                                   connection with the common agricultural policy pur­
                                                                   suant to Article 43 of the Treaty or those drawn up in
                                                                   connection with the common commercial policy pur­
                          Article 9
                                                                   suant to Article 113 of the Treaty.
 If the Community finds that products benefiting from
 the treatment provided for in Article 1 are imported                                       Article 12
 into the Community in such quantities or at such prices
 that Community producers of products similar to or in
 direct competition with them suffer or are likely to suf­          Member States and the Commission shall collaborate
 fer from serious disadvantage, or that an unfavourable             closely to ensure that this Regulation is observed.
 situation is created in the ACP States, the levying of
 customs duties may be re-introduced in whole or in part
 on the products in question in respect of the countries                                    Article 13
 or territories which are the cause of the disadvantage.
 Such measures may also be taken in the case of actual
 or potential serious disadvantage in a single region of           This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January
 the Community.                                                     1978 .
               This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
               Done at Brussels , 28 November 1977 .
                                                                                         For the Council
                                                                                          The President
                                                                                             L. OUTERS
 ---pagebreak---   No L 324/ 142                                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                                                 19 . 12 . 77
                                                                               ANNEX
                               List of developing countries and territories enjoying generalized tariff preferences (*)
                                                               I. INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES .
 660   Afghanistan                                       260 Guinea                                                             801 Papua New Guinea
 208   Algeria                                           257 Guinea Bissau                                                      520 Paraguay
 330   Angola                                            488 Guyana                                                             504 Peru
 528   Argentina                                         452 Haiti                                                              708 Philippines
453 Bahamas                                              424 Honduras                                                           644 Qatar
 640 Bahrain                                             664 India                                                              066 Romania
 666 Bangladesh                                          700 Indonesia                                                          324 Rwanda
469 Barbados                                             616 Iran                                                               819 Samoa
284 Benin                                                612 Iraq                                                               311 Sao Tome and Principe
675 Bhutan                                               272 Ivory Coast                                                        632 Saudi Arabia
516 Bolivia                                              464 Jamaica                                                            248 Senegal
391 Botswana                                             628 Jordan                                                             355 Seychelles and Dependencies
 508 Brazil                                              696 Kampuchea, Democratic                                              264 Sierra Leone
676 Burma                                                346 Kenya                                                               706 Singapore
328 Burundi                                              728 Korea, Republic of                                                  342 Somalia
302 Cameroon                                             636 Kuwait                                                              669 Sri Lanka
247 Cape Verde Islands                                   684 Laos                                                                224 Sudan
306 Central African Empire                               604 Lebanon                                                            492 Surinam
244 Chad                                                 395 Lesotho                                                             393 Swaziland
512 Chile                                                268 Liberia                                                             608 Syria
480 Colombia                                             216 Libya                                                               352 Tanzania
375 Comoros                                              370 Madagascar                                                          680 Thailand
318 Congo, People's Republic of                          386 Malawi                                                              280 Togo
436 Costa Rica                                           701 Malaysia                                                            817 Tonga
448 Cuba                                                 667 Maldive Islands                                                     472 Trinidad and Tobago
600 Cyprus                                               232 Mali                                                                212 Tunisia
338 Djibouti                                             228 Mauritania                                                          350 Uganda
456 Dominican Republic                                   373 Mauritius                                                           647 United Arab Emirates
500 Ecuador                                              412 Mexico                                                              236 Upper Volta
220 Egypt                                                204 Morocco                                                             524 Uruguay
428 El Salvador                                          366 Mozambique                                                          484 Venezuela
310 Equatorial Guinea                                    803 Nauru                                                               690 Vietnam
334 Ethiopia                                             672   Nepal                                                             652 Yemen
815 Fiji                                                432    Nicaragua                                                         656 Yemen , Democratic
314 Gabon                                                240   Niger                                                             048 Yugoslavia
252 Gambia                                              288    Nigeria                                                           322 Zaire
276 Ghana                                                649 Oman                                                                378 Zambia
473 Grenada                                             662 Pakistan
416 Guatemala                                           440 Panama
 (') The codc number preceding the name of each beneficiary country or territory is that given in 'Geonomenclature 1977', published by the Statistical Office of the European
     Communities .
 ---pagebreak--- 19 . 12 . 77                                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                                       No L 324/ 143
                                                        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
             890 Australian Antarctic Territory
             421 Belize
             413 Bermuda
             890 British Antarctic Territory
             357 British Indian Ocean Territory
             812 British Pacific Ocean
             703 Brunei
             202 Canary Islands
             463 Cayman Islands and Dependencies
             205 Ceuta and Melilia
             802 Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Norfolk Island
             529 Falkland Islands and Dependencies
             822 French Polynesia
             890 French Southern and Antarctic Territories
             044 Gibraltar
             740 Hong Kong
             743 Macao
             377 Mayotte
             476 Netherlands Antilles
             809 New Caledonia and Dependencies
             808 Pacific Islands administered by the United States of America or under United States trusteeship (*)
             329 St Helena and Dependencies
             814 Territories for which New Zealand is responsible ( Cook Islands, Niue Island, Tokelau Islands)
             454 Turks and Caicos Islands
             457 Virgin Islands of the United States
             811 Wallis and Futuna Islands
             471 West Indies
             Note: The above lists may be amended subsequently to take account of changes in the international
                       status of countries or territories.
             (') 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).