CELEX: 31971R1558
Language: en
Date: 1971-07-20
Title: Regulation (EEC) No 1558/71 of the Commission of 20 July 1971 laying down protective measures applicable to imports of tomato concentrates

566                                   Official Journal of the European Communities
   No L 164/ 14                          Official Journal of the European Communities                                 22.7.71
                                 REGULATION (EEC) No 1558/71 OF THE COMMISSION
                                                         of 20 July 1971
                      laying down protective measures applicable to imports of tomato concentrates
   THE   COMMISSION         OF       THE EUROPEAN      COM­         whereas because of this much Community processing
   MUNITIES,                                                        has suffered irremediable damage ; whereas this is
                                                                    basically due to the difference between the offer
                                                                    prices of the product imported into the Community
   Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                     and the cost price within the Community industry,
   European Economic Community ;                                    which greatly exceeds the 18^% rate of customs duty;
  Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) 'No 865/                Whereas the halt in production in these factories and
  68 1 of 28 June 1968 on the common organisation of                increased imports have resulted in fewer potential
  the market in products " processed from fruit and                 outlets for fresh tomatoes, and because of this there
  vegetables, as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No                could be a surplus of at least 200 000 metric tons of.
  1425/712 ;                                                        the latter in the 1971 marketing year ;
  Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No                      Whereas there may be a comparable effect on tomato
   1427/713 of 2 July 1971 introducing protective                   processing undertakings in the Community following
  measures for products processed from fruit and                    importation at prices and quantities valid during
  vegetables, and in particular Article 1 (2) thereof;              previous marketing years ;
  Whereas imports into the Community of tomato                      Whereas     an assessment of the situation on the
  concentrates during the 1970 marketing year                       market, the main points of which are outlined above,
  amounted to some 74 000 metric tons ; whereas this                leads to the conclusion that imports threaten the
  figure is 10 000 metric tons higher than the figure for           Community market with serious disturbances which
  1969 and 20 000 metric tons higher than the figure                could lead to prices such as to jeopardise the
  for 1968 ;                                                        objectives of Article 39 of the Treaty; whereas, in
                                                                    these circumstances, it is necessary to . take protective
  Whereas the offer prices from third countries are 30              measures ;
  to 40% less than the cost price within the
  Community industry for tomato concentrates ;                      Whereas the effect of the protective measures should
  whereas, consequently, the trend of imports from                  be to restrict imports so that they can be absorbed by
  third countries may aggravate the difficulties facing             the Community market without worsening the
  Community producers as regards production and                     situation thereon ;
  marketing;
                                                                    Whereas for this purpose imports should be restricted
  Whereas massive imports from third countries at very              by recourse to a system of import licences which will
  low prices create a situation on the Community                    be issued as the situation on the Community market
  market where products of Community origin lose                    allows ; whereas, in order to cope with a difficult
  trade outlets ;                                                   situation on the Community markets, the period of
                                                                    validity of these licences should be limited ;
  Whereas many tomato processing undertakings in the
. main production areas of the Community have been                  Whereas imports from third countries willing to
  obliged to close during the last marketing year;                  maintain a certain price level should not be included
                                                                    in the system of import licences ; whereas, moreover,
                                                                    with regard to the special system governing trade
  1 OJ No L 153 , 1.7.1968 , p . 8 .                                between the Community and Greece it is necessary to
  2 OJ No L 151, 7.7.1971, p . 1 .                                  make provision for a different system for imports
  3 OJ No L 151 , 7.7.1971, p. 5.                                   from that country;
 ---pagebreak---                                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                     567
"Whereas recourse to a system of import licences               Each application shall be accompanied by the lodging
makes it necessary for Member States to make prior             of a deposit of 3 units of account per 100
provision for its establishment; whereas consequently ,        kilogrammes net weight which secures the obligation
this system may not be applied immediately but only            to import during the period of validity of the licence
with effect from 9 August 1971 ;                               and which shall, except in case of force majeure, be
                                                               forfeited in whole or in part if importation is not
Whereas, in order to take account of existing trade            effected within this period or is only partly effected .
relations and to ensure that the Community
importers concerned are fairly treated, the restriction        4. The import licence shall not be required for
on issuing licences to applicants should be based on           imports from third countries to be specified which
factors relating to a reference period; whereas for this       are willing and in a position to guarantee that on
purpose use should be made either of the month of              importation into the Community of products from
1970 for which applications are lodged or of the               their territory the price will not be below a certain
average of the corresponding months from 1968 to               minimum level and that all deflection of trade will
1970 if this average exceeds the quantity imported in          be prevented.
1970 ;
Whereas some of the transactions normally carried                                      Article 2
out by Community traders relate to transit operations
for goods destined either for Member States or                 1.     At the end of each week and for the first time
European third countries ; whereas in order to
simplify the detailed rules for determining the                on 30 July 1971 Member States shall notify the
reference quantity, account being taken of this type           Commission by telex of the quantities shown for
of operation, the quantities of products entering the          each month in respect of which import licences have
Community should be taken into consideration;                  been applied for during the week.
Whereas the system of import licences must not                 2.     On the basis of the notifications provided for in
result in excluding from the trade persons who have            paragraph 1 the Commission shall assess the situation
not carried out commercial transactions in tomato              and decide as provided in Article 3 on the quantities
concentrates during 1968, 1969 and 1970 ; whereas              of products for which licences shall be issued.
consequently, it should be possible, within limits, to
grant them import licences ;                                   3.     The Commission shall reach a decision during
                                                               the -week following that in which the quantities
                                                               applied for are notified to it. If, however, during the
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
                                                               week in question the Commission has not acted on
                                                               this, the conditions in force before the import licences
                                                               were issued shall be maintained .
                        Article 1
                                                               4.     Up to the quantity specified in the application ,
1.     From 9 August 1971 all imports into the                 import licences shall be issued for the quantities laid
Community of tomato concentrates (sub-heading No               down by the Commission . They shall be issued
ex 20.02 C of the Common Customs Tariff) from                  during the second week following that during which
third countries, excluding Greece, shall be subject to         the    quantities  applied  for    are notified   to  the
the submission of an import licence.                           Commission.
                                                               Applications for quantities exceeding those specified
2.     Member States shall issue the licence under the         by the Commission shall for this reason be rejected.
conditions laid down in Article 2, on application by
the party concerned, irrespective of the place of his
establishment within the Community .                                                   Article 3
The licence shall be issued for imports to be effected
during the month for which it was drawn up. It may             The Commission shall lay down the quantities of
however, cover the fortnight preceding or the                  products for which the licences are issued by fixing a
fortnight following the month in question in respect           percentage to be applied to the reference quantity
of the quantity for which it was issued. It shall be           laid down each month for each particular applicant.
valid for imports to be effected in the Member State
which issued it.                                               This reference quantity shall be equal to :              '
3 . When application for a licence is made, the                — the quantity of tomato concentrates imported by
monthly quantities of products to which it relates                 the Community in 1970 during each month
shall be indicated .                                               specified in the application ; or
 ---pagebreak--- 568                                    Official Journal of the European Communities
— the average quantity of this product imported into                         importing Member States certifying these
     the Community during each month specified in                             operations.
     the application for 1968 , 1969 and 1970 if this
     average exceeds that specified in the first indent.          2.     Member States which issue the documents
                                                                  mentioned in paragraph 1 ( b ) (bb) shall ensure that
                            Article 4
                                                                  applications for licences have not been made
                                                                  previously to their own authorities for the quantities
                                                                  of products imported during the reference period for
When applications for licences are made by persons                which the documents were requested .
who have not imported the products in question into
the Community during the; period 1968-70, these                   They shall take all necessary measures to ensure that
applications shall, by way of derogation from the                 the quantities of products which are the subject of
above-mentioned provisions, be granted in respect of              these documents are not taken into consideration for
not more than 5% of the average quantities of                     laying down the . reference quantity used for
products imported into the Member State and                       calculating the quantities for which import licences
conveyed to the authorities of the latter in each                 will be issued by their own authorities.
month of 1968 , 1969 and 1970 corresponding to
those specified in the application.
                                                                                          Article 6
Import licences corresponding to these applications
shall be issued within ten working days following the             The issue of the import licence shall include :
lodging of the applications and in the chronological
order in which they were lodged. One and the same                 — the right to import not more than 105%
applicant may not be allotted quantities exceeding                — the obligation to import not less than 95 %
1% of the average quantities of products imported
into     the   Member      State   and mentioned    in  the>      of the specific quantity of the product chosen during
preceding subparagraph.                                           the period of validity of the licence.
                           Article 5                                                      Article 7 '
1.      Each Member State shall lay down the reference            The import licence shall mention :
quantities :
                                                                  ( a) the name and address of the applicant;
(a) for the quantities of products which were
      imported into that Member State during the                  ( b ) the description of the product, the Common
      reference period corresponding to each month                      Customs Tariff sub-heading within which it falls
      specified in the application :                                    and its reference number in the goods
      ( aa) by reference to the documents supplied by                   nomenclature for foreign trade statistics of the
             the applicant certifying these operations                  Member State in question ;
             and,
                                                                  ( c) the country of origin of the product;
      (bb ) by reference to the documents which he has
             at his disposal and which relate to these            ( d) the quantity of. the product expressed in
             operations ; "                                             kilogrammes, net weight;
(b ) for the quantities of products which have been               (e) the month for which it was issued.
      imported into another Member State during the
      reference period corresponding to each month
      specified in the application :                                                      Article 8
      ( aa) by reference to the documents supplied by
             the applicant certifying these operations and        The obligations arising from the licences are not
             giving an undertaking that an application            transferable. The rights arising from the licence are
             for these quantities has not been and will           transferable by the licence holder during the period
             not be made in a Member State other than             of validity of the licence. Such transfer may only be
             that for which the documents are provided,           made in favour of one transferee per licence.
             and
                         /
                                                                  The transfer shall take effect when the agency issuing
      ( bb) by reference to the documents issued                  the licence enters on the licence the name and address
             immediately, on application by the party             of the transferee and the date of this entry, and
             concerned, by the authorities of the                 certifies the entry by affixing its official stamp.
 ---pagebreak---                                       Official Journal of the European Communities                                  569
This entry shall be made at the request of .the licence          the obligation to import is cancelled and that the
holder. The transferee may not transfer his right or             deposit shall not be forfeited :
transfer it back to the titular licence holder.
                                                                 ( a) when importation cannot be effected during the
                                                                      period of validity of the licence as a result of
                         Article 9                                    circumstances to be c-onsidered to constitute a
                                                                      case of force majeure, or
The deposit referred to in Article 3 ( 1 ) may be
lodged in cash or in the form of a guarantee given by            (b ) for quantities of products which the party
an establishment complying with the criteria laid                     concerned has imported or has had imported into
down by the Member State from which the issue of                      the territory of the Community free of customs
the certificate is requested.                                         duties or charges having equivalent effect and
                                                                      which have left the territory of the Community
                                                                      for consumption in a third country.
                        Article 10                                            »
                                                                 2.     The importer shall, by means of the appropriate
1.     Without prejudice to Article 11 :                         documents, furnish proof:
(a) the deposit shall be forfeited in whole when the             ( a) of the circumstances considered to be a case of
     obligation to import has not been fulfilled during               force majeure,
      the period of validity of the licence;
                                                                 (b) of the period during which the products were
(b ) the deposit shall be forfeited in part if the                    brought into Community territory while customs
     quantity imported is more than 5% less than the                  duties or other charges having equivalent effect
     quantity indicated in the licence. The amount of                 were suspended, of their departure from
     the deposit withheld shall be calculated by                      Community territory and their free circulation in
     reference to the difference between the quantity                 a third country.
     indicated in the licence less 5% and the quantity
      actually imported ;                                        3.     Member States shall inform the Commission of
                                                                 circumstances recognised as a case of force majeure.
2.     The deposit shall be immediately released :
( a) in respect of applications withdrawn no later
     than the week following that during which they                                     Article 12
     were lodged ;
                                                                 For the purposes of this Regulation, 'net weight'
(b) if Article 2 (2) applies, in proportion to the               means the weight of the product including the
     quantity for which an application has not been              immediate packaging.
     granted.
                        Article 11                                                      Article 13
On application by the party concerned, the Member                This Regulation shall enter into force on 22 July
State which issued the import licence shall decide that          1971 .
               This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
               States .
               Done at Brussels, 20 July 1971 .
                                                                                     For the Commission
                                                                                      I
                                                                                        The President
                                                                                    Franco M. MALFATTI