CELEX: 51982PC0543
Language: en
Date: 1982-09-21
Title: Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for certain plywoods of coniferous specie, falling within heading No ex 44.15 of the Common Customs Tariff (1983) (submitted to the Council by the Commission)

ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DE LA COMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (82) 543
Vol. 1982/0176
 ---pagebreak--- Disclaimer
Conformément au règlement (CEE, Euratom) n° 354/83 du Conseil du 1er février 1983
concernant l'ouverture au public des archives historiques de la Communauté économique
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p. 1), tel que modifié par le règlement (CE, Euratom) n° 1700/2003 du 22 septembre 2003
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In accordance with Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 354/83 of 1 February 1983
concerning the opening to the public of the historical archives of the European Economic
Community and the European Atomic Energy Community (OJ L 43, 15.2.1983, p. 1), as
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In Übereinstimmung mit der Verordnung (EWG, Euratom) Nr. 354/83 des Rates vom 1.
Februar 1983 über die Freigabe der historischen Archive der Europäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft und der Europäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI. L 43 vom 15.2.1983,
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 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                               COM(82)543 final
                                               Brussels , 21 September 1982
                                  Proposal for a
                             COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC )
     opening , allocating and providing for the administration of a Community
     tariff quota for certain plywoods of coniferous specie ^ falling within
     heading No ex 44.15 of the Common Customs Tariff ( 1983 )
                  (submitted to the Council by the Commission )
                    Ù
 C0M(82 ) 543 final
 ---pagebreak---                           EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
At the Last 6ATT negotiations the Community undertook to open , for
certain coniferous plywood/ as listcc Lselow., of heading ex 44.15 of
the Common Customs Tariff , a Community tariff quota at zero duty of
a total volume of 600,000 cubic metres .
Plywood of coniferous species , without . the addition of other
substances
- of thickness greater than : 8.5 mm , the faces of which are not
    further prepared than the peel.ing process , or
                                         »  ' •                            *
- sanded, and of a thickness greater than 18,5 mm .
In addition Protocol No 11 to the Act concerning the Conditions
                                  I-
of Accession and the Adjustments to the Treaties and the bilateral
exchange of letters undertaken at the start , of the GATT negotiations
foresee the Community opening . autonomous Community tariff quotas at -
;: ero duty for these products at volumes to be decided for each year
when i;t is established that all possibilities of supply on the
intended market of the Community will be exhausted during the period
for which the quotas are open ..
ThvT prwpegicMfegiftafcfon -concerns the Community tariff quotas in •
question to b* opened on 1 January 1983 and allocated among Member
States.'           .                                       ' ' '
The application of Protocol No. 11 was dealt with at advisory meetings
of experts from . the Member States held since 1975 , at which it became
clear that taking into account the possibilities of supply on the
Community market , which are in fact somewhat limited although
increasing considerably, and on the basis of estimated submitted
by the Member States , the tariff quotas in question could yet be
grouped under a single quota .
The quota volume to be opened for 1983 was discussed by the
" Economic Tariff Questions" group on 26 arid 27 April1982.lt becair." clear
from the discussion that :
 ---pagebreak---                                         - 2 -
a ) third country import requirements estimated by Member States would
      exceed 900 000 m3 for 1983 ; at the same time effective use made of ,
      quotas in the Last three years was only 768 000 m3 in 1979 ( on a quota
      of 810 000 m3 ), 687 500 m3 in 1980 ( on a quota of 700 000 m3 )          and
      600 000 m3 in 1981 ( on a quota of the same volume ).
      Neither a growth in consumption nor the present economic situation in
       the construction sector justify the proposed increase ;
b) as Stated' by the producing Member States , there is a risk that
       supplies to be obtained on the Community internal market may not
 '         used up in'1983 , which may make it difficult to open the
       autonomous quota envisaged by Protocol No„11 of the Act of Accession ;
c). Member States would interpret differently the question of granting
      the benefit of quotas already opened for laminated panelsof
       coniferous wood grooved and tongued before importation to facilitate
       assembly..                           i .                  ' '*             •.
    . It has not yet been possible to establish the precise volume of such
   . imports,- whicteMttst,>%owever, be" significant . '                    ^
3 . Generally/ the Commission considers thai*> taking account of the
      uncertain level of consumption and the need for parallel growth­
                                 *   ,                       *
       in Community production and supplies on favourable terms to user
       industries , great care should be taken in fixing the quota volume ,
       so as not to endanger the market balance .
           hw®r^thereforé J?ftpo                                      xjuota fo# J983
       to the GATT consolidated volume of       600 000 m3 , and to review the
       situation, if necessary, during the year;-                            *
4 . The method of administration proposed is the same as that usually
       adopted for autonomous Community tariff quotas and consists basically
       of the following :                                      *       ■
       - the setting up of a reserve of 10,000 cubic metres ;
       - the allocation of the first tranche in . proportion to the needs
          expressed by Member States and in accordance with the effective
         utilisation of the quotas opened for the last three years ;
      - the chaining of imports against Membef States' shares as and when
         the products are entered with the customs authorities for free
         circulation . 1                 y:     *•' i* • : • .
 ---pagebreak---                                                  Proposal for a
                                    COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
               opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff
              quota for certain plywoods of coniferous species, falling within heading No ex
                                    44.15 of the Common Customs Tariff ( 1983)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                quota should be fixed at a relatively high level, or
COMMUNITIES,                                               about 98 % of its full amount ; whereas, on the basis
                                                           of Member States' estimates for their needs, the initial
                                                           shares may be fixed as set out in Article 2 ;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community, and in particular Article 113
thereof,
                                                           whereas Member States may use up their initial
                                                           shares at different rates ; whereas, to provide for this
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,         eventuality and to avoid disruption of supplies, any
                                                           Member State which has almost used up its initial
                                                           share   should  draw an     additional  share from   the
Whereas the Community has undertaken to open an            reserve ; whereas, each time its additional share is
annual Community tariff quota of at least 600 000 m3       almost used up, a Member State should draw an addi­
for certain plywoods of coniferous species falling         tional share, and so on as many times as the reserve
within heading No ex 44.15 of the Common Customs           allows ; whereas the initial and additional shares
Tariff ; whereas, under Protocol 1 1 to the Act of Acces­  should be valid until the end of the quota period ;
sion ('), the Community is required to open each year      whereas this form of administration requires close
autonomous nil duty Community tariff quotas for the        collaboration   between     Member     States and    the
same products the volume thereof to be decided annu­       Commission, which latter must, in particular be able
ally when it is established that all possibilities of      to keep a record of the extent to which the quota has
supply on the internal market of the Community have        been used up and to inform the Member States accord­
been exhausted during the period for which the             ingly ;
quotas are open ; whereas the condition laid down by
the said Protocol does not seem to be met at the
moment ; whereas, in these circumstances, it is appro­
priate to limit oneself in the first stage to the contrac­
                                                           Whereas if, at a given date in the quota period, a
tual volume of 600 000 m3 ; whereas the fixing of the
                                                           considerable quantity of a Member State's initial share
quota volume at this level does not exclude moreover       remains unused, it is essential that that Member State
recourse to the provisions of the abovementioned           should return a significant proportion to the reserve,
Protocol 1 1 during the quota period ;                     so as to avoid a part of the quota remaining unused in
                                                           one Member State when it could be used in others :
Whereas, to take more precise account of future
trends in imports of the products concerned, the
quota should be divided into two tranches, the first
being allocated among all the Member States and the        Whereas, since the Kingdom of Belgium, the
second held as a reserve to cover the subsequent           Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of
requirements of Member States which have exhausted         Luxembourg are united within and jointly represented
their initial shares ; whereas, in order to offer impor­   by the Benelux Economic Union, any measure
ters some degree of security, the first tranche of the     concerning the administration of the shares allocated
                                                           to that economic union may be carried out by any
(' ) OJ No L 73, 27. 3 . 1972, p. 170.                     one of its members,
 ---pagebreak--- HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :                                  second share, to the extent that the reserve so permits,
                                                               equal to 10 % of its initial share, rounded up as neces­
                                                               sary to the next whole number ;
                           Article 1
                                                               2.      If, after its initial share has been exhausted,
1.       During the period from 1 January to 31                90 % or more of the second share drawn by a
December 198 ^.a Community tariff quota of 600 000             Member State has been used up, that Member State
rn3 shall be opened for the following products falling         shall, in the manner and to the extent provided in
within heading No ex 44.15 of the Common Customs               paragraph 1 , draw a third share equal to 5 % of its
Tariff :
                                                                initial share, rounded up as necessary to the next
                                                               whole number.
(a) plywood of coniferous species, without the addi­
       tion of other substances, of a thickness greater         3.      If, after its second share has been exhausted,
       than 8-5 mm, the faces of which are not further          90 % or more of the third share drawn by a Member
       prepared than the peeling process ;                      State has been used up, that Member State shall, in
                                                                the manner and to the extent provided in paragraph 1 ,
(b) plywood of coniferous species, without the addi­            draw a fourth share equal to the third.
       tion of other substances, sanded, and of a thick­
       ness greater than 1 8-5 mm.                              This procedure shall apply until the reserve is used
                                                                 up .
 2. Imports of the products in question may not be
 charged against this tariff quota if they are already free      4.      By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 , 2 and
 of customs duties under other preferential tariff arran­        3, Member States may draw lesser shares than those
 gements.                                                        specified therein if there are grounds for believing
 3.       The Common Customs Tariff duty shall be
                                                                 that those specified may not be used in full . They
                                                                 shall inform the Commission of their reasons for
 totally suspended within the limits of the above quota.         applying this paragraph.
 Within the limits of this tariff quota, Greece shall
 apply duties calculated in accordance wiith the rele­                                     Article 4
 vant provisions set out in the 1979 Act of Accession.
                                                                 Additional shares drawn pursuant to Article 3 shall be
                                                                 valid until 31 December 1983 .
                            Article 2
  1.      The tariff quota referred to in Article 1 (1 ) shall                             Article $
  be divided into two tranches.
                                                                  Member States shall return to the reserve, not later
  2.      A first tranche of 590 000 m3 shall be allocated        than 1 October 1983 , the unused portions of their
  among the Member States. Member States' shares                  initial shares which, on 15 September 1983 , are in
  which, subject to Article 5, shall be valid until 31            excess of 20 % of the initial amounts. They may
   December 198 , shall be as follows :                           return a greater portion if there are grounds for
                                          (cubic metres)
                                                                  believing that such portion may not be used in full.
            Benelux                      161 300                  Member States shall notify the Commission not later
            Denmark                        59 830                 than 1 Ocotber 1983, of the total quantities of the
            Germany                      100 600                   products in question imported up to 15 September
            Greece                               50                1983 and charged against the Community quota and
            France                         14 040                 of any portion of their initial shares returned to the
            Ireland                          7 500                 reserve .
            Italy                          25 310
            United Kingdom               22 1 370
                                         221    jfU                                         Article 6
   3.      The second tranche oHflOOO m} shall constitute
   the reserve .
                                                                   The Commission shall keep an account of the shares
                                                                   opened by the Member States pursuant to Articles 2
                                                                   and 3 and, as soon as it has been notified, shall inform
                             Article 3                             each State of the extent to which the reserve has been
                                                                   used up.
    1 . If 90 % or more of a Member State s initial share
   as fixer ; . Article 2 (2), or of that share minus any          It shall inform the Member States, not later than 5
   portion rtlun.ed to the reserve where Article 5 has             October 1983 , of the amount still in reserve after
   been a ;           has been used up, that Member State          amounts have been returned thereto pursuant to
    shall forthwith , by notifying the Commission, draw a          Article 5 .
 ---pagebreak--- It shall ensure that the drawing which exhausts the           4. The extent to which a Member State has used up
reserve does not exceed the balance available and, to         its share shall be determined on the basis of imports
this end, shall notify the amount of that balance to          charged against that share in accordance with para­
the Member State making the last drawing.                     graph 3 .
                          Article 7                                                  Article 8
1.    Member       States  shall   take    all    appropriate At the Commission s request, Member States shall
measures    to   ensure   that   additional    shares  drawn  inform it of the imports actually charged against their
                                                              shares.
pursuant to Article 3 are opened in such a way that
imports may be charged without interrution against
their aggregate shares of the Community quota.                                       Article 9
2. Member States shall ensure that importers of the           Member States and the Commission shall cooperate
products in question                                     have closely to ensure that this Regulation is complied
free access to the shares allocated to them .                 with.
3. Member States shall charge imports of the                                         Article 10
products in question against their shares as and when
the products are entered with the customs authorities         This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January
for free circulation .                                        1983 .
               This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
               States.
               Done at Brussels,
                                                                          For the Council
                                                                           The President