CELEX: 31976R3024
Language: en
Date: 1976-12-13 00:00:00
Title: Council Regulation (EEC) No 3024/76 of 13 December 1976 opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for raw or unmanufactured Virginia type tobaccos originating in developing countries

20. 12 . 76                                Official Journal of the European Communities                          No L 349/99
                                           COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 3024/76
                                                        of 13 December 1976
              opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota
              for raw or unmanufactured Virginia type tobaccos originating in developing countries
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,                             and, in respect of products which are subject to the
                                                                      single customs duty, of a reduction in such duty ;
                                                                      whereas preferential imports of the products
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the Euro­                    concerned could be effected without quantitative
pean Economic Community, and in particular                            restrictions ; whereas it appears appropriate, however,
Article 43 thereof,                                                   in view of the sensitiveness of the tobacco sector
                                                                      generally and of the need to safeguard the interests
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                    of the associated countries and of the ACP States in
                                                                      this field, to lay down for raw or unmanufactured
Having regard to the opinion of the European                          Virginia type tobacco special conditions consisting in
Parliament (*)                                                        a reduction of the customs duty applicable to these
                                                                      products 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
the countries referred to ;                                           ized countries which are members         of the  OECD
                                                                      would participate in granting preferences and would
Whereas, on the one hand, for several Asian countries
                                                                      make similar efforts in this direction ; whereas, more­
                                                                      over, it is evident from the conclusions worked out in
of the Commonwealth and particularly India, the
types of ummanufactured tobaccos concerned are an                     UNCTAD that this offer, while being of a temporary
                                                                      nature, does not constitute a binding commitment
important export product and the flow of trade in
 such products is likely to be changed as a result of                  and, in particular, may be withdrawn wholly or in
 the enlargement of the Community and, on the other                   part at a later date ; whereas this possibility may be
                                                                       adopted inter alia with a view to remedying any
 hand, these countries are among the worst hit by the
 present economic crisis ; whereas the system of                      unfavourable situations which might arise in the
 generalized tariff preferences may constitute a                       ACP States following the implementation of the
 solution to the problems of this nature ; whereas                     generalized preference scheme ;
 these types of tobaccos should be included in the
 generalized preferences scheme ;                                      Whereas, moreover, the conference of Heads of State
                                                                       or of Government of the Member States and the
 Whereas, within the context of UNCTAD, the                            States acceding to the European Communities held
 European Economic Community offered to grant                          in Paris from 19 to 21 October 1972, invited the
 tariff preferences on certain processed agricultural                  Community institutions and the Member States pro­
 products of Chapters 1 to 24 of the Common                            gressively to adopt an overall policy of development
 Customs Tariff which originate in developing                          cooperation on a world-wide scale comprising in
 countries ; whereas the preferential treatment                        particular the improvement of generalized preferences
 proposed in that offer consists, in respect of certain                with the aim of achieving a steady increase in imports
 goods which are subject to the trade arrangements                     of manufactures from the developing countries ;
 laid down in Regulation (EEC) No 1059/69, of a
  reduction in the fixed component of the charge
  applicable to such goods by virtue of that Regulation,               Whereas tariff preferences have been applied as from
                                                                       the second half of 1971 ; whereas, however, for the
                                                                       flue-cured Virginia type tobacco, the said system of
                                                                       tariff preferences has been made applicable from 1974
  (*) OJ No C 259 , 4 . 11 . 1976, p . 27.                             and it is appropriate to apply this system henceforth
  (2) OJ No L 73 , 27. 3 . 1972, p. 195.                               for all Virginia type tobaccos ;
 ---pagebreak--- No L 349/ 100                              Official Journal of the European Communities                            20 . 12 . 76
Whereas it is expedient, therefore, that the Com­                     States until this quota is used up ; whereas, having
munity should open for 1977 for these raw or                          regard to the principles set out above, the Community
unmanufactured tobaccos, originating in the countries                 nature of the quota can be respected by allocating
and territories listed in the Annex, a Community                      the Community tariff quota among Member States ;
tariff quota limited to 60 000 metric tons, at a customs              whereas, moreover, to this end and in the context of
duty rate of 7% with a minimum charge of 15 units                     the utilization system, the actual charges against the
of account per 100 kilogrammes net weight for                         quota may relate only to products which have been
Virginia type tobaccos falling within subheading                      entered for home use and which are accompanied by
24.01 ex B and with a maximum charge of 45 units                      a certificate of origin ;
of account per 100 kilogrammes net weight for the
Virginia type tobaccos falling within subheadings                     Whereas, on the basis of the available statistical data
24.01 A ex I and 24.01 A ex II ;                                      which cover only a relatively brief period and whereas
                                                                      they should be weighted on the basis of the estimates
Whereas, in accordance with Protocol 23 to the                        which may be made in respect of the quota year, the
Act of Accession (*), the generalized tariff preference               shares in the quota amount may be set out as
scheme became fully applicable in the new Member                      follows :
States on 1 January 1974 ;                                                     Germany             10 525 metric tons
                                                                               Benelux              5 700 metric tons
Whereas, for the tobaccos concerned, this scheme                               France               1 000 metric tons
would, however, involve the application in the new                             Italy                4 000 metric tons
Member States in 1977 of customs duties higher than                           Denmark               1 900 metric tons
or very close to those which will be applied by the
new Member States to non-member countries in                                   Ireland              1 975 metric tons
general on the basis of the provisions of the above­                           United Kingdom      34 900 metric tons
mentioned Act ; whereas this situation would comply
neither with the spirit nor with the very nature of                   Whereas, without affecting the Community nature
the generalized preference scheme ; whereas, in order                 of the tariff quota under consideration, it appears
to maintain an equivalent preferential margin for                     possible to provide temporarily for a utilization
these products also, reduced customs duties should                    scheme based on a single allocation among the
be applied to them, in accordance with detailed rules                 Member States ; whereas, moreover, the allocation
based on the principle of maintaining, in the new                     set out by this Regulation in no way prejudices the
Member States , a preference proportional to that                      possibility of adopting the general method of
which exists between the duties of the Common                          allocation of Community tariff quotas comprising
Customs Tariff and the duties given in Article 1 of                    the setting up of a reserve share ; whereas at this
this Regulation ; whereas, with a view to granting                    transitional stage it appears feasible that such allo­
the beneficiary developing countries the best possible                cation could be made according to the amounts set
treatment, in accordance with the objectives of the                   out above ;
preference scheme, the duties given in the abovemen­
tioned Article 1 should also be applied wherever the                   Whereas measures sihould be provided for which will
duties calculated according to the abovementioned                      enable any serious disruption in any sector of the
detailed rules prove to be higher than them ;                         economic activity of the Community to be avoided ;
                                                                      whereas to this end, the Commission should be
Whereas the benefit of this tariff quota should be                     empowered to re-introduce partially or wholly the
reserved for products originating in the countries and                 levying of customs duties in order that such disrup­
territories under consideration, the concept of                        tion may be avoided ;
'originating products' being determined in accordance
with the procedure laid down in Article 14 of Council                  Whereas the shares of the Member States in the
 Regulation (EEC ) No 802/68 of 27 June 1968 on the                    Community tariff quota, in view of its duration and
 common definition of the concept of the origin of                     its amount, do not appear in this instance to
goods (2);                                                             compromise the equal access for Community im­
                                                                       porters to Community tariff quotas ; whereas for
Whereas it is necessary to ensure equal and                            this same reason it would appear expedient to allow
 continuous access for all Community importers to the                  each Member State to choose the system for admini­
 abovementioned quota and the uninterrupted appli­                     stering its share ;
 cation of the rate laid down for this quota to all
imports of the products concerned into all Member                      Whereas since the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom
                                                                       of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of Luxem­
                                                                       bourg are united in and represented by the Benelux
                                                                       Economic Union, all transactions concerning the
 (*) OJ No L 73 , 27. 3 . 1972 , p . 178 .                              administration of shares allocated to that economic
 (2) OJ No L 148 , 28 . 6 . 1968 , p . 1 .                              union may be carried out by any one of its members,
 ---pagebreak---    20. 12. 76                         Official Journal of the European Communities                             No L 349/101
  HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :                                                             Article 2
                                                                   The Community tariff quota mentioned in Article 1
                          Article 1                                shall be allocated in shares which, for each Member
                                                                   State, shall be of the amount indicated below :
                                                                           Germany               10 525 metric tons
  1 . From 1 January to 31 December 1977, a Commu­                         Benelux                 5 700 metric tons
  nity tariff quota of 60 000 metric tons shall be opened
  in the Community for the imports of raw or                               France                  1 000 metric tons
  unmanufactured Virginia type tobaccos falling within                     Italy                   4 000 metric tons
  subheadings 24.01 A ex I, 24.01 A ex II and 24.01                        Denmark                  1 900 metric tons
  ex B of the Common Customs Tariff. Within this                           Ireland                 1 975 metric tons
  tariff quota the customs duty shall be suspended
  at 7% with a minimum charge of 15 units of account                       United Kingdom         34 900 metric tons
  per 100 kilogrammes net weight for Virginia type
  tobaccos falling within subheading 24.01 ex B and                                        Article 3
  a maximum charge of 45 units of account per 100
  kilogrammes net weight for Virginia type tobaccos
  falling within subheadings 24.01 A ex I and 24.01 A             1 . The Member States shall ensure free access to
  ex II .                                                         the share which has been allocated to them for
                                                                  importers of the products concerned who are
                                                                  established on their territory.
  On importation into Denmark, Ireland and the
  United Kingdom, there shall be applied the customs             2. The extent to which the shares of Member States
  duties determined by multiplying, by a coefficient             have been used up shall be determined on the
 equal to the margin of preferences existing between             basis of imports of the said goods which have been
 the duty given in the first subparagraph and the                entered for home use, and which are accompanied
 Common Customs Tariff duties applicable, the duties             by a certificate of origin in accordance with the rules
 obtained by reducing by 80% the difference between              referred to in Article 1 (2).
 the lowest duty applied on 1 January 1972 to the
 developing countries set out in the Annex and the               3 . Goods may qualify for a tariff quota only if the
 Common Customs Tariff.
                                                                 certificate of origin referred to in paragraph 2 is
                                                                 submitted before the date on which the levying of
                                                                 duties is re-introduced .
 However, the duties given in the first subparagraph
 shall be applied from 1 January to 30 June 1977,
 where the duties resulting from the abovementioned                                        Article 4
 calculation are higher than them. From 1 July 1977
 the duties given in the first subparagraph shall be
 applied .                                                       Member States       shall  inform     the Commission    at
                                                                 monthly intervals of imports of the said goods
                                                                 charged against their shares . This information shall
 2. This tariff quota shall apply solely to products             show both the value expressed in units of account
 originating in the countries and territories listed in          and the quantity expressed in metric tons .
the Annex. However, those imports which enjoy
exemption from customs duties under other pre­
ferential tariff arrangements granted by the Commu­                                        Article 5
nity may not be charged against this tariff quota.
                                                                Should imports of the products benefiting under the
                                                                arrangements provided for in Article 1 be imported
For the purposes of the application of this Regulation          into the Community at prices such as to put or be
the concept of 'originating products' shall be de­              likely to put Community producers of similar or
termined in accordance with the procedure laid down             directly competitive products at a serious
in Article 14 of Regulation (EEC) No 802/68 .                   disadvantage the customs duties applied within the
                                                                Community may be re-introduced in part or in full
                                                                for imports of the products in question from the
Entry to this tariff quota shall be subject to the pro­         country or countries or territory or territories which
duction of a certificate of authenticity appearing in           are the cause of such disadvantage. Such measures
the certificate of origin and made out in accordance            may also be taken in the event of a serious disadvan­
with the procedure referred to in the second                    tage, either actual or foreseeable, which is confined
subparagraph.                                                   to a single region of the Community.
 ---pagebreak--- No L 349/ 102                      Official Journal of the European Communities                             20 . 12 . 76
                        Article 6                                                     Article 7
1 . In order to ensure that Article 5 is applied, the         Articles 5 and 6 shall not prejudice the application of
Commission may, by way of a Regulation, re-intro­             the protective clauses drawn up in connection with
duce normal duties for a fixed period.                        the common agricultural policy pursuant to Article 43
                                                              of the Treaty nor those drawn up in connection with
2. If the Commission has acted at the request of a            the common commercial policy pursuant to Article
Member State, the former shall give its decision              113 of the Treaty.
within a maximum period of 10 working days from
the date of receipt of the request and shall inform the
Member State of the action it has taken .                                             Article 8
3 . Each Member State may refer the measure taken             Member States and the Commission shall cooperate
by the Commission to the Council within a period of           closely to ensure that the above Articles are observed.
10 working days following the date it was notified.
The fact that the matter has been referred to the
Council shall not constitute the suspension of the                                    Article 9
measure. The Council shall meet without delay.
Acting on a qualified majority, it may amend or               This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January
repeal the measure in question.                               1977.
             This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
             States .
             Done at Brussels, 13 December 1976.
                                                                              For the Council
                                                                                The President
                                                                             M. van der STOEL
 ---pagebreak---  20 . 12 . 76                       Official Journal of the European Communities                           No L 349/ 103
                                                       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                                  Khmejr Republic                           Sri Lanka
Brazil                                    Korea (South)
                                                                                    Sudan
Burma                                     Kuwait
                                                                                    Surinam
Burundi                                   Laos
                                                                                    Swaziland
Cameroon                                  Lebanon
                                                                                    Syria
Cape Verde Islands                        I esotho
                                                                                    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
                                                                                         Ajman
Egypt, Arab Republic of                  Mozambique
                                                                                         Sharjah
El Salvador                              Nauru
                                                                                         Ummal Qaiwain
Equatorial Guinea                        Nepal                                      Upper Volta
Ethiopia                                 Nicaragua                                  Uruguay
Fiji                                     Niger                                      Venezuela
Gabon                                    Nigeria                                    Vietnam
Gambia                                   Oman
                                                                                    Western Samoa
Ghana                                    Pakistan
                                                                                    Yemen, People's Democratic
Grenada                                ' Panama                                     Republic of
Guatemala                                Papua New Guinea                           Yemen Arab Republic
Guinea                                   Paraguay                                   Yugoslavia
Guinea Bissau                            Peru                                       Zaire
                                                                                    Zambia
 ---pagebreak--- No L 349/104                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                       20. 12. 76
                                                 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 (s)
            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 (4)
            Note: The above lists may be amended subsequently to take account of changes in the inter­
                     national status of countries or territories.
           (l) 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).
          (4) Dominica, St Lucia, Sc Vincent.