CELEX: 31976R2631
Language: en
Date: 1976-10-19 00:00:00
Title: Council Regulation (EEC) No 2631/76 of 19 October 1976 on the opening, allocation and administration of a Community tariff quota for certain plywoods of coniferous species, falling within heading No ex 44.15 of the Common Customs Tariff (1977)

6 . 11 . 76                            Official Journal of the European Communities                             No L 305 /1
                                                               I
                                             (Acts whose publication is obligatory)
                                        COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2631/76
                                                      of 19 October 1976
              on the opening, allocation and administration of a Community tariff quota for certain
              plywoods of coniferous species, falling within heading No ex 44.15 of the Common
                                                     Customs Tariff ( 1977)
 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                          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
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                       being allocated among all the Member States and the
 European Economic Community, and in particular                    second held as a reserve to cover the subsequent
 Articles 28 and 113 thereof,                                      requirements of Member States which have
                                                                   exhausted their initial shares ; whereas, in order to
                                                                   offer importers some degree of security, the first
 Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ,               tranche of the quota should be fixed at a relatively
                                                                   high level, or about 96 % of its full amount; whereas,
                                                                   on the basis of Member States' estimates of their
                                                                   needs, the initial shares may be fixed as set out in
 Whereas, under Protocol 11 to the Act of                          Article 2 ;
 Accession (1 ), the Community is required to open
 each year nil duty Community tariff quotas for
 certain plywoods of coniferous species falling within             Whereas Member States may use up their initial
 heading No ex 44.15 of the Common Customs Tariff,                 shares at different rates ; whereas, to provide for this
 the volume thereof to he decided annually when it is              eventuality and to avoid disruption of supplies, any
 established that all possibilities of supply on the               Member State which has almost used up its initial
 internal market of the Community have been                        share should draw an additional share from the
 exhausted during the period for which the quotas are               reserve ; whereas, each time   its additional share is
 open ; whereas, in view of the aforesaid possibilities            almost used up, a Member        State should draw an
 of supply and on the basis of forecasts of                         additional share, and so on     as many times as the
 requirements made by the Member States, the volurrte              reserve allows ; whereas the     initial and additional
 of the tariff quota to be opened for 1977 may be                  shares should be valid until     the end of the quota
 fixed at 700 000 m3 ; whereas the opening of the                  period ; whereas this form of administration requires
 aforementioned tariff quota also covers the                        close collaboration between Member States and the
 commitment entered into by the Community within                    Commission, which latter must, in particular, be able
  the GATT to grant in respect of these products an                 to keep a record of the extent to which the quota has
  annual duty-free tariff quota of 400 000 m3 ; whereas             been used up and to inform the Member States
  the abovementioned requirements do not include                    accordingly ;
  imports to which other preferential tariff
  arrangements may apply; whereas, in view of the
  relatively small quantities produced in the                       Whereas if, at a given date in the quota period, a
  Community, it is not necessary to apportion this                  considerable quantity of a Member State's initial
  amount between the categories of plywood specified                share remains unused, it is essential that that Member
  in the abovementioned Protocol 11 ; whereas the                   State should return a significant proportion to the
  fixing of the volume at 700 000 m3 on the basis of                reserve, so as to avoid a part of the quota remaining
                                                                    unused in one Member State when it could be used in
  provisional estimates does not exclude an adjustment
  during the quota year;                                            others ;
                                                                    Whereas, since the Kingdom of Belgium, the
   (>) OJ No L 73 , 27. 3 . 1972, p. 170.                           Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of
 ---pagebreak--- No L 305 /2                          Official Journal of the European Communities                               6. 11 . 76
Luxembourg are united within and jointly                        3.     The     second   tranche    of 30 000  m8    shall
represented by the Benelux Economic Union, any                  constitute the reserve .
measure concerning the administration of the shares
allocated to that Economic Union may be carried out
by any one of its members,
                                                                                           Article 3
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
                                                                1.      If 90 % or more of a Member State's initial
                         Article 1                              share as fixed in Article 2 (2), or of that share minus
                                                                any portion returned to the reserve where Article 5
                                                                has been applied, has been used up, that Member
1 . During the period from 1 January to 31                      State shall forthwith, by notifying the Commission,
December 1977, a Community tariff quota of 700 000              draw a second share, to the extent that the reserve so
m8 shall be opened for the following products falling           permits, equal to 10 % of its initial share, rounded up
within heading No ex 44.15 of the Common Customs                as necessary to the next whole number.
Tariff :
(a) plywood of coniferous species, without the                  2.      If, after its initial share has been exhausted,
     addition of other substances, of a thickness
                                                                90 % or more of the second share drawn by a
      greater than 9 mm, the faces of which are not             Member State has been used up, that Member State
      further prepared than the peeling process ;
                                                                shall, in the manner and to the extent provided in
 (b)^plywood of coniferous species, without the                 paragraph 1 , draw a third share equal to 5 % of its
      addition of other substances, sanded, and of a            initial share, rounded up as necessary to the next
      thickness greater than 18-5 mm .                          whole number.
2. Imports of the products in question may not be                3 . If, after its second share has been exhausted,
charged against this tariff quota if they are already           90 % or more of the third share drawn by a Member
free of customs duties under other preferential tariff           State has been used up, that Member State shall, in
 arrangements .                                                  the manner and to the extent provided in paragraph
                                                                 1 , draw a fourth share equal to the third.
3.      The Common Customs Tariff duty shall be
 totally suspended within the limits of the above                This procedure shall apply until the reserve is used
 quota .                                                         up .
 4. New Member States shall apply duties
 calculated in accordance with the relevant provisions           4.     By way of derogation from paragraphs 1, 2, and
 of the Act of Accession to imports within the limits            3 , Member States may draw lesser shares than those
 of the above quota.                                             specified therein if there are grounds for believing
                                                                 that those specified may not be used in full. They
                                                                 shall inform the Commission of their reasons for
                         Article 2                               applying this paragraph.
 1.     The tariff quota referred to in Article 1 ( 1 ) shall
  be divided into two tranches .
                                                                                           Article 4
 2.     A first tranche of 670 000 m3 shall be allocated
 among the Member States. Member States' shares                  Additional shares drawn pursuant to Article 3 shall
  which, subject to Article 5 , shall be valid until             be valid until 31 December 1977.
 31 December 1977, shall be as follows :
                                    in cubic metres
              Benelux                  90 000
              Denmark                  90 000                                              Article 5
              Germany                 100 000
                                                                 Member States shall return to the reserve, not later
              France                   20 000                     than 1 October 1977, the unused portions of their
              Ireland                  10 000                     initial shares which, on 15 September 1977 are in
                                                                  excess of 20 % of the initial amounts. They may
              Italy                    25 000
                                                                  return a greater portion if there are grounds for
               United Kingdom         335 000                     believing that such portion may not be used in full.
 ---pagebreak--- 6. 11 . 76                       Official Journal of the European Communities                            No L 305/3
Member States shall notify the Commission, not later        2. Member States shall ensure that importers of
than 1 October 1977, of the total quantities of the         the products in question established in their territory
products in question imported up to and including 15        have free access to the shares allocated to them.
September 1977 and charged against the Community
quota and of any portion of their initial shares            3 . Member States shall charge imports of the
returned to the reserve .                                   products in question against their shares as and when
                                                            the products are entered with the customs authorities
                                                            for home use.
                       Article 6
                                                            4.     The extent to which a Member State has used
The Commission shall keep an account of the shares          up its share shall be determined on the basis of
opened by the Member States pursuant to Articles 2          imports charged against that share in accordance
and 3 and, as soon as it has been notified, shall           with paragraph 3 .
inform each State of the extent to which the reserve
has been used up.
                                                                                   Article 8
It shall inform the Member States, not later than
5 October 1977, of the amount still in reserve after
amounts have been returned thereto pursuant to              At the Commission's request, Member States shall
Article 5 .                                                 inform it of the imports actually charged against their
                                                            shares .
It shall ensure that the drawing which exhausts the
reserve does not exceed the balance available and, to
this end, shall notify the amount of that balance to                               Article 9
the Member State making the last drawing.
                                                            Member States and the Commission shall cooperate
                                                            closely to ensure that this Regulation is complied
                       Article 7                            with .
1.     Member States shall take all appropriate
measures to ensure that additional shares drawn                                    Article 10
pursuant to Article 3 are opened in such a way that
imports may be charged without interruption against         This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January
their aggregate shares of the Community quota .              1977.
             This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
             States.
             Done at Luxembourg, 19 October 1976 .
                                                                                 For the Council
                                                                                  The President
                                                                                M. van der STOEL