CELEX: 31977R2338
Language: en
Date: 1977-10-24 00:00:00
Title: Council Regulation (EEC) No 2338/77 of 24 October 1977 opening, allocating and administering a Community tariff quota for ferro-chromium containing not less than 4 % by weight of carbon, falling within subheading ex 73.02 E I of the Common Customs Tariff, and extending the benefit of this quota to certain imports of ferro-chromium containing a quantity of between 3 and 4 % by weight of carbon

27. 10 . 77                         Official Journal of the European Communities                            No L 275/3
                                   COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2338/77
                                                  of 24 October 1977
             opening, allocating and administering a Community tariff quota for ferro­
             chromium containing not less than 4 % by weight of carbon, falling within
             subheading ex 73.02 E I of the Common Customs Tariff, and extending the
             benefit of this quota to certain imports of ferro-chromium containing a quan­
                                 tity of between 3 and 4 % by weight of carbon
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                   quota in question to these imports, limiting it,
COMMUNITIES,                                                  however, to 20 % of the quota volume taking account
                                                              of the existence of Community production ;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community, and in particular Article 28
thereof,                                                      Whereas equal and continuous access to the quota
                                                              should be ensured for all Community importers and
                                                              the rate of duty for the tariff quota should be applied
Having regard to the draft Regulation submitted by
the Commission,                                               consistently to all imports until the quota is
                                                              exhausted ; whereas in the light of these principles
                                                              arrangements for the utilization of the tariff quota
Whereas, by its Regulation (EEC) No 270/77 (*), the           based on an allocation among Member States would
Council opened for 1977 and apportioned among the             seem to be consistent with the Community nature of
Member States a Community tariff quota of a total              the quota ; whereas, to correspond as closely as
size of 52 000 tonnes for ferro-chrome containing not          possible to the actual trend of the market in the
less than 4 % by weight of carbon and has extended             product in question, allocation of the quota should be
the application of this quota to certain imports of            in proportion to the requirements of the Member
ferro-chrome containing between 3 and 4 % by                  States as calculated by reference to statistics of imports
weight of carbon falling within subheading ex 73.02 E         from third countries during a representative reference
I of the Common Customs Tariff ;                               period and to the economic outlook for the quota
                                                               period in question ;
Whereas, for the product in question, Community
production is inadequate and producers are unable to
meet the total requirements of consumer industries in         Whereas, however, since the quota is an autonomous
the Community ; whereas, having regard to the most             Community tariff quota intended to cover import
recent economic data for 1977 on consumption,                  needs arising in the Community, it may be allocated
production, exports to third countries, imports under         on the basis of the temporary import needs from third
the inward processing arrangements or other tariff            countries expressed by each of the Member States ;
preference scheme and taking account of the stocks            whereas, on the basis of economic information
held by a number of Member States on 31 December               supplied and allowing for duty-free supplies from the
1976, there is reason to assume that the additional            Community or certain third countries, these needs
Community import requirements in respect of                   would amount to the following percentages of the
imports from third countries may reach the level of            tariff quota ; whereas this system of allocation also
90 000 tonnes during 1 977 ; whereas it is therefore in       ensures the uniform application of the Common
the Community's interest to suspend in respect of this         Customs Tariff :
metal the application of the Common Customs Tariff
duty until 31 December 1977, within a suitable tariff
quota ; whereas, in order not to raise the question of                 Benelux                             21-44,
the prospects for development of the Community                         Denmark                              0-19,
production sector, it is appropriate to fix the quota                  Germany                             15-83,
volume and the rate of duty applicable at the level of                 France                              17-21 ,
44 300 tonnes and 3 % respectively ;                                   Ireland                              0-02,
                                                                       Italy                                6-77,
                                                                       United Kingdom                      32-80 ;
Whereas relatively limited imports of ferro-chromium
containing a quantity of between 3 and 4 % by
weight of carbon are foreseeable for this quota period ;
whereas provision should be made on a temporary               Whereas, to take account of future import trends for
basis for the extension of the benefit of the tariff          the product concerned, the quota should be divided
                                                               into two tranches, the first being allocated among the
(') OJ No L 39, 10. 2. 1977, p. 2.                            Member States and the second held as a reserve to
 ---pagebreak--- No L 275/4                          Official Journal of the European Communities                              27. 10 . 77
cover subsequently the requirements of Member States          said tariff quota, imports of ferro-chromium
which have exhausted their new shares ; whereas, to           containing a quantity of between 3 and 4 % by
give importers of Member States some degree of                weight of carbon.
certainty, the first tranche of the tariff quota should be
fixed at a relatively high level which could be 41 760         3. Within this quota, the customs tariff duty shall
tonnes :
                                                              be suspended at 3 % .
Whereas Member States may exhaust their initial
shares at different rates ; whereas to avoid disruption                                  Article 2
of supplies on this account it should be provided that
any Member State which , has almost used up its initial        1.      A first instalment of 41 760 tonnes of this
share should draw an additional share from the
reserve ; whereas each time its additional share is            Community tariff quota shall be allocated among the
almost exhausted a Member State should draw a                 Member States ; the shares, which subject to Article 5
further share, and so on as many times as the reserve          shall be valid until 31 December 1977, shall be as
                                                               follows for each Member State :
allows ; whereas the initial and additional shares
should be valid until the end of the quota period ;                       Benelux                   9 500  tonnes,
whereas this form of administration requires close                        Denmark                       84 tonnes,
collaboration between the Member States and the
                                                                          Germany                   7 014  tonnes,
Commission and the Commission must be in a posi­                          France                    7 624  tonnes,
tion to keep account of the extent to which the quotas                    Ireland                        8 tonnes,
have been used up and to inform the Member States                         Italy                     3 000  tonnes,
accordingly ;
                                                                          United Kingdom           14 530 tonhes.
Whereas if at a given date in the quota period a               2. .    The second instalment of 2 540 tonnes shall
considerable quantity of a Member State's initial share        constitute a reserve.
remains unused it is essential that such State should
return a significant proportion thereof to the reserve,                                  Article 3
in order to prevent a part of a quota from remaining
unused in one Member State while it could be used in           1.      As soon as one of the Member States has used
others ;                                                       90 % or more of its initial share as fixed in Article 2
                                                               ( 1 ), or of that share minus any portion returned to the
Whereas, since the Kingdom of Belgium, the                     reserve pursuant to Article 5, it shall forthwith, by noti­
Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of              fying the Commission, draw a second share, to the
Luxembourg are united within and jointly represented           extent that the reserve so permits, equal to 10 % of its
by the Benelux Economic Union, any measure                     initial share rounded up as necessary to the next
                                                               whole number.
concerning the administration of the shares allocated
to that Economic Union may be carried out by any
one of its members,                                            2.      As soon as one of the Member States, after
                                                               exhausting its initial share, has used 90 % or more of
                                                               the second share drawn by it, that Member State shall
                                                               forthwith, in the manner and to the extent provided
                                                               in paragraph 1 , draw a third share equal to 5 % of its
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION                                    initial share.
                                                               3.      As soon as one of the Member States, after
                          Article 1
                                                               exhausting its second share, has used 90 % or more of
                                                               the third share drawn by it, that Member State shall
                                                               forthwith and in accordance with the same conditions,
1 . From the date of entry into force of this Regula­          draw a fourth share equal to the third.
tion and until 31 December 1977 a tariff quota of
44 300 tonnes shall be opened within the Community             This process shall continue until the reserve is
in respect of ferro-chromium containing not less than          exhausted.
4 % by weight of carbon falling within subheading ex
73.02 E I of the Common Customs Tariff.
                                                               4. Notwithstanding paragraphs 1 to 3, a Member
                                                               State may draw shares lower than those specified in
2.    During this period the Member States shall be            those paragraphs if there are grounds for believing
authorized within the 20 % limit of the quotas allo­           that those specified may not be used in full. Any
cated to them or which they levy on the reserve in             Member State applying this paragraph shall inform
accordance with Articles 2 and 3 to charge against the         the Commission of its grounds for so doing.
 ---pagebreak--- 27. 10. 77                       Official Journal of the European Communities                          No L 275/5
                       Article 4                             notify the amount of that balance to the Member State
                                                             making the last drawing.
Additional shares drawn pursuant to Article 3 shall be
valid until 31 December 1977.
                                                                                    Article 8
                       Article 5                             1.    The Member States shall take all appropriate
                                                             measures   to  ensure   that additional  shares  drawn
The Member States shall not later than 15 December
                                                             pursuant to Article 3 are opened in such a way that
1977 return to the reserve the unused portion of their       importations may be charged without interruption
initial share which on     1 December 1977 exceeds
                                                             against their accumulated share of the tariff quota.
20 % of the initial amount. They may return a greater
portion if there are grounds for believing that such         2. The Member States shall ensure that importers
portion may not be used in full.                             of the product in question established in their territo­
                                                             ries have free access to the shares allocated to them .
Not later than 15 December 1977 the Member States
shall notify the Commission of the total quantities of       3. The Member State shall charge imports of the
the products in question imported up to and                  product in question against their shares as and when
including 1 December 1977 and charged against the            the product is entered with the customs authorities for
Community quota and of any portion of their initial          home use .
shares returned to the reserve .
                                                             4.    The extent to which the Member States have
                                                             used up their shares shall be determined on the basis
                       Article 6
                                                             of the importations charged against their shares in
Member States may restrict the use to which products         accordance with paragraph 3.
charged against their quotas may be put.
                                                                                    Article 9
                       Article 7                             At the request of the Commission, the Member States
The Commission shall keep an account of the shares           shall inform it of imports charged against their shares.
opened by the Member States pursuant to Articles 2
and 3 and shall, as soon as the information reaches it,                            Article 10
inform each State of the extent to which the reserve
                                                             The Member States and the Commission shall coop­
has been used up.                                            erate closely to ensure that this Regulation is
Not later than 20 December 1977 it shall inform the          complied with .
Member States of the amounts still in reserve
following any return of shares pursuant to Article 5.                              Article 11
It shall ensure that when an amount exhausting the           This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh
reserve is drawn, the amount so drawn does not               day following its publication in the Official Journal
exceed the balance available, and to this end shall          of the European Communities.
              This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
              States.
              Done at Luxembourg, 24 October 1977.
                                                                         For the Council
                                                                          The President
                                                                          A. HUMBLET