CELEX: 
Language: en
Date: 1974-03-27 00:00:00
Title: Council Decision of 21 March 1974 on the conclusion of an Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Republic of India on trade in jute products #Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Republic of India on trade in jute products

No L 82/ 10                       Official Journal of the European Communities                     27. 3 . 74
                                                         II
                                    (Acts whose publication is not obligatory)
                                                 COUNCIL
                                              COUNCIL DECISION
                                                 of 21 March 1974
            on the conclusion of an Agreement between the European Economic Community and
                                  the Republic of India on trade in jute products
                                                   (74/ 145/EEC)
            THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
            Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in
            particular Article 113 thereof;
            Having regard to the Recommendation from the Commission ;
            Whereas the Agreement on trade in jute products negotiated between the European
            Economic Community and the Republic of India should be concluded,
            HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS :
                                                      Article 1
            The Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Republic of India
            on trade in jute products, the text of which is annexed hereto, is hereby concluded on
            behalf of the European Economic Community.
                                                      Article 2
            The President of the Council is hereby authorized to designate the persons empowered
            to sign the Agreement and to confer on them the powers required in order to bind the
            Community.
            Done at Brussels, 21 March 1974.
                                                                                  For the Council
                                                                                   The President
                                                                                      J. ERTL
 ---documentbreak--- 27. 3 . 74                          Official Journal of the European Communities                             No L 82 / 11
                                                    AGREEMENT
             between the European Economic Community and the Republic of India on trade in
                                                     jute products
              THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
              of the one part, and
              THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA,
              of the other part,
              DESIROUS of ensuring an increasing use of jute products and the orderly development of trade
              in these products between the European Economic Community, hereinafter referred to as 'the
              Community', and the Republic of India,
              NOTING the Joint Declaration of Intent on the development of trade relations with Ceylon,
              India, Malaysia, Pakistan and Singapore, annexed to the Final Act of the Treaty of Accession
              of the Kingdom of Denmark, Ireland, the Kingdom of Norway and the United Kingdom of
              Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the European Economic Community and the European
              Atomic Energy Community,
              CONSCIOUS of the provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade,
              HAVE DECIDED, in a spirit of mutual cooperation, TO CONCLUDE THIS AGREEMENT:
                         Article 1                             India, appropriate solutions to problems arising out
                                                               of the current quantitative restrictions . To this end,
This Agreement shall apply to manufactured jute                and as a first step, the Community shall suspend the
products, originating in and coming from India, as             existing quantitative restrictions on the imports of the
defined in Annex A.                                            products defined in Article 4, subject to the Republic
                                                               of India applying such measures as are necessary to
                                                               keep exports intended for internal consumption in
                         Article 2
                                                               the Community within the ceilings set out under
                                                               Article 4.
1.     Pending a solution within a multilateral context
and as a means of extending its system of generalized
                                                                                        Article 4
tariff preferences, the Community shall apply
autonomously to manufactured jute products
originating in and coming from India, the duties of            The initial ceilings, fixed for the calendar year 1973 ,
the Common Customs Tariff suspended in                         are as follows :
accordance with the rates and timetable set out in
Annex B.                                                       — categories 4 and 5           7 670 metric tons,
                                                               — category 6                    1 181 metric tons.
2.     In Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom,
tariff adjustments resulting from the application of           For every following year, each ceiling shall be
paragraph 1 may be introduced gradually.                       increased with reference to the preceding year by
                                                               10 % of the initial ceiling.
                         Article 3                             The Community will not object to the
                                                               abovementioned ceilings being exceeded, in the event
The Community shall not subject imports of the                 of additional demand developing on the market of
products defined under Article 1 , originating in and          the Community, on the understanding that the
coming from India, to new quantitative restrictions,           additional quantities shall be determined by common
and agrees to examine, together with the Republic of           agreement between the Contracting Parties .
 ---pagebreak---  No L 82/ 12                          Official Journal of the European Communities                               27. 3 . 74
                        Article 5                                and industries are met in a non-discriminatory
                                                                 manner.
1 . Unused quantities, not exceeding 10 % of one
annual ceiling, may be carried over and added to the
                                                                                         Article 10
ceiling for the following year.
                                                                A Joint Cooperation Committee shall be set up and
2. Each annual ceiling may be exceeded, up to a                  entrusted with the following:
limit of 10 % of its total, in anticipation of the ceiling
for the following year, subject to prior consultations          — the examination of any problem which may arise
with the Community. The Republic of India shall                      as a result of the implementation of this
nevertheless endeavour to ensure as regular a supply                 Agreement;
as possible of the products in question over each
yearly period.                                                  — the investigation of possibilities, and the
                                                                     formulation of suggestions, in connection with
                                                                     cooperation in the fields of research into and
Quantities used in anticipation shall be deducted                    development of the production and uses of jute
from the ceiling for the following year.                             products ;
                                                                — the         development      of     contacts   between
                                                                     representatives of the jute trade and industries of
                        Article 6                                    both the Community and India.
The ceilings shall be administered using a system of            The Joint Committee shall be composed of
double checking along the lines defined under                    representatives both of the Republic of India and of
Annex C.                                                        the Community.
                                                                The Joint Committee shall be convened upon the
                                                                 request of either Contracting Party and in any case at
                        Article 7                                least once a year.
The Republic of India and the Community shall
exchange all information that is of use to the                                           Article 11
Contracting Parties relating to trade in jute products
between them .
                                                                 This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day
                                                                 of the month following the date on which the
                                                                 Contracting Parties have notified each other of the
                        Article 8
                                                                 completion of the procedures necessary for this
                                                                 purpose ( 1 ). Subject to such amendments as may be
                                                                 mutually agreed during its period of validity, the
The implementation of this Agreement shall not                  Agreement shall be valid until 31 December 1975 .
disrupt the normal trade channels between India and
the Community for the products in question.
                                                                                         Article 12
Should one of the Contracting Parties inform the
other   that   abnormal    difficulties  have    arisen in      The Annexes constitute an integral part of this
connection with the use of normal trade channels,               Agreement.
then the Contracting Parties shall consult each other
on measures necessary to remedy the situation.
                                                                                         Article 13
                        Article 9                               This Agreement has been drawn up in two copies in
                                                                the Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian
                                                                and Hindi languages, each text being authentic.
Subject to the policies of the Government of the
Republic of India concerning the regulation of its
exports according to its production situation and the
external demand for the abovementioned products,
                                                                 (x) The date of entry into force of the Agreement will be
the Republic of India agrees to take appropriate steps               published in the Official Journal of the European
to ensure that the needs of the Community market                     Communities .
 ---pagebreak--- 27. 3 . 74                        Official Journal of the European Communities               No L 82/ 13
           Udfærdiget i Bruxelles, den syttende december nitten hundrede og treoghalvfjerds
           Geschehen zu Brüssel am siebzehnten Dezember neunzehnhundertdreiundsiebzig
           Done at Brussels on the seventeenth day of December in the year one thousand nine
           hundred and seventy-three
           Fait à Bruxelles, le dix-sept décembre mil neuf cent soixante-treize
           Fatto a Bruxelles, addì diciassette dicembre millenovecentosettantatré
           Gedaan te Brussel, de zeventiende december negentienhonderd drieënzeventig
           For Râdet for De europæiske Fællesskaber
           Im Namen des Rates der Europâischen Gemeinschaften
           For the Council of the European Communities
           Pour le Conseil des Communautés européennes
           Per il Consiglio delle Comunità europee
           Voor de Raad der Europese Gemeenschappen
           For regeringen for Indien
           Für die Regierung Indiens
           For the Government of India
           Pour le gouvernement de l'Inde
           Per il governo dell'India
           Voor de Regering van India
 ---pagebreak--- No L 82/ 14                          Official Journal of the European Communities                                   27. 3 . 74
                                                              ANNEX A
                              Definition of categories of jute products covered by Article 1
            Category 1 : Jute fabrics weighing over 500 g/m2 and having a width equal to or less than
                         150 cm, and jute bags of fabric weighing more than 500 g/m2.
            Category 2 : Jute fabrics weighing 310 g/m2 or more but equal to or less than 500 g/m2, and
                         of a width equal to or less than 150 cm, and bags manufactured out of jute fabric
                         weighing equal to or greater than 310 g/m2 but equal to or less than 500 g/m2.
            Category 3 : Jute fabrics weighing less than 310 g/m2 and having a width of 150 cm or less,
                         and bags of jute fabric weighing less than 310 g/m2.
            Category 4 : Jute fabrics having a width greater than 150 cm but equal to or less than 230 cm,
                         irrespective of their weight per m2.
            Category 5: Jute fabrics having a width greater than 230 cm irrespective of their weight
                         per m2.
            Category 6: Jute yarns.
                                                              ANNEX B
                                             Tariff suspensions covered by Article 2
                                                                                          Rate of reduction
                  CCT
                                                                                            to be applied
                heading                           Description of goods
                  No
                                                                                     1.1.1974          1 . 1 . 1975
                 57.06       Yarn of jute or of other textile bast fibres of
                             heading No 57.03                                         40%                60 %
                 57.10       Woven fabrics of jute or of other textile bast
                             fibres of heading No 57.03 :
                             A. of a width of not more than 150 cm and
                                 weighing per m2 :
                                     I. Less than 310 g                               40 %               60 %
                                   IT . Not less than 310 g but not more than
                                          500 g                                       40 %               60 %
                                  HI . More than 500 g                                40 %               60 %
                             B. of a width of more than 150 cm                        40 %                50 %
                 62.03       Sacks and bags of a kind used for packing of
                             goods :
                             A. Of jute or of other textile bast fibres of
                                 heading No 57.03 :
                                 II . Other :
                                        ( a) of fabric weighing less than 310
                                             g/m2                                     40 %               60%
                                       (b) of fabric weighing not less than 310
                                             g/m2 but not more than 500 g/m2          40 %               60 %
                                        (c) of fabric weighing more than 500
                                             g/m2                                     40 %              60 %
            The Community hereby undertakes to continue to suspend customs duties on all the imports
            of products used for packing goods, in accordance with the provisions of the Customs Con­
            vention on temporary imports of packing items.
 ---pagebreak--- 27. 3 . 74                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                         No L 82/ 15
                                                                  ANNEX C
                                          System of double checking referred to in Article 6
            1 . In the Community, the competent authorities shall accept, without delay, imports of
                 products listed in Article 4 of this Agreement upon production of the importer's request
                 together with the original copy of the export permit (1).
           2. The competent Indian authorities shall issue export permits for all the products listed in
                 Article 4 of this Agreement within the limits of the ceilings set out in that Article.
           3 . The export permit must mention :
                  ( a) the destination,
                  (b) the serial number,
                  (c) the name and address of the importer,
                 (d) the name and address of the exporter,
                  (e) the net weight (in kilogrammes or metric tons) and the value,
                   (f) the category and the classification of the product,
                  (g) the certificate issued by the authorities stating the ceiling from which the products have
                       been deducted.
           4. In the Community, the competent authorities shall accept, within reasonable limits, differ­
                 ences between the weight as stated in the export permit and the cargo weight or the
                 imported weight. The competent Indian authorities shall however endeavour to reduce such
                 discrepancies to a minimum.
           5. The competent Indian authorities shall notify the competent authorities in the Community
                 of any withdrawal, or part withdrawal, of an export permit. The latter shall, within the
                 context of the administrative regulations governing such matters, take appropriate steps.
           6. The competent Indian authorities shall forward every six months to the competent auth­
                 orities in the Community, via the Embassies of the Member States and directly to the
                 Commission, a summary of the export permits issued. These summaries shall state, for every
                 category of product, the net weight in metric tons of the authorized exports, their assignment
                 to the various ceilings and the Member States of the Community to which the goods have
                 been consigned.
                                                                  ANNEX D
           Declaration by the Government of the Republic of India relating to Annex B of the Agreement
                                                         on trade in jute products
           With reference to Annex B relating to Article 2 of the Agreement on trade in jute products,
           the Government of the Republic of India declares that it has accepted the tariff suspensions
           as the first stage in the exemption of jute products from tariff duties in the Community to be
           implemented as soon as possible and not later than 1 July 1977, within the framework of a
           bilateral or multilateral Agreement.
           (') Where import licences are required under the regulations in force in one or other Member State , such licences
                shall be issued automatically , within a limited number of days .