CELEX: 51983PC0606
Language: en
Date: 1983-10-17
Title: Draft COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) opening, allocating and administering a Community tariff quota for certain grades of ferro-chromium, falling within subheading ex 73.02 E I of the Common Customs Tariff (submitted to the Council by the Commission)

ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DE LA COMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (83) 606
Vol. 1983/0225
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In accordance with Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 354/83 of 1 February 1983
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In Übereinstimmung mit der Verordnung (EWG, Euratom) Nr. 354/83 des Rates vom 1.
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 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                                  COM(83) 606 f i n a l
                                                                  B r u s s e l s , 17 October 1983
                                                 Draft
                                     COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
        openi ng, a l l o c a t i n g and a d mi ni s t e r i ng a Community t a r i f f quota
              for c e r t a i n grades of ferro-chromium, f a l l i n g wi t hi n
              subheading ex 73. 02 E I of the Common Customs Ta r i f f
                    (submi tted t o the Council by the Commission)
COM( 83) 606 f i n a l
 ---pagebreak---                                            EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
1. The Commission has f e l t                i t n e c e s s a r y t o examine t he que s t i on of opening
   in 1984 a Community t a r i f f quota for c e r t a i n grades of ferro-chromi urn,
   t o g e t h e r with t he ever pr e s e nt q u e s t i o n o f t he flow of Community
   product i on. This exami nat i on has been c a r r i e d out during meeti ngs t aki ng
   p l a c e , in p a r t i c u l a r on 5 September 1983, with producers and consumers,
   and on 13 September 1983 with t he Government e x p e r t s concerned.
2. The r e s u l t s o f t he d i s c u s s i o n s are:
   a)      t hat producers and consumers are s t r o n g l y determined t o mai ntai n in
         1984 t he agreements t he y have concl uded and c a r r i e d out in a s a t i s f a c t o r y
         manner in 1983. This frame o f mind j u s t i f i e s the request t h at has been
         e xpr e s s e d during t h o s e meet i ngs t o s e e t he t a r i f f quotas for the products
          in q u e s t i o n being opened on t he 1st January 1984 rather than on t he 1st
           April as such had been t he c as e in t he beginning o f 1983.
           In t h i s c o n n e c t i o n , t h e Commission c o n s i d e r s that the draf t r e g u l a t i o n
           annexed i s an instrument s e r v i n g , on the one hand t o f a c i l i t a t e the
           c o n c l u s i o n o f t h e s e agreements for 1983, and, on t he ot her hand, t o
           al l ow t he adopti on in good time o f t he d e c i s i o n p o s s i b l y t o be taken
           by the Counci l . It i s e v i d e n t t hat t h i s draft would have t o be
           withdrawn i f i t appeared t h a t t he s e c u r i t y o f t he flow o f Community
           product i on coul d not be ens ured.
     b) t h at t he s o l u t i o n adopted in 1983 making pr o v i s i o n f or opening t a r i f f
           quotas f or:
           1) ferro-chromiurn c o n t a i n i n g from 4 t o 6% carbon
           2) ferro-chromiurn c o n t a i n i n g at l e a s t 6% carbon should be repeat e d in
                  1984.
     c) that t he requi rements o f i mp o r t a t i o ns coming from n o n - p r e f e r e n t i a l
           t h i r d c o u n t r i e s in 1984 coul d not be a s c e r t a i n e d at t he pres ent t i me,
            n e i t h e r g l o b a l l y nor s e p a r a t e l y for each q u a l i t y o f ferro-chromium
            c i t e d at poi nt b ) . Es t i mat e s made on t he b a s i s of t he i ncompl ete
            i nf ormat i on c u r r e n t l y a v a i l a b l e n e v e r t h e l e s s p l a c e s t h e s e requi rements
            at a f i g u r e lower than 10 000 tonnes for t he ferro-chromiurn c o n t a i n i n g
            from 4 t o 6% of carbon and- approxi mat el y 250 000 t onne s f or t h at
 ---pagebreak---                                                       -  2   -
            c o n t a i n i n g at Least 6 % carbon.
3. In t h e s e c i r c u ms t a n c e s , the Commission c o n s i d e r s i t n e c e s s a r y , t aki ng
      i n t o account the u n c e r t a i n t i e s r e l a t i n g t o t he n e c e s s a r y economic d a t a ,
      and t he n e c e s s i t y t o ensure p a r a l l e l development of t he flow of Community
      producti on and the suppl y under f avourabl e c o n d i t i o n s t o the user
      i n d u s t r i e s , t o show caut i on in f i x i n g the quota volumes, in order not
      t o d i s t u r b the bal ance o f t he market.
     To t h i s end, i t s u g g e s t s opening for t he year 1984, t a r i f f quotas at
      a n i l r a t e , f or which the p r o v i s i o n a l volumes, cover i ng t he f i r s t months'
      requi rement s, are r e s p e c t i v e l y 3 000 and 115 000 t o n n e s , which could be
      r e v i s e d in t he l i g h t of changes in t he s i t u a t i o n .              Re v i s i o n coul d be
     made in Apri l wi t h i n t he " Ta r i f f Economy" Group in order t o e f f e c t ,
     t aki ng i n t o account t he de l ay f or approval pr ocedures , a p o s s i b l e
     i n c r e a s e from 1 J u l y 1984.
4 . As i s the p r a c t i c e in s i m i l a r c a s e s , the quota volumes proposed have
     been subdi vi ded i n t o 2 t r a n c h e s , the f i r s t bei ng d i v i d e d among t he
     Member S t a t e s in pro p o r t i o n t o t h e i r f o r e s e e a b l e i mpor t at i ons from t h i r d
     c o u n t r i e s , and the second correspondi ng t o the bal ance of t h i s volume
     c o n s t i t u t i n g a Community r e s e r v e .    The c o n s t i t u t i o n of such a r e s e r v e
     i s a l l the more j u s t i f i e d in t he pres ent cas e s i n c e the quota volumes
    are l i a b l e t o be r e v i s e d during the year                  t o b e t t e r correspond t o the
    real requirements of t he user i n d u s t r i e s , and s i n c e t he o r i g i n a l quota
    s hares were unable t o be determined with the accuracy d e s i r e d .
    Furthermore, the d r a f t r e g u l a t i o n submi tted by the Commission makes
    p r o v i s i o n in A r t i c l e 6 , f or t he p o s s i b i l i t y f o r Member S t a t e s t o
    r e s t r i c t t o c e r t a i n user the b e n e f i t of t he t a r i f f quotas in q u e s t i o n .
 ---pagebreak---                                                          DRAFT
                                      CO U N CIL REGULATION (EEC)
              o p en in g , allo ca tin g an d a d m in iste rin g a C o m m u n ity ta riff q u o ta for certain
              grad es of fe rro -c h ro m iu m falling w ith in su b h ead in g ex 73.02 E I of th e C o m m o n
                                                         C u s to m s T a r iff
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                            and to the economic outlook for the quota period in
COMMUNITIES,                                                           question ;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                  Whereas, however, since the quotas are autonomous
Economic Community, and in particular Article 28                       Community tariff quotas intended to cover import
thereof,                                                               needs arising in the Community, the quota volumes
                                                                       may, as an experiment, be allocated on the basis of the
                                                                       temporary import needs from third countries esti­
                                                                       mated for each of the Member States ; whereas this
Having regard to the draft Regulation submitted by
                                                                       system of allocation also ensures the uniform applica­
the Commission,
                                                                       tion of the Common Customs Tariff;
Whereas, for c e r t a i n grades o f f e r r o -
 chromium cont ai ni ng not Less than 4% by weight
of carbon, or not l e s s than 6% by weight'                           Whereas, to take account of future import trends for
o f cartaoYl , p r o d u c t i o n "uSj
           to a variable degree, inadequate in the                     the products concerned, the quota volumes should be
                                                                       divided into two instalments, the first being allocated
Community and producers are unable to meet the
                                                                       among the Member States and the second held as a
total requirements of consumer industries ; whereas it
                                                                        reserve to cover subsequently the requirements of
is therefore in the Community’s interest to suspend
                                                                       Member States which have exhausted their initial
totally in respect of this metal the application of the
                                                                       shares; whereas, to give importers of the Member
Common Customs Tariff duty for a period running up
                                                                        States some degree of certainty, the first instalment of
to 31 December 1984 within a suitable tariff quota;
whereas, in order to avoid disturbing the equilibrium                   each Community tariff quota should be fixed at a rela­
of the market for this ferro-alloy and to ensure parallel               tively high level which could be at more than 90 % of
development in sales of Community production and                        the quota volumes ;
in supplies to meet the requirements of consumer
industries, it is appropriate to fix the quota volume at
the provisional level of1 1 5000 tonnes cove r i ng immëWhereas Member States may exhaust their initial
diate import needs from third countries ; whereas for                   shares at different rates ; whereas, to avoid disruption
the same reasons a distinction should be made                           of supplies on this account, provision should be made
between certain grades of ferro-chrome and the above-                   that any Member State which has almost used up its
 mentioned quota volume should be allocated between                     initial share should draw an additional share from the
them ; whereas, moreover, Member States should be                       corresponding reserve ; whereas each time its addi­
 free only to authorize amounts to be charged against                   tional share is almost exhausted a Member State
this volume subject to certain conditions relating to                   should draw a further share, and so on as many times
destination ;                                                           as each reserve allows ; whereas the initial and addi­
                                                                        tional shares should be valid until the end of the quota
                                                                        period ; whereas this form of administration requires
                                                                        close collaboration between the Member States and the
Whereas equal and continuous access to these quotas
                                                                        Commission and the Commission must be in a posi­
 should be guaranteed for all Community importers
                                                                        tion to monitor the extent to which the quota volumes
and the rate of duty for these tariff quotas should be
                                                                        have been used up and to inform the Member States
applied consistently to all imports until the quotas are
exhausted ; whereas, in the light of these principles,                  accordingly ;
arrangements for the utilization of the Community
tariff quotas based on an allocation among Member
States would seem to comply with the Community                          Whereas, if at a given date in the quota period a con­
nature of the quotas ; whereas, to correspond as closely                siderable quantity of one of a Member State’s initial
as possible to the actual trend in the market in the                    shares remains unused, it is essential that such State
 products in question, such allocation should be in                     should return a significant proportion thereof to the
 proportion to the requirements of the Member States                    corresponding reserve, in order to prevent a part of
as calculated by reference to statistics of imports from                one of the Community quotas from remaining unused
 third countries during a representative reference period               in one Member State while it could be used in others ;
 ---pagebreak---                                                          -   2 -
  Whereas since the Kingdom of Belgium, the                         (b) as regards ferro-chromium containing not less than
  Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of                     6 % by weight of carbon
  Luxembourg are united within and jointly represented
                                                                                                              (tonnes)
  by the Benelux Economic Union, any measure con­
  cerning the administration of the shares allocated to                 Benelux                               4 925
  that Economic Union may be carried out by any one                     Denmark                                        5
  of its members,                                                       Germany                             58 745
                                                                        Greece                                         5
                                                                        France                              23 865
                                                                        Ireland                                       5
  HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :                                         Italy                                 8 450
                                                                        United Kingdom                      11 0 0 0
                           Article 1                                2. The second i n s t a l m e n t s , i n v o l v i n g
                                                               100 tonnes and 5 000 t onne s r e s p e c t i v e l y ,
  1. From -] January u n t i l 31 December
  1984, a t a r i f f quota o f 115 000                        shal l c o n s t i t u t e t he r e s e r v e s .
 tonnes shall be opened within the Community in
                                                                                            Article 3
 respect of certain grades of ferro-chromium falling
 within subheading ex 73.02 E 1 of the Common                       1.    As soon as one of the Member States has used
 Customs Tariff.                                                   90 % or more of one of its initial shares as fixed in
                                                                   Article 2 (1), or of that share minus any portion
 2. The volume of the tariff quota referred to in
                                                                   returned to the reserve pursuant to Article 5, it shall
 paragraph 1 shall be allocated as follows :
                                                                   forthwith, by notifying the Commission, draw a
 (a) 3 000 tonnes for ferro-chromium containing not                second share, to the extent that the reserve so permits,
      less than 4 % by weight of carbon ;                          equal to 10 % of its initial share rounded up as neces­
                                                                   sary to the next whole number.
 (bjl 1 2 0 0 0 tonnes for ferro-chromium containing not
      less than 6 % by weight of carbon.                           2.     As soon as one of the Member States, after
                                                                   exhausting one or other of its initial share, has used
 3.     Imports of the products in question which                  90 % or more of the second share drawn by it, that
 already benefit from exemption from customs duties                Member State shall forthwith, in the manner and to
 under another preferential tariff system are not to be            the extent provided in paragraph 1, draw a third share
 charged against this tariff quota.                                equal to 5 % of its initial share.
4.      Within this quota, the customs tariff duty shall
                                                                   3.    As soon as one of the Member States, after
be totally suspended. Within the context of this quota,
                                                                   exhausting one or other second share, has used 90 %
the Hellenic Republic shall apply customs duties                   or more of the third share drawn by it, that Member
calculated in accordance with the relevant provisions             State shall forthwith anil on the same conditions draw
laid down in the 1979 Act of Accession.                           a fourth share equal to the third.
                           Article 2                              This process shall continue until the reserves are
                                                                  exhausted.
 1. A first instalment of each of the volumes indi­
cated in Article 1 (2), amounting to 2 900 tonnes for             4.     Notwithstanding paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, Member
the tariff quota referred to at (a) and 1 0 7 0 0 0 t onne s for ^States   may draw shares lower than those specified in
the tariff nuota referred to at (b), shall be allocated           those paragraphs if there are grounds for believing that
among the M‘-mber States; the shares, which subject               those specified may not be used in full. Any Member
to Article j shall be valid until 31 December 198^                State    applying this paragraph shall inform the
shall be as follows :                                             Commission of its grounds for doing so.
(a) as regards ferro-chromium containing not less than
     4 % b\ v eight of carbon :                                                            Article 4
                                            (tonnes)
                                                                  Additional shares drawn pursuant to Article 3 shall be
     Benelux                                 1 500                valid until 31 December 1984.
     Denmark                                         5
     Germany                                     100
     Greece                                          5                                     Article 5
     France                                     685
     Ireland                                         5            Member States shall, not later than 1 November 1984
     Italy                                      300               return to the reserve the unused portion of their initial
     United K igdom                             300               share which on 15 October 198 4 exceeds 20 % of the
 ---pagebreak---                                                        - 3-
initial amount. They may return a greater portion if         notify the amount of that balance to the Member State
there are grounds for believing that such part may not       making the last drawing.
be used in full.
                                                                                      Article 8
Not later than 1 November 1984, the Member States
shall notify the Commission of the total quantities of       1. Member States shall take all appropriate measures
the products in question imported up to and including        to ensure that additional shares drawn pursuant to
15 October 1984 and charged against the Community            Article 3 are opened in such a way that imports may
quotas and of any portion of their initial shares            be charged without interruption against their accumu­
returned to the corresponding reserve.                       lated shares of the tariff quotas.
                                                             2.     Member States shall ensure that importers of the
                        Article 6                            products in question have f r e e a c c e s s t o the
Member States may decide that only products to be
                                                              s hares a l l o c a t e d t o them.
used for certain purposes may be charged against their       3.     The extent to which Member States have used up
quota shares. A control in the case that the products        their shares shall be determined on the basis of
have been used for the particular purpose specified           imports of the products in question entered with the
shall be carried out by applying the Community provi­         customs authorities for free circulation.
sions on the subject.
                                                                                       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 actually charged against
opened by the Member States pursuant to Articles 2-           their shares.
 and 3 and shall, as soon as the information reaches it,
 inform each State of the extent to which the reserves                                Article 10
 have been used up.                                           Member States and the Commission shall cooperate
 Not later than 5 November 1984 it shall inform the            closely to ensure that this Regulation is complied with.
 Member States of the amounts still in the reserves
 following any return of shares pursuant to Article 5.                                Article 11
 It shall ensure that, when an amount exhausting one          This Regulation shall enter into force on         January
 of the reserves is drawn, the amount so drawn does not        1984.
 exceed the balance available, and to this end shall
               This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
               States.
               Done at Brussels,
                                                                           For the Council
                                                                            The President