CELEX: 31976R3027
Language: en
Date: 1976-12-13 00:00:00
Title: Council Regulation (EEC) No 3027/76 of 13 December 1976 opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for cocoa butter and a tariff quota for soluble coffee originating in developing countries

20 . 12. 76                           Official Journal of the European Communities                        No L 349/ 145
                                       COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 3027/76
                                                    of 13 December 1976
               opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota
               for cocoa butter and a tariff quota for soluble coffee originating in developing countries
 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,                         wholly or in part at a later date ; whereas this
                                                                   possibility may be adopted inter alia with a view to
                                                                   remedying any unfavourable situations which might
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                      arise in the ACP States following the implementation
  European Economic Community,                                     of the generalized preference scheme ;
 Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                Whereas tariff preferences have been applied as from
                                                                   the second half of 1971 ; whereas it is expedient to
 Having regard to the opinion of the European                      continue to apply them throughout 1977 ;
 Parliament (*),
                                                                  Whereas in respect of cocoa butter and soluble coffee
 Whereas, within the context of UNCTAD, the                       originating in the countries and territories listed in
 European Economic Community offered to grant                     the Annex the Community should therefore open for
 tariff preferences on certain processed agricultural              1977 two Community tariff quotas within the respec­
 products of Chapters 1 to 24 of the Common                       tive limits of 21 600 metric tons and at a customs
 Customs Tariff originating in developing countries ;             duty of 8% for cocoa butter and of 18 750 metric
 whereas the preferential treatment proposed in that              tons and a duty of 9% for soluble coffee ;
offer consists, in respect of certain goods which are
 subject to the trade arrangements laid down in
 Regulation (EEC) No 1059/69, of a reduction in the               Whereas, in accordance with Protocol 23 to the Act
fixed component of the charge applicable to such                  of Accession (2), the generalized tariff preference
goods by virtue of that Regulation, and, in respect of            scheme became fully applicable in the new Member
products which are subject to the single customs duty,            States on 1 January 1974 ;
of a reduction in such duty ; whereas preferential
imports of the products concerned could be effected
without quantitative restrictions ; whereas it appears            Whereas for the said products this scheme would,
appropriate, however, in view of the sensitiveness of             however, involve the application in the new Member
the cocoa butter and soluble coffee sectors generally             States in 1977 of customs duties higher than or very
and of the need to safeguard the interests of the ACP             close to those which will be applied by the new
States in this field, to lay down for those two                   Member States to non-member countries in general
products special conditions consisting in a reduction             on the basis of the provisions of the abovementioned
of the customs duty applicable to these two products              Act; whereas this situation would comply neither
within the limits of Community tariff quotas ;                    with the spirit nor with the very nature of the gener­
                                                                  alized preference scheme ; whereas, in order to main­
                                                                  tain an equivalent preferential margin for these prod­
Whereas the offer by the Community includes a                     ucts also, reduced customs duties should be applied
clause stating that it is made on the assumption that             to them, in accordance with detailed rules based on
the main industrialized countries which are members               the principle of maintaining, in the new Member
of the OECD participate in granting preferences and               States, a preference proportional to that which exists
make similar efforts in this direction ; whereas,                 between the duties of the Common Customs Tariff
moreover, it is evident from the conclusions worked               and the duties given in Article 1 of this Regulation ;
 out in UNCTAD that this offer, while being of a                  whereas, with a view to granting the beneficiary
 temporary nature, does not constitute a binding                  developing countries the best possible treatment, in
commitment and, in particular, may be withdrawn                   accordance with the objectives of the preference
(!) OJ No C 259, 4. 11 . 1976, p . 27.                           (2) OJ No L 73 , 27. 3 . 1972, p . 14.
 ---pagebreak--- No L 349/ 146                         Official Journal of the European Communities                             20. 12 . 76
scheme, the duties given in Article 1 should also be             Whereas, without , affecting the Community nature of
applied wherever the duties calculated according to              the tariff quotas under consideration, it appears poss­
the abovementioned detailed rules prove to be higher             ible to provide temporarily for a utilization scheme
than them ;                                                      based on a single allocation among the Member
                                                                 States ; whereas, moreover, the allocation set out by
                                                                 this Regulation in no way prejudices the possibility
Whereas the benefit of these tariff quotas should be             of adopting the general method of allocation of
reserved for products originating in the countries and           Community tariff quotas comprising the setting up
territories under consideration, the concept of                  of a reserve share ; whereas at this transitional stage
'originating products' being determined in accordance            it appears feasible that such allocation could be made
with the procedure laid down in Article 14 of Council            according to the percentages set out in the above
Regulation (EEC) No 802/68 of 27 June 1968 on                    table ;
the common definition of the concept of the origin of
goods H ;
                                                                 Whereas the percentage for the shares of the Member
                                                                 States in the Community tariff quotas, in view of
Whereas it is necessary to ensure equal and con­                 their duration and their amounts, does not appear in
tinuous access for all Community importers to the                this instance to compromise the equal access for
said quotas and the uninterrupted application of the             Community importers to Community tariff quotas ;
rates laid down for these quotas to all imports of the           whereas for this same reason it would appear ex­
products concerned into all Member States until these            pedient to allow each Member State to choose the
quotas are used up ; whereas, having regard to the               system for administering its share ;
principles set out above, the Community nature of the
quota can be respected by allocating the Community               Whereas provision should be made for measures
tariff quota among Member States ; whereas, more­                enabling any serious disturbance within the sector of
over, to this end and in the context of the utilization          the Community's economic activity to be avoided,
system, the actual charges against the quota may                 and to this end the      Commission    should   be em­
relate only to products which have been entered for              powered to re-introduce in part or in full the normal
home use and which are accompanied by a certificate              duties in order to avoid such disturbance ;
of origin ;
                                                                 Whereas, since the Kingdom of Belgium, the King­
Whereas the available statistical data as yet cover only         dom of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of
a relatively brief period ; whereas, in this particular          Luxembourg are united in and represented by the
case, they should be weighted on the basis of the                Benelux Economic Union, all transactions concerning
                                                                  the administration of the shares allocated to that
estimates which may be made in respect of the quota
year ; whereas the shares in the quota amounts may               economic union may be carried out by any one of
be set out as follows :                                          its members,
                                        metric tons
                               cocoa butter soluble coffee
                                                                 HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
         Germany                      800        900
         Benelux                  12 150       1550
                                                                                         Article 1
         France                       100        250
         Italy                         50         50
                                                                  1 . From 1 January to 31 December 1977, Com­
         Denmark                       50         50
                                                                  munity tariff quotas shall be opened within the Com­
         Ireland                       50         50              munity for imports of the products listed below and
         United Kingdom            8 400      15 900              under 'the conditions stated :
O OJ No L 148 , 28 . 6. 1968 , p. 1 .
 ---pagebreak--- 20. 12 . 76                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                  No L 349/ 147
                    CCT                                                                      Volume in
                                                                                                            Rate of
                  heading                              Description                             metric
                                                                                                tons
                                                                                                             duty
                     No
                   18.04       Cocoa butter, including cocoa fat or oil                       21 600         8%
                   21.02       Extracts, or essences or concentrates of coffee, tea or
                               maté ; preparations with a basis of those extracts, or
                               concentrates :
                               ex A. Extracts, essences or concentrates of coffee ; pre­
                                      parations with a basis of those extracts, essences
                                      or concentrates :
                                      — Extracts of coffee or ' soluble coffee' obtained
                                         by a water method of extraction from roasted
                                         coffee, put up in powder form, granulated,
                                         in grains, in tablets or in a similar solid form     18 750         9%
On importation into Denmark, Ireland and the                                                                 metric tons
United Kingdom, there shall be applied to the above­                                                  cocoa butter   soluble coffee
mentioned products the customs duties determined                               Germany                     800         900
by multiplying, by a coefficient equal to the margin                          Benelux                   12 150       1550
of preferences existing between the duties given in                                                                    250
                                                                               France                      100
the first subparagraph and the Common Customs
Tariff duties applicable, the duties obtained by reduc­                        Italy                        50          50
ing by 80% the difference between the lowest duty                              Denmark                      50          50
applied on 1 January 1972 to the developing coun­                              Ireland                      50          50
tries set out in the Annex and the Common Customs
                                                                              United Kingdom             8 400      15 900
Tariff.
                                                                                               Article 3
However, the duties given in the first subparagraph
shall be applied from 1 January to 30 June 1977                       1 . The Member States shall ensure free access to
where the duties resulting from the abovementioned                    each of the shares which have been allocated to them
calculation are higher than them. From 1 July 1977
                                                                      for importers of the products concerned who are
the duties given in the first subparagraph shall be                   established on their territory.
applied.
                                                                      2. The extent to which shares of Member States
2. These tariff quotas shall apply solely to products                 have been used up shall be determined on the basis
originating in the countries and territories listed in                of imports of the said goods which have been
the Annex. However, those imports which enjoy                         entered for home use, and which are accompanied
exemption from customs duties under other prefer­                     by a certificate of origin in accordance with the rules
ential tariff arrangements granted by the Community                   referred to in Article 1 (2).
may not be charged against these tariff quotas.
                                                                      3 . Goods may qualify for a tariff quota only if the
For the purposes of this Regulation the concept of                    certificate of origin referred to in paragraph 2 is
originating products shall be determined in accord­                   submitted before the date on which the levying of
ance with the procedure laid down in Article 14 of                    duties is re-introduced.
Regulation (EEC) No 802/68 .
                                                                                              Article 4
                          Article 2                                   Member States shall inform the Commission at
                                                                      monthly intervals of imports of the products in
The Community tariff quotas mentioned in Article 1                    question charged against their shares. This infor­
shall be allocated, in respect of each Member State,                  mation shall show both the value expressed in units
in shares the amounts of which are set out below :                    of account and quantity expressed in metric tons.
 ---pagebreak--- No L 349/148                       Official Journal of the European Communities                             20. 12. 76
                       Article 5                              within a maximum period of 10 working days from
                                                              the date of receipt of the request and shall inform the
If the Community should find that the products                Member State of the action it has taken .
benefiting under the arrangements provided for in
Article 1 are being imported into the Community               3 . Each Member State may refer the measure taken
in quantities or at prices such as to put or be likely        by the Commission to the Council within a period
to put Community producers of similar or directly             of 10 working days following the date it was noti­
competitive products at a serious disadvantage or to          fied . The fact that the matter has been referred to the
create an unfavourable situation in the ACP States,           Council shall not constitute the suspension of the
the customs duties applied within the Community               measure. The Council shall meet without delay.
may be re-introduced in part or in full for imports           Acting on a qualified majority, it may amend or
of the products in question from the country or               repeal the measure in question.
countries or territory or territories which are the
cause of such disadvantage. Such measures may also
be taken in the event of a serious disadvantage,                                       Article 7
either actual or foreseeable, which is confined to a
 single region of the Community.                              Articles 5 and 6 shall not prejudice the application
                                                              of the protective clauses drawn up in connection
                        Article 6                             with the common commercial policy pursuant to
                                                              Article 113 of the Treaty.
 1 . In order to ensure that Article 5 is applied, the
 Commission may, by way of a Regulation, re-intro­
 duce normal duties for a fixed period.                                                Article 8
 2. If the Commission has acted at the request of a            This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January
 Member State, the former shall give its decision              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/ 149
                                                        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                                I r.i q                                   Senegal
Barbados                                  Ivory Coast                               Seychelles
Bénin                                     Jamaica                                   Sierra Leone
Bhutan                                    Jordan
                                                                                    Singapore
Bolivia                                   Kenya                                     Somalia
Botswana                                  Khmer 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                  I. iberia
                                                                                    Thailand
Chad                                      I ibya
                                                                                    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
Egypt, Arab Republic of                   Mozambique                                     Ajman
El Salvador                                                                              Sharjah
                                          Nauru
                                                                                         Um m al Qaiwain
Equatorial Guinea                         Nepal                                     Upper Volta
Ethiopia                                  Nicaragua                                 Uruguay
Fiji                                      Niger                                     Venezuela
Gabon
                                          Nigeria                                   Vietnam
Gambia                                    Oman
                                                                                    Western Samoa
Ghana                                     Pakistan
Grenada
                                                                                    Yemen, People's Democratic
                                          Panama                                    Republic of
Guatemala                                 Papua New Guinea                          Yemen Arab Republic
Guinea
                                          Paraguay                                  Yugoslavia
Guinea Bissau                             Peru                                      Zaire
                                                                                    Zambia
 ---pagebreak--- No L 349/ 150                             Official Journal of the European Coirimunities                                       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 (*)
            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.
            (*) 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, St Vincent.