CELEX: 51976PC0387
Language: en
Date: 1976-07-23
Title: Proposal for a REGULATION (EEC) OF THE COUNCIL on the opening, allocation and administration of a Community tariff quota for certain eels falling within subheading ex 03.01 A II of the Common Customs Tariff (first half of 1977) (submitted to the Council by the Commission)

ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DE LA COMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (76) 387
Vol. 1976/0116
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 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION! OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                                    . /
       COM(76)387 final.
                                                   Brussels , 23 July 1976
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                          Proposal for a
             ■ \       ,                     .                 .
                 REGULATION ( EEC ) OF THE COUNCIL
   on the opening , allocation and administration of a Community
   tariff quota for certain eels falling within subheading ex
   03.01 A II of the Common Customs Tariff ( first half of 1977 )
        ( submitted to the Council by the Commission )
   COM ( 76 ) 387 final .
 ---pagebreak---                                                       GUD/735/76-E
                      Explanatory Memorandum
 In recent years , eel fishing in ocrtain Community fishing areas was
forbidden or maile impossible owing to pollution of the waters . Efforts
were made to increase production in other areas in order to compensate
at least for the losses of the quantities available . Despite these
efforts , it was observed that Community production was still insufficient
to supply the demands of the Member States' fish processing industries .
This situation prompted the Council - on a proposal from the Commission –
to open from 1971 a duty-free Community tariff quota for certain fresh
eels (dead or alive ), chilled or frozen, falling within subheading
ex 03.01 A II of the Common Customs Tariff .
Thereafter , the situation on the markets of the sector in question
did not appreciably improve .
A further examination of the market in eels and of import requirement s
was carried out a meeting of the Economic Tariff Problems Group held
on 10 June 1976 . At the request of the authorities of the Federal
Republic of Germany , the possibility was examined of changing the
period of the annual tariff quota to the period of 1 July to 30 June ,
so that the quota might correspond better to trade requirements .
Indeed , the fishing season being mainly in the autumn, two-thirds of
German imports in particular are carried out from September to December .
According to the rules of return to the reserve usually applied in the
administration of quotas , the return to the Community reserve is
expected as from August . Compliance with this provision does not make
it possible to achieve an economically rational use of the quotas *
At that meeting of the Economic Tariff Problems Group , it emerged that
a unanimous agreement could be reached on a system providing for the
opening of a quota for six months as from 1 January 1977 and , thereafter ,
for the opening of an annual tariff quota for the period from
1 July 1977 to 30 June 1978.
                                                               I
 ---pagebreak---                                                            GUD/7 3 5/7 6-E
                                                   «
                            - 2 -
Therefore , it would, seem desirable to re-open a Community tariff
quota for a volume of 3 100 metric tons from 1 January to 30 June 1977 »
largely corresponding to the stated, requirements of the Kember States
for imports from third countries .
As regards the subdivision of the above-mentioned volume of 3 100 metric
tons , a first tranche of 2 6fj0 metric tons is allocated among the
Member States in proportion to requirements .   The balance of 450 metric
tons will constitute the Community reserve .
This is the objective of the attached proposal .
 ---pagebreak---                                                            Proposal for a
                                                5ISyLATI0N _( EEÇ )_0 £_THE_ÇCUNCIL
                        on the opening, allocation and administration of a Community tariff quota for certain •
                           eels falling within subheading cx 03.01 A II of the Common Customs Tariff ( first half of 1977 )
           THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                       should therefore be opened for "this period,
                                                                          conditions set out above:
                                                                         Whereas it is in particular necessary to ensure to all
           Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                   importers in the Member States equal and
           European Economic Community, and in particular                 uninterrupted access to the abovementioned quota
           Article
                                                                          and uninterrupted application of the rate laid down
                                                                         for that quota to' all imports of the products
                                                                         concerned into all Member States until the quota
           Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ;           has been used up ; whereas, in the light of these
                                                                         principles, the Community nature of the quota can
                                                                         be respected by allocating the tariff quota among
                                                                         the Member States listed below; whereas statistics
          Having regard to the Opinion of the European                   available for these products do not give a clear
          Parliament (M ;
                                                                         picture of the market situation for them ; whereas,
                                                                         therefore, it is not possible to allocate the quota
                                                                         among the Member States on the basis of import
          Whereas eel fishing has been prohibited or has be­             trends for the relevant products over, the past few
          come impossible in certain Community production                years ; whereas, however, according to the estimates
         centres ; whereas this has led to a drop in Community           put forward by the Member States, initial shares may
          production of eels in general and particularly of              be fixed at the quantities set out in Article 2;
          fresh eels (live or dead), chilled or frozen, falling
         within subheading ex 03.01 A II of the Common
         Customs Tariff, intended for curing or skinning or              Whereas, in order to take into account import trends
         for use in the industrial manufacture of products               for the products concerned, the quota amount should
         falling within heading No 16.04 ; whereas the                   be divided into two tranches, the first tranche being
         processing industries in the Community consequently             allocated, and the second forming a reserve intended
         depend to a large extent on imports for their supplies         subsequently to cover the requirements of the Mem­
         of eels; whereas 3t)             the application of the        ber States which have used up their initial shares ;
         autonomous Common Customs Tariff duty should                   whereas, in order to ensure a certain degree of
         therefore be suspended totally on imports of the               security for importers, the first tranche of the
         relevant products up to an appropriate quantitative            Community tariff quota should be fixed at a level
         limit; whereas, within this limit, the new Member              which, under present circumstances, may be
         States should apply customs duties as provided in the          approximately      85 c/° of the quota amount :
        Act of Accession (*); whereas, the introduction of
         a Community measure of this nature is unlikely to
         harm Community production ;                                    Whereas the initial shares may be used up at
) from 1 . January 1977 up "to and. including                           different rates ; whereas, in order to take this fact
  30 June 1977                                                          into account and to avoid any break in continuity,
                                                                        any Member State which has almost used up its
        Whereas current demand not met by Community                     total initial share should draw an additional share
        production, which must therefore be met by imports,             from the reserve; whereas this must be done by each
        can be estimated at 3^100 metric tons for                       Member State as and when each of its additional
   the first half of 1977 » whereas a tariff                            shares is almost entirely used up, and repeated as
          quota for the-relevant types of eel                           many times as the reserve allows; whereas the initial
                                                                        additional shares must be valid until the end of the
        (' ) Opinion delivered on .                                     quota period ; whereas this method of administration
                                                                        requires close cooperation between Member States
        (2) O] No L 73 , 27. 3. 1972, p. 14.                      •     and the Commission, which must be able to keep
 ---pagebreak---           account of the extent to which the quota amount          up to and. including 30 June 1977 » shall
          has been used up and to inform the Member States         consist of the following amounts :
          accordingly;
                                                                                                             in metric tons
          Whereas if, at a given date in the quota period, a
          considerable balance remains in one or other Member
          State it is essential, to prevent a part of the
          Community tariff quota from remaining unused in
          one Member State while it could be used in others,
          that that Member State should return a significant
          proportion thereof to the reserve:
          Whereas, since the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom
          of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of
          Luxembourg are united within and jointly                 2. The second tranche of _ 450 metric tons shaj.]
          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
                                                                    1. If 90% or more of a Member State's initial
          HAS ADOPTED THIS . REGULATION :
                                                                    share as fixed in Article 2 ( 1 ), or of that share minus
                                                                    any portion returned to the reserve where Article 5
                                                                    has been applied, has been used up, that Member
                                                                   State shall forthwith, by notifying the Commission,
                                 Article 1
                                                                    draw a second share, to the extent that the reserve
                                                                   so permits, equal to 15% of its initial share, rounded
         1 « During the period 1 January up                         u as necessary to the next whole number.
                                                                    up
         to and including           30 June 1977 . a Community
tariff quota of 3,100 metric tons
          shall be opened for fresh eels (live or dead) chilled or 2.
                                                                   2 If, after its initial share has been exhausted, 90%
          frozen, falling within subheading ex 03.01 A II of the   or
                                                                   0 more of the second share drawn by a Member
          Common Customs Tariff, intended for curing or             Stace
                                                                    S      has been used up, that Member State shall
          skinning or for use in the industrial manufacture of     forthwith,
                                                                   ^             by notifying the Commission, draw a
          products falling within heading No 16.04, under          third
                                                                   ^ share equal to 7-5% of its initial share, rounded
          conditions to be determined by the competent             uup as necessary to the next whole number, to the
          authorities.                                              extent
                                                                    e       that the reserve so permits.
          2. Within the limits of this tariff quota, the Common     3. If, after its second share has been exhausted, 90%
          Customs Tariff duty shall be totally suspended.           or more of the third share drawn by a Member
                                                                    State has been used up, that Member State shall, in
                                                                    the manner provided in paragraph 2, draw a fourth
          3. The new Member States shall apply duties               share equal to the third.
          calculated in accordance with the relevant provisions
          of the Act of Accession within this quota.
                                                                    This procedure shall apply until the reserve is used
                                                                    up .
                                 Article 2
                                                                    4. By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 , 2 and 3,
                                   2.650                            Member States may draw lesser shares than those
          1. A first tranche of /          metric tons of this      specified therein if there are grounds for believing
          Community tariff quota shall be allocated among the       that those specified may not be used in full. They
          Member States. Member States' shares, which,              shall inform the Commission of their reasons for
          subject to Article 5, shall be valid from 1 January       applying this paragraph.
 ---pagebreak---                           Article 4                                                     Article 7
   Additional shares drawn pursuant to Article 3 shall          1 . Member States shall take all             appropriate
   be valid up to and including 30 June 1977                    measure* to ensure that additional shares drawn
                                                                pursuant to Article 3 are opened in such a way that
                                                                imports may be charged without interruption against
                          Article S                             their aggregate shares of the Community quota.
   Member States shall return to the reserve, not later         2. Member States shall ensure that importers of
  than 1 May 1977 ,         the unused portions of their        the products in question established in their territory
  initial shares which, on 15 April 1977, are 'n excess         have free access to the shares allocated to them.
  of 20% of the initial amounts. They may return a
  greater portion if there are grounds for believing that      3 . Member States shall charge imports of the
  such portion may not be used in full.                        products in question against their shares as and when
                                                               the products are entered with the customs authorities
                                                               for home use.
  Member States shall notify the Commission, not
  later than 1 May 1977 , ~ of the total quantities
  of the products in question imported up to and               4. The extent to which a Member State has used
 including 15 April 1977 r»nd charged against the              up its share shall be determined on the basis of the
 Community quota and ofr any portion of their initial          imports charged against that share in accordance
 shares returned to the reserve.                               with paragraph 3.
                                                                                       Article 8
                         Article 6
                                                               At the Commission's request, Member States shall
 The Commission shall keep an account of the shares           inform it of the imports actually charged against their
 opened by the Member States pursuant to Articles              shares.
 2 and 3 and, as soon as it has been notified, shall
 inform each State of the extent to which the reserve
has been used up.                                                                      Article 9
It shall inform the Member States, not later than              Member States and the Commission shall cooperate
•5 May 1977 ,            ^ am°unt still in reserve after       closely to ensure that this Regulation is complied
amounts have been returned thereto pursuant to                with.
Article 5 .
It shall ensure that the drawing which exhausts the                                   Article 10
reserve does not exceed the balance available, and
to this end shall notify the amount of that balance           This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January
to the Member State making the last drawing.                   1977 •
               This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
               States.
               Done at Bruxelles ,
                                                                                  For the Council
                                                                                   The President