CELEX: 31976R1629
Language: en
Date: 1976-06-29 00:00:00
Title: Council Regulation (EEC) No 1629/76 of 29 June 1976 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

7 . 7 . 76                          Official Journal of the European Communities                             No L 181 / 1
                                                            I
                                         (Acts whose publication is obligatory)
                                  COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC) No 1629/76
                                                    of 29 June 1976
               opening, allocating and administering a Community tariff quota for ferro-chro­
               mium 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                                    Whereas equal and continuous access to the quota
COMMUNITIES,                                                   should be ensured for all Community importers and
                                                               the rate of duty for the tariff quota should be applied
                                                               consistently to all imports until the quota is
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European          exhausted ; whereas in the light of these principles
Economic Community, and in particular Article 28               arrangements for the utilization of the tariff quota
thereof,                                                       based on an allocation among Member States would
                                                               seem to be consistent with the Community nature of
                                                               the quota ; whereas, to correspond as closely as
Having regard to the draft Regulation submitted by             possible to the actual trend in the market in the
the Commission ,
                                                               product in question , allocation of the quota should be
                                                               in proportion to the requirements of the Member
Whereas for ferro-chromium containing not less than            States as calculated by reference to statistics of imports
4 % by weight of carbon , Community production is,             from third countries during a representative reference
to a variable degree, inadequate and producers are             period and to the economic outlook for the quota
unable to meet the total requirements of consumer              period in question ;
industries in the Community ; whereas it is therefore
in the Community's interest to suspend totally in
respect of this metal the application of the Common
Customs Tariff duty until 31 December 1976, within a           Whereas, however, since the quota is an autonomous
suitable tariff quota ; whereas in order not to raise the      Community tariff quota intended to cover import
question of the prospects for development of the               needs arising in the Community, it may, as an experi­
Community       production    sector  and    taking   into     ment, be allocated on the basis of the temporary
account the uncertainties which surround the different         import needs from third countries expressed by each
ferro-alloy consumption sectors, it is appropriate to fix      of the Member States ; whereas this system of alloca­
the quota volume at the provisional level of 52 000            tion also ensures the uniform application of the
metric tons ; whereas for the same reasons Member              Common Customs Tariff ;
States should be free to authorize charges to be made
against this volume only subject to the products being
used for certain purposes ; whereas the fixing of this
amount, relating to prudent estimates, does not
exclude future adjustment ;                                    Whereas, to take account of future import trends for
                                                               the product concerned, the quota should be divided
                                                               into two tranches, the first being allocated among the
Whereas relatively limited imports of ferro-chromium           Member States and the second held as a reserve to
containing a quantity of between 3 and 4 % by                  cover subsequently the requirements of Member States
weight of carbon are foreseeable for this quota period ;       which have exhausted their initial shares and any
whereas provision should be made on a temporary                addtional requirements which might arise in the other
basis for the extension of the benefit of the tariff           Member States ; whereas, to give importers of the
quota in question to these imports , limiting it               Member States some degree of certainty, the first
however to 20 % of the quota volume taking account             tranche of the tariff quota should be fixed at a rela­
of the existence of Community production ;                     tively high level which could be 47 000 metric tons ;
 ---pagebreak--- No L 181 /2                        Official Journal of the European Communities                              7. 7. 76
Whereas Member States may exhaust their initial              5.     New Member States shall apply duties on
shares at different rates ; whereas to avoid disruption      imports within this quota calculated in accordance
of supplies on this account it should be provided that       with the relevant provisions of the Act of Accession.
any Member State which has almost used up its initial
share    should draw an     additional  share  from  the
reserve ; whereas each time its additional share is                                   Article 2
almost exhausted a Member State should draw a
                                                              1.    A first instalment of 47 000 metric tons of this
further share, and so on as many times as the reserve
allows ; whereas the initial and additional shares           Community tariff quota shall be allocated among the
should be valid until the end of the quota period ;          Member States ; the shares, which, subject to Article 5,
                                                             shall be valid until 31 December 1976, shall be as
whereas this form of administration requires close
                                                             follows :
collaboration between the Member States and the
Commission and the Commission must be in a posi­                      Benelux                9 500 metric tons,
tion to keep account of the extent to which the quotas                Denmark                   84 metric tons,
have been used up and to inform the Member States                    Germany                12 714 metric tons,
accordingly ;                                                         France                 7 624 metric tons,
                                                                      Ireland                    8 metric tons,
Whereas if at a given date in the quota period a                      Italy                  2 540 metric tons,
considerable quantity of a Member State's initial share               United Kingdom        14 530 metric tons .
remains unused it is essential that such State should
return a significant proportion thereof to the reserve,      2.     The second instalment of 5 000 metric tons shall
in order to prevent a part of a quota from remaining         constitute the reserve .
unused in one Member State while it could be used in
others ;
                                                                                      Article 3
Whereas, since the Kingdom of Belgium, the
Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of             1.    As soon as one of the Member States referred to
Luxembourg are united within and jointly represented         in Article 2 has used 90 % or more of its initial share
by the Benelux Economic Union, any measure                   as fixed in Article 2 ( 1 ), or of that share minus any
concerning the administration of the shares allocated        portion returned to the reserve pursuant to Article 5,
to that Economic Union may be carried out by any             it shall forthwith, by notifying the Commission, draw
one of its members,                                          a second share, to the extent that the reserve so
                                                             permits, equal to 10 % of its initial share rounded up
                                                             as necessary to the next whole number.
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION                                  2.     As soon as one of the Member States, after
                                                             exhausting its initial share, has used 90 % or more of
                        Article 1
                                                             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
1 . From the date of entry into force of this Regula­        initial share .
tion and until 31 December 1976 a tariff quota of
52 000 metric tons shall be opened within the                3.     As soon as one of the Member States, after
Community in respect of ferro-chromium containing            exhausting its second share, has used 90 % or more of
not less than 4 % by weight of carbon falling within         the third share drawn by it, that Member State shall
subhheading ex 73.02 E I of the Common Customs               forthwith and on the same conditions draw a fourth
Tariff.
                                                             share equal to the third.
2. During this period the Member States shall be             This process shall continue until the reserve is
authorized within the 20 % limit of the quotas allo­         exhausted .
cated to them or which they levy on the reserve in
accordance with Articles 2 and 3 to charge against the       Notwithstanding paragraphs 1 to 3, Member State
said tariff quota, imports of ferro-chromium                 may draw shares lower than those specified in those
containing a quantity of between 3 and 4 % by                paragraphs if there are grounds for believing that
weight of carbon .                                           those specified may not be used in full. Any Member
                                                             State applying this paragraph shall inform the
3.    Importations of the products in question, which        Commission of its grounds for so doing.
already benefit from exemption from customs duties
under another preferential tariff system , are not to be
charged against this tariff quota.                                                    Article 4
4. Within this quota, the customs tariff duty shall          Additional shares drawn pursuant to Article 3 shall be
be totally suspended .                                       valid until 31 December 1976 .
 ---pagebreak--- 7 . 7 . 76                        Official Journal of the European Communities                        No L 181 / 3
                        Article 5                                                  Article 8
The Member States shall not later than 15 November           1.   The Member States shall take all appropriate
1976 return to the reserve the unused portion of their      measures   to  ensure   that additional  shares  drawn
initial share which on     1  November    1976 exceeds      pursuant to Article 3 are opened in such a way that
20 % of the initial amount. They may return a greater       importations may be charged without interruption
portion if there are grounds for believing that such        against their accumulated share of the tariff quota.
portion may not be used in full .
                                                            2. The Member States shall ensure that importers
Not later than 15 November 1976 the Member States           of the product in question established in thei" territo­
shall notify the Commission of the total quantities of      ries have free access to the shares allocated to them .
the products in question imported up to and
including 1 November 1976 and charged against the           3 . The Member States shall charge imports of the
Community quota and of any portion of their initial         product in question against their shares as and when
shares returned to the reserve .                            the product is entered with the customs authorities for
                                                            home use .
                        Article 6
                                                            4.    The extent to which the Member States have
Member States may restrict the product in question          used up their shares shall be determined on the basis
which may be charged against their quota shares to          of the importations charged against their shares in
products to be used for certain purposes.                   accordance with paragraph 3 .
                        Article 7                                                  Article 9
The Commission shall keep an account of the shares          At the request of the Commission, the Member States
opened by the Member States pursuant to Articles 2          shall inform it of imports charged against their shares.
and 3 and shall , as soon as the information reaches it,
inform each State of the extent to which the reserve
                                                                                  Article 10
has been used up.
Not later than 20 November 1976 it shall inform the         The Member States and the Commission shall coop­
Member States of the amounts still in reserve               erate closely to ensure that this Regulation is
                                                            complied with .
following any return of shares pursuant to Article 5.
It shall ensure that when an amount exhausting the                                Article 11
reserve is drawn , the amount so drawn does not
exceed the balance available, and to this end shall         This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh
notify the amount of that balance to the Member State       day following that of its publication in the Official
making the last drawing.                                    Journal of the European Communities.
             This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
              States .
              Done at Luxembourg, 29 June 1976 .
                                                                        For the Council
                                                                         The President
                                                                          G. THORN