Council Regulation (EEC) No 3277/84 of 22 November 1984 opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for ferro-silico-manganese, falling within subheading 73.02 D of the Common Customs Tariff (1985)

COUNCIL  REGULATION (EEC) No 3277/84
of 22 November 1984
opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for ferro-silico-manganese, falling with subheading 73.02 D of the Common Customs Tariff (1985)
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 proposal from the Commission,
Whereas, as regards ferro-silico-manganese falling within subheading 73.02 D, the European Economic Community has undertaken to open an annual duty-free Community tariff quota of 50 000 tonnes; whereas this should however be reduced to 18 550 tonnes to take account of the traditional imports from EFTA countries which have been free of customs duty under the Agreements concluded with those countries; whereas the tariff quota concerned should therefore be opened on 1 January 1985 and allocated among the Member States;
Whereas equal and continuous access to the quota should be ensured for all importers and the rate of duty for the tariff quota should be applied consistently to all imports until the quota is used up; whereas, in the light of the principles outlined above, arrangements for the utilization of the Community tariff quota based on an allocation among Member States would seem to be consistent with the Community nature of the quota; whereas, in order that it may correspond as closely as possible to the actual market trends in the product in question, allocation of the quota should be in proportion to the requirements of the Member States as calculated by reference to statistical data on imports from third countries during a representative reference period and to the economic prospects for the quota period in question;
Whereas, during the last three years for which complete statistics are available, the corresponding imports into each of the Member States represented the following percentages of imports of the product in question from third countries, not benefiting from an equivalent preferential arrangement:
1.2.3.4 //   //   //   //   //   // 1981  // 1982  // 1983  //   //   //   //   // Benelux  // 3,33  // 3,21  // 2,52  // Denmark  // 0,01  // 0  // 0  // Germany  // 64,17  // 49,14  // 73,83  // Greece  // 1,13  // 0,14  // 0  // France  // 2,25  // 11,80  // 2,22  // Ireland  // 0  // 0  // 0  // Italy  // 20,23  // 19,98  // 15,23  // United Kingdom  // 8,88  // 15,73  // 6,20  //   //   //   //
Whereas, in view of these factors and of market forecasts for ferro-silico-manganese for 1985, the initial percentage shares in the quota volume can be expressed approximately as follows:
Benelux 3,08
Denmark 0,01
Germany 59,16
Greece 0,38
France 6,85
Ireland 0,01
Italy 18,94
United Kingdom 11,57
Whereas, to take account of future trends in imports of the product in question, the quota should be divided into two instalments, the first being allocated and the second forming a reserve intended to cover any subsequent requirements to Member States which have used up their initial share; whereas, in order to give importers some degree of certainty, the first instalment of the tariff quota should be fixed at a high level, which in this case should be approximately 95 % of the volume of the quota;
Whereas initial shares may be used up at different rates; whereas, to avoid disruption of supplies on this account, it should be provided that 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 almost used up a Member State should draw a further share, and so on as many times as the reserve allows; whereas the initial and additional 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 Commission, which latter must be in a position to keep account of the extent to which the quotas have been used up and to inform the Member States accordingly; Whereas, if at a given date in the quota period a considerable quantity of a Member State's initial share remains unused, it is essential that that Member State should return a significant proportion to the reserve, in order to avoid a part of the Community quota remaining unused in one Member State when it could be used in others;
Whereas, since the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg are united within and jointly represented by the Benelux Economic Union, any measure concerning the administration of the shares allocated to that economic union may be carried out by any one of its members,