Council Regulation (EEC) No 4233/88 of 19 December 1988 opening, allocating and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas for "sljivovica" plum spirit and tobacco of the "Prilep" type originating in Yugoslavia (1989)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 4233/88 of 19 December 1988 opening, allocating and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas for ´Sljivovica' plum spirit and tobacco of the ´Prilep' type originating in Yugoslavia (1989)
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 Articles 21 and 23 of the Cooperation Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1) supplemented by the Protocol to that Agreement establishing new trade arrangements (2) provide for the  opening of Community tariff quotas for imports into the Community of:
- 5 420 hectolitres of plum spirit marketed under the name of ´Sljivovica' falling within CN code ex 2208 90 33 at a duty of ECU 0,3 per hectolitre per  % degree of alcohol plus ECU 3 per hectolitre; and - 1 500 tonnes of tobacco of the ´Prilep' type falling within CN code ex 2401 10 60 or ex 2401 20 60, as defined in an exchange of letters dated 11 July 1980, at a duty of 7 % ad valorem with a minimum amount levied of ECU 13 per 100 kilograms net  weight and a maximum of ECU 45 per 100 kilograms net weight,
originating in Yugoslavia;
Whereas the above products must be accompanied by a certificate of authenticity; whereas the tariff quotas in question should therefore be opened for 1989;
Whereas, within the limits of these tariff quotas, customs duties are to be phased out over the same periods and at the same rates as provided for in Articles 75 and 243 of the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal; whereas, within the limits of the  tariff quotas, the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic are to apply customs duties calculated in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) No 4150/87 of 27 December 1987 laying down arrangements for Spain's and Portugal's trade with Yugoslavia and amending Regulations (EEC) No 449/86 and 2573/87 (3);
Whereas all Community importers should be ensured equal and continuous access to the said quotas and the duty rates laid down for the quotas should be applied consistently to all imports of the products in question into all Member States until the  quotas are exhausted;
Whereas, for the period of application of this Regulation, it appears necessary to maintain an allocation between the Member States of the quotas concerned, since the administrations of the Member States are unable to provide by 1 January 1989, the  administrative and technical conditions required for the Community management of quotas for these products originating in Yugoslavia; whereas it does, however, seem advisable to provide for a further increase in the Community reserve;
Whereas provision should be made for a mechanism to prevent, when the Community quota is not used up, goods being imported into a Member State which has used up its share only after the full application of customs duties, or after having been diverted  to another Member State whose share has not yet been used up;
Whereas, under these circumstances, if, during the quota period, the Community reserve were to be almost entirely used up, Member States should return to the said reserve all of the unused portion of their initial shares so as to avoid part of the  Community tariff quota from remaining unused in one Member State, when it could be used in others;
Whereas, taking into account the traditional trends in trade, the allocation maintained between Member States must, so as to reflect as closely as possible the actual market trend of the products in question, be carried out pro rata the needs of the  Member States, calculated, on the one hand, on the basis of the statistical data relating to imports of the said products from Yugoslavia over a representative reference period and, on the other hand, on the basis of the economic outlook for the quota  periods considered;
Whereas during the last three years for which statistics are available the corresponding imports into each Member State were as follows:
Member State CN code ex 2208 90 33 ´Sljivovica' (in hl) CN codes ex 2401 10 60 ex 2401 20 60 (in tonnes) 1985 1986 1987 1985 1986 1987 Benelux    71  20  38 -  70 299 Denmark    20   9  15 - - - Germany 3 205 758 672 138 269 588 Greece - - - - - - Spain -   6 - - 180 128 France    38  36  25 -  30 123 Ireland - - - - - - Italy - - - 850 664 600 Portugal - - - - - - United Kingdom -  10 - - -   1 Whereas during the last three years the products in question were imported regularly only by certain Member States and not at all or only occasionally by the other Member States; whereas in these circumstances initial shares should in the first  instance be allocated only to the genuine importing Member States, while the others should be guaranteed access to quotas when they actually import the goods; whereas these allocation arrangements will ensure the uniform collection of the duties  applicable;
Whereas to allow for the trend of imports of the products in question in the various Member States the quotas should be divided into two parts, the first being allocated among certain Member States and the second held as a reserve to cover any  subsequent requirements of Member States which have used up their initial shares and any requirements which might arise in the other Member States; whereas, to afford importers in each Member State some degree of certainty, an appropriate level for the  first part of the Community quotas would, in the present circumstances, be 54 % of their volume:
Whereas this form of administration requires close collaboration between the Member States and the Commission and the Commission must be able to keep acount of quota utilization rates and inform the Member States accordingly;
Whereas since the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kindom of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg are united within and jointly represented by the Benelux Economic Union, any operation concerning the administration of the quota shares allocated to  that economic union may be carried out by any one of its members,