Council Regulation (EEC) No 1968/89 of 30 June 1989 opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for rum, arrack and tafia originating in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States (1989/90)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 1968/89  of 30 June 1989  opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for rum, arrack and tafia originating in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States (1989/90)
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 Protocol 5 annexed to the Third ACP-EEC Convention (1), signed at LomĂŠ on 8 December 1984, provides that products originating in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States which fall within CN codes 2208 40 10, 2208 40 90, 2208 90 11 and  2208 90 19 shall, until the entry into force of a common organization of the market in spirits, be allowed into the Community free of customs duties under conditions such as to permit the development of traditional trade flows between the ACP States and  the Community and between the Member States; whereas the Community shall fix each year the quantities which may be imported free of customs duties on the basis of the largest quantities imported annually from the ACP States into the Community in the  past three years for which statistics are available, increased by an annual growth rate of 37 % on the market of the United Kingdom and 27 % on the other markets of the Community; whereas in accordance with Article 3 (1) of the Protocol to the third  ACP-EEC Convention consequent on the Accession of the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic to the European Communities (2), implemented in advance by Regulation (EEC) No 1820/87 (3), the minimum quantity set out in Article 2 (a), second  subparagraph, of Protocol 5 on rum has been increased to 172 000 hectolitres;
Whereas, pursuant to the said Protocol, the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic shall become contracting parties to the said ACP-EEC Convention; whereas Regulation (EEC) No 1820/87 provides for special arrangements for the quota duties to be  applied by those two Member States; whereas by reason of the particularities peculiar to the market in rum the quota period ranges from 1 July to 30 June;
Whereas, having regard to the levels reached by imports of the products concerned into the Community during the past three years for which statistics are available, the annual quota volume amount to 157 594 hectolitres of pure alcohol; whereas this  volume being less than the threshold established by the abovementioned Protocol, the quota volume for the period from 1 July 1989 to 30 June 1990 must be fixed at 172 000 hectolitres of pure alcohol;
Whereas it is in particular necessary to ensure to all Community importers equal and uninterrupted access to the abovementioned quota 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 has been used up;
Whereas, following the case law of the Court of Justice, it is unlawful to allocate the Community quotas between the Member States, unless overriding circumstances of an administrative, technical or economic nature, prevent acting otherwise; whereas, in  addition, in cases where it is decided to allocate quotas, a mechanism should be set up whereby the integrity of the Common Customs Tariff may be protected;
Whereas the economic difficulties which could result for the French Overseas Departments (FOD) from the sudden change in the arrangements for importing rum from the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States constitute circumstances having a binding  effect which justify the temporary and partial maintenance of these arrangements; whereas, however, the arrangements for allocation of the quota into national shares should be phased out and can only be justified on a transitional basis; whereas the  arrangements should in any event definitively disappear with the prospect of the establishment of the internal market;
Whereas, in these circumstances, a Community reserve of 20 % should be set up, with a system for the automatic transfer of Member State share to the reserve as soon as 80 % of the latter has been used up;
Whereas, during the past three years for which statistical data are available, imports from Member States have been as follows:
(in hectolitres of pure alcohol)
Member State
1986  1987  1988       Benelux  6 407  6 264  7 389  Denmark  2 020  1 884  2 038  Germany  36 183  33 570  42 523  Greece  50  50  -  Spain  90  244  -  France  1 637  1 929  1 216  Ireland  2 151  2 060  2 189  Italy  437  800  806  Portugal  -  7  -   United Kingdom  69 757  72 040  63 525       Total
118 732  118 848  119 088
Whereas, in view of these factors, of market forecasts for the products in question and of the estimates submitted by certain Member States, quota shares may be fixed approximately at the foolowing percentages:
Benelux 5,62,
Denmark 1,66,
Germany 31,43,
Greece 0,03,
Spain 0,09,
France 1,34,
Ireland 1,79,
Italy 0,57,
Portugal 0,00,
United Kingdom 57,47;
Whereas provision should be made for a mechanism to prevent, when the Community quota is not exhausted, goods from being imported into a Member State which has exhausted its share only after the full application of customs duties, or after having been  diverted to another Member State which has not yet exhausted its share; whereas, in 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 measures should be laid down to ensure that Protocol 5 is implemented under conditions such as to permit the development of traditional trade flows between the ACP States and the Community, on the one hand, and between the Member States on the  other;
Whereas this form of administration requires close collaboration between the Member States and the Commission, and the Commission must be able to keep account of quota utilization rates and inform the Member States accordingly;
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 operation concerning the administration of the quota shares levied by  that economic union may be carried out by any one of its members,