Council Regulation (EEC) No 476/87 of 16 February 1987 opening, allocating and administering a Community tariff quota for ferro-chromium containing not less than 6 % by weight of carbon and falling within subheading ex 73.02 E I of the Common Customs Tariff

COUNCIL  REGULATION (EEC) No 476/87
of 16 February 1987
opening, allocating and administering a Community tariff quota for ferro-chromium containing not less than 6 % by weight of carbon and falling within subheading ex 73.02 E I of the Common Customs Tariff
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 28 thereof,
Having regard to the draft Regulation submitted by the Commission,
Whereas, for ferro-chromium containing not less than 6 % by weight of carbon, production is, to a variable degree, inadequate in the Community and producers are unable to meet the total requirements of consumer industries; 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 for a period running up to 31 December 1987 within a suitable tariff quota; whereas, in order to avoid disturbing the equilibrium of the market for this ferro-alloy and to ensure parallel development in sales of Community production and in supplies to meet the requirements of consumer industries, it is appropriate to fix the quota volume at the provisional level of 120 000 tonnes covering immediate import needs from third countries: whereas, moreover, Member States should be free to authorize amounts to be charged against this volume only subject to certain conditions relating to destination;
Whereas equal and continuous access to the quota should be ensured for all Community importers and the rate of levy 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, a Community tariff arrangement based on an allocation between the Member States would seem to preserve the Community nature of the quota; whereas, to represent as closely as possible the actual development of the market in the said goods, the allocation should follow proportionately the requirements of the Member States calculated both from statistics of imports from third countries during a representative reference period and according to the economic outlook for the tariff year in question;
Whereas, however, since the quota is an autonomous Community tariff quota intended to cover import needs arising in the Community, the quota volume may, as an experiment, be allocated on the basis of the temporary import needs from third countries estimated for each of the Member States; whereas this system of allocation also ensures the uniform application of the Common Customs Tariff;
Whereas, to take account of the possible import trends for the product concerned, the quota volume should be divided into two instalments, the first being allocated between the Member States and the second held as a reserve to cover any subsequent requirements of Member States which have used up their initial share; whereas, to afford importers some degree of certainty, the first instalment of the tariff quota should be fixed at a high level, which in this case could be approximately 90 % of the amount of the quota;
Whereas initial shares may be used up at different rates; whereas, to avoid disruption of supplies on this acount, it should be provided that any Member State whih 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, and the Commission 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 such State should return a significant proportion thereof to the reserve, in order to prevent a part of the Community tariff quota from remaining unused in one Member State while 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,