Council Regulation (EEC) No 3590/88 of 8 November 1988 opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for certain prepared or preserved fish, originating in Norway (1989)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 3590/88 of 8 November 1988 opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for certain prepared or preserved fish, originating in Norway (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 Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Whereas an Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Kingdom of Norway was concluded on 14 May 1973; whereas, following the accession of Spain and Portugal to the Community, an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters was  concluded and approved by Council Decision 86/557/EEC (1);
Whereas the said Agreement provides in particular for the opening of a Community tariff quota at reduced rates of duty for certain prepared or preserved fishery products originating in Norway; whereas, therefore, the tariff quota in question should be  opened for the period 1 January to 31 December 1989;
Whereas equal and uninterrupted access to the quota should be ensured for all importers and the rate of levy for the tariff quota should be applied consistently to all imports until the quota is exhausted; whereas, in the light of the principles  outlined above, a Community tariff arrangement based on an allocation between the Member States will preserve the Community nature of the quota; whereas, to match as closely as possible the actual development of the market in the said products, the  allocation should follow proportionately the requirements of the Member States calculated with reference to statistics of imports from Norway during a representative reference period and to economic outlook for the relevant quota year;
Whereas, during the last three years for which statistics are available, imports into each of the Member States were as follows:
(tonnes)     Member States 1985 1986 1987 Benelux    11     4     4 Denmark     7     2     7 Germany    22     3    21 Greece     0     0     0 Spain     3     1     1 France 1 604 1 354 1 273 Ireland     0     0     0 Italy   106   309     0 Portugal     0     0     0 United Kingdom   354   161   124 2 107 1 834 1 430  Whereas, during the years under consideration, the products in question were imported only by certain Member States and there were no such imports into the other Member States; whereas, under these circumstances, initial shares should be allocated to  the importing Member States and the other Member States should be guaranteed access to the tariff quota upon imports into those States of the products concerned being notified; whereas these arrangements for allocation will also enable the uniform  application of the Common Customs Tariff to be ensured;
Whereas, in view of these factors, the initial percentage shares in the quota volume can be set approximately as follows:
Benelux0,40 Denmark0,34 Germany0,86 France78,77 Italy7,73 United Kingdom11,90 Whereas, to accommodate any changes in imports for these products, 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 54 % 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 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 time in the course of the quota period any substantial quantity of a Member State's initial share remains unused, it is essential that the Member State concerned 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,