Council Regulation (EEC) No 1707/88 of 13 June 1988 opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota of 5 000 head of bulls, cows and heifers, other than those intended for slaughter, of certain Alpine breeds, falling within subheading ex 01.02 A II of the Common Customs Tariff

COUNCIL  REGULATION (EEC) No 1707/88
of 13 June 1988
opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota of 5 000 head of bulls, cows and heifers, other than those intended for slaughter, of certain Alpine breeds, falling within subheading ex 01.02 A II 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 113 thereof,
Having regard to the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Whereas the European Economic Community undertook, within the framework of GATT, to open an annual Community tariff quota of 5 000 head at a duty of 4 % for bulls, cows and heifers, other than those intended for slaughter, of certain Alpine breeds, falling within subheading ex 01.02 A II of the Common Customs Tariff; whereas eligibility for such quota is subject to submission of the following documents:
- bulls: a pedigree certificate,
- female animals: a pedigree certificate of registration in the herd book, certifiying purity of breed;
Whereas the abovementioned tariff quota for the period 1 July 1988 to 30 June 1989 should, therefore, be opened at a duty of 4 %; whereas, however, under the terms of Article 282 of the 1985 Act of Accession, the Portuguese Republic is authorized to postpone, until the beginning of the second stage, the progressive application to imports of preferences granted, unilaterally or by agreement, by the Community to certain third countries; whereas a check should be carried out to ascertain that the imported animals have not been slaughtered within a certain period in accordance with Article 1 (3);
Whereas, it is in particular necessary to ensure equal and continuous access for all Community importers to the abovementioned quota, and the uninterrupted application of the quota duties to all imports of the animals in question until the quota is exhausted; whereas, having regard to the principles defined above, the Community nature of the quota can be respected by allocating the Community tariff quota among the Member States; whereas possibilities for the use of such mountain breeds are, however, limited by special factors, both geographical and zootechnical; whereas certain Member States do not have regions suitable for breeding this kind of cattle; whereas, however, in view of such special factors, the Community nature of the tariff quota in question should be preserved by marking provision for requirements which may arise in these Member States; whereas, to this end, these Member States may proceed to draw adequate shares from the Community reserve which has been set up; whereas, in order to reflect as closely as possible the actual trend of the market in question, the initial allocation must be made in proportion to the requirements of each of the Member States concerned, calculated in accordance with statistical data concerning imports from third countries during a representative reference period and with economic prospects for the quota period in question;
Whereas, since the animals in question belong to certain specific breeds which are not specified as such in the statistical nomenclatures of the Member States, no data on imports provided by the Member States could be considered to be sufficiently accurate and representative to be used as a basis for the allocation in question; whereas the extent to which Community tariff quotas for those animals in the Community have been exhausted and the estimates made by certain Member States enable the requirements of each of them as regards imports from third countries for the quota period envisaged to be assessed as follows:
Germany 1 500 head
France 120 head
Italy 3 500 head;
whereas the needs of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain may, in the absence of precise information, be assessed at 75,25 and 100 head respectively;
Whereas, in order to take into account the possible trend of imports of the aforementioned animals into the said Member States, the quota amount of 5 000 head should be divided into two parts, the first part being allocated among certain Member States, the second forming a reserve intended subsequently to cover the requirements of those Member States when their inital shares are exhausted and requirements which may arise within other Member States; whereas, in order to ensure a certain degree of security for importers in the aforementioned Member States, the first part of the Community quota should be determined at a comparatively high level which unter the present circumstance may be about 86 % of the quota amount; Whereas the initial shares of those Member States may be used up more or less rapidly; whereas, in order to take this fact into account and avoid any break in continuity, it is important that that Member State having used up almost the whole of its initial share should draw an additional share from the reserve; whereas this must be done by each of these Member States as and when each of its additional shares is almost entirely used up, and repeated as many times as the reserve allows; whereas the initial and additional shares must be available until the end of the quota period; whereas such method of administration calls for close cooperation between Member States and the Commission, which latter must, in particular, be able to observe the extent to which the quota amounts are used and inform Member States thereof;
Whereas if, at a specified date within the quota period, a considerable balance of the initial share of one or other of the Member States is left over, it is essential that that State should return a considerable part of such balance to the reserve in order that part of the Community quota should not remain unused in one Member State while it could be used in others;
Whereas it is possible that, during the period of applicability of the said quota, the nomenclature used by the Common Customs Tariff will be replaced by the combined nomenclature based on the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System; whereas this Regulation must take account of the possibility by using the codes of the combined nomenclature within which the said products fall;
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,