Commission Regulation (EC) No 345/96 of 27 February 1996 amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1808/95 opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas bound in GATT for certain agricultural, industrial and fisheries products and establishing the detailed provisions for adapting these quotas

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 345/96 of 27 February 1996 amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1808/95 opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas bound in GATT for certain agricultural, industrial and fisheries products and establishing the detailed provisions for adapting these quotas
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1808/95 of 24 July 1995 opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas bound in GATT for certain industrial, agricultural and fisheries products and establishing the detailed provisions for amending these quotas (1), and in particular Articles 9 and 10 thereof,
Whereas Regulation (EC) No 1808/95 opens Community tariff quotas in respect of a number of agricultural, industrial and fisheries products under GATT;
Whereas following the accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden the Community entered into negotiations under Article XXIV (6) of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT); whereas under Council Regulation (EC) No 3093/95 (2), and in particular Article 4 (3) thereof, the Community undertook to open reduced or zero-duty Community tariff quotas for a number of fisheries products and to increase the volume of the quota for plywood, with effect from 1 January 1996; whereas it is accordingly necessary to amend Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1808/95 by inserting the products mentioned in the Annex to this Regulation and changing the volume for Order No 09.0013 to that specified in the Annex to this Regulation;
Whereas it is necessary to ensure that all Community importers have equal and continuous access to the said quotas and that the rates of duty laid down for the quotas are applied consistently to all imports of the products in question into all Member States until the quotas are exhausted;
Whereas it is the responsibility of the Community to open tariff quotas giving effect to its international obligations; whereas in the interests of the efficient common administration of such quotas, however, the Member States may be authorized to draw from the quota volumes the quantities necessary to cover actual imports; whereas this method of administration does nevertheless require close cooperation between the Member States and the Commission, which must be able to monitor the rate at which the quotas are used up and inform the Member States accordingly;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Customs Code Committee,