Council Regulation ( EEC ) No 3923/91 of 23 December 1991 opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas and ceilings and establishing Community surveillance for certain fish and fishery products originating in the Faroe Islands ( 1992 )

COUNCIL  REGULATION (EEC) N° 3923/91 of 23 December 1991 opening and providing for the administration of  Community tariff quotas and ceilings and establishing Community surveillance for certain fish and  fishery products originating in the Faroe Islands (1992)
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 Council Decision 91/668/EEC of 2 December 1991 concerning the conclusion of the  Agreement between the European Economic Community, the Government of Denmark and the Home  Government of Faroe Islands (1),
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Whereas Articles 3 and 8 of the abovementioned Decision provide that customs duties applicable to  imports into the Community of Ten of certain fish and fishery products listed in Protocol 1  attached to the said Decision will be abolished on 1 January 1992; whereas the abolition is subject  to Community tariff quotas and ceilings and, for some of these products, Community statistical  surveillance; whereas the said Community tariff quotas and ceilings in respect of products  originating in the Faroe Islands should therefore be opened from 1 January 1992 for the volumes  indicated respectively in Annexes I and II and Community statistical surveillance should be  established in respect of the products listed in Annex III;
Whereas, in the context of these tariff measures, the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic  will apply customs duties calculated in accordance with Articles 173 (1) and (2) and 360 (1) (b)  and (2) respectively of the Act of Accession;
Whereas the preferential rates of duty indicated in Annexes I, II and III apply only where the  free-at-frontier price determined by the Member States in accordance with Article 21 of Regulation  (EEC) N° 3796/81 of 29 December 1981 on the common organization of the market in fishery products  (2) is at least equal to the reference price set, or to be set, by the Community for the products  or categories of products concerned;
Whereas equal and continuous access to the quotas in respect of the products listed in Annex I  should be ensured for all Community importers and the rates of duty laid down for the quotas should  be applied consistently to all imports of the products in question in all Member States until the  quotas are exhausted; whereas the necessary steps should be taken to ensure that the tariff quotas  are administered efficiently at Community level, enabling the Member States to draw from the quotas  the quantities required, corresponding to the actual imports recorded; whereas this method of  administering the quotas calls for close cooperation between the Member States and the Commission;
Whereas the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg  are joined in, and represented by, the Benelux economic union; whereas any operation concerning the  administration of the quotas may therefore be carried out by one of its members;
Whereas, in respect of products listed in Annex II and subject to Community tariff ceilings,  Community surveillance may be effected by charging imports of these products against the ceilings  at Community level as and when the products are presented at customs and declared for free  circulation; whereas this method of administering the ceilings should enable customs duties to be  restored as soon as the ceilings in question are reached at Community level;
Whereas, this method of administering the ceilings calls for close and speedy cooperation between  the Member States and the Commission, which must be able to monitor the level reached by imports  charged against the ceilings and inform the Member States accordingly; whereas this cooperation  should be close enough to allow the Commission to take the appropriate steps to restore customs  duties as soon as one of the ceilings is reached;
Whereas, for the products listed in Annex III, it would seem appropriate to have recourse to the  system of statistical surveillance administered by the Commission pursuant to the relevant  provisions of Regulation (EEC) N° 2658/87 (1) and (EEC) N° 1736/75 (2),