Council Regulation (EEC) No 249/88 of 25 January 1988 opening, allocating and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas for cod and fish of the species Boreogadus saida, dried, salted or in brine, originating in Norway (1988)

COUNCIL  REGULATION (EEC) No 249/88
of 25 January 1988
opening, allocating and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas for cod and fish of the species Boreogadus saida, dried, salted or in brine, originating in Norway (1988)
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, consequent on the accession of the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic to the Community, an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters was concluded and approved by the Decision 86/557/EEC (1);
Whereas the latter Agreement provides for the opening, on a date to be fixed by common accord, of Community tariff quotas at reduced or zero duty for cod and fish of the species Boreogadus saida originating in Norway; whereas the tariff quotas in question should therefore be opened for the period agreed for 1988, namely 1 April to 31 December 1988;
Whereas the Community has adopted, with effect from 1 January 1988, a combined nomenclature for goods which meets the requirements of the Common Customs Tariff and the Nomenclature of Goods for the External Trade Statistics of the Community and Statistics of Trade between Member States; whereas in order to accomodate specific Community measures that nomenclature has been expanded into an integrated tariff of the European Communities (Taric); whereas from that date the combined nomenclature and, where appropriate, the Taric code numbers should be used for the description of the products covered by this Regulation;
Whereas equal and continuous access to the quotas should be ensured for all importers and the rates laid down for the quotas should be applied consistently to all imports of the products in question until the quotas are exhausted; whereas, in the light of these principles, allocation of the tariff quotas among the Member States would seem to preserve the Community nature of the quotas; whereas in order to correspond as closely as possible to the real trend of the market for the products in question the allocation should reflect the requirements of the Member States based on statistics of imports of the said products from Norway during a representative reference period and on the economic outlook for the quota year in question;
Whereas during the last three years for which statistics are available imports into the Member States from Norway were as follows:
(tonnes)
1.2,4.5,7.8,10 //  //  //  //  // Member State  // ex 0305 51 10 0305 59 11  // ex 0305 51 90 0305 59 19   // ex 0305 62 00 0305 69 10  //  //  //  //  //  // 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10 //  // 1984  // 1985   // 1986   // 1984   // 1985   // 1986   // 1984  // 1985   // 1986   //    //   //   //   //   //   //   //  //   //   // Benelux   // 89   // 80   // 54   // 441   // 372   // 110   // 1   // 2   // 2   // Denmark   // 2   // 0   // 1   // 5   // 3   // 3   // 319   // 3   // 1 966   // Germany  // 59   // 49   // 19   // 543   // 473   // 400   // 2   // -   // 1   // Greece   // 44   // 26   // 19   // 223   // 417  // 84   // 148   // 336   // 619   // Spain   // -   // -  // -   // -   // -   // -   // 858   // 430   // 1 074  // France   // 47   // 36   // 19   // 3 816   // 3 573   // 3 496   // 1 044   // 666   // 701   // Ireland   // -   // -  // -   // -   // -   // -   // -   // -   // -   // Italy  // 4 087   // 4 457   // 3 375   // 5 280   // 4 231   // 1 550   // 1 808   // 2 159   // 1 827   // Portugal   // -  // -   // -   // 13 230   // 6 217   // 6 401   // 5 143  // 4 235   // 1 675   // United Kingdom   // 20   // 35  // 18   // 2   // 6   // 9   // 16   // -   // -   //    //  //   //   //   //   //   //   //   //   //   // 4 348   // 4 683   // 3 505   // 23 540   // 15 292   // 12 053   // 9 339  // 7 831   // 7 865   //    //   //   //   //   //   //   //
(1) OJ No L 328, 22. 11. 1986, p. 76.
Whereas, during the years under consideration, the products in question were imported only by certain Member States and not at all by 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 benefit of the tariff quotas when imports into those States of the products concerned are notified; whereas these allocation arrangements will ensure the uniform application of the applicable customs duties;
Whereas, in view of these factors, the initial percentage shares of the quota volumes can be expressed approximately as follows:
1.2.3.4 //  //  //  //  // Member State  // ex 0305 51 10 0305 59 11   // ex 0305 51 90 0305 59 19   // ex 0305 62 00 0305 69 10   //    //   //   //   // Benelux   // 1,78  // 1,82   // 0,02   // Denmark   // 0,02   // 0,02   // 9,14  // Germany   // 1,01   // 2,78   // 0,01   // Greece   // 0,71   // 1,42   // 4,41   // Spain   // -   // -   // 9,44  // France   // 0,82   // 21,39   // 9,63   // Ireland   // -  // -   // -   // Italy   // 95,08   // 21,74   // 23,14  // Portugal   // -   // 50,80   // 44,15   // United Kingdom  // 0,58   // 0,03   // 0,06   //    //   //   //
Whereas, to allow for the trend of imports of the products concerned in the various Member States, each of the quota volumes should be divided into the parts, the first being allocated among certain Member States and the second held as a reserve to cover any subsequent requirements of Member States which have used up their initial shares and any requirements which might arise in the other Member States; whereas, to afford importers in each Member State some degree of certainty, an appropriate level for the first part of the Community quotas would, in the present circumstances, be 75 % of the quota volume;
Whereas the initial shares of the Member States may be used up at different rates; whereas, in order to avoid any break in the continuity of supplies on this account, it should be provided that any Member State which has almost used up one of its initial shares should draw an additional share from the corresponding reserve; whereas each time one of its additional shares is almost used up a Member State should draw a further share and so on as many times as the reserve allows; whereas each of the initial and additional shares must be valid until the end of the quota period; whereas this form of administration requires close cooperation between the Member States and the Commission and the latter must be able to monitor the extent to which the quota volumes have been used up and inform the Member States accordingly;
Whereas if at a given date in the quota period a considerable quantity of one of a Member State's initial shares remains unused, it is essential that the Member State concerned should return a significant proportion thereof to the corresponding reserve in order to prevent part of one of the Community tariff quotas from remaining unused in one Member State when 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 operation concerning the administration of the quota shares allocated to that economic union may be carried out by any one of its members,