87/376/ECSC: Commission Decision of 24 June 1987 authorizing the Member States to institute intra-Community surveillance of the importation for home use of certain iron and steel products originating in certain third countries and covered by the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community and in free circulation in the Community

COMMISSION  DECISION
of 24 June 1987
authorizing the Member States to institute intra-Community surveillance of the importation for home use of certain iron and steel products originating in certain third countries and covered by the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community and in free circulation in the Community
(87/376/ECSC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, and in particular the third paragraph of Article 71 thereof,
Having regard to the requests made by the Member States,
Whereas under the provisions of the ECSC Treaty the principle of freedom of movement necessarily applies to products originating in third countries which are in free circulation in the Community;
Whereas these provisions preclude, in the case of intra-Community trade, any requirement, even of a purely formal nature, to submit import licences or any similar procedure;
Whereas the Commission, in response to the crisis in the iron and steel sector, has adopted measures with both internal and external effects; whereas, in this context, measures have been adopted in respect of imports of certain products originating in certain third countries with a view to ensuring adherence to traditional trade flows between the Community and these countries, including at regional level;
Whereas the combined effect of these measures is not, however, such as to eliminate the risk of deflections of trade in the case of the products in question;
Whereas under these circumstances it is important to ensure that full information is available on prospective imports of products originating in third countries in free circulation in certain Member States and the terms under which the products concerned are imported; whereas the Member States ought accordingly to be authorized to institute prior surveillance of these imports by making them subject to the issue of an import document;
Whereas this import document must be issued automatically, within a fixed time limit and for all the quantities applied for;
Whereas application of these surveillance measures must be of strictly limited duration;
Whereas, so that checking the origin of imports does not act as a barrier to intra-Community trade, the Member States ought as a general rule to be obliged, as part of the formalities for the importation of a product from another Member State, to confine themselves to asking the importer for a simple declaration on the origin of the product, on the basis of what he may reasonably be expected to know of it;
Whereas it is important that the Member States should keep the Commission regularly informed of the results of the surveillance,