Council Regulation (EC) No 32/2000Show full title

Council Regulation (EC) No 32/2000

of 17 December 1999

opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas bound in GATT and certain other Community tariff quotas and establishing detailed rules for adjusting the quotas, and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1808/95

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 133 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas:

(1) The Community has undertaken, within the framework of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), to open Community tariff quotas each year at reduced or zero duty for a certain number of products, subject to certain conditions;

(2) Council Regulation (EC) No 1808/95 of 24 July 1995 opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas bound in GATT and certain other Community tariff quotas for certain agricultural, industrial and fisheries products and establishing the detailed provisions for adapting these quotas(1), has been repeatedly and substantially amended; whereas now that further amendments are required it should be recast and simplified for the sake of clarity, in line with the Council Resolution of 25 October 1996(2);

(3) This Regulation does not apply to tariff quotas for agricultural products bound in GATT, which are covered by Council Regulation (EC) No 3290/94 of 22 December 1994 on the adjustments and transitional arrangements required in the agriculture sector in order to implement the agreements concluded during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations(3);

(4) Following the reductions in customs duties agreed within the framework of the GATT, certain products previously covered by Regulation (EC) No 1808/95 are now exempt from customs duties on import; they are therefore not included in this Regulation;

(5) The Community has concluded an Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters with Canada providing for the opening of a 650 000 tonne tariff quota for newsprint (order number 09.0015), 600 000 tonnes of which, in accordance with Article XIII of the GATT, is reserved until 30 November of each year for products from Canada alone; the Agreement also provides for a mandatory 5 % increase in the share of the quota reserved for imports from Canada in the event of that share being exhausted before the end of a given year;

(6) In accordance with the offer it made within the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) and alongside its scheme of generalised preferences, the European Community introduced tariff preferences in 1971 for jute and coconut-fibre products originating in certain developing countries; these preferences took the form of a gradual reduction of Common Customs Tariff duties and, from 1978 to 31 December 1994, the complete suspension of these duties;

(7) Since the entry into force of the new scheme of generalised tariff preferences on 1 January 1995 the Community has, alongside the GATT, opened autonomous zero-duty Community tariff quotas for specific quantities of jute and coconut-fibre products until 31 December 1999 by Regulations (EC) Nos 764/96(4) and 1401/98(5); as the scheme of generalised preferences has been extended until 31 December 2001 by Regulation (EC) No 2820/98(6), this quota arrangement should also be extended until 31 December 2001;

(8) In the context of its external relations the Community has given Switzerland an undertaking each year to open a zero-duty tariff quota running from 1 September to 31 August of the following year, to cover various forms of processing work carried out on textiles under the outward processing arrangements; in accordance with the most favoured nation clause, Switzerland and other third countries can use this quota;

(9) The Community has declared itself ready to open zero-rated annual Community tariff quotas for certain hand-made products and handloom fabrics; however, imports may only qualify for these quotas on presentation to the Community customs authorities of a certificate of authenticity issued by the competent authority of the beneficiary country stating that the goods in question are hand-made or hand-woven;

(10) The term ‘hand-made products’ needs to be defined in order to ensure that this system operates smoothly;

(11) A system is required for updating the information on government authorities authorised to issue certificates of authenticity;

(12) Proper application of the arrangements for hand-made products and fabrics woven on handlooms requires that provision be made for entitlement to tariff quotas to be temporarily withdrawn in whole or in part in the event of irregularities or lack of administrative cooperation, and that procedures for administrative cooperation be set up to check on the issuing of certificates of authenticity;

(13) As access to the tariff quotas for hand-made products and handloom fabrics is open to developing countries under the GSP, the Commission should have the power, on receipt of an official request and after consulting the Customs Code Committee, to extend the list of quota beneficiaries to include countries entitled to the GSP which offer the necessary guarantees for checking the authenticity of the products;

(14) The Community, in the fulfilment of its international obligations, is required to open tariff quotas; all Community importers should be guaranteed equal and continuous access to the said quotas, and the rates of duty laid down for the quotas should be applied without interruption to all imports of the products concerned into all Member States until the quotas are exhausted;

(15) Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code(7) consolidated the arrangements for managing tariff quotas to be used in chronological order of the dates of acceptance of the declarations for free circulation;

(16) For reasons of speed and efficiency, communication between Member States and the Commission should take place as far as possible by electronic means;

(17) Council or Commission decisions amending the Combined Nomenclature and Taric codes or adjusting the quota volumes and rates of duty do not entail any substantive changes; in the interests of simplification the Commission, after consulting the Customs Code Committee, should have the power to make amendments and technical adjustments to this Regulation;

(18) This Regulation should be adjusted in the event of amendment of existing agreements within the framework of the GATT, including reductions of customs duties, and, in respect of products manufactured from jute and coconut fibres, in the event of extension of the scheme of generalised tariff preferences; the Commission, after consulting the Customs Code Committee, should therefore have the power to make the relevant amendments to the provisions of this Regulation, including the Annexes thereto, in so far as the agreed changes specify the products eligible for tariff quotas, the quota volumes, rates of duty and periods, and any conditions of eligibility;

(19) As definitions for hand-made products and handloom fabrics and certificates of authenticity may be harmonised in the future, the Commission, after consulting the Customs Code Committee, should have the power to adapt these definitions and replace the specimens appearing in Annexes VI and VII;

(20) The measures necessary for the implementation. of this Regulation have been adopted in conformity with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission(8),

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

(1)

OJ L 176, 27.7.1995, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 1401/98 (OJ L 188, 2.7.1998, p. 1).

(2)

OJ C 332, 7.11.1996, p. 1.

(3)

OJ L 349, 31.12.1994, p. 105.

(4)

OJ L 104, 27.4.1996, p. 1.

(5)

OJ L 188, 2.7.1998, p. 1.

(6)

OJ L 357, 30.12.1998, p. 1.

(7)

OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1662/1999 (OJ L 197, 29.7.1999, p. 25).

(8)

OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.