CHAPTER IIISURVEILLANCE AND SAFEGUARD MEASURES
Article 11
1.
Where imports of textile products originating in third countries other than those listed in Annex II threaten to cause injury to Union production of like or directly competitive products, the Commission, acting at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, may:
(a)
decide to introduce retrospective Union surveillance of certain imports, in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 30(2),
(b)
decide, for the purposes of monitoring the trend of these imports, to make certain imports subject to prior Union surveillance, in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 30(2).
2.
Where imports of textile products originating in third countries listed in Annex II and liberalised at Union level threaten to cause injury to the Union production of like or directly competitive products, or where the economic interests of the Union so require, the Commission, acting at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, may:
(a)
decide to introduce retrospective Union surveillance of certain imports, in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 30(2);
(b)
decide, for the purposes of monitoring the trend of these imports, to make certain imports subject to prior Union surveillance in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 30(2).
3.
The measures referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall, as a rule, be of a limited period of validity.
Article 12
1.
Where imports of textile products originating in third countries other than those listed in Annex II take place in such increased quantities, absolute or relative, and/or under such conditions, so as to cause serious injury or actual threat thereof to the Union production of like or directly competitive products, the Commission may, acting at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, alter the import rules for the product in question by providing that it may be put into free circulation only on production of an import authorisation, the granting of which shall be governed by such provisions and subject to such limits as the Commission shall lay down.
2.
Where imports of textile products originating in third countries listed in Annex II and liberalised at Union level take place in such increased quantities, absolute or relative, and/or under such conditions, so as to threaten to cause injury to the Union production of like or directly competitive products, or where the economic interests of the Union so require, the Commission may, acting at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, alter the import rules for the product in question by providing that it may be put into free circulation only on production of an import authorisation, the granting of which shall be governed by such provisions and subject to such limits as the Commission shall lay down.
3.
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 31 concerning measures referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article in order to alter the import rules for the product in question, including by amending the Annexes to this Regulation.
4.
The measures referred to in this Article and Article 11 shall apply to every product which is put into free circulation after the entry into force of those measures.
However, such measures shall not prevent the release for free circulation of products already shipped to the Union provided that the destination of such products cannot be changed and that those products which, under this Article and Article 11, may be put into free circulation only on production of a surveillance document are in fact accompanied by such a document.
In accordance with Article 16, measures referred to in this Article and Article 11 may be confined to one or more regions of the Union.
Article 13
In cases of emergency where the absence of measures would cause irreparable damage to the Union industry, and where the Commission finds, upon its own initiative or on the request of a Member State, that the conditions set out in Article 12(1) and (2) are fulfilled, and considers that a given category of products listed in Annex I and not subject to any quantitative restriction should be subject to quantitative limits or prior or retrospective surveillance measures, and therefore imperative grounds of urgency so require, the procedure provided for in Article 32 shall apply to delegated acts referred to in Article 12(3) in order to alter the import rules for the product in question, including by amending the Annexes to this Regulation.
Article 14
1.
Products subject to prior Union surveillance or safeguard measures may be put into free circulation only on production of a surveillance document.
In the case of prior Union surveillance measures, the surveillance document shall be issued free of charge by the competent authority designated by Member States within a maximum of 5 working days following receipt of an application to the national competent authority by any Union importers, regardless of their place of business in the Union, for any quantity requested. Such an application shall be deemed to be received by the national competent authority no later than 3 working days after submission, unless it is proven otherwise. The surveillance document shall be made out on a form corresponding to the specimen in Annex VI. Article 21 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
In the case of safeguard measures, the surveillance document shall be issued in accordance with the provisions of Chapter IV.
2.
Information other than that provided for in paragraph 1 may be required when the decision to impose surveillance or safeguard measures is taken.
3.
The surveillance document shall be valid for imports throughout the territory in which the Treaty is applied under the conditions laid down in the Treaty, regardless of the issuing Member State, without prejudice, however, to measures taken under Article 16 of this Regulation.
4.
The surveillance document shall not in any event be used beyond the expiry of the period which will be laid down at the same time and by means of the same procedure as the imposition of surveillance or safeguard measures, and which will take account of the nature of the products and other special features of the transactions.
5.
Where a decision taken under the appropriate procedure referred to in Article 30 so requires, the origin of products under Union surveillance or safeguard measures must be proved by a certificate of origin. This paragraph shall be without prejudice to other provisions concerning the production of any such certificate.
6.
Where the product under prior Union surveillance is subject to regional safeguard measures in a Member State, the import authorisation granted by that Member State may replace the surveillance document.
Article 15
In accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 30(2), the Commission may, at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, if the situation referred to in Article 12(2) is likely to arise:
reduce the period of validity of any surveillance document required for the surveillance measures,
make the issue of the surveillance document subject to certain conditions and, as an exceptional measure, subject to the insertion of a revocation clause, or, with the frequency and for the length of time indicated by the Commission, to the prior information and consultation procedure referred to in Articles 6 and 8.
Article 16
Where on the basis, in particular, of the factors referred to in Articles 10, 11 and 12, it emerges that the conditions laid down for the adoption of surveillance or safeguard measures are met in one or more regions of the Union, the Commission, after having examined alternative solutions, may exceptionally authorise the application of surveillance or safeguard measures limited to the region or regions concerned if it considers that such measures applied at that level are more appropriate than measures applied throughout the Union.
Those measures must be temporary and, insofar as possible, must not disrupt the operation of the internal market.
Those measures shall be adopted in accordance with the appropriate procedure applicable to measures to be adopted pursuant to Articles 10, 11 and 12.