Avis juridique important

Council Regulation (EEC) No 3832/90 of 20 December 1990 applying generalized tariff preferences for 1991 in respect of textile products originating in developing countries Official Journal L 370 , 31/12/1990 P. 0039 - 0085

COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 3832/90 of 20 December 1990 applying generalized tariff preferences for 1991 in respect of textile products originating in developing countries<(BLK0)LA ORG="CCF">EN</(BLK0)LA> THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, in particular Article 113, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (1), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2), Whereas in accordance with its offer made within the context of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the European Economic Community opened generalized tariff preferences, commencing in 1971, notably in respect of finished and semi-finished industrial products from developing countries; whereas the initial 10-year period of application of this system of preferences ended on 31 December 1980; Whereas the positive role played by this system in improving access for developing countries to the markets of the preference-giving countries was recognized at the ninth session of the UNCTAD Special Committee on Preferences; whereas it was there agreed that the objectives of the system of generalized preferences would not be fully attained by the end of 1980, that it should consequently be prolonged beyond the initial period and that an overall review of the system was started in 1990; Whereas in the interval before the results of this review are reached, the 1990 scheme of generalized preferences should be extended into 1991 as an interim measure, subject to a number of adaptations required by external circumstances; Whereas the Community has therefore decided to apply generalized tariff preferences, in the context of the conclusions agreed in UNCTAD in accordance with the intention expressed in the said Committee, in particular by all the preference-giving countries; Whereas the temporary and non-binding nature of the system means that the offer can be withdrawn wholly or in part at a later date, thus maintaining the possibility of remedying any unfavourable situations which might arise in the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP States) as a result of the system`s implementation; Whereas, however, most of the preference-giving countries exclude textile products from preferential treatment; whereas, under the Community scheme of generalized preferences, these products have always been covered by special arrangements pursuant to which, for cotton textile and similar products, the preferences were originally granted in the form of duty-free ceilings only to those beneficiaries under the generalized preferences scheme which were signatories to the Long-Term Arrangement regarding International Trade in Cotton Textiles (LTA) or which undertook, vis-à-vis the Community, commitments similar to those existing under that Arrangement; Whereas the Long-Term Arrangement has been replaced from 1980 onwards by the Arrangement regarding International Trade in Textiles (MFA), and the Community has therefore, in the case of products covered by the MFA, reserved preferences in the form of duty-free ceilings, for products originating in those countries or territories which signed Bilateral Agreements, in the framework of the MFA, providing for quantitative limitation of their exports of certain textile products to the Community, or in those countries which undertook similar commitments vis-à-vis the Community; whereas, such commitments have been undertaken by Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Iran, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Venezuela; whereas for these products, it is therefore desirable that the Community should continue to apply the generalized tariff preferences on the basis of the same principles until the expiry of the MFA and the Bilateral Agreements concluded with certain supplier countries; whereas it should be provided that countries and territories accepting the renewal of such agreements or giving such commitments after the date of adoption of this Regulation and before 1 January 1990 will be accorded preferential treatment as from 1 February 1990 in respect of the entire volume provided for in this Regulation; whereas countries and territories which accept the renewal of the said agreements or enter into similar commitments after 1 January 1990 will be accorded preferential treatment from the first day of the second month following the date of commitment, in respect of a volume calculated in proportion to the period of the year from the first day of the month following the date of the commitment until 31 December 1990; whereas, it is appropriate, in view of their highly sensitive nature, to open for certain categories included in Annex I equal six-monthly tariff quotas; Whereas, in view of the special nature which trade in the products concerned may have, it would appear that the volumes of preferential imports should be determined in terms of tonnes, pieces, or pairs, as appropriate; Whereas according to the case-law of the Court of Justice it would be illegal to allocate Community quotas among the Member States unless compelling circumstances of an administrative, technical or economic character make it impossible to do otherwise; whereas in addition in cases where allocation is decided upon a mechanism is to be provided so as to protect the integrity of the Common Customs Tariff; Whereas certain economic and administrative constraints exist which justify in conformity with the Commission`s proposal the continued allocation among the Member States of the Community quotas in the textile sector; Whereas, in order to ensure that each of the countries or territories referred to above has access to the preferential volumes, quotas and separate tariff ceilings for each beneficiary should be specified for each category of products, and in view of the links which continue to exist with international control of trade in textiles, it is appropriate to allocate these quotas between the Member States according to the scale contained within the MFA framework, establishing for each of the Member States initial participation percentages as follows: Benelux 9,5 % Denmark 2,7 % Germany 25,5 % Greece 1,5 % Spain 7,5 % France 16,5 % Ireland 0,8 % Italy 13,5 % Portugal 1,5 % United Kingdom 21,0 % Whereas, to take account of future import trends in the various Member States in respect of the tariff quotas given in Annex I and to mitigate any inadequacy in the initial allocation, the quotas should be divided into two tranches, the first being apportioned among Member States and the second held as a reserve to cover the subsequent requirements of Member States which have exhausted their initial shares; Whereas, moreover, the reserve thus constituted tends to avoid making the system of utilization of the quota excessively rigid, to the detriment of each of the developing countries concerned, and contributes to achieving the aim already mentioned of improving the system of generalized preferences; whereas, to this end and to accord importers in each Member State some degree of security, the first tranche of the Community quota should be fixed at 70 % of the quota volumes; Whereas if, in the course of quota period, the Community reserve is almost fully used, it is essential that the Member States return to the said reserve all of the unused part of their shares, in order to ensure that part of a Community tariff quota does not remain unused in a Member State when it could be utilized in others; whereas it is appropriate for products which are not subject to six-monthly quotas, that these returns are made in two stages; Whereas for other textile products and apparel listed in Annex II, it appears possible to grant the preferences to the countries or territories which are normally beneficiaries in the other industrial sectors; Whereas, for jute and coir products, it was understood that the preferences would be granted only where special arrangements had been made with the exporting developing countries; whereas these arrangements have hitherto concerned India and Sri Lanka for coir products, and India and Thailand for jute products; whereas, it would be appear desirable to maintain also the preferential advantage to the least-developed countries in respect of jute and coir; Whereas by Council Regulation (EEC) No 1672/89 (1) the customs duties applicable under the Common Customs Tariff to yarn of CN code 5307 were reduced on a most-favoured nation basis to zero; whereas for the sake of greater clarity and administrative simplicity it is appropriate to exclude those products from Annex III; Whereas Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia have seen their economic situation decline to the point where they face similar problems to those countries to which the generalized preferences have applied in the past; whereas they should therefore benefit, on a transitional basis, from the system of generalized preferences in order to increase their export earnings with a view to stimulating their economic development, to promote their industrialization and to accelerate their rate of growth; Whereas, on 8 November 1990, the Commission recommended to the Council that it authorize it to negotiate European Agreements with those three countries providing for the progressive establishment of a free-trade area; whereas, this being the case, those countries should benefit from the generalized preferential arrangements in 1991 until tariff concessions are granted under those Agreements; Whereas the economic situation of Bulgaria is similar to that of the three aforementioned countries; whereas it should therefore also benefit from the preferential arrangements in 1991; Whereas the situation in Romania justifies treatment identical to that granted to the four countries referred to above; whereas equivalent preferential arrangements should consequently be established for that country in 1991; Whereas it is appropriate to add to the list of beneficiary countries Mongolia, at the request of that country, and Namibia, which has gained its independence; Whereas the Republic of Korea does not treat the Community on an equal footing with other trade partners and whereas it has taken discriminatory measures in respect of the Community in the sphere of the protection of intellectual property; whereas therefore it is inappropriate that the Republic of Korea should benefit from the system of generalized tariff preferences as long as this situation continues; Whereas the MFA agreement was renewed for a period of five years from 1 August 1986; whereas in the context of the five-yearly review of the system of generalized preferences scheme, the Community decided to initiate a revision of the textile scheme in 1987, with a view to in particular, an improvement thereof, a better distribution and management simplifications; Whereas the preferential advantages are not used equally by beneficiary countries and it is necessary to ensure a more balanced usage of these advantages, particularly for the less competitive countries, in order to improve preferential access for these latter countries, it is necessary to institute a new phase of differentiation between beneficiary countries of the preferential benefits; this differentiation comprises withdrawal of the abovementioned advantages for certain product categories originating in the most competitive countries the criterion adopted being based on the competition capacity of the beneficiary country concerned, the capacity being expressed, for individual product categories, by that country`s participation in total Community imports; whereas for the application of this criterion a 10 % share for the products listed in Annex I, and a 20 % share for the products listed in Annex II, of the total extra-EEC imports averaged over three years (1985, 1986, 1987) is taken; whereas it is necessary to make adjustments to this criterion, as far as the products listed in Annex I are concerned, when: - the gross national product per capita of the country concerned is low and the country does not provide more than 5 % of total Community imports of textile products and apparel, - the total exports of textile products of the country concerned comprise almost exclusively a single product; Whereas particular measures are applicable, according to the sensitivity of products, to countries with a low gross national product per capita whose share in the total Community imports of textile products exceed 5 %; Whereas the level of economic development of the country concerned has also been taken into account for these products; Whereas, according to this method of calculation, for each beneficiary country except Hungary, Poland and the most competitive countries, the quantity opened corresponds in general to 1 % of total Community imports of the category of products in question; whereas for Hungary and Poland the quantity opened corresponds to 0,3 % of total Community imports with respect to certain highly sensitive categories of products and 0,5 % for other categories whereas for the most competitive countries the quantity opened corresponds to 0,1 % for imports of categories 1 to 8 and 0,2 % for imports of other categories; Whereas the other textile products and apparel listed in Annex II can be attained by providing for each category of product individual tariff limits per beneficiary, corresponding in general to 5 % of total Community imports of the product categories in question; whereas allocation amongst Member States is not appropriate where Community measures are concerned; Whereas the fixed duty-free amounts and ceilings meet this objective; whereas, as regards fixed duty free amounts, it is necessary to provide for Member States to effect drawings on the quantities opened by means of quantities corresponding to their needs; Whereas, if a considerable balance remains in the fixed duty-free amounts in one or other Member State, it is essential that that Member State returns it as soon as possible in order to prevent a part of the Community amount from remaining unused in one Member State when it could be used in others; whereas, it is appropriate, in respect of certain sensitive products, for those returns to be effected in two stages; Whereas the unification of Germany leads to an increase in the level of consumption in the Community, and consequently the preferential amounts should be increased by a flat-rate; Whereas, in the multilateral trade negotiations, in accordance with paragraph 6 of the Tokyo Declaration, the Community reaffirmed that special treatment should be granted, wherever this is possible, to the least-developed developing countries appearing on the list in Annex VI; Whereas the benefit of such preferential tariff treatment should be reserved for products originating in the countries or territories under consideration, the concept of 'originating products` being determined in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No 693/88 (1); Whereas the Community preference arrangements applicable to Yugoslavia for textile products result exclusively from the provisions of the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (2); Whereas, since 1 March 1986, the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic have applied the Community system of generalized preferences, in compliance with Articles 178 and 365 of the Act of Accession; Whereas, consequently, for 1991 the Community should open: - for each of the categories of products covered by Annex I, tariff quotas allocated amongst the Member States for each of the countries and territories specified in column 5 of that Annex, and Community tariff ceilings at a zero rate of duty for each of the other countries and territories listed in Annex IV; the limits of the quantities opened are indicated in columns 6 and 7 or 8 of Annex I, - for each category of products shown in Annex II and for each of the countries and territories specified in Annex V, excluding Yugoslavia, fixed amounts and Community tariff ceilings at a zero rate of duty; the limits of the quantities opened are specified in columns 6 and 7 of the said Annex II, - in respect of the manufactured jute and coir products listed in Annex III, a total suspension of customs duties for the beneficiary countries specified in column 3 against each of the categories of products shown in column 2; Whereas, as regards the Community tariff quotas allocated among the Member States, and the fixed duty-free amounts: - it is necessary to guarantee to all importers equal and continuous access to the abovementioned quotas and fixed duty-free amounts and uninterrupted application of the rates laid down for them to all imports of the products concerned into all Member States until they have been used up, - drawings against the quotas and fixed duty-free amounts can only be made for goods entered for free circulation accompanied by a certificate of origin; Whereas, as regards the Community tariff ceilings the objectives sought may be achieved by applying a method of administration based on the charging, at Community level, of imports of the products in question against the ceilings as and when these products are entered for free circulation and are accompanied by a certificate of origin; whereas this method of administration must make provision for the reintroduction of the levying of customs duties as soon as the said ceilings are reached at Community level; Whereas the methods of administration for the products listed in Annexes I and II call for close and particularly rapid cooperation between Member States and the Commission, which must, in particular, be able to keep under observation the extent to which charges are made against the fixed duty free amounts and the ceilings and inform Member States thereof; whereas such cooperation should be particularly close in view of the need for the Commission to be able to take appropriate measures to reintroduce customs duties, when any of the ceilings is reached at Community level; Whereas, having regard to the rules applying to the repayment or remission of import or export duties, and in particular to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1430/79 (3) and Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3040/83 (4), a procedure should be laid down to regularize imports actually made within the preferential tariff limits opened under this Regulation and thus provision should be made for the Commission to be able to take appropriate measures; whereas, in order to avoid such regularization causing excessive tariff ceiling overruns, provision should at the same time be made for the Commission to be able to terminate set-offs; Whereas it is necessary to establish complete statistics on imports admitted in accordance with the provisions of this Regulation and to apply to the collection, preparation and transmission of these statistics Council Regulations (EEC) No 1736/75 (5) and No 3367/87 (6); 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 measure concerning the administration of the shares allocated to that economic union or drawings by it on a fixed duty-free amount may be carried out by any one of its members, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 1. From 1 January to 31 December 1991, the Common Customs Tariff duties shall be: - totally suspended within the framework of tariff quotas, fixed duty-free amounts and Community tariff ceilings in respect of the products listed in Annexes I and II, - totally suspended in respect of the jute and coir products listed in Annex III. Spain and Portugal shall apply on the imports of products referred to above the customs duties established in accordance with Articles 178 and 365 of the 1985 Act of Accession. 2. The arrangements laid down in paragraph 1 shall apply only in respect of products originating in the countries and territories: - indicated in column 5 of Annex I or listed in Annex VI, as regards the products in Annex I, - listed in Annex V, as regards the products in Annex II, with the exception of Yugoslavia, - indicated in column 4 of Annex III, for each of the category of products indicated in column 2. 3. The preferences granted by this Regulation are suspended, on a temporary basis, for products originating in the Republic of Korea. 4. Preferential entry as provided for in this Regulation shall be subject to conformity with the rules of the origin of products determined by Regulation (EEC) No 693/88. 5. The tariff quotas, fixed duty-free amounts, and tariff ceilings shall be administered in accordance with the following provisions: SECTION I Provisions concerning the administration of the Community tariff quotas Article 2 1. The total suspension of customs duties within the framework of the Community tariff quotas referred to in Article 1 (1) concerns the categories of products in Annex I for each of which the volume of the quota is specified individually in that Annex with regard to certain beneficiary countries or territories of origin listed in column 5 of the same Annex. 2. The period for which the tariff quotas are opened shall be from 1 January to 31 December 1991, except when it is indicated in Annex I that they are opened as two equal, six-monthly quotas. Article 3 1. A first tranche of 70 % of each of the Community tariff quotas listed in Annex I, the amount of which is shown in Annex I, shall be apportioned among the Member States in accordance with the following scale in percentages: Benelux 9,5 % Denmark 2,7 % Germany 25,5 % Greece 1,5 % Spain 7,5 % France 16,5 % Ireland 0,8 % Italy 13,5 % Portugal 1,5 % United Kingdom 21,0 % 2. Each Member State shall determine its own share by applying the appropriate percentage to the volumes indicated in Annex I rounding up the result to the next higher unit (kilogram, piece or pair) if necessary. 3. The second tranche of each of the tariff quotas shall constitute the reserve specified in each case in Annex I. Article 4 Where a Member State has used all of its quota share it draws on the reserve in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 8 relating to fixed duty-free amounts. Article 5 1. When at least 80 % of the reserve of one of the tariff quotas, as defined in Article 3 (3), has been used up, the Commission shall inform the Member States thereof. 2. It shall also notify Member States in this case of the date from which drawings on the Community reserve must be made according to the provisions laid down in Article 8 relating to fixed duty-free amounts. 3. Within a time limit fixed by the Commission, following the date referred to in paragraph 2, each Member State shall be required to return to the reserve from its quota share the quantity or part of the quantity, in accordance with paragraphs 4 and 5, which has not been used within the meaning of Article 14 (1) on that date. 4. With respect to the tariff quotas in Annex I, except for the six-monthly tariff quotas, the quantity to be returned to the reserve shall be determined as follows: - when paragraph 1 applies for the first time, one half of the quantity which has not been used, - when paragraph 1 next applies, the whole remainder which has not been used. 5. With respect to the six-monthly quotas in Annex I the quantity to be returned shall be the whole quantity which has not been used. Article 6 The Member States shall take all appropriate measures to ensure free access to the shares which have been allocated to them for importers of the products in question. Article 7 By 29 February 1992 at the latest, Member States shall notify the Commission of the final total of the quantities charged and any balance of the shares still unused at 31 December 1991. Up to the limit of the balance remaining, and at the request of the Member States, the Commission shall authorize the Member States to make any necessary regularization of the quantities charged against imports actually made during the period referred to in Article 1 (1). The Commission shall inform the other Member States thereof. However, for the products appearing in Annex I, for which half-yearly quotas have been fixed, the date on which the Member States shall notify the final total of quantities charged shall be: - 31 August 1991 for the quotas applicable from 1 January to 30 June 1991, - 29 February 1992 for the quotas applicable from 1 July to 31 December 1991. SECTION II Provisions concerning the administration of fixed duty-free amounts Article 8 1. The total suspension of customs duties within the framework of the fixed duty-free amounts referred to in Article 1 (1) concerns the categories of products of Annex II, for each of which the volume of the amount is specified individually in column 6 of that Annex, with regard to the countries or territories specified in column 5 of the same Annex. 2. Fixed duty-free amounts shall be administered by the Commission. If an importer presents in a Member State a declaration of entry into free circulation, including a request for preferential benefit for a product accompanied by a certificate of origin and subject to a fixed duty-free amount and if this declaration is accepted by the customs authorities the Member State concerned shall draw, by means of notification to the Commission, a quantity corresponding to its needs. The requests for drawing, with the indication of the date of acceptance of the said declarations, must be communicated to the Commission without delay. The drawings are granted by the Commission following the date of acceptance of the declaration of entry into free circulation by the customs authorities of the Member State concerned, to the extent that the balance of the said amount permits. If a Member State does not use the quantities drawn, it shall return them as soon as possible to the corresponding fixed amount. If the quantities requested corresponding to a certain date are greater than the available balance of the fixed duty-free amount, allocation shall be made on a pro rata basis with respect to the requested quantities. Member States shall be informed by the Commission of the drawings made. Article 9 1. The Commission shall keep account of the quantities drawn by the Member States conforming to Article 9 and shall inform each of them as soon as it receives notification of the exhausting of the volumes opened. It shall ensure that the drawing which uses up any of these amounts is limited to the balance available and, to this end, specify the amount to the Member State which proceeds to the last drawing. The fact that the fixed amounts have been exhausted shall forthwith be brought to the notice of Member States. This communication shall be the subject of a publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities('C` series). 2. The Member State shall take all the appropriate measures to ensure that the drawings that they effect pursuant to Article 8 may be charged without interruption against the fixed duty-free amounts. Each Member state shall guarantee free access to these amounts to the importers of the products in question as far as the balance of the volumes opened permits. SECTION III Provisions concerning the administration of the Community tariff ceilings Article 10 Subject to Articles 11 and 12, preferential tariff treatment shall be accorded for each category of products subjected in Annexes I and II to individual ceilings within the limits of the quantities specified respectively: - in column 8 of Annex I, to certain countries or territories specified in column 5 of this Annex or listed in Annex VI, - in column 7 of Annex II, to certain countries or territories specified in column 5 of this Annex, with the exception of Yugoslavia. Article 11 As soon as the individual ceilings determined in accordance with Article 10 are reached at the Community level, the levying of customs duties on imports of the products in question originating in each of the countries or territories concerned may at any time be reintroduced until the end of the period referred to in Article 1 (1). Article 12 The Commission shall reintroduce, by means of a Regulation, the levying of customs duties in respect of any one of the countries and territories referred to in Article 1 (2), under the conditions laid down in Article 11. In the case of such a reintroduction, Spain and Portugal shall reintroduce the levying of customs duties that they shall apply to third countries on the date in question. By means of a Regulation, the Commission may, even after 31 December 1991, take measures to stop quantities being charged against the Community tariff ceilings if, particularly as a result of regularizations of imports actually made during the period referred to in Article 1 (1), these ceilings are exceeded. The Member State which initiates such regularizations shall communicate to the Commission as and when the figures of import charges relating thereto. The Commission, on receiving these communications, shall inform the other Member States thereof. SECTION IV General provisions Article 13 Articles 2, 8, 11 and 12 shall not apply to the countries listed in Annex VI. Article 14 1. Imports of the products in question shall be charged against the quotas, the fixed duty-free amounts and the ceilings and the Community ceilings as and when the products are entered for free circulation and are accompanied by a certificate of origin pursuant to the rules referred to in Article 1 (4). 2. Goods may be charged against a quota, a duty-free fixed amount or a ceiling only if the certificate of origin referred to in paragraph 1 is presented before the date on which the levying of duties is reintroduced. 3. The extent to which the tariff quotas, fixed duty-free amounts and Community ceilings have been used up shall be determined at Community level on the basis of the imports charged in accordance with paragraph 1. Article 15 1. The Member States shall, within six weeks of the end of each quarter at the latest, forward to the Statistical Office of the European Communities the relevant statistical data for the products entered for free circulation in the quarter concerned under generalized preferential treatment in accordance with the provisions of the present Regulation. This data, transmitted according to the codes of the combined nomenclature and where applicable of the Taric shall show the country of origin, value, quantity and any supplementary units as defined by Regulations (EEC) No 1736/75 and (EEC) No 3367/87. 2. However, in the case of products subject to quotas, the Member states shall, by the eleventh day of each month, at the latest, forward to the Commission the list of charges effected during the previous month. In the case of products subject to ceilings, the Member States shall forward to the Commission, at its request and under the same conditions, the list of charges effected during the previous month. At the Commission`s request, when the level of 75 % of the ceiling is reached, the Member States shall forward to the Commission the lists of charges every 10 days; these lists shall be forwarded within five days from the end of each 10-day period. 3. The Commission shall ensure the publication in theOfficial Journal of the European Communities ('C` series) the tariff ceilings as and when they reach 100 % utilization. It shall see that the Statistical Office of the European Communities ensures the publication of the annual state of import charges. Article 16 The Member States and the Commission shall cooperate closely to ensure compliance with this Regulation. Article 17 This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1991. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 20 December 1990. For the CouncilThe PresidentG. RUFFOLO ANNEX I <(BLK0)LA ORG="CCF">EN</(BLK0)LA> >TABLE> ' ANNEX II<(BLK0)LA ORG="CCF">EN</(BLK0)LA> >TABLE> ' ANNEX III<(BLK0)LA ORG="CCF">EN</(BLK0)LA> >TABLE> ' ANNEX IV<(BLK0)LA ORG="CCF">EN</(BLK0)LA> >TABLE> ANNEX V<(BLK0)LA ORG="CCF">EN</(BLK0)LA> >TABLE> >TABLE> ANNEX VI<(BLK0)LA ORG="CCF">EN</(BLK0)LA> >TABLE>

COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 3832/90

of 20 December 1990

applying generalized tariff preferences for 1991 in respect of textile products originating in developing countries<(BLK0)LA ORG="CCF">EN</(BLK0)LA>

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, in particular Article 113,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2),

Whereas in accordance with its offer made within the context of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the European Economic Community opened generalized tariff preferences, commencing in 1971, notably in respect of finished and semi-finished industrial products from developing countries; whereas the initial 10-year period of application of this system of preferences ended on 31 December 1980;

Whereas the positive role played by this system in improving access for developing countries to the markets of the preference-giving countries was recognized at the ninth session of the UNCTAD Special Committee on Preferences; whereas it was there agreed that the objectives of the system of generalized preferences would not be fully attained by the end of 1980, that it should consequently be prolonged beyond the initial period and that an overall review of the system was started in 1990;

Whereas in the interval before the results of this review are reached, the 1990 scheme of generalized preferences should be extended into 1991 as an interim measure, subject to a number of adaptations required by external circumstances;

Whereas the Community has therefore decided to apply generalized tariff preferences, in the context of the conclusions agreed in UNCTAD in accordance with the intention expressed in the said Committee, in particular by all the preference-giving countries;

Whereas the temporary and non-binding nature of the system means that the offer can be withdrawn wholly or in part at a later date, thus maintaining the possibility of remedying any unfavourable situations which might arise in the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP States) as a result of the system`s implementation;

Whereas, however, most of the preference-giving countries exclude textile products from preferential treatment; whereas, under the Community scheme of generalized preferences, these products have always been covered by special arrangements pursuant to which, for cotton textile and similar products, the preferences were originally granted in the form of duty-free ceilings only to those beneficiaries under the generalized preferences scheme which were signatories to the Long-Term Arrangement regarding International Trade in Cotton Textiles (LTA) or which undertook, vis-à-vis the Community, commitments similar to those existing under that Arrangement;

Whereas the Long-Term Arrangement has been replaced from 1980 onwards by the Arrangement regarding International Trade in Textiles (MFA), and the Community has therefore, in the case of products covered by the MFA, reserved preferences in the form of duty-free ceilings, for products originating in those countries or territories which signed Bilateral Agreements, in the framework of the MFA, providing for quantitative limitation of their exports of certain textile products to the Community, or in those countries which undertook similar commitments vis-à-vis the Community; whereas, such commitments have been undertaken by Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Iran, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Venezuela; whereas for these products, it is therefore desirable that the Community should continue to apply the generalized tariff preferences on the basis of the same principles until the expiry of the MFA and the Bilateral Agreements concluded with certain supplier countries; whereas it should be provided that countries and territories accepting the renewal of such agreements or giving such commitments after the date of adoption of this Regulation and before 1 January 1990 will be accorded preferential treatment as from 1 February 1990 in respect of the entire volume provided for in this Regulation; whereas countries and territories which accept the renewal of the said agreements or enter into similar commitments after 1 January 1990 will be accorded preferential treatment from the first day of the second month following the date of commitment, in respect of a volume calculated in proportion to the period of the year from the first day of the month following the date of the commitment until 31 December 1990; whereas, it is appropriate, in view of their highly sensitive nature, to open for certain categories included in Annex I equal six-monthly tariff quotas;

Whereas, in view of the special nature which trade in the products concerned may have, it would appear that the volumes of preferential imports should be determined in terms of tonnes, pieces, or pairs, as appropriate;

Whereas according to the case-law of the Court of Justice it would be illegal to allocate Community quotas among the Member States unless compelling circumstances of an administrative, technical or economic character make it impossible to do otherwise; whereas in addition in cases where allocation is decided upon a mechanism is to be provided so as to protect the integrity of the Common Customs Tariff;

Whereas certain economic and administrative constraints exist which justify in conformity with the Commission`s proposal the continued allocation among the Member States of the Community quotas in the textile sector;

Whereas, in order to ensure that each of the countries or territories referred to above has access to the preferential volumes, quotas and separate tariff ceilings for each beneficiary should be specified for each category of products, and in view of the links which continue to exist with international control of trade in textiles, it is appropriate to allocate these quotas between the Member States according to the scale contained within the MFA framework, establishing for each of the Member States initial participation percentages as follows:

Benelux 9,5 %

Denmark 2,7 %

Germany 25,5 %

Greece 1,5 %

Spain 7,5 %

France 16,5 %

Ireland 0,8 %

Italy 13,5 %

Portugal 1,5 %

United Kingdom 21,0 %

Whereas, to take account of future import trends in the various Member States in respect of the tariff quotas given in Annex I and to mitigate any inadequacy in the initial allocation, the quotas should be divided into two tranches, the first being apportioned among Member States and the second held as a reserve to cover the subsequent requirements of Member States which have exhausted their initial shares;

Whereas, moreover, the reserve thus constituted tends to avoid making the system of utilization of the quota excessively rigid, to the detriment of each of the developing countries concerned, and contributes to achieving the aim already mentioned of improving the system of generalized preferences; whereas, to this end and to accord importers in each Member State some degree of security, the first tranche of the Community quota should be fixed at 70 % of the quota volumes;

Whereas if, in the course of quota period, the Community reserve is almost fully used, it is essential that the Member States return to the said reserve all of the unused part of their shares, in order to ensure that part of a Community tariff quota does not remain unused in a Member State when it could be utilized in others; whereas it is appropriate for products which are not subject to six-monthly quotas, that these returns are made in two stages;

Whereas for other textile products and apparel listed in Annex II, it appears possible to grant the preferences to the countries or territories which are normally beneficiaries in the other industrial sectors;

Whereas, for jute and coir products, it was understood that the preferences would be granted only where special arrangements had been made with the exporting developing countries; whereas these arrangements have hitherto concerned India and Sri Lanka for coir products, and India and Thailand for jute products; whereas, it would be appear desirable to maintain also the preferential advantage to the least-developed countries in respect of jute and coir;

Whereas by Council Regulation (EEC) No 1672/89 (1) the customs duties applicable under the Common Customs Tariff to yarn of CN code 5307 were reduced on a most-favoured nation basis to zero; whereas for the sake of greater clarity and administrative simplicity it is appropriate to exclude those products from Annex III;

Whereas Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia have seen their economic situation decline to the point where they face similar problems to those countries to which the generalized preferences have applied in the past; whereas they should therefore benefit, on a transitional basis, from the system of generalized preferences in order to increase their export earnings with a view to stimulating their economic development, to promote their industrialization and to accelerate their rate of growth;

Whereas, on 8 November 1990, the Commission recommended to the Council that it authorize it to negotiate European Agreements with those three countries providing for the progressive establishment of a free-trade area; whereas, this being the case, those countries should benefit from the generalized preferential arrangements in 1991 until tariff concessions are granted under those Agreements;

Whereas the economic situation of Bulgaria is similar to that of the three aforementioned countries; whereas it should therefore also benefit from the preferential arrangements in 1991;

Whereas the situation in Romania justifies treatment identical to that granted to the four countries referred to above; whereas equivalent preferential arrangements should consequently be established for that country in 1991;

Whereas it is appropriate to add to the list of beneficiary countries Mongolia, at the request of that country, and Namibia, which has gained its independence;

Whereas the Republic of Korea does not treat the Community on an equal footing with other trade partners and whereas it has taken discriminatory measures in respect of the Community in the sphere of the protection of intellectual property; whereas therefore it is inappropriate that the Republic of Korea should benefit from the system of generalized tariff preferences as long as this situation continues;

Whereas the MFA agreement was renewed for a period of five years from 1 August 1986; whereas in the context of the five-yearly review of the system of generalized preferences scheme, the Community decided to initiate a revision of the textile scheme in 1987, with a view to in particular, an improvement thereof, a better distribution and management simplifications;

Whereas the preferential advantages are not used equally by beneficiary countries and it is necessary to ensure a more balanced usage of these advantages, particularly for the less competitive countries, in order to improve preferential access for these latter countries, it is necessary to institute a new phase of differentiation between beneficiary countries of the preferential benefits; this differentiation comprises withdrawal of the abovementioned advantages for certain product categories originating in the most competitive countries the criterion adopted being based on the competition capacity of the beneficiary country concerned, the capacity being expressed, for individual product categories, by that country`s participation in total Community imports; whereas for the application of this criterion a 10 % share for the products listed in Annex I, and a 20 % share for the products listed in Annex II, of the total extra-EEC imports averaged over three years (1985, 1986, 1987) is taken; whereas it is necessary to make adjustments to this criterion, as far as the products listed in Annex I are concerned, when:

- the gross national product per capita of the country concerned is low and the country does not provide more than 5 % of total Community imports of textile products and apparel,

- the total exports of textile products of the country concerned comprise almost exclusively a single product;

Whereas particular measures are applicable, according to the sensitivity of products, to countries with a low gross national product per capita whose share in the total Community imports of textile products exceed 5 %;

Whereas the level of economic development of the country concerned has also been taken into account for these products;

Whereas, according to this method of calculation, for each beneficiary country except Hungary, Poland and the most competitive countries, the quantity opened corresponds in general to 1 % of total Community imports of the category of products in question; whereas for Hungary and Poland the quantity opened corresponds to 0,3 % of total Community imports with respect to certain highly sensitive categories of products and 0,5 % for other categories whereas for the most competitive countries the quantity opened corresponds to 0,1 % for imports of categories 1 to 8 and 0,2 % for imports of other categories;

Whereas the other textile products and apparel listed in Annex II can be attained by providing for each category of product individual tariff limits per beneficiary, corresponding in general to 5 % of total Community imports of the product categories in question; whereas allocation amongst Member States is not appropriate where Community measures are concerned;

Whereas the fixed duty-free amounts and ceilings meet this objective; whereas, as regards fixed duty free amounts, it is necessary to provide for Member States to effect drawings on the quantities opened by means of quantities corresponding to their needs;

Whereas, if a considerable balance remains in the fixed duty-free amounts in one or other Member State, it is essential that that Member State returns it as soon as possible in order to prevent a part of the Community amount from remaining unused in one Member State when it could be used in others; whereas, it is appropriate, in respect of certain sensitive products, for those returns to be effected in two stages;

Whereas the unification of Germany leads to an increase in the level of consumption in the Community, and consequently the preferential amounts should be increased by a flat-rate;

Whereas, in the multilateral trade negotiations, in accordance with paragraph 6 of the Tokyo Declaration, the Community reaffirmed that special treatment should be granted, wherever this is possible, to the least-developed developing countries appearing on the list in Annex VI;

Whereas the benefit of such preferential tariff treatment should be reserved for products originating in the countries or territories under consideration, the concept of 'originating products` being determined in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No 693/88 (1);

Whereas the Community preference arrangements applicable to Yugoslavia for textile products result exclusively from the provisions of the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (2);

Whereas, since 1 March 1986, the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic have applied the Community system of generalized preferences, in compliance with Articles 178 and 365 of the Act of Accession;

Whereas, consequently, for 1991 the Community should open:

- for each of the categories of products covered by Annex I, tariff quotas allocated amongst the Member States for each of the countries and territories specified in column 5 of that Annex, and Community tariff ceilings at a zero rate of duty for each of the other countries and territories listed in Annex IV; the limits of the quantities opened are indicated in columns 6 and 7 or 8 of Annex I,

- for each category of products shown in Annex II and for each of the countries and territories specified in Annex V, excluding Yugoslavia, fixed amounts and Community tariff ceilings at a zero rate of duty; the limits of the quantities opened are specified in columns 6 and 7 of the said Annex II,

- in respect of the manufactured jute and coir products listed in Annex III, a total suspension of customs duties for the beneficiary countries specified in column 3 against each of the categories of products shown in column 2;

Whereas, as regards the Community tariff quotas allocated among the Member States, and the fixed duty-free amounts:

- it is necessary to guarantee to all importers equal and continuous access to the abovementioned quotas and fixed duty-free amounts and uninterrupted application of the rates laid down for them to all imports of the products concerned into all Member States until they have been used up,

- drawings against the quotas and fixed duty-free amounts can only be made for goods entered for free circulation accompanied by a certificate of origin;

Whereas, as regards the Community tariff ceilings the objectives sought may be achieved by applying a method of administration based on the charging, at Community level, of imports of the products in question against the ceilings as and when these products are entered for free circulation and are accompanied by a certificate of origin; whereas this method of administration must make provision for the reintroduction of the levying of customs duties as soon as the said ceilings are reached at Community level;

Whereas the methods of administration for the products listed in Annexes I and II call for close and particularly rapid cooperation between Member States and the Commission, which must, in particular, be able to keep under observation the extent to which charges are made against the fixed duty free amounts and the ceilings and inform Member States thereof; whereas such cooperation should be particularly close in view of the need for the Commission to be able to take appropriate measures to reintroduce customs duties, when any of the ceilings is reached at Community level;

Whereas, having regard to the rules applying to the repayment or remission of import or export duties, and in particular to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1430/79 (3) and Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3040/83 (4), a procedure should be laid down to regularize imports actually made within the preferential tariff limits opened under this Regulation and thus provision should be made for the Commission to be able to take appropriate measures; whereas, in order to avoid such regularization causing excessive tariff ceiling overruns, provision should at the same time be made for the Commission to be able to terminate set-offs;

Whereas it is necessary to establish complete statistics on imports admitted in accordance with the provisions of this Regulation and to apply to the collection, preparation and transmission of these statistics Council Regulations (EEC) No 1736/75 (5) and No 3367/87 (6);

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 measure concerning the administration of the shares allocated to that economic union or drawings by it on a fixed duty-free amount may be carried out by any one of its members,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

1. From 1 January to 31 December 1991, the Common Customs Tariff duties shall be:

- totally suspended within the framework of tariff quotas, fixed duty-free amounts and Community tariff ceilings in respect of the products listed in Annexes I and II,

- totally suspended in respect of the jute and coir products listed in Annex III.

Spain and Portugal shall apply on the imports of products referred to above the customs duties established in accordance with Articles 178 and 365 of the 1985 Act of Accession.

2. The arrangements laid down in paragraph 1 shall apply only in respect of products originating in the countries and territories:

- indicated in column 5 of Annex I or listed in Annex VI, as regards the products in Annex I,

- listed in Annex V, as regards the products in Annex II, with the exception of Yugoslavia,

- indicated in column 4 of Annex III, for each of the category of products indicated in column 2.

3. The preferences granted by this Regulation are suspended, on a temporary basis, for products originating in the Republic of Korea.

4. Preferential entry as provided for in this Regulation shall be subject to conformity with the rules of the origin of products determined by Regulation (EEC) No 693/88.

5. The tariff quotas, fixed duty-free amounts, and tariff ceilings shall be administered in accordance with the following provisions:

SECTION I

Provisions concerning the administration of the Community tariff quotas

1. The total suspension of customs duties within the framework of the Community tariff quotas referred to in Article 1 (1) concerns the categories of products in Annex I for each of which the volume of the quota is specified individually in that Annex with regard to certain beneficiary countries or territories of origin listed in column 5 of the same Annex.

2. The period for which the tariff quotas are opened shall be from 1 January to 31 December 1991, except when it is indicated in Annex I that they are opened as two equal, six-monthly quotas.

1. A first tranche of 70 % of each of the Community tariff quotas listed in Annex I, the amount of which is shown in Annex I, shall be apportioned among the Member States in accordance with the following scale in percentages:

Benelux 9,5 %

Denmark 2,7 %

Germany 25,5 %

Greece 1,5 %

Spain 7,5 %

France 16,5 %

Ireland 0,8 %

Italy 13,5 %

Portugal 1,5 %

United Kingdom 21,0 %

2. Each Member State shall determine its own share by applying the appropriate percentage to the volumes indicated in Annex I rounding up the result to the next higher unit (kilogram, piece or pair) if necessary.

3. The second tranche of each of the tariff quotas shall constitute the reserve specified in each case in Annex I.

Where a Member State has used all of its quota share it draws on the reserve in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 8 relating to fixed duty-free amounts.

1. When at least 80 % of the reserve of one of the tariff quotas, as defined in Article 3 (3), has been used up, the Commission shall inform the Member States thereof.

2. It shall also notify Member States in this case of the date from which drawings on the Community reserve must be made according to the provisions laid down in Article 8 relating to fixed duty-free amounts.

3. Within a time limit fixed by the Commission, following the date referred to in paragraph 2, each Member State shall be required to return to the reserve from its quota share the quantity or part of the quantity, in accordance with paragraphs 4 and 5, which has not been used within the meaning of Article 14 (1) on that date.

4. With respect to the tariff quotas in Annex I, except for the six-monthly tariff quotas, the quantity to be returned to the reserve shall be determined as follows:

- when paragraph 1 applies for the first time, one half of the quantity which has not been used,

- when paragraph 1 next applies, the whole remainder which has not been used.

5. With respect to the six-monthly quotas in Annex I the quantity to be returned shall be the whole quantity which has not been used.

The Member States shall take all appropriate measures to ensure free access to the shares which have been allocated to them for importers of the products in question.

By 29 February 1992 at the latest, Member States shall notify the Commission of the final total of the quantities charged and any balance of the shares still unused at 31 December 1991. Up to the limit of the balance remaining, and at the request of the Member States, the Commission shall authorize the Member States to make any necessary regularization of the quantities charged against imports actually made during the period referred to in Article 1 (1). The Commission shall inform the other Member States thereof.

However, for the products appearing in Annex I, for which half-yearly quotas have been fixed, the date on which the Member States shall notify the final total of quantities charged shall be:

- 31 August 1991 for the quotas applicable from 1 January to 30 June 1991,

- 29 February 1992 for the quotas applicable from 1 July to 31 December 1991.

SECTION II

Provisions concerning the administration of

fixed duty-free amounts

Article 8

1. The total suspension of customs duties within the framework of the fixed duty-free amounts referred to in Article 1 (1) concerns the categories of products of Annex II, for each of which the volume of the amount is specified individually in column 6 of that Annex, with regard to the countries or territories specified in column 5 of the same Annex.

2. Fixed duty-free amounts shall be administered by the Commission. If an importer presents in a Member State a declaration of entry into free circulation, including a request for preferential benefit for a product

accompanied by a certificate of origin and subject to a fixed duty-free amount and if this declaration is accepted by the customs authorities the Member State concerned shall draw, by means of notification to the Commission, a quantity corresponding to its needs.

The requests for drawing, with the indication of the date of acceptance of the said declarations, must be communicated to the Commission without delay.

The drawings are granted by the Commission following the date of acceptance of the declaration of entry into free circulation by the customs authorities of the Member State concerned, to the extent that the balance of the said amount permits.

If a Member State does not use the quantities drawn, it shall return them as soon as possible to the corresponding fixed amount.

If the quantities requested corresponding to a certain date are greater than the available balance of the fixed duty-free amount, allocation shall be made on a pro rata basis with respect to the requested quantities. Member States shall be informed by the Commission of the drawings made.

Article 9

1. The Commission shall keep account of the quantities drawn by the Member States conforming to Article 9 and shall inform each of them as soon as it receives notification of the exhausting of the volumes opened. It shall ensure that the drawing which uses up any of these amounts is limited to the balance available and, to this end, specify the amount to the Member State which proceeds to the last drawing.

The fact that the fixed amounts have been exhausted shall forthwith be brought to the notice of Member States.

This communication shall be the subject of a publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities('C` series).

2. The Member State shall take all the appropriate measures to ensure that the drawings that they effect pursuant to Article 8 may be charged without interruption against the fixed duty-free amounts.

Each Member state shall guarantee free access to these amounts to the importers of the products in question as far as the balance of the volumes opened permits.

SECTION III

Provisions concerning the administration of the Community tariff ceilings

Article 10

Subject to Articles 11 and 12, preferential tariff treatment shall be accorded for each category of products

subjected in Annexes I and II to individual ceilings within the limits of the quantities specified respectively:

- in column 8 of Annex I, to certain countries or territories specified in column 5 of this Annex or listed in Annex VI,

- in column 7 of Annex II, to certain countries or territories specified in column 5 of this Annex, with the exception of Yugoslavia.

As soon as the individual ceilings determined in accordance with Article 10 are reached at the Community level, the levying of customs duties on imports of the products in question originating in each of the countries or territories concerned may at any time be reintroduced until the end of the period referred to in Article 1 (1).

The Commission shall reintroduce, by means of a Regulation, the levying of customs duties in respect of any one of the countries and territories referred to in Article 1 (2), under the conditions laid down in Article 11.

In the case of such a reintroduction, Spain and Portugal shall reintroduce the levying of customs duties that they shall apply to third countries on the date in question.

By means of a Regulation, the Commission may, even after 31 December 1991, take measures to stop quantities being charged against the Community tariff ceilings if, particularly as a result of regularizations of imports actually made during the period referred to in Article 1 (1), these ceilings are exceeded.

The Member State which initiates such regularizations shall communicate to the Commission as and when the figures of import charges relating thereto. The Commission, on receiving these communications, shall inform the other Member States thereof.

SECTION IV

General provisions

Article 13

Articles 2, 8, 11 and 12 shall not apply to the countries listed in Annex VI.

1. Imports of the products in question shall be charged against the quotas, the fixed duty-free amounts and the ceilings and the Community ceilings as and when the products are entered for free circulation and are accompanied by a certificate of origin pursuant to the rules referred to in Article 1 (4).

2. Goods may be charged against a quota, a duty-free fixed amount or a ceiling only if the certificate of origin referred to in paragraph 1 is presented before the date on which the levying of duties is reintroduced.

3. The extent to which the tariff quotas, fixed duty-free amounts and Community ceilings have been used up shall be determined at Community level on the basis of the imports charged in accordance with paragraph 1.

Article 15

1. The Member States shall, within six weeks of the end of each quarter at the latest, forward to the Statistical Office of the European Communities the relevant statistical data for the products entered for free circulation in the quarter concerned under generalized preferential treatment in accordance with the provisions of the present Regulation. This data, transmitted according to the codes of the combined nomenclature and where applicable of the Taric shall show the country of origin, value, quantity and any supplementary units as defined by Regulations (EEC) No 1736/75 and (EEC) No 3367/87.

2. However, in the case of products subject to quotas, the Member states shall, by the eleventh day of each month, at the latest, forward to the Commission the list of charges effected during the previous month.

In the case of products subject to ceilings, the Member States shall forward to the Commission, at its request and under the same conditions, the list of charges effected during the previous month.

At the Commission`s request, when the level of 75 % of the ceiling is reached, the Member States shall forward to the Commission the lists of charges every 10 days; these lists shall be forwarded within five days from the end of each 10-day period.

3. The Commission shall ensure the publication in theOfficial Journal of the European Communities ('C` series) the tariff ceilings as and when they reach 100 % utilization.

It shall see that the Statistical Office of the European Communities ensures the publication of the annual state of import charges.

Article 16

The Member States and the Commission shall cooperate closely to ensure compliance with this Regulation.

Article 17

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1991.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 20 December 1990.

For the CouncilThe PresidentG. RUFFOLO

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