31 . 12 . 86 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 380 / 53
COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 4127 / 86
of 22 December 1986
opening, allocating and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas for
prepared or preserved sardines , falling within subheading 16.04 D of the Common Customs
Tariff and originating in Morocco ( 1987)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES , be respected by allocating the Community tariff quotas
among the Member States ; whereas , in order to reflect as
accurately as possible the true trend of the market in the
products in question , such allocation should be in
proportion to the requirements of the Member States ,
calculated by reference to the statistics for imports from
Morocco over a reference period and also to the economic
outlook for the quota period in question ;
Whereas , during the last three years for which statistics are
available , the corresponding imports into each of the
Member States represent the following percentages of the
imports into the Community from Morocco of the
products concerned :
Member States 1983 1984 1985
Benelux 7,27 4,3 6,3
Denmark 0,00 0,0 0,0
Germany 15,62 18,8 19,8
Greece 1,02 1,6 2,1
France 57,00 57,6 53,0
Ireland 0,00 0,5 0,8
Italy 0,76 1,5 1,1
United Kingdom 18,33 15,7 16,9
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community , and in particular Article 113
thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ,
Whereas the Cooperation Agreement between the
Community and Morocco 0 ), supplemented by Council
Regulation (EEC) No 3511 / 81 of 3 December 1981 laying
down the arrangements applicable to trade between Greece
and Morocco ( 2 ), provides that prepared and preserved
sardines , falling within subheading 16.04 D of the
Common Customs Tariff and originating in Morocco , may
be imported into the Community free of duty ; whereas the
detailed arrangements must be fixed by an exchange of
letters between the Community and Morocco ; whereas ,
since this exchange of letters has not yet taken place , it is
advisable to renew until 31 December 1987 the
Community arrangements which were applied in 1986 ;
whereas it is advisable to open two Community tariff
quotas for import^tioijs into the Community of the
products in question , one duty-free tariff quota of 14 000
tonnes and the other of 6 000 tonnes at a rate of duty of
10 %■; whereas these tariff quotas are to apply from
1 January 1987 until either the conclusion of the exchange
of letters provided for in Article 19 of the Cooperation
Agreement between the Community and Morocco or until
such time as Community arrangements for imports of the
products in question are applied , but until 31 December
1987 at the latest ;
Whereas , since a Protocol as provided for in Articles 179
and 366 of the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal does
not exist , the Community must adopt the measures referred
to in Articles 180 and 367 of that Act ; whereas the tariff
measure concerned will , therefore , apply to the
Community of Ten ;
Whereas it is in particular necessary to ensure for all
Community importers equal and uninterrupted access to
the abovementioned quotas and uninterrupted application
of the rates laid down for these quotas to all imports of the
products concerned into all Member States until the quotas
have been used up ; whereas , having regard to the principles
mentioned above , the Community nature of the quotas can
Whereas , in view of these factors and of the estimates
submitted by certain Member States initial shares may be
fixed approximately at the following percentages :
Benelux
Denmark
Germany
Greece
France
Ireland
Italy
United Kingdom
6,0
0,3
17,9
1,6
54,8
0,6
1,2
17,6
Whereas , in order to take into account import trends for
the products concerned in the various Member States , each
quota should be divided into two instalments , the first
being shared among the Member States and the second
constituting a reserve to cover at a later date the
requirements of the Member States which have used up
their initial quota shares ; whereas , in order to give
importers in each Member State a certain degree of
security , the first instalment of the Community quotas
(!) OJ No L 264 , 27 . 9 . 1978 , p. 2 .
( 2 ) OJ No L 358 , 3 . 12 . 1981 , p. 1 .
31 . 12 . 86No L 380 / 54 Official Journal of the European Communities
should , under the circumstances , be fixed at 75 %
respectively of the quota volumes ;
prevent a part of any tariff quota 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 relating to the
administration of the quota shares allocated to that
economic union may be carried out by any of its
members ,
Whereas , the Member States' initial shares may be used up
at different times ; whereas , in order to take this fact into
account and avoid any break in continuity , any Member
State which has almost used up its initial quota shares
should draw an additional share from the corresponding
reserve ; whereas this must be done by each Member State
as and when each of its additional shares is almost used up ,
and repeated as many times as the reserve allows ; whereas
the initial and additional shares must be valid until the end
of the quota period ; whereas this method of administration
requires close cooperation between the Member States and
the Commission and the latter must be in a position to
monitor the extent to which the quota amounts have been
used up and to inform Member States thereof;
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1 . From 1 January 1987 until the conclusion of the
exchange of letters referred to in Article 19 of the
Cooperation Agreement between the Community and
Morocco , until such time as Community import
arrangements are applied or until 31 December 1987 ,
whichever shall be the earliest the customs duty applicable
on the import into the Community of Ten for the following
products shall be suspended at the levels and within the
limits of Community tariff quotas as follows :
Whereas , if, at a given date in the quota period , a
substantial quantity remains unused in any Member State ,
it is essential that that Member State should return a
significant proportion to the corresponding reserve to
Order
No
CCT
heading
No
Description
Quota volume
( in tonnes )
Quota
duties
( % )
09.1101 16.04 D Prepared or preserved sardines originating in Morocco 14 000 0
09.1103 16.04 D Prepared or preserved sardines originating in Morocco 6 000 10
3 . The second instalment of each quota , i.e. 3 440 and
1 470 tonnes respectively , shall constitute corresponding
reserves .
Article 2
1 . The tariff quotas laid down in Article 1 shall be divided
into two instalments .
2 . A first instalment of each quota shall be shared among
the Member States ; the respective shares which , subject to
Article 5 , shall be valid until the end of the period specified
in Article 1 shall be as follows :
Article 3
1 . If 90 % or more of a Member State's initial share as
specified in Article 2 ( 2 ), or 90 % of that share minus
the portion returned to the corresponding reserve where
Article 5 has been applied , has been used up , then , to the
extent permitted by the amount of the reserve , that
Member State shall forthwith , by notifying the
Commission , draw a second share equal to 10 % of its
initial share , rounded up where necessary to the next
unit .
Member States
Order
No
09.1101
Order
No
09.1103
Benelux 630 270
Denmark 30 10
Germany 1 890 810
Greece 170 70
France 5 790 2 480
Ireland 60 30
Italy 130 60
United Kingdom 1 860 800
10 560 4 530
2 . If , after one of its initial shares has been used up ,
90 % or more of the second share drawn by a Member
State has been used up , then that Member State shall , in
accordance with the conditions laid down in paragraph 1 ,
draw a third share equal to 5 % of its initial share , rounded
up where necessary to the next unit .
31 . 12 . 86 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 380 / 55
3 . If, after one of its second shares has been used up ,
90 % or more of the third share drawn by a Member State
has been used up , that Member State shall , in accordance
with the conditions laid down in paragraph 1 , draw a
fourth share equal to the third .
This process shall continue until the reserve is used up .
4 . By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 , 2 and 3 , a
Member State may draw shares smaller than those fixed in
those paragraphs if there is reason to believe that they
might not be used up . It shall inform the Commission of its
reasons for applying this paragraph .
Article 4
The additional shares drawn pursuant to Article 3 shall be
valid until the end of the period specified in Article 1 .
It shall inform the Member States , not later than 5 October
1987 , of the amount in each reserve after quantities have
been returned thereto pursuant to Article 5 .
It shall ensure that the drawing which exhausts any reserve
does not exceed the balance available and , to this end , shall
notify the amount of that balance to the Member State
making the last drawing .
Article 7
1 . The Member States shall take all measures necessary to
ensure that additional shares drawn pursuant to Article 3
are opened in such a way that imports may be charged
without interruption against their accumulated shares of
the tariff quota .
2 . The Member States shall ensure that importers of the
products in question have free access to the shares allocated
to them .
3 . The extent to which a Member State has used up its
shares shall be determined on the basis of the imports of
the products concerned originating in Morocco and entered
with customs authorities for free circulation .
Article 8
At the Commission's request , the Member States shall
inform it of imports of the products concerned actually
charged against their shares .
Article 9
The Member States and the Commission shall cooperate
closely to ensure that this Regulation is complied with .
Article 10
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1987 .
Article 5
The Member States shall return to the reserve , not later
than 1 October 1987 , such unused portion of their initial
share as , on 15 September 1987 is in excess of 20 % of the
initial volume . They may return a larger quantity if there
are grounds for believing that this quantity may not be
used .
The Member States shall notify the Commission , not later
than 1 October 1987 , of the total quantities of the products
in question imported up to 15 September 1987 and charged
against the tariff quota and of any quantity of the initial
shares returned to the reserve .
Article 6
The Commission shall keep an account of the shares
opened by the Member States pursuant to Articles 2 and 3
and , as soon as it is notified , shall inform each State of the
extent to which the reserves have been used up .
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
States .
Done at Brussels , 22 December 1986 .
For the Council
The President
G. SHAW
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy