This Regulation shall apply from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2005 to imports into the Community of steel products listed in Annex I, originating in the Russian Federation.
Council Regulation (EC) No 2267/2004 of 20 December 2004 on trade in certain steel products between the European Community and the Russian Federation
Council Regulation (EC) No 2267/2004 of 20 December 2004 on trade in certain steel products between the European Community and the Russian Federation
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 133 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Whereas:
The Agreement on partnership and cooperation establishing a partnership between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Russian Federation, of the other part(1), provides that trade in some steel products are to be the subject of a specific Agreement on quantitative arrangements.
The current bilateral Agreement between the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the Government of the Russian Federation on trade in certain steel products(2) concluded on 9 July 2002 will expire on 31 December 2004.
The European Community has taken over the international obligations of the ECSC since the expiry of the ECSC Treaty, and measures relating to trade in steel products with third countries now fall under the competence of the Community in the field of trade policy.
Preliminary discussions between the Parties indicate that both of them intend to conclude a new Agreement for 2005 and subsequent years.
Pending the signature and entry into force of the new Agreement, quantitative limits for the year 2005 should be established.
Given that the conditions that led to the fixing of the quantitative limits for 2004 remain in place, it is appropriate to set the quantitative limits for 2005 at the same level as for 2004, albeit by taking fully into account the enlargement of the EU.
It is necessary to provide the means to administer this regime within the Community in such a way as to facilitate the implementation of the new Agreement by envisaging as far as possible similar provisions.
It is necessary to ensure that the origin of the products in question is checked and appropriate methods of administrative cooperation are set up to this end.
Products placed in a free zone or imported under the arrangements governing customs warehouses, temporary importation or inward processing (suspension system) should not be counted against the limits established for the products in question.
The effective application of this Regulation calls for the introduction of a requirement for a Community import licence for the entry into free circulation in the Community of the products in question.
In order to ensure that these quantitative limits are not exceeded, it is necessary to establish a management procedure whereby the competent authorities of the Member States do not issue import licences before obtaining confirmation from the Commission that appropriate amounts remain available within the quantitative limit in question,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1.
2.
The steel products shall be classified in product groups as set out in Annex I.
3.
The classification of products listed in Annex I shall be based on the combined nomenclature (CN) established by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff(3).
4.
The origin of the products referred to in paragraph 1 shall be determined in accordance with the rules in force in the Community.
Article 2
1.
The importation into the Community of the steel products listed in Annex I originating in the Russian Federation shall be subject to the quantitative limits laid down in Annex V. The release for free circulation in the Community of those products shall be subject to the presentation of a certificate of origin, set out in Annex II, and of an import licence issued by the Member States' authorities in accordance with Article 4.
2.
In order to ensure that quantities for which import licences are issued do not exceed at any moment the total quantitative limits for each product group, the competent authorities listed in Annex IV shall issue import licences only upon confirmation by the Commission that there are still quantities available within the quantitative limits for the relevant product group of steel products in respect of the supplier country, for which an importer or importers have submitted applications to the said authorities.
3.
The authorised imports shall be counted against the quantitative limits laid down for the year in which the products are shipped in the exporting country. Shipment of products shall be considered as having taken place on the date on which they were loaded on to the exporting means of transport.
Article 3
1.
The quantitative limits referred to in Annex V shall not apply to products placed in a free zone or free warehouse or imported under the arrangements governing customs warehouses, temporary importation or inward processing (suspension system).
2.
Where the products referred to in paragraph 1 are subsequently released for free circulation, either in the unaltered state or after working or processing, Article 2(2) shall apply and the products so released shall be counted against the relevant quantitative limit set out in Annex V.
Article 4
1.
For the purpose of applying Article 2(2), before issuing import licences, the competent authorities of the Member States listed in Annex IV shall notify the Commission of the amounts of the requests for import licences, supported by original export licences, which they have received. By return, the Commission shall notify whether the requested amount(s) of quantities are available for importation in the chronological order in which the notifications of the Member States are received (‘first come, first served basis’).
2.
The requests included in the notifications to the Commission shall be valid if they establish clearly in each case the exporting country, the product code concerned, the amounts to be imported, the number of the export licence, the quota year and the Member State in which the products are intended to be put into free circulation.
3.
As far as possible, the Commission shall confirm to the authorities the full amount indicated in the requests notified for each group of products.
4.
The competent authorities shall notify the Commission immediately after being informed of any quantity that is not used during the duration of validity of the import licence. Such unused quantities shall automatically be transferred into the remaining quantities of the total Community quantitative limit for each product group.
5.
The notifications referred to in paragraphs 1 to 4 shall be communicated electronically within the integrated network set up for this purpose, unless for imperative technical reasons it is necessary to use other means of communication temporarily.
6.
The import licences or equivalent documents shall be issued in accordance with Articles 12 to 16.
7.
The competent authorities of the Member States shall notify the Commission of any cancellation of import licences or equivalent documents already issued in cases where the corresponding export licences have been withdrawn or cancelled by the competent authorities of the Russian Federation. However, if the Commission or the competent authorities of a Member State have been informed by the competent authorities of the Russian Federation of the withdrawal or cancellation of an export licence after the related products have been imported into the Community, the quantities in question shall be set off against the quantitative limit for the year during which the shipment of products took place.