COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2999/79 of 20 December 1979 amending certain rates of customs duties for agricultural products, Regulation (EEC) No 950/68 on the Common Customs Tariff and Regulation (EEC) No 516/77 on the common organization of the market in products processed from fruit and vegetables

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

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 by its Decision of 10 December 1979 the Council approved on behalf of the Community the conclusion of the multilateral Agreements resulting from the 1973 to 1979 multilateral trade negotiations;

Whereas, having regard to the international rights and undertakings resulting for the Community from the approval of these Agreements, certain customs duties for agricultural products should be amended ; whereas the applicable rates should be incorporated into the Common Customs Tariff annexed to Council Regulation (EEC) No 950/68 (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2917/79 (2);

Whereas the Community has in the context of these Agreements also agreed that the additional duty on sugar contained in certain prepared or preserved fruits falling within heading No 20.06 of the Common Customs Tariff should be applied as a standard rate of 2 % of the customs value of the products ; whereas, to this end, Regulation (EEC) No 516/77 (3), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1639/79 (4), should be amended;

Whereas experience has shown that fruit pulps have a natural sugar content of a higher level than that fixed at present ; whereas, until the levels for these contents are brought up to date, provision should be made for not levying any additional duty on these products for sugar;

Whereas the nomenclature of the Common Customs Tariff could be simplified by applying a single rate of autonomous customs duty for certain apples and pears falling within heading No 08.06 and for unmanufactured tobacco and tobacco refuse falling within heading No 24.01 ; whereas such an amendment could be carried out without harming the Community market,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

1. The conventional rates of duties for the products shown in Annex I shall be aligned on the level indicated in Annex I in the column "conventional rate" in accordance with the timetable laid down in paragraphs 2 to 4.

2. The alignment for the products shown in Part I of Annex I shall take effect on 1 January 1980.

3. The alignment for the products shown in Part II of Annex I shall be implemented by equal annual reductions of 25 % of the difference between the "existing rate" and the "conventional rate". The reductions shall take place on 1 January each year, the first reduction taking place on 1 January 1980. (1)OJ No L 172, 22.7.1968, p. 1. (2)OJ No L 329, 24.12.1979, p. 16. (3)OJ No L 73, 21.3.1977, p. 1. (4)OJ No L 192, 31.7.1979, p. 3.

4. The alignment for the products shown in Part III of Annex I shall be implemented by equal annual reductions of 12 75 % of the difference between the "existing rate" and the "conventional rate". The intermediate rate shall be rounded to the nearest first decimal point. The rate so rounded may not exceed the intermediate rate, when not rounded, by more than 0 705 %.

The reductions shall take place on 1 January each year, the first reduction taking place on 1 January 1980. However, the reductions to be made from 1 January 1985 shall be implemented only if the Community so decides within the context of GATT.

Article 2

Regulation (EEC) No 516/77 shall be amended as follows: 1. In Article 2 the following paragraph 1a shall be added:

"1a. Products shown in Part I of Annex I shall be considered as containing added sugar. The import levy for such products is 2 % ad valorem of the customs value.

However, until 31 March 1980 the levy shall not be applicable to fruit pulps falling within subheading 20.06 B II a) of the Common Customs Tariff where evidence is adduced that their sugar content does not exceed, according to the type of fruit: - for bananas, pineapples and grapes, 22 %,

- for other fruit (including mixtures of fruit), 16 %."

2. Article 2 (2) shall be replaced by the following:

"2. For 100 kilograms net of the imported product shown in Part II of Annex I, the import levy shall be equal to the difference between: (a) the average of the threshold prices for one kilogram of white sugar for each month of the quarter for which the difference is being determined, and

(b) the average of the cif prices for one kilogram of white sugar used in fixing the levies on white sugar, calculated for a period consisting of the first 15 days of the month preceding the quarter for which the difference is being determined and the two months immediately preceding that month, this difference being multiplied by the figure for the product in question appearing in column 1 of Part II of Annex I.

No levy shall be charged if the amount at (b) is higher than the amount at (a)."

3. In Article 2 (6) and (7) the expression "appearing in column I of Annex I" shall be replaced by the expression "appearing in column I of Part II of Annex I".

4. In Article 2 (8) the expression "Annex I" and the expression "column II of Annex I" shall be replaced by the expressions "Part II of Annex I" and "column II of Part II of Annex I" respectively.

5. Annex I is replaced by the text shown in Annex II to this Regulation.

Article 3

1. The rates of autonomous customs duties for apples and pears falling within subheadings 08.06 A II b) and 08.06 B II b) of the Common Customs Tariff shall be as follows: >PIC FILE= "T0011619">

2. The rate of customs duties for unmanufactured tobacco and tobacco refuse falling within heading No 24.01 of the Common Customs Tariff shall with effect from 1 January 1980 be as follows: >PIC FILE= "T0011620">

Article 4

The tariff nomenclature and the rate of customs duties resulting from the implementation of this Regulation shall be incorporated in the Common Customs Tariff.

Article 5

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1980.

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

Done at Brussels, 20 December 1979.

For the Council

The President

J. TUNNEY

ANNEX I

PART I

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PART II

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PART III

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ANNEX II

"ANNEX I

PART 1

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PART II

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