Council Regulation (EC) No 260/2009 of 26 February 2009 on the common rules for imports (Codified version)
Modified by
Regulation (EU) No 37/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 15 January 2014amending certain regulations relating to the common commercial policy as regards the procedures for the adoption of certain measures, 32014R0037, January 21, 2014
Council Regulation (EC) No 260/2009of 26 February 2009on the common rules for imports(Codified version)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 instruments establishing the common organisation of agricultural markets and the instruments concerning processed agricultural products adopted in pursuance of Article 308 of the Treaty, in particular in so far as they provide for derogation from the general principle that quantitative restrictions or measures having equivalent effect may be replaced solely by the measures provided for in the said instruments,Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,Whereas:(1)Council Regulation (EC) No 3285/94 of 22 December 1994 on the common rules for imports and repealing Regulation (EC) No 518/94OJ L 349, 31.12.1994, p. 53. has been substantially amended several timesSee Annex II.. In the interests of clarity and rationality the said Regulation should be codified.(2)The common commercial policy should be based on uniform principles.(3)The Community has concluded the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation, hereinafter referred to as the "WTO". Annex 1A to that Agreement contains inter alia the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994) and an Agreement on Safeguards.(4)The Agreement on Safeguards meets the need to clarify and reinforce the disciplines of GATT 1994, and specifically those of Article XIX. That Agreement requires the elimination of safeguard measures which escape those rules, such as voluntary export restraints, orderly marketing arrangements and any other similar import or export arrangements.(5)The Agreement on Safeguards also covers coal and steel products. The common rules for imports, especially as regards safeguard measures, therefore also apply to those products without prejudice to any possible measures to apply an agreement specifically concerning coal and steel products.(6)The textile products covered by Council Regulation (EC) No 517/94 of 7 March 1994 on common rules for imports of textile products from certain third countries not covered by bilateral agreements, protocols or other arrangements, or by other specific Community import rulesOJ L 67, 10.3.1994, p. 1. are subject to special treatment at Community and international level. They should therefore be excluded from the scope of this Regulation.(7)The Commission should be informed by the Member States of any danger created by trends in imports which might call for Community surveillance or the application of safeguard measures.(8)In such instances the Commission should examine the terms and conditions under which imports occur, the trend in imports, the various aspects of the economic and trade situations and, where appropriate, the measures to be applied.(9)If prior Community surveillance is applied, release for free circulation of the products concerned should be made subject to presentation of a surveillance document meeting uniform criteria. That document should, on simple application by the importer, be issued by the authorities of the Member States within a certain period but without the importer thereby acquiring any right to import. The surveillance document should therefore be valid only during such period as the import rules remain unchanged.(10)The Member States and the Commission should exchange the information resulting from Community surveillance as fully as possible.(11)It falls to the Commission and the Council to adopt the safeguard measures required by the interests of the Community. Those interests should be considered as a whole and should in particular encompass the interests of Community producers, users and consumers.(12)Safeguard measures against a member of the WTO may be considered only if the product in question is imported into the Community in such greatly increased quantities and on such terms or conditions as to cause, or threaten to cause, serious injury to Community producers of like or directly competing products, unless international obligations permit derogation from this rule.(13)The terms "serious injury", "threat of serious injury" and "Community producers" should be defined and precise criteria for determining injury should be established.(14)An investigation should precede the application of any safeguard measure, subject to the reservation that the Commission be allowed in urgent cases to apply provisional measures.(15)There should be detailed provisions on the opening of investigations, the checks and inspections required, access by exporter countries and interested parties to the information gathered, hearings for the parties involved and the opportunities for those parties to submit their views.(16)The provisions on investigations introduced by this Regulation are without prejudice to Community or national rules concerning professional secrecy.(17)It is also necessary to set time limits for the initiation of investigations and for determinations as to whether or not measures are appropriate, with a view to ensuring that such determinations are made quickly, in order to increase legal certainty for the economic operators concerned.(18)In cases in which safeguard measures take the form of a quota the level of the latter should be set in principle no lower than the average level of imports over a representative period of at least three years.(19)In cases in which a quota is allocated among supplier countries each country’s quota may be determined by agreement with the countries themselves or by taking as a reference the level of imports over a representative period. Derogations from these rules should nevertheless be possible where there is serious injury and a disproportionate increase in imports, provided that due consultation under the auspices of the WTO Committee on Safeguards takes place.(20)The maximum duration of safeguard measures should be determined and specific provisions regarding extension, progressive liberalisation and reviews of such measures be laid down.(21)The circumstances in which products originating in a developing country which is a member of the WTO are to be exempt from safeguard measures should be established.(22)Surveillance or safeguard measures confined to one or more regions of the Community may prove more suitable than measures applying to the whole Community. However, such measures should be authorised only exceptionally and where no alternative exists. It is necessary to ensure that such measures are temporary and cause the minimum of disruption to the operation of the internal market.(23)In the interest of uniformity in rules for imports, the formalities to be carried out by importers should be simplified and made identical regardless of the place where the goods clear customs. It is therefore desirable to provide that any formalities should be carried out using forms corresponding to the specimen annexed to the Regulation.(24)Surveillance documents issued in connection with Community surveillance measures should be valid throughout the Community irrespective of the Member State of issue,HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: