Council Regulation (EU) 2016/2390 of 19 December 2016 amending Regulation (EU) No 1387/2013 suspending the autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on certain agricultural and industrial products
Council Regulation (EU) 2016/2390of 19 December 2016amending Regulation (EU) No 1387/2013 suspending the autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on certain agricultural and industrial productsTHE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 31 thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,Whereas:(1)The Union production of 110 agricultural and industrial products that are not listed in the Annex to Council Regulation (EU) No 1387/2013Council Regulation (EU) No 1387/2013 of 17 December 2013 suspending the autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on certain agricultural and industrial products and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1344/2011 (OJ L 354, 28.12.2013, p. 201). is inadequate or non-existent. It is therefore in the interest of the Union to suspend totally the autonomous Common Customs Tariff ("CCT") duties on those products.(2)It is necessary to modify the conditions for 38 suspensions of autonomous CCT duties, listed in the Annex to Regulation (EU) No 1387/2013, in order to take into account technical product developments and economic trends on the market. In relation to some measures in force, the classification was adapted in order to allow industry to fully benefit from the suspensions in force. Moreover, the Annex to Regulation (EU) No 1387/2013 was updated in order to take into account the need to align or clarify texts in some cases. The modified conditions relate to changes in the product description, classification, duty rates or end-use requirements. Moreover, in the light of the agreement in the form of the Declaration on the Expansion of Trade in Information Technology ProductsOJ L 161, 18.6.2016, p. 4. and the changes in the Combined Nomenclature set out in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1821Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1821 of 6 October 2016 amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff (OJ L 294, 28.10.2016, p. 1)., 441 items should be amended. The suspensions in respect of which modifications are necessary should be deleted from the list of suspensions in the Annex to Regulation (EU) No 1387/2013, and the modified suspensions should be inserted into that list.(3)It is also necessary, in the interest of the Union, to amend the end date for the mandatory review of 206 products listed in the Annex to Regulation (EU) No 1387/2013 in order to allow duty-free imports beyond that date. The autonomous CCT duty suspensions for those products have been reviewed and new revised dates should be set for their next mandatory review.(4)It is no longer in the interest of the Union to maintain the suspension of autonomous CCT duties for 18 of the products that are listed in the Annex to Regulation (EU) No 1387/2013. Moreover, according to the Communication from the Commission concerning autonomous tariff suspensions and quotasOJ C 363, 13.12.2011, p. 6. ("the Commission Communication"), for administrative and financial reasons, requests where the amount of uncollected customs duty is estimated to be less than EUR 15000 per year cannot be taken into consideration. The mandatory review of the existing suspensions has indicated that imports in relation to 71 suspensions do not reach that threshold. Those suspensions should therefore be deleted from that Annex. In addition, 27 suspensions should be deleted from that Annex as a result of the agreement in the form of the Declaration on the Expansion of Trade in Information Technology Products, which reduced the duty rate for the products concerned to zero.(5)In the interests of clarity, and taking into account the number of amendments to be made, the Annex to Regulation (EU) No 1387/2013 should be replaced.(6)Regulation (EU) No 1387/2013 should therefore be amended accordingly.(7)In order to avoid any interruption of the application of the autonomous suspensions scheme and to comply with the rules set out in the Commission Communication, the changes regarding the suspensions for the products concerned provided for in this Regulation have to apply from 1 January 2017. Therefore, this Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency,HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: