COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) No 1344/2011
of 19 December 2011
suspending the autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on certain agricultural, fishery and industrial products and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1255/96
THE 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 production in the European Union of certain agricultural, fishery and industrial products specified in this Regulation is currently inadequate or non-existent and thus, the needs of user industries in the Union cannot be met.
(2)
It is therefore in the interest of the Union to suspend partially or totally the autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties for those products.
(3)
Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/96 of 27 June 1996 temporarily suspending the autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on certain industrial, agricultural and fishery products (1) has been amended many times. In the interest of transparency it should therefore be replaced in its entirety.
(4)
The Regulations suspending the autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on certain industrial, agricultural and fishery products have largely renewed previous measures. Therefore, in the interests of rationalising the implementation of the measures concerned, it is appropriate not to limit the period of validity of this Regulation as its scope can be adapted and products added to or removed from the Annex to this Regulation by means of a Council regulation.
(5)
In view of their temporary nature, the suspensions listed in the Annex to this Regulation should be reviewed systematically, at the latest five years after their application or renewal. Moreover, closure of certain suspensions should be warranted at any time, as a result of a proposal of the Commission on the basis of a review carried out on its own initiative or at the request of one or more Member States if the suspensions are no longer in the Union's interest to be maintained or due to technical product developments, to changed circumstances or to economic trends on the market.
(6)
In accordance with the principle of proportionality, it is necessary and appropriate for the achievement of the basic objectives of this Regulation, namely the improvement of the competitive capacity of the Union industry, thereby enabling the latter to maintain or create employment, modernise their structures, etc., to lay down rules on the suspension of the Common Customs Tariff duties for certain products. In accordance with Article 5(4) of the Treaty on European Union, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve the objectives pursued,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
The autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties for the agricultural, fishery and industrial products listed in the Annex shall be suspended as set out therein.
Article 2
1. The Commission may at any time review the suspensions for the products listed in the Annex in the following cases:
(a)
on its own initiative;
(b)
at the request of one or more Member States.
2. The Commission shall carry out a mandatory review of the suspensions in the year set out in the Annex.
3. For the purpose of the review the Commission shall be assisted by a group of experts from the Member States.
Article 3
Where the Commission considers, on the basis of the review provided for in Article 2, that a suspension for a certain product is to be changed or terminated, it shall submit to the Council a proposal to amend the list set out in the Annex accordingly.
Article 4
Regulation (EC) No 1255/96 is hereby repealed.
Article 5
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 1 January 2012.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 19 December 2011.