13.6.2008 Official Journal of the European Union L 155/17 COUNCIL COUNCIL DECISION of 9 June 2008 amending Decision 2004/162/EC concerning dock dues in the French overseas departments (Only the French text is authentic) (2008/439[EC) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Decision 2004/162/EC of 10 February 2004 concerning the dock dues in the French overseas departments and extending the period of validity of Decision 89/688/EEC ('), and in particular Article 3 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Whereas: (1) Decision 2004/162EC authorises the French authorities to apply exemptions or reductions to dock dues for products manufactured locally in the French overseas departments and listed in its Annex. Depending on the products and on the overseas department in question the maximum permitted tax differential is 10, 20 or 30 percentage points. That Decision provides for the updating of the lists of products in the Annex thereto because of the emergence of new production in the French overseas departments and of the taking of urgent measures if local production is threatened by certain commercial practices. The French authorities have submitted a request to the Commission to update the lists of products eligible for differential taxation through the addition of new products. For each of the products involved, the French authorities’ request has been examined in the light of the conditions set by Decision 2004/162/EC. These new products result from production activities that emerged in French Guyana only subsequent to the French auth- orities’ request dated 14 March 2003 which gave rise to Decision 2004/162/EC. It was not, therefore, possible to include these products in the list of products set out in () O] L 52, 21.2.2004, p. 64. the Annex to that Decision. One of the two alternative conditions set out in Article 3 of that Decision is therefore satisfied. The handicap suffered by these new products in comparison with imported products, because of the higher costs of production born by the (often very small) businesses with production activities in French Guyana should therefore be examined. These higher costs are caused, inter alia, by the remoteness, the difficult climate and the small scale of the local market. Remoteness results in high transport costs and, due to delivery times, forces businesses to maintain bigger stocks of raw materials and spare parts to repair the machines used in manufacturing. Similarly, a conse- quence of the small scale of the local market is that often the production facilities are on a larger scale than is needed for the quantities produced. The French auth- orities have put a figure on the handicap suffered by each category of products manufactured locally on the basis of the factors relevant to each of them. In October 2003 a new business was set up and started production of yogurt and other dairy products such as curd cheese (heading 0403 including subheadings 0403 10 and 0403 90 according to the classification of the Common Customs Tariff nomenclature). However, only production of yogurt (heading 0403 10 according to the classification of the Common Customs Tariff nomenclature) was envisaged at the time of the initial request, which was prior to the beginning of production activity. It transpires that the activity conducted by the business also includes products under heading 0403 90. According to the information submitted by the French authorities, the cost price of the products in question produced locally is more than 20 % higher than that of the similar products imported from elsewhere. In order to compensate for the handicap suffered by this new local production, heading 0403 90 should, in respect of French Guyana, be included in part B of the Annex to Decision 2004/162[EC, which sets out the list of local products eligible for a tax differential of 20 percentage points in comparison to products not produced in French overseas departments.