10. 3. 94 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 66/7 COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 521/94 of 7 March 1994 on the introduction of time limits for investigation procedures carried out against dumped or subsidized imports from countries not members of the European Community and amending Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 113 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Whereas the common commercial policy must be based on uniform principles, in particular with regard to commercial defence; Whereas instruments of commercial defence, in particular in respect of unfair trade practices, are an indispensable complement to an open market and fair trading system, thus contributing to the harmonious development of world trade ; : Whereas, to this end Council Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88 of 11 July 1988 on protection against dumped or subsidized imports from -countries not members of the European Economic Community (') was established ; Whereas the completion of the internal market in 1992 makes it appropriate to improve the functioning of this instrument of commercial defence, in particular in respect of the length of the investigations carried out under this instrument ; ' Whereas it is therefore appropriate and necessary to intro- duce time limits for investigation procedures carried out under Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88; Whereas for complaints lodged against dumped or subs- idized imports it is necessary to set time limits for the initiation of investigations and for the provisional and final determinations; whereas it is also appropriate to ensure that final decisions, either positive or negative, are taken quickly to ensure compliance with international obligations ; Whereas in order that the time limits can be respected, it is essential to provide for sampling where there are a large number of parties involved in an investigation, to clarify the periods within which views and information have to be submitted to the Commission in order for them to be taken into account in the investigation, to define more (") OJ No L 209, 2. 8. 1988, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Re- gulation (EC) No 522/94 (See p. 10 of this Official Journal). precisely the parties which may inspect information available to the Commission and may request to be informed of the essential facts on the basis of which defi- nitive measures are to be proposed and to clarify the consequences of partial or non-cooperation by those parties ; Whereas it is also essential to ensure that consultations with Member States within the Advisory Committee are held in sufficient time to allow the time limits to be respected ; Whereas it is also appropriate to simplify procedures by providing that provisional duties may be imposed for a full six month period rather than for an initial four month period which may then be extended for a further two months ; Whereas review investigations should also be completed expeditiously ; Whereas, in addition, it is imperative to link the imple- mentation of this Regulation to the establishment of the necessary administrative structure within the Commis- sion’s services ; whereas, the Council, therefore, should specify in a decision to be adopted by a qualified majority no later than 1 April 1995, the complaints, proceedings and investigations to which this Regulation will apply, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION : Article 1 Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88 is hereby amended as follows : 1. Article 2 (13), shall be retitled ‘G Averaging Tech- niques’ and the third indent shall be deleted. 2. The following sentence shall be added to Article 5 @): “The complaint shall be deemed to have been lodged on the first working day following its delivery to the Commission by registered mail or the issuing of an acknowledgement of receipt by the Commission. 3. The following shall be added to Article 5 (5) in fine: 3 . within one month of the date on which the complaint is lodged with the Commission.’