23.7.2011 Official Journal of the European Union L 1931 (Legislative acts) | DECISIONS COUNCIL DECISION No 448/2011/EU of 19 July 2011 amending Decision 2004/162/EC as regards the products that may benefit from exemption from or a reduction in dock dues THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 349 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments, Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament ('), Acting in accordance with a special legislative procedure, Whereas: 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 (?) authorises the French authorities to apply exemptions from or reductions in the dock dues tax for the products listed in the Annex thereto. The maximum permitted tax differential is, depending on the products and the overseas department in question, 10, 20 or 30 percentage points. In accordance with the second paragraph of Article 4 of Decision 2004/162/EC, on 31 July 2008 the French authorities presented to the Commission a report on the application of the taxation arrangements provided for in that Decision. On 22 December 2008 a supplement was submitted, and the further information requested by the Commission on 15 April 2009 was sent () Opinion of 5 June 2011 (not yet published in the Official Journal). () OJ L 52, 21.2.2004, p. 64. () to it on 16 April 2010. The report from the French authorities included a request for the list of products to which differentiated taxation may be applied to be adapted for French Guiana. On the basis of the report from the French authorities, the Commission presented to the Council the report provided for in the third paragraph of Article 4 of Decision 2004/162/EC and a proposal for amendments to that Decision. The proposals concern either the four DOMs or French Guiana specifically. It should first be noted that there is no longer any local production of certain products in the DOM concerned, and the French authorities no longer apply differentiated taxation to certain other products because those produced locally are now at a price equivalent to that of products from outside the DOM. Those products should therefore be removed from the lists in the Annex to Decision 2004/162/EC. This is the case in Guadeloupe for margarine (product 1517 10 (°) and for pebbles, gravel, etc. (product 2517 10). In the case of Martinique the products concerned are anti-freezing preparations and prepared de-icing liquids (product 3820), margarine (product 1517 10) and certain acids (product 2811). Lastly, the products concerned in the case of Réunion are soya-bean oil (product 1507 90), certain  olive oils (product 151000 90), certain chemical ~ products  (products 2828 1000  and 2828 9000) and certain  photographic materials (product 3705 10 00). Secondly, the tax differential actually applied is, for a limited number of products, significantly below the maximum authorised. The maximum differential auth- orised for these products should therefore be reduced as there is no specific reason to believe that an increase in the existing tax differential may become necessary in the near future. For Guadeloupe, the (®) According to the classification of the Common Customs Tariff nomenclature.