Report from the Commission to the Council - Application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1522/96 opening and providing for the administration of certain tariff quotas for imports of rice and broken rice under GATT Article XXIV (6)
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES Brussels, 19. 01. 1998 COM(1998) 12 final REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL Application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1522/96 opening and providing for the administration of certain tariff quotas for imports of rice and broken rice under GATT Article XXIV (6). 1. Introduction Under the negotiations conducted pursuant to GATT Article XXI V(6) in the wake of the accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden to the European Union, it was agreed to open from 1 January 1996 annual import quotas for 63 000 tonnes of semi-milled and wholly milled rice at zero duty and for 20 000 tonnes of husked rice at a fixed duty of ECU 88 per tonne. Under the consultations with Thailand pursuant to GATT Article XXIII, an annual quota for 80 000 tonnes of broken rice at an import duty reduced by ECU 28 per tonne was opened from 1 January 1996. The arrangements for managing these quotas were laid down by Council Regulation (EC) No 1522/96. • The quotas are broken down by country of origin and, in order to prevent them causing disturbance in the normal marketing of Community-grown rice, the issue of import licences is staggered over the year in a number of tranches so that the quantities imported can be absorbed more easily by the Community market. Management of the quotas for imports from Thailand, Australia and the United States is the responsibility of the supplier countries acting by means of export licences. The Commission, pursuant to Article 9(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1522/96, is required make an annual report to the Council on the application of the Regulation, and in particular on compliance with the maximum quantity of 33 428 tonnes of rice imported in small packages, any changes in flows of trade with the Community and the risk of cross-subsidy between exports to the Community benefiting directly from Regulation (EEC) No 1522/96 and exports subject to the normal duties on imports. OJNoL 190, 31. 7. 1996. p. 1. The measures proposed by the Commission were no! in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Cereals as regards imports in small packages (5 kilograms or less) and the risk of cross-subsidy In accordance with Article 23(3) of Regulation (liliC) No 1766/92, the Council therefore took a different decision. The quota allocated to the United States has not yet been opened. Under Article 1(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1522/96 import quotas cannot be opened for wholly milled or semi- milled rice originating in the United States until consultations with that country have been completed. However, although consultations are still in progress, a quota equivalent to one year's quantity was opened in December 1997 but no rice had yet been imported at the time of writing. 2. Small packages The quantities imported in packages of five kilograms or less are entered on the relevant import licence (Article 9(3)). The Member States are required to notify the Commission "by the last working day of each month following the month of release for free circulation, of the quantities, broken down by CN code and country of origin, actually released for free circulation. " (Article 8(b)) According to the information sent by the Member States to the Commission, the quantity of rice in small packages imported during the first year of application of this Regulation (August 1996 to July 1997) was 1 940 tonnes, well below the 33 428 tonnes allowed. The Annex shows the imports into the Community of small packages broken down by country of origin. 3. Cross-subsidy During the first year of application of the Regulation, the Commission received no proof of cross-subsidy. The Thai authorities issue export licences on the basis of past exports to the rest of the world, excluding the European Union. 4. Flows of trade with the Community Applications for import licences submitted in 1996 and 1997 for rice originating in Thailand and Australia did not exceed the maximum quantities laid down in the quotas This meant that, in terms of compliance with quantities, the management of export licences by those supplier countries did not give rise to complications. As regards the quantities allocated to Thailand in 1996 and 1997, it may be noted that the annual quantities of I 812 tonnes of husked rice and 21 455 tonnes of wholly milled or semi-milled rice were almost fully used while the quota of 3 I 200 tonnes of broken rice was not filled. In January 1997, in order to take account of certain administrative problems experienced by Thailand in managing the quota for broken rice, a supplementary tranche of almost 12 500 tonnes of broken rice was granted to that country. That tranche has not been fully used. The 1996 and 1997 quotas allocated to Australia resulted in the issue of import licences for all the quantities available. Regulation (EC) No 1522/96 - Article 9(2) Packages of 5 kg or less: maximum (t) Total notified to date (t): 33 428 1 940 Member States CN code Origin Date Tonnes Sweden Sweden Portugal Portugal France France Sweden UK UK UK France France France France Sweden Sweden Sweden 1006 30 1006 40 1006 20 1006 30 1006 40 1006 30 1006 30 1006 30 1006 30 1006 40 1006 40 1006 40 1006 30 1006 40 1006 30 1006 30 1006 30 Thailand Thailand Argentina Argentina Thailand Thailand Thailand Thailand India Thailand Thailand Thailand Thailand Thailand Thailand Thailand Thailand 17 October 1996 17 October 1996 29 October 1996 29 October 1996 December 1996 January 1997 January 1997 May 1997 May 1997 June 1997 July 1997 April 1997 April 1997 April 1997 539 020 163. 200 17. 560 61. 868 20. 000 10. 500 94. 043 26. 510 10. 000 20. 000 19 500 : i ooo 378 000 20. 000 2 13 000 25 500 300 600 ISSN 0254-1475 COM(98) 12 final DOCUMENTS EN 03 11 Catalomie number : CB-CO-98-0(K)-KN-C SBN l)2-7S-3()()92-() Office for Official Publications oi Mic Kuropcan Communities 1. -^l)S> Luxembourg