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EU quota expansions for Chinese non-textile products enter into force |
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2003-4-2 9:15:00
On 8 March 2003, together with a "transitional" product-specific safeguard mechanism in respect of Chinese imports entering the EU, the Official Journal published Council Regulations 427/ and 428/2003 laying down year-on-year increases in quotas for non-textile products, from 2002 until 2005. Readers should note that the product-specific safeguard mechanism is dealt with in the next report.
Hong Kong and mainland traders will no doubt have been keenly awaiting the automatic quota increases which should have been applied already to 2002 non-textile quotas, and then each year until 2005, as per the Chinese WTO Accession Protocol agreements. The quotas will be abolished thereafter. The Commission had made a formal proposal to introduce these automatic increases as far back as 25 June last year (see: Issue 22/2002 for more details on this matter, and the possible reasons for the delay in adoption). The Member States were finally able to resolve their differences and adopt the automatic quota increases accordingly.
Thus, Council Regulation 427/2003 increases the quantities already allocated through import licences for 2002 and 2003. Moreover, in order to take account of the increase foreseen in the phasing-out timetable, the table at Annex I of the Regulation provides new quota amounts year-on-year, until 2005 (see: table A below, reproducing the figures of Annex I).
Furthermore, Annex II of Regulation 427/2003 provides a table indicating the quota increases on a percentage basis for non-textile quotas for the years 2002 and 2003 (see: table B below). In case Hong Kong and Chinese traders are wondering how the percentage increases are to be applied, given that they have been published after the quotas for 2002 and 2003 have already been allocated, the allocation method for these additional quantities has been established by Council Regulation 428/2003, which entered into force on 9 March 2003.
Regulation 428/2003 states that any importer who has held an import licence for 2002 for the non-textile products listed in Table B below, is entitled to import an additional quantity to the quantity on the licence, as per the percentage amount mentioned in Table B for the various products concerned (i.e. an additional quantity of 10.25%, 15.5% or 32.25% depending on the product and the licence for which it is held).
The competent authorities are required, as a result, to issue an additional licence to importers, for the additional quantities as just mentioned. The additional licence will then be valid until 31 December 2003.
As for any importer who holds an import licence issued for 2003 for any of the non-textile products of Table B below, he is henceforth entitled to an additional quantity to the quantity on his import licence, as per the percentage amount mentioned in Table B for each of the products concerned (i.e. 21.28%, 32.83% and 52.09%). In this regard, the licence holder should present his current licence to the competent authority that issued it. A reference will then be entered thereon. Alternatively, the licence can be cancelled by the authority, and a new one issued, or the authority can issue an additional licence for the above-mentioned additional quantities.
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