Commission Regulation (EC) No 2331/2003

of 23 December 2003

implementing Article 12 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2501/2001 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences for the period 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2004 and amending that Regulation

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2501/2001 of 10 December 2001 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences for the period 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2004(1), and in particular Article 12 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) The tariff preferences provided for in Articles 7 and 10 of Regulation (EC) No 2501/2001 should be removed in respect of products, originating in a beneficiary country, of a sector which has met, during three consecutive years, either of the criteria laid down in Article 12(1) of that Regulation.

(2) Tariff preferences which had been removed under previous schemes and under Council Regulation (EC) No 815/2003(2), should be re-established in respect of a sector that has not met, during three consecutive years, the criteria laid down in Article 12(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2501/2001.

(3) The condition in Article 12(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2501/2001, whereby paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 12 do not apply to beneficiary countries whose exports to the Community account for less than the threshold mentioned in that condition, has been met by Argentina, Iran and Uruguay.

(4) Tariff preferences which had been removed under previous schemes and under Regulation (EC) No 815/2003, should be re-established in respect of sectors of all beneficiary countries whose exports to the Community account for less than the threshold mentioned in Article 12(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2501/2001.

(5) The most recent and complete statistics, which are those for the years 1999 to 2001, should be used in order to establish which sectors meet the conditions laid down in Regulation (EC) No 2501/2001.

(6) Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 2501/2001 should be replaced in order to reflect the removal or re-establishment of tariff preferences provided for in Articles 7 and 10.

(7) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Generalised Preferences Committee,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1 U.K.

1. The tariff preferences provided for in Articles 7 and 10 of Regulation (EC) No 2501/2001 shall be removed according to Article 12(1) of that Regulation in respect of products originating in the beneficiary countries listed in Annex I to this Regulation, falling under the sectors mentioned in that Annex alongside each country concerned.

2. The tariff preferences provided for in Articles 7 and 10 of Regulation (EC) No 2501/2001 shall be re-established according to Article 12(2) of that Regulation in respect of products originating in the beneficiary countries listed in Annex II to this Regulation, falling under the sectors mentioned in that Annex alongside each country concerned.

3. The tariff preferences which had been removed under previous schemes and under Regulation (EC) No 815/2003, shall be re-established according to Article 12(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2501/2001 in respect of all beneficiary countries listed in Annex II to this Regulation.

Article 2 U.K.

Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 2501/2001 shall be replaced by the text set out in Annex III to this Regulation.

Article 3 U.K.

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 2005.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 23 December 2003.

For the Commission

Pascal Lamy

Member of the Commission

ANNEX I U.K.

Sectors in respect of which tariff preferences shall be removed

Country code	Beneficiary country	Sector	Description
BR	Brazil	XXXIV	Other base metals and articles of base metal
CN	People's Republic of China	XXV	Jewellery and precious metals
MX	Mexico	XXXI	Automobiles
PK	Pakistan	XXII	Clothing
RU	Russian Federation	XXXIV	Other base metals and articles of base metal
TH	Thailand	XXIV	Glass and ceramic

ANNEX II U.K.

— Sectors in respect of which tariff preferences shall be re-established in application of Article 12(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2501/2001 U.K.

Country code	Beneficiary country	Sector	Description
BR	Brazil	XXIII	Footwear
IN	India	XVII	Leather, raw hides and skins
TH	Thailand	XVIII	Articles of leather and fur skins

— Countries in respect of which all tariff preferences previously removed shall be re-established in application of Article 12(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2501/2001 U.K.

Argentina

Brunei Darussalam

Belarus

Chile

Colombia

Costa Rica

Iran

Kuwait

Macao

Mauritius

Philippines

Ukraine

Uruguay

ANNEX III U.K.

Beneficiary countries and territories of the Community's scheme of generalised tariff preferences

Column A : code according to the nomenclature of countries and territories for the external trade statistics of the Community Column B : name of country Column C : sectors not included in the general arrangements for the beneficiary country concerned (Article 7(7)) Column D : sectors in respect of which tariff preferences have been removed for the beneficiary country concerned (Article 7(8) and Article 10(3)) Column E : countries included in the special incentive arrangements for the protection of labour rights (Title III Section1) Column F : sectors included in these arrangements for the beneficiary country concerned (Article 8(1) and (2)) Column G : countries included in the special incentive arrangements for the protection of the environment (Title III Section 2) Column H : countries included in the special arrangements for least developed countries (Article 9) Column I : countries included in the special arrangements to combat drug production and trafficking (Title IV)
a Beneficiary country without development index.
b Only the products of sector XXVI which are underlined in Annex III are not included for the People's Republic of China, pursuant to Article 7(7).
A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I
AE	United Arab Emirates
AF	Afghanistan						X
AG	Antigua and Barbuda
AI	Anguilla
AM	Armenia	II, XXVI
AN	Netherlands Antilles
AO	Angola						X
AQ	Antarctica
AR	Argentina
AS	American Samoa
AW	Aruba
AZ	Azerbaijan	II, XXVI
BB	Barbados
BD	Bangladesh						X
BF	Burkina Faso						X
BH	Bahrain
BI	Burundi						X
BJ	Benin						X
BM	Bermuda
BN	Brunei Darussalama
BO	Bolivia							X
BR	Brazil		I, VI, IX, XI, XII, XVII, XIX, XX, XXVI, XXXIV
BS	Bahamas
BT	Bhutan						X
BV	Bouvet Island
BW	Botswana
BY	Belarus	II, XXVI
BZ	Belize
CC	Cocos Islands (or Keeling Islands)
CD	Democratic Republic of Congo						X
CF	Central African Republic						X
CG	Congo
CI	Côte d'Ivoire
CK	Cook Islands
CL	Chile
CM	Cameroon
CN	People's Republic of China	XXVIb	III, IV, VIII, XIV, XVI, XVIII, XX, XXII, XXIII, XXIV, XXV, XXVII, XXVIII, XXIX, XXXII, XXXIII
CO	Colombia							X
CR	Costa Rica							X
CU	Cuba
CV	Cape Verde						X
CX	Christmas Islands
DJ	Djibouti						X
DM	Dominica
DO	Dominican Republic
DZ	Algeria
EC	Ecuador							X
EG	Egypt
ER	Eritrea						X
ET	Ethiopia						X
FJ	Fiji
FK	Falklands Islands
FM	Federated States of Micronesia
GA	Gabon
GD	Grenada
GE	Georgia	II, XXVI
GH	Ghana
GI	Gibraltar
GL	Greenland	II
GM	Gambia						X
GN	Guinea						X
GQ	Equatorial Guinea						X
GS	South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands
GT	Guatemala							X
GU	Guam
GW	Guinea-Bissau						X
GY	Guyana
HM	Heard Island and McDonald Islands
HN	Honduras							X
HT	Haiti						X
ID	Indonesia		X, XIX, XXIII
IN	India		XVIII, XXI
IO	British Indian Ocean Territory
IQ	Iraq
IR	Iran (Islamic Republic of)
JM	Jamaica
JO	Jordan
KE	Kenya
KG	Kyrgyzstan	II, XXVI
KH	Cambodia						X
KI	Kiribati						X
KM	Comoros						X
KN	St Kitts and Nevis
KW	Kuwait
KY	Cayman Islands
KZ	Kazakhstan	II, XXVI
LA	Lao People's Democratic Republic						X
LB	Lebanon
LC	St Lucia
LK	Sri Lanka
LR	Liberia						X
LS	Lesotho						X
LY	Libyan Arab Jamahiriyaa		XIII
MA	Morocco		XV
MD	Moldova (Republic of)	II, XXVI		X	All except II and XXVI
MG	Madagascar						X
MH	Marshall Islands
ML	Mali						X
MM	Myanmar						X
MN	Mongolia
MO	Macao
MP	Northern Mariana Islands
MR	Mauritania						X
MS	Montserrat
MU	Mauritius
MV	Maldives						X
MW	Malawi						X
MX	Mexico		XI, XIV, XXIV, XXVI, XXXI
MY	Malaysia		X, XVI, XIX, XXIX
MZ	Mozambique						X
NA	Namibia
NC	New Caledonia
NE	Niger						X
NF	Norfolk Island
NG	Nigeria
NI	Nicaragua							X
NP	Nepal						X
NR	Nauru
NU	Niue Island
OM	Oman
PA	Panama							X
PE	Peru							X
PF	French Polynesia
PG	Papua New Guinea
PH	Philippines
PK	Pakistan		XVII, XVIII, XXI, XXII					X
PM	St Pierre and Miquelon
PN	Pitcairn
PW	Palau
PY	Paraguay
QA	Qatar
RU	Russian Federation	II, XXVI	XIII, XV, XXXIV
RW	Rwanda						X
SA	Saudi Arabia		XIII
SB	Solomon Islands						X
SC	Seychelles
SD	Sudan						X
SH	Santa Helena
SL	Sierra Leone						X
SN	Senegal						X
SO	Somalia						X
SR	Suriname
ST	São Tomé and Príncipe						X
SV	El Salvador							X
SY	Syrian Arab Republic
SZ	Swaziland
TC	Turks and Caicos Islands
TD	Chad						X
TF	French Southern territories
TG	Togo						X
TH	Thailand		II, XI, XVI, XXIII, XXIV, XXV, XXIX
TJ	Tajikistan	II, XXVI
TK	Tokelau Islands
TL	East Timor
TM	Turkmenistan	II, XXVI
TN	Tunisia		XV, XXII
TO	Tonga
TT	Trinidad and Tobago
TV	Tuvalu						X
TZ	Tanzania (United Republic of)						X
UA	Ukraine	II, XXVI
UG	Uganda						X
UM	United States Minor outlying islands
UY	Uruguay
UZ	Uzbekistan	II, XXVI
VC	St Vincent and Northern Grenadines
VE	Venezuela							X
VG	Virgin Islands (British)
VI	Virgin Islands (USA)
VN	Vietnam
VU	Vanuatu						X
WF	Wallis and Futuna
WS	Samoa						X
YE	Yemen						X
YT	Mayotte
ZA	South Africa	XXVI
ZM	Zambia						X
ZW	Zimbabwe

(1)

OJ L 346, 31.12.2001, p. 1; Regulation as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 2211/2003 (OJ L 332, 19.12.2003, p. 1).

(2)

OJ L 116, 13.5.2003, p. 3.