Council Regulation (EC) No 1528/2007 (repealed)Dangos y teitl llawn

CHAPTER IV GENERAL SAFEGUARD PROVISIONS

Article 11 Definitions

For the purposes of this Chapter:

(a)

‘Community industry’ shall mean the Community producers as a whole of the like or directly competitive products operating within the territory of the Community, or those Community producers whose collective output of the like or directly competitive product constitutes a major proportion of the total Community production of those products;

(b)

‘serious injury’ shall mean a significant overall impairment in the position of Community producers;

(c)

‘threat of serious injury’ shall mean serious injury that is clearly imminent;

(d)

‘disturbances’ shall mean disorders in a sector or industry;

(e)

‘threat of disturbances’ shall mean disturbances that are clearly imminent.

Article 12 Principles

1. A safeguard measure may be imposed in accordance with the provisions set out in this Chapter where products originating in regions or states listed in Annex I are being imported in the Community in such increased quantities and under such conditions as to cause or threaten to cause any of the following:

(a) serious injury to the Community industry;

(b) disturbances in a sector of the economy, particularly where those disturbances produce major social problems or difficulties which could bring about serious deterioration in the economic situation of the Community; or

(c) disturbances in the markets of agricultural products covered by Annex I of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture or mechanisms regulating those markets.

2. In cases where products originating in regions or states listed in Annex I are being imported into the Community in such increased quantities and under such conditions as to cause or threaten to cause disturbances in the economic situation of one or several of the Community's outermost regions, a safeguard measure may be imposed in accordance with the provisions set out in this Chapter.

Article 13 Determination of the conditions to impose safeguard measures

1. The determination of serious injury or a threat thereof shall cover inter alia the following factors:

(a) the volume of imports, in particular where there has been a significant increase, either in absolute terms or relative to production or consumption in the Community;

(b) the price of imports, in particular where there has been a significant price undercutting as compared with the price of a like product in the Community;

(c) the consequent impact on Community producers as indicated by trends in certain economic factors such as production, capacity utilisation, stocks, sales, market share, the depression of prices or prevention of price increases which would normally have occurred, profits, return on capital employed, cash flow, and employment;

(d) factors other than trends in imports which are causing or may have caused injury to the Community producers concerned.

2. The determination of disturbances or a threat thereof shall be based on objective factors, including the following elements:

(a) the increase in the volume of imports in absolute or relative terms to Community production and to imports from other sources; and

(b) the effect of such imports on prices; or

(c) the effect of such imports on the situation of the Community industry or the economic sector concerned, including inter alia on the levels of sales, production, financial situation and employment.

3. In determining whether imports are made under such conditions as to cause or threaten to cause disturbances in the markets of agricultural products or mechanisms regulating those markets, including regulations creating Common Market Organisations, all relevant objective factors must be taken into consideration, including one or more of the following elements:

(a) the volume of imports as compared to previous calendar or marketing years' levels, as the case may be, internal production and consumption, and future levels planned in accordance with the reform of the Common Market Organisations;

(b) the level of internal prices compared to the reference or target prices if applicable, and, if not applicable, compared to the average internal market prices during the same period of previous marketing years;

(c) as of 1 October 2015, in the markets for products of tariff heading 1701: situations where the Community average market price of white sugar falls during two consecutive months below 80 % of the average Community market price for white sugar prevailing during the previous marketing year.

4. In determining whether the conditions referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 are met in the case of the Community's outermost regions, the analyses shall be restricted to the territory of the outermost region(s) concerned. Particular attention shall be paid to the size of the local industry, its financial situation and the situation of employment.

Article 14 Initiation of proceedings

1. An investigation shall be initiated upon request by a Member State or on the Commission's own initiative if it is apparent to the Commission that there is sufficient evidence to justify such initiation.

2. The Member States shall inform the Commission should trends in imports from any of the regions or states listed in Annex I appear to call for safeguard measures. That information shall include the evidence available, as determined on the basis of the criteria laid down in Article 13. The Commission shall pass that information on to all Member States within three working days.

3. Consultation with the Member States shall take place within eight working days of the Commission's sending the information to Member States as provided for in paragraph 2. Where, after consultation, it is apparent that there is sufficient evidence to justify the initiation of a proceeding, the Commission shall publish a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union. Initiation shall take place within one month of the receipt of information from a Member State.

4. If, after consulting the Member States, the Commission takes the view that the circumstances set out in Article 12 exist, it shall immediately notify the region or states listed in Annex I concerned of its intention to initiate an investigation. The notification may be accompanied by an invitation for consultations with the aim of clarifying the situation and arriving at a mutually satisfactory solution.

Article 15 The investigation

1. Following the initiation of the proceeding, the Commission shall commence an investigation.

2. The Commission may request Member States to supply information and Member States shall take whatever steps are necessary in order to give effect to any such request. Where that information is of general interest or where its transmission was requested by a Member State, the Commission shall forward it to all Member States provided it is not confidential; if it is confidential the Commission shall forward a non-confidential summary.

3. In the event of an investigation restricted to an outermost region, the Commission may request the competent local authorities to supply the information referred to in paragraph 2 via the Member State concerned.

4. The investigation shall, whenever possible, be concluded within six months of the initiation of the investigation. In exceptional circumstances, that time limit may be extended by a further period of three months.

Article 16 Imposition of provisional safeguard measures

1. Provisional safeguard measures shall be applied in critical circumstances where a delay would cause damage which it would be difficult to repair, pursuant to a preliminary determination that circumstances set out in Article 12 as appropriate exist. The Commission shall take such provisional measures after consultation with Member States or, in cases of extreme urgency, after informing the Member States. In the latter case, consultation shall take place within ten days of notification of the Member States of the action taken by the Commission.

2. In view of the particular situation of outermost regions and their vulnerability to any surge in imports, provisional safeguard measures shall be applied in proceedings that concern them where a preliminary determination has shown that imports have increased. In that case, the Commission shall inform Member States upon taking the measures and consultation shall take place within ten days of notification of the Member States of the action taken by the Commission.

3. Where a Member State requests immediate intervention by the Commission and where the conditions in paragraph 1 or 2 are met, the Commission shall take a decision within five working days of receiving the request.

4. The Commission shall immediately inform the Council and the Member States of any decision taken under paragraphs 1, 2 and 3. The Council, acting by a qualified majority, may decide differently within one month of having been informed by the Commission pursuant to this paragraph.

5. Provisional measures may take the form of an increase in the customs duty on the product concerned up to a level which does not exceed the customs duty applied to other WTO members, or tariff quotas.

6. Provisional measures shall not apply for more than 180 days. Where provisional measures are restricted to outermost regions, they may not apply for more than 200 days.

7. Should the provisional safeguard measures be repealed because the investigation shows that the conditions laid down in Articles 12 and 13 are not met, any duty collected as a result of those provisional measures shall be refunded automatically.

Article 17 Termination of investigation and proceeding without measures

Where bilateral safeguard measures are deemed unnecessary and there is no objection within the Advisory Committee referred to in Article 21, the investigation and proceeding shall be terminated by Commission decision. In all other cases, the Commission shall immediately submit to the Council a report on the results of the consultation, together with a proposal for a Council Regulation terminating the proceeding. The proceeding shall be deemed terminated if, within one month, the Council acting by qualified majority has not decided otherwise.

Article 18 Imposition of definitive measures

1. Where the facts as finally established show that the circumstances set out in Article 12, as appropriate, are met, the Commission shall request consultations with the region or state concerned meeting in the context of the appropriate institutional arrangement set up in the relevant agreements permitting a region or state to be included in Annex 1 with a view to seeking a mutually acceptable solution.

2. If the consultations referred to in paragraph 1 do not lead to a mutually satisfactory solution within thirty days of the matter's being referred to the region or state concerned, a decision to impose definitive bilateral safeguard measures shall be taken by the Commission, in consultation with Member States, within twenty working days of the end of the consultation period.

3. Any decision taken by the Commission pursuant to this Article shall be communicated to the Council and Member States. Any Member State may, within ten working days of such communication, refer the decision to the Council.

4. If a Member State refers the Commission's decision to the Council, the Council, acting by a qualified majority, may confirm, amend or revoke the decision. If within one month of the referral of the matter the Council has not taken a decision, the decision taken by the Commission shall be deemed confirmed.

5. Definitive measures may take one of the following forms:

• a suspension of the further reduction of the rate of import duty for the product concerned originating in the region or state concerned;

• an increase in the customs duty on the product concerned up to a level which does not exceed the customs duty applied to other WTO members;

• a tariff quota.

6. No bilateral safeguard measure shall be applied on the same product from the same region or state less than one year after previous such measures have lapsed or been removed.

Article 19 Duration and review of safeguard measures

1. A safeguard measure shall remain in force only for such period of time as may be necessary to prevent or remedy the serious injury or disturbances. That period shall not exceed two years, unless it is extended under paragraph 2. Where the measure is restricted to one or several of the outermost region(s) of the Community, the period of application may not exceed four years.

2. The initial period of duration of a safeguard measure may exceptionally be extended provided it is determined that the safeguard measure continues to be necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury or disturbances.

3. Extensions shall be adopted in accordance with the procedures of this Regulation applying to investigations and using the same procedures as the initial measures.

The total duration of a safeguard measure may not exceed four years, including any provisional measure. In the case of a measure restricted to outermost regions, that limit shall be extended to eight years.

4. If the duration of a safeguard measure exceeds one year, it shall be progressively liberalised at regular intervals during its period of application, including any extension.

Consultations with the region or state concerned shall be held periodically in the relevant institutional bodies of the agreements, with a view to establishing a timetable for their abolition as soon as circumstances permit.

Article 20 Surveillance measures

1. Where the trend in imports of a product originating in an ACP State is such that they could cause one of the situations referred to in Article 12, imports of that product may be subject to prior Community surveillance.

2. The decision to impose surveillance shall be taken by the Commission.

Any decision taken by the Commission pursuant to this Article shall be communicated to the Council and Member States. Any Member State may, within ten working days of such communication, refer the decision to the Council.

If a Member State refers the Commission's decision to the Council, the Council, acting by a qualified majority, may confirm, amend or revoke the decision. If within one month of the referral of the matter, the Council has not taken a decision, the decision taken by the Commission shall be deemed confirmed.

3. Surveillance measures shall have a limited period of validity. Unless otherwise provided, they shall cease to be valid at the end of the second six-month period following the first six months after the measures were introduced.

4. Surveillance measures may be restricted to the territory of one or more Community outermost region(s) where necessary.

5. The decision to impose surveillance measures shall be communicated immediately to the appropriate institutional body set up in the relevant agreements permitting a region or state to be included in Annex I for information.

Article 21 Consultations

The competent consultative committee for the purposes of this Chapter shall be the Advisory Committee provided for in Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 3285/94 of 22 December 1994 on the common rules for imports(1). In the case of products falling under CN code 1701, the competent committee shall be assisted by the committee established pursuant to Article 39 of Regulation (EC) No 318/2006.

Article 22 Exceptional measures with limited territorial application

Where it emerges that the conditions laid down for the adoption of bilateral safeguard measures are met in one or more Member States, the Commission may, after having examined alternative solutions, exceptionally, and in accordance with Article 134 of the Treaty, authorise the application of surveillance or safeguard measures restricted to the Member State or Member States concerned if it considers that such measures applied at that level are more appropriate than measures applied throughout the Community. Those measures must be strictly limited in time and must disrupt the operation of the internal market as little as possible.

(1)

OJ L 349, 31.12.1994, p. 53. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2200/2004 (OJ L 374, 22.12.2004, p. 1).