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APPENDIX IIEuropean Communities (Surveillance of Certain Twine, Cordage, Ropes and Cables Imports) Regulations, 1979 [S.I. No. 144 of 1979]An Rúnaí, An Roinn Tionscail, Tráchtála agus Fuinnimh. I am directed by the Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Secondary Legislation of the European Communities to refer to the European Communities (Surveillance of Certain Twine, Cordage, Ropes and Cables Imports) Regulations, 1979 [S.I. No. 144 of 1979] and to request you to be good enough to reply to the following questions for the information of the Joint Committee:— (1) Is the surveillance being effected under paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 of Article 9 of Regulation 1439/74/EEC? (2) Is the surveillance confined to products originating in the third countries listed in Annex II of Regulation 1439/74/EEC and, if so, why is the issue of import document not so confined in Regulation 3 of S.I. No. 144 of 1979? (3) In view of the final sentence of Article 39.1 of the Act of Accession why is the customs tariff regarded as governed by S.I. No. 220 of 1972 and not by Council Regulation No. 2800/78? M. G. KILROY, Cléireach an Chomhchoiste. 9 Bealtaine, 1979. Cléireach an Chomhchoiste faoi Reachtaíocht Thánaisteach na gComhphobal Eorpach. I am directed by the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy to refer to your minute, (EC 4/17) of 9th May, 1979 regarding the European Communities (Surveillance of Certain Twine, Cordage, Ropes and Cables Imports) Regulations, 1979 [S.I. No. 144 of 1979] and to reply to your Committee’s questions as follows:— (1) The surveillance was introduced in accordance with Article 9 (2) of Regulation 1439/74/EEC. (2) The surveillance is not confined to products originating in the third countries listed in Annex II of Regulation 1439/74/EEC. (3) The nomenclature and not the tariff is concerned here. The surveillance applies to goods of particular classifications. These are set out in the Customs Tariff of Ireland which incorporates the official statistical classifications for external trade. The statutory basis for this is S.I. No. 220 of 1972, as amended by any subsequent Act, Order or EEC Regulation. S.I. No. 220 of 1972, as amended, is accordingly referred to in relation to the classifications encompassed by the surveillance Regulations. (The current amendment, for nomenclature purposes, to S.I. No. 220 of 1972 is Commission Regulation No. 2915/78. That Regulation relates directly to, and arises out of, Council Regulation No. 2800/78, to which your minute refers). P. FAGAN. 5 Meitheamh, 1979. An Rúnaí, An Roinn Tionscail, Tráchtála agus Fuinnimh. I am directed by Senator Alexis FitzGerald, Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Secondary Legislation of the European Communities to refer to previous correspondence (Your ref: INS 73) regarding the European Communities (Surveillance of Certain Twine, Cordage, Ropes and Cables Imports) Regulations, 1979 [S.I. No. 144 of 1979]. I am to state that Mr. Fagan’s minute of 5 Meitheamh, 1979 has been examined by a Sub-Committee of the Joint Committee. Arising out of that examination I have been directed to ask you for a further memorandum clarifying the following points:— (1) The surveillance to which S.I. No. 144 of 1979 relates was introduced in accordance with Article 9 (2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1439/74 which is to be found in Title III of the Regulation. Title III would appear, by virtue of Article 7 (1), to be concerned exclusively with the surveillance of products originating in countries listed in Annex II of the Regulation. It is not clear, therefore, why it is considered to be within the powers conferred on the Minister by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 to effect, by means of a statutory instrument giving effect to the Council Regulation, surveillance of products not originating in the countries listed in Annex II thereof. (2) By virtue of Article 39 (4) of the Act of Accession Ireland was obliged to apply the Common Customs Tariff nomenclature from the date of accession but the new Member States were allowed to “include within this nomenclature existing national subdivisions which are indispensable in order that progressive alignment of their customs duties with those in the Common Customs Tariff be carried out under the conditions laid down in this Act.”. As Article 39 (1) obliged Ireland to apply in full the Common Customs Tariff from 1 July, 1977 it is not clear how the nomenclature can still be governed, at least in part, by national legislation. M. G. KILROY, Cléireach an Chomhchoiste. 7 Samhain, 1979. Cléireach an Chomhchoiste faoi Reachtaíocht Thánaisteach na gComhphobal Eorpach. I am directed by the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy to refer to your minute (EC 4/17) of 7th November, 1979 regarding the European Communities (Surveillance of Certain Twine, Cordage, Ropes and Cables Imports) Regulations, 1979 [S.I. No. 144 of 1979] and to reply to the points referred to by your Sub-Committee as follows. Part 2 of the reply has been supplied by the Revenue Commission. (1) The products with which Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1439/74 deals are listed in Annex I to that Regulation. The products to which S.I. No. 144 of 1979 refers are included in that Annex. The Surveillance was introduced because of developments on the market in respect of those products originating in Portugal, which is one of the third countries listed in Annex II. S.I. No. 144 of 1979 derives from and extends product-wise Ministerial Regulations made in 1975 imposing surveillance on imports of harvest twine. It appears to have been assumed by the Department at that time that surveillance on imports from all third countries (including state trading countries) could be imposed under Regulation 1439/74 and this is a possible interpretation of Articles 7 (1) and 9 of that Regulation. At all events, if this interpretation is incorrect, there is no other EEC Regulation under which national surveillance can be imposed against imports from State trading countries since there is no provision in the companion Regulation relating to state trading countries for the introduction of national surveillance. Regulation 1439/74 has since been replaced by Regulation 926/79 and in accordance with Article 7 (3) of the latter, the Ministerial Regulations under discussion will cease to be valid after 30th June next. In connection with the making of new Regulations it is intended to take legal advice on the point raised by your Committee. Any suggestion made by your Committee in the matter will, of course, also be taken into account. At the practical level it should be mentioned that since the Ministerial Regulations were introduced in 1975 there is no record of any applications in respect of imports from state trading countries. (2) (i)Ireland was obliged from the date of Accession to adopt the CCT Nomenclature. This CCT nomenclature was, in fact, an integral part of S.I. No. 220 of 1972. (ii)On 1st July, 1977, the Office of the Revenue Commissioners eliminated some 2,300 national subdivisions on full alignment of the Irish rates of duty with those of the CCT except in the case of certain horticultural goods. This elimination was done as a significant step in the simplification of the Irish Tariff and in the harmonisation of its structure with the structure of the Tariffs of other Member States. Ireland was not obliged to remove these national subdivisions on 1st July, 1977 but it was absolutely essential to maintain most of them up to then to facilitate the progressive alignment of the Irish rates with the CCT. The Irish rates were based on the 1st January, 1972 rates of a different structured Irish tariff. (iii)On 1st January, 1978, on the full alignment of certain horticultural goods (see Article 59.1 (b) of the Treaty) and on the commencement of a new statistical year, the Office of the Revenue Commissioners eliminated almost a further 900 national subdivisions. At the same time they completed codification of the Irish Tariff to align fully with the Official Statistical Classification for External Trade (NIMEXE) codification. From that date onwards the first 6 digits of Irish Tariff Code Numbers corresponded with the first 6 digits in the tariff codes of all Member States except Denmark. (Denmark will be fully aligned also on and from 1 January, 1980). The seventh digit in the Irish Tariff is now generally used for national subdivisions. The number of codes which stood at almost 11,000 on 1st January, 1973 was reduced to 7,500 approximately in order to provide for more efficient administration. (iv)The Irish Tariff still maintains almost 300 national subdivisions to cater mainly for goods subject to excise duties, e.g. goods suitable for incorporation in motor vehicles. S.I. No. 220 is also used for classification purposes, e.g. Additional Note (Ireland) to Chapter 87 is a basis for interpretation and, accordingly, as regards duty payable. (v)S.I. No. 220, as amended, has not been revoked. P. FAGAN. 15 Eanáir, 1980. |
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