Regulation (EEC) No 2842/72 of the Council of 19 December 1972 concluding an Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Republic of Iceland and adopting provisions for its implementation

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 113 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Republic of Iceland signed in Brussels on 22 July 1972 should be concluded and the Declarations annexed to the Final Act, likewise signed in Brussels on 22 July 1972, should be adopted;

Whereas, since the Agreement establishes a Joint Committee, representatives of the Community on this Committee should be appointed;

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

The Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Republic of Iceland, the Annexes and Protocols thereto, and the Declarations annexed to the Final Act are hereby concluded, adopted and confirmed on behalf of the Community.

The texts of the Agreement and of the Final Act are annexed to this Regulation.

Pursuant to Article 37 of the Agreement, the President of the Council of the European Communities shall give notification that the procedures necessary for the entry into force of the Agreement have been completed on the part of the Community.

Within the Joint Committee provided in Article 30 of the Agreement, the Community shall be represented by the Commission, assisted by the representatives of the Member States.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

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

Done at Brussels, 19 December 1972.

THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY,

of the one part, and

THE REPUBLIC OF ICELAND,

of the other part,

DESIRING to consolidate and to extend, upon the enlargement of the European Economic Community, the economic relations existing between the Community and Iceland and to ensure, with due regard for fair conditions of competition, the harmonious development of their commerce for the purpose of contributing to the work of constructing Europe,

RESOLVED to this end to eliminate progressively the obstacles to substantially all their trade, in accordance with the provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade concerning the establishment of free trade areas,

DECLARING their readiness to examine, in the light of any relevant factor, and in particular of developments in the Community, the possibility of developing and deepening their relations where it would appear to be useful in the interests of their economies to extend them to fields not covered by this Agreement,

HAVE DECIDED, in pursuit of these objectives and considering that no provision of this Agreement may be interpreted as exempting the Contracting Parties from the obligations which are incumbent upon them under other international agreements,

TO CONCLUDE THIS AGREEMENT:

The aim of this Agreement is:

(a) to promote through the expansion of reciprocal trade the harmonious development of economic relations between the European Economic Community and the Republic of Iceland and thus to foster in the Community and in Iceland the advance of economic activity, the improvement of living and employment conditions, and increased productivity and financial stability,

(b) to provide fair conditions of competition for trade between the Contracting Parties,

(c) to contribute in this way, by the removal of barriers to trade, to the harmonious development and expansion of world trade.

The Agreement shall apply to products originating in the Community or Iceland:

(i) which fall within Chapters 25 to 99 of the Brussels Nomenclature, excluding the products listed in Annex I;

(ii) which are specified in Protocols Nos 2 and 6, with due regard to the arrangements provided for in those Protocols.

(a) on 1 April 1973 each duty shall be reduced to 80 % of the basic duty;

If, after 1 January 1972, any tariff reductions resulting from the tariff agreements concluded as a result of the Trade Conference held in Geneva from 1964 to 1967 become applicable, such reduced duties shall replace the basic duties referred to in the previous subparagraph.

Subject to the application by the Community of Article 39 (5) of the ‘Act concerning the Conditions of Accession and the Adjustments to the Treaties’ drawn up and adopted within the Conference between the European Communities and the Kingdom of Denmark, Ireland, the Kingdom of Norway and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as regards the specific duties or the specific part of the mixed duties in the Irish Customs Tariff, this Article and Protocol No 1 shall be applied, with rounding to the fourth decimal place.

The Contracting Parties may replace a customs duty of a fiscal nature or the fiscal element of a customs duty by an internal tax.

When production is started in Iceland of a product of like kind to one of those listed in Annex II, the duty to which the latter product is subject must be reduced to the level which would have been reached if that duty had been reduced in accordance with the timetable contained in Article 4 (1) since the entry into force of the Agreement. If in respect of third countries a customs duty lower than the duty of a fiscal nature is introduced, the tariff reductions shall be made on the basis of the former duty.

Subsequent reductions shall be made in accordance with the timetable laid down in Article 4 (1).

Any charge having an effect equivalent to a customs duty on imports, the rate of which on 31 December 1972 is higher than that actually applied on 1 January 1972, shall be reduced to the latter rate upon the entry into force of the Agreement.

(a) by 1 January 1974 at the latest each charge shall be reduced to 60 % of the rate applied on 1 January 1972;

Customs duties on exports and charges having equivalent effect shall be abolished not later than 1 January 1974.

Any changes must not alter the character or aims of the system. The Joint Committee shall be notified beforehand of any changes.

Protocol No 1 lays down the tariff treatment and arrangements applicable to certain products.

Protocol No 2 lays down the tariff treatment and arrangements applicable to certain goods obtained by processing agricultural products.

Protocol No 3 lays down the rules of origin.

A Contracting Party which is considering the reduction of the effective level of its duties or charges having equivalent effect applicable to third countries benefiting from most-favoured-nation treatment, or which is considering the suspension of their application, shall, as far as may be practicable, notify the Joint Committee not less than thirty days before such reduction or suspension comes into effect. It shall take note of any representations by the other Contracting Party regarding any distortions which might result therefrom.

Iceland shall abolish quantitative restrictions on imports and any measures having an effect equivalent to quantitative restrictions on imports not later than 1 January 1975.

In this event the Community shall take due account of the interests of Iceland; to this end it shall inform the Joint Committee, which shall meet under the conditions set out in Article 32.

From 1 July 1977 products originating in Iceland may not enjoy more favourable treatment when imported into the Community than that applied by the Member States of the Community between themselves.

Protocol No 6 lays down the special provisions applicable to imports of certain fish products into the Community.

The Agreement shall not preclude the maintenance or establishment of customs unions, free trade areas or arrangements for frontier trade, except in so far as they alter the trade arrangements provided for in this Agreement, in particular the provisions concerning rules of origin.

The Contracting Parties shall refrain from any measure or practice of an internal fiscal nature establishing, whether directly or indirectly, discrimination between the products of one Contracting Party and like products originating in the territory of the other Contracting Party.

Products exported to the territory of one of the Contracting Parties may not benefit from repayment of internal taxation in excess of the amount of direct or indirect taxation imposed on them.

Payments relating to trade in goods and the transfer of such payments to the Member State of the Community in which the creditor is resident or to Iceland shall be free from any restrictions.

The Agreement shall not preclude prohibitions or restrictions on imports, exports or goods in transit justified on grounds of public morality, law and order or public security, the protection of life and health of humans, animals or plants, the protection of national treasures of artistic, historic or archaeological value, the protection of industrial and commercial property, or rules relating to gold or silver. Such prohibitions or restrictions must not, however, constitute a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade between the Contracting Parties.

Nothing in the Agreement shall prevent a Contracting Party from taking any measures:

(a) which it considers necessary to prevent the disclosure of information contrary to its essential security interests;

(b) which relate to trade in arms, munitions or war materials or to research, development or production indispensable for defence purposes, provided that such measures do not impair the conditions of competition in respect of products not intended for specifically military purposes;

(c) which it considers essential to its own security in time of war or serious international tension.

If either Contracting Party considers that the other Contracting Party has failed to fulfil an obligation under the Agreement, it may take appropriate measures under the conditions and in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 28.

(i) all agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings and concerted practices between undertakings which have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition as regards the production of or trade in goods;

(ii) abuse by one or more undertakings of a dominant position in the territories of the Contracing Parties as a whole or in a substantial part thereof;

(iii) any public aid which distorts or threatens to distort competition by favouring certain undertakings or the production of certain goods.

Where an increase in imports of a given product is or is likely to be seriously detrimental to any production activity carried on in the territory of one of the Contracting Parties and where this increase is due to:

(i) the partial or total reduction in the importing Contracting Party, as provided for in the Agreement, of customs duties and charges having equivalent effect levied on the product in question; and

(ii) the fact that the duties or charges having equivalent effect levied by the exporting Contracting Party on imports of raw materials or intermediate products used in the manufacture of the product in question are significantly lower than the corresponding duties or charges levied by the importing Contracting Party;

the Contracting Party concerned may take appropriate measures under the conditions and in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 28.