Regulation (EU) 2015/936 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 June 2015 on common rules for imports of textile products from certain third countries not covered by bilateral agreements, protocols or other arrangements, or by other specific Union import rules (recast)

This Regulation applies to imports of textile products falling within Section XI of Part Two of the Combined Nomenclature set out in Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 (¹) and of other textile products, as listed in Annex I to this Regulation, originating in third countries and not covered by bilateral agreements, protocols or other arrangements, or by other specific Union import rules.

For the purposes of paragraph 1, textile products falling within Section XI of Part Two of the Combined Nomenclature set out in Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 shall be classified in categories as set out in Section A of Annex I to this Regulation, with the exception of products covered by Combined Nomenclature codes (CN codes) listed in Section B of Annex I to this Regulation.

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term ‘originating products’ and the methods for controlling the origin of those products shall be as defined by the relevant Union rules in force.

Imports into the Union of textile products listed in Annex III and originating in the countries indicated in that Annex shall be subject to the annual quantitative limits established in that Annex.

The release for free circulation in the Union of imports subject to the quantitative limits referred to in paragraph 1 shall be subject to the presentation of an import authorisation or equivalent document issued by the Member States' authorities in accordance with the procedure set out in this Regulation. The imports authorised in accordance with this paragraph shall be charged against the quantitative limits fixed for the calendar year for which quantitative limits have been fixed.

Any textile product referred to in Annex IV and originating in the third countries indicated therein may be imported into the Union provided that an annual quantitative limit is established by the Commission. Any such quantitative limit shall be based on previous trade flows or, where not available, duly justified estimations of such trade flows. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 31 to amend the relevant Annexes to this Regulation with respect to the establishment of such annual quantitative limits.

Imports into the Union of textile products other than those covered by paragraphs 1 and 3 and originating in the countries indicated in Annex II shall be free, subject to the measures that may be taken under Chapter III and to measures that have been or may be taken under specific common import rules for the duration of those rules.

Without prejudice to measures that may be taken under Chapter III or under specific common import rules, re imports into the Union of textile products after processing in third countries other than those listed in Annex II shall not be subject to quantitative limits.

The Committee referred to in Article 30 may consider any matter relating to the application of this Regulation raised by the Commission or at the request of a Member State.

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 31 concerning the measures required to adapt Annexes III to VI where problems are detected as regards their effective functioning.

In respect of the textile products listed in Annex I, Member States shall notify the Commission, within 30 days following the end of each month, of the total quantities imported during that month by country of origin and CN code and the units, including where appropriate supplementary units of the CN code. The imports shall be broken down in accordance with the statistical procedures in force.

In order to enable the market trends in the products covered by this Regulation to be monitored, Member States shall communicate to the Commission, by 31 March each year, statistical data for the preceding year on exports. The statistical data relating to the production and the consumption of each product shall be forwarded to the Commission under arrangements to be determined subsequently in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 30(3).

Where the nature of the products or particular circumstances so require, the Commission may, at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, alter the time limits for communicating the information referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 30(3).

In the urgent cases referred to in Article 13, the Member State or States concerned shall send the necessary import statistics and economic data to the Commission and the other Member States without delay.

Where it is apparent to the Commission that there is sufficient evidence to justify an investigation, with regard to the conditions of imports of products referred to in Article 1, the Commission shall initiate an investigation. The Commission shall inform Member States once it has determined that there is a need to initiate such an investigation.

In addition to the information supplied under Article 6, the Commission shall seek all information it deems necessary and shall endeavour to check that information with importers, traders, agents, producers, trade associations and organisations.

The Member States shall provide the Commission, at its request and following procedures laid down by it, with the information at their disposal on developments in the market of the product being investigated.

The Commission may hear the interested natural and legal persons. Such parties must be heard where they have applied in writing within the period laid down in the notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union, showing that they are actually likely to be affected by the outcome of the investigation and that there are special reasons for them to be heard orally.

Where the information requested by the Commission is not supplied within a reasonable period, or the investigation is significantly impeded, findings may be made on the basis of the facts available.

Where the Commission has been asked to act by a Member State and it finds that there is insufficient evidence to justify an investigation, it shall, following consultations, inform the Member State of its decision.

At the end of the investigation, the Commission shall submit a report on the results to the Committee referred to in Article 30.

If the Commission considers that no Union surveillance or safeguard measures are necessary, it shall, acting in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 30(3), decide to close the investigation, stating the main conclusions of the investigation.

If the Commission considers that Union surveillance or safeguard measures are necessary, it shall take the necessary decisions in accordance with Chapter III.

Information received pursuant to this Regulation shall be used only for the purpose for which it was requested.

The Commission, its officials, Member States, and their officials shall not reveal any information of a confidential nature received pursuant to this Regulation, or any information provided on a confidential basis, without specific permission from the supplier of such information.

Information shall in any case be considered to be confidential if its disclosure is likely to have a significantly adverse effect upon the supplier or the source of such information.

Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall not preclude reference by the Union authorities to general information and in particular to reasons on which decisions taken pursuant to this Regulation are based. The Union authorities shall, however, take into account the legitimate interest of the natural and legal persons concerned that their business secrets should not be divulged.

The examination of the trend of imports, of the conditions in which imports take place, and of the serious injury or threat of serious injury to Union producers resulting from such imports, shall cover in particular the following factors:

In conducting the investigation, the Commission shall take account of the particular economic system of the third countries referred to in Annex II.

Where a threat of serious injury is alleged, the Commission shall also examine whether it is clearly foreseeable that a particular situation is likely to develop into actual injury. In this regard, account may be taken of factors such as:

Where imports of textile products originating in third countries other than those listed in Annex II threaten to cause injury to Union production of like or directly competitive products, the Commission, acting at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, may:

Where imports of textile products originating in third countries listed in Annex II and liberalised at Union level threaten to cause injury to the Union production of like or directly competitive products, or where the economic interests of the Union so require, the Commission, acting at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, may:

The measures referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall, as a rule, be of a limited period of validity.

Where imports of textile products originating in third countries other than those listed in Annex II take place in such increased quantities, absolute or relative, and/or under such conditions, so as to cause serious injury or actual threat thereof to the Union production of like or directly competitive products, the Commission may, acting at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, alter the import rules for the product in question by providing that it may be put into free circulation only on production of an import authorisation, the granting of which shall be governed by such provisions and subject to such limits as the Commission shall lay down.

Where imports of textile products originating in third countries listed in Annex II and liberalised at Union level take place in such increased quantities, absolute or relative, and/or under such conditions, so as to threaten to cause injury to the Union production of like or directly competitive products, or where the economic interests of the Union so require, the Commission may, acting at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, alter the import rules for the product in question by providing that it may be put into free circulation only on production of an import authorisation, the granting of which shall be governed by such provisions and subject to such limits as the Commission shall lay down.

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 31 concerning measures referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article in order to alter the import rules for the product in question, including by amending the Annexes to this Regulation.

The measures referred to in this Article and Article 11 shall apply to every product which is put into free circulation after the entry into force of those measures.

Products subject to prior Union surveillance or safeguard measures may be put into free circulation only on production of a surveillance document.