21988A0709(01)

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AGREEMENT

in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Economic Community and Barbados, Belize, the People's Republic of the Congo, Fiji, the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, Jamaica, the Republic of Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Madagascar, the Republic of Malawi, Mauritius, St Christopher and Nevis, the Republic of Suriname, the Kingdom of Swaziland, the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the Republic of Uganda and the Republic of Zimbabwe on the guaranteed prices for cane sugar for the 1987/88 delivery period

Letter No 1

Brussels,

Sir,

The representatives of the ACP States referred to in Protocol 7 on ACP sugar annexed to the Third ACP-EEC Convention and of the Commission, on behalf of the European Economic Community, have agreed, pursuant to the provisions of the said Protocol, to submit to their competent authorities for approval, to be the subject of an Exchange of Letters between the ACP States concerned and the Community, the following.

For the period 1 July 1987 to 30 June 1988 the guaranteed prices referred to in Article 5 (4) of the Sugar Protocol shall, for the purpose of intervention within the terms of Article 6 of that Protocol, be:

(a) for raw sugar: 44,92 ECU per 100 kilograms;

(b) for white sugar: 55,39 ECU per 100 kilograms.

These prices represent no increase over those applicable for the preceding delivery period and shall refer to sugar of standard quality as defined in Community legislation, unpacked, cif free out European ports of the Community. The introduction of these prices in no way prejudices the respective positions of the Contracting Parties in respect of the principles appertaining to the determination of the guaranteed prices.

Although retroactivity is not provided for in respect of the 1987/88 prices, it is agreed that this year's decision does not prejudice the position of the ACP States in relation to retroactivity in any future negotiation in accordance with Article 4 (3) of Protocol 7 annexed to the Third ACP-EEC Convention.

It was noted that the ACP States consider that measures should be sought for improving the position of the ACP supplying States and solving the problem of ocean freight costs which remained an outstanding and pressing matter, as from the current campaign year. It was further noted that the Commission agreed to undertake this examination in collaboration with ACP States.

I should be obliged if you would acknowledge receipt of this letter and confirm that this letter and your reply constitute an Agreement between the Governments of the ACP States concerned and the Community.

Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my highest consideration.

On behalf of the

Council of the European Communities

Letter No 2

Brussels,

Sir,

I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of today's date which reads as follows:

'The representatives of the ACP States referred to in Protocolo 7 on ACP sugar annexed to the Third ACP-EEC Convention and of the Commission, on behalf of the European Economic Community, have agreed, pursuant to the provisions of the said Protocol, to submit to their competent authorities for approval, to be the subject of an Exchange of Letters between the ACP States concerned and the Community, the following.

For the period 1 July 1987 to 30 June 1988 the guaranteed prices referred to in Article 5 (4) of the Sugar Protocol shall, for the purpose of intervention within the terms of Article 6 of that Protocol, be:

(a) for raw sugar: 44,92 ECU per 100 kilograms;

(b) for white sugar: 55,39 ECU per 100 kilograms;

These prices represent no increase over those applicable for the preceding delivery period and shall refer to sugar of standard quality as defined in Community legislation, unpacked, cif free out European ports of the Community. The introduction of these prices in no way prejudices the respective positions of the Contracting Parties in respect of the principles appertaining to the determination of the guaranteed prices.

Although retroactivity is not provided for in respect of the 1987/88 prices, it is agreed that this year's decision does not prejudice the position of the ACP States in relation to retroactivity in any future negotiation in accordance with Article 4 (3) of Protocol 7 annexed to the Third ACP-EEC Convention.

It was noted that the ACP States consider that measures should be sought for improving the position of the ACP supplying States and solving the problem of ocean freight costs which remained an outstanding and pressing matter, as from the current campaign year. It was further noted that the Commission agreed to undertake this examination in collaboration with the ACP States.

I should be obliged if you would acknowledge receipt of this letter and confirm that this letter and your reply constitute an Agreement between the Governments of the ACP States concerned and the Community.'

I have the honour to confirm the Agreement of the Governments of the ACP States concerned with the foregoing.

Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my highest consideration.

For the Governments

of the ACP States concernedsons of substance or form for an inquiry.

The customs authorities shall forward, in support of the request for a posteriori verification, any documents and information that have been obtained suggesting that the particulars given on the EUR.

1 certificate or the invoice are inaccurate.

If the customs authorities of the importing State decide to suspend the provisions of the Agreement while awaiting the results of the verification, they shall offer to release the goods to the importer subject to any precautionary measures judged necessary.

3. The customs authorities of the importing State shall be informed of the results of the verification as soon as possible.

These results must be such as to make it possible to determine whether the documents returned under paragraph 2 apply to the goods actually exported, and whether these goods can, in fact, qualify for application of the preferential arrangements.

Where such disputes cannot be settled between the customs authorities of the importing State and those of the exporting State or where they raise a question as to the interpretation of this Protocol they shall be submitted to the Customs Committee.

For the purpose of the subsequent verification of EUR.

1 certificates, the customs authorities of the exporting country must keep the export documents, or copies of EUR.

1 certificates used in place thereof, for at least two years.

TITLE III Provisions applicable to the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla Article 19 1. For the application of the provisions of the Additional Protocol concerning products originating in the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, this Protocol shall apply mutatis mutandis subject to the particular conditions set out in paragraphs 3 to 8 of this Article.

2. The term ´Community' used in this Protocol does not cover the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla.

The term ´products originating in the Community' does not cover products originating in the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla.

3. The following provisions shall apply instead of Articles 1, 2 and 3 and references to those Articles shall apply mutatis mutandis to this Article.

The following shall be considered as:

(a) products originating in the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla:

(i) products wholly obtained in the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla;

(ii)products obtained in the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla in the manufacture of which products other than those referred to in (i) are used, provided that the said products have undergone sufficient working or processing within the meaning of Article 5. This condition shall not apply, however, to products which, within the meaning of this Protocol, originate in Iceland, Austria, Finland, Norway, Sweden or Switzerland or the Community provided they undergo, in the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, working or processing which exceeds the insufficient working or processing set out in Article 5 (5);

(b)products originating in Iceland:

(i)products wholly obtained in Iceland;

(ii)products obtained in Iceland in the manufacture of which products other than those referred to in (i) are used, provided that the said products have undergone sufficient working or processing within the meaning of Article 5. This condition shall not apply, however, to products which, within the meaning of this Protocol, originate in the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, Austria, Finland, Norway, Sweden or Switzerland or the Community provided they undergo working or processing which exceeds the insufficient working or processing set out in Article 5 (5). 4. The Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla shall be considered as a single territory.

5. The exporter or his authorized representative shall enter ´Iceland' and ´Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla' in box 2 of EUR.

1 certificates.

In addition, in the case of products originating in the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, this shall be indicated in box 4 of EUR.

1 certificates.

When invoices are made out in the Canary Islands, in Ceuta or in Melilla in the framework of the provisions of Article 8 (1) of this Protocol, the exporter shall clearly indicate the products originating in the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla by means of the symbol ´CCM'. 6. The products in Annex II shall be temporarily excluded from the scope of this Protocol.

Nevertheless, the arrangements regarding administrative cooperation shall apply mutatis mutandis to these products.

7. The Spanish customs authorities shall be responsible for the application of this Protocol in the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla.

8. Article 23 shall not apply to trade between the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, on the one hand, and Iceland on the other.

TITLE IV Final provisions Article 20 The Community and Iceland shall each take the steps necessary to implement this Protocol.

Article 21 The Annexes to this Protocol shall form an integral part thereof.

Article 22 The contracting parties undertake to introduce any measures necessary to ensure that the EUR.

1 certificates which the customs authorities of the Member States of the Community and of Iceland are authorized to issue in pursuance of the Agreements referred to in Article 2 are issued under the conditions laid down by those Agreements.

They also undertake to provide the administrative cooperation necessary for this purpose, in particular to check on the itinerary of goods traded under the Agreements referred to in Article 2 and the places in which they have been held.

Article 23 1. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 1 of Protocol 2, products which are of the kind to which the Agreement applies, and which are used in the manufacture of products for which an EUR.

1 certificate, an LT certificate or the invoices referring to the LT certificate, or an invoice bearing the exporter's declaration are issued or completed, can only be the subject of drawback of customs duty or benefit from an exemption from customs duty of whatever kind when products originating in the Community, Iceland or one of the five other countries referred to in Article 2 of this Protocol are concerned.

2. In this Article, the term ´customs duty' also means charges having an effect equivalent to customs duty.

Article 24 (1) 1. (a) Any product accompanied by an EUR.

1 certificate or invoice bearing the exporter's declaration issued or made out in Spain shall, for the application of the Additional Protocol to the Agreement, be considered as originating in Spain;

(b)However, the provisions of subparagraph (a) shall not apply to EUR.

1 certificates issued in Spain for products originating in the rest of the Community or Iceland and which have not undergone any working or processing in Spain or which have only been subject to operations designed to preserve them in good condition during transport or storage.

Such products shall benefit on import from treatment identical to that which they would have received had they been sent directly from the rest of the Community or Iceland;

(c)For the application of subparagraph (b), in the case of products originating in the rest of the Community, the exporter or his authorized representative shall enter:

´el apartado 1 del artículo 24 - reexportado en el mismo estado' (Article 24 (1) - re-exported in the same state) in box 7, ´Remarks', of the EUR.

1 certificate.

This entry shall be authenticated by means of the stamp used by the appropriate customs office.

The customs authorities of Spain shall carry out appropriate controls in order to ensure the correct application of this provision;

(d)For the application of the provisions of subparagraph (b), in the case of products originating in Iceland, the provisions of Article 9 (8) shall apply.

2. The following products exported to Iceland from a Member State of the Community other than Spain shall benefit on import into Iceland only from a treatment identical to that which they would have received had they been imported directly from Spain:

- products originating in the Community by virtue of working or processing carried out wholly or partly in Spain, -products which, after having acquired originating status in the rest of the Community, are subject in Spain to operations other than those designed to preserve them in good condition during transport or storage.

For the application of the first subparagraph, the exporter or his authorized representative shall enter the symbol ´ES' in box 7, ´Remarks', of an EUR.

1 certificate issued in such other Member State of the Community.

3. For the application of the last sentence of Article 1 (2) (b), products originating in Spain or products accompanied by an EUR.

1 certificate with the symbol ´ES' entered in box 7, ´Remarks', imported into Iceland and exported to a Member State of the Community other than Spain shall benefit in that Member State from a treatment identical to that provided for in the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal to the European Communities which they would have received had they been sent directly from Spain to the rest of the Community.

For the application of the first subparagraph, the exporter or his authorized representative shall enter the symbol ´ES' in box 7, ´Remarks', of EUR.

1 certificates issued in Iceland.

4. For the application of Article 2, products originating in Spain or products accompanied by an EUR.

1 certificate with the symbol ´ES' entered in box 7, ´Remarks', imported into Iceland and exported under the conditions set out in Article 2 to one of the five countries listed there shall benefit, on import into one of these five countries, only from a treatment identical to that which they would have received had they been imported directly from Spain.

For the application of the first subparagraph, the exporter or his authorized representative shall enter the symbol ´ES' in box 7, ´Remarks', of EUR.

1 certificates issued in Iceland.

5. The provisions of paragraphs 2 to 4 concerning the use of the symbol ´ES' shall apply mutatis mutandis to the invoices made out within the framework of Article 8 (1) of this Protocol.

Article 25 1. Originating products for which the appropriate certificate or form has been issued or made out before 1 March 1986 in the framework of the Agreement between the EFTA countries and Spain signed on 26 June 1979, the Convention establishing EFTA signed on 4 January 1960 by Portugal, the 1970 Agreement between the European Economic Community and Spain, the 1972 Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Portuguese Republic, shall be deemed to be originating products within the meaning of this Protocol;

2. EUR.

1 certificates carrying the entry ´EFTA-SPAIN-TRADE' used in the framework of direct trade between Spain and Iceland or one of the five other countries mentioned in Article 2 may continue to be used in such trade until stocks are exhausted.

If EUR.

1 certificates are used, it is not necessary to insist on the entry of the symbol ´ES' as provided for in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of Article 24. Article 26 The contracting parties shall take any measures necessary for the conclusion of arrangements with Austria, Finland, Norway, Sweden or Switzerland enabling this Protocol to be applied.

Article 27 1. For the purpose of implementing Article 2 (1) (A) of this Protocol, any product originating in one of the five countries referred to in that Article shall be treated as a non-originating product during the period or periods in which Iceland applies the rate of duty applicable to third countries or any corresponding safeguard measure to that product in respect of the said country under the provisions governing trade between Iceland and the five countries referred to in the aforementioned Article 2. 2. For the purpose of implementing Article 2 (1) (B) of this Protocol, any product originating in one of the five countries referred to in that Article shall be treated as a non-originating product during the period or periods in which the Community applies the rate of duty applicable to third countries to that product in respect of the said country under the Agreement concluded by the Community with that country.

Article 28 The Joint Committee may decide to amend provisions of this Protocol.

(1) The provisions of Article 24 shall apply until 31 December 1992.