Council Regulation (EU) 2023/2720of 27 November 2023opening and providing for the management of the Union autonomous tariff quotas for certain fishery products for the 2024–2026 period(Text with EEA relevance)

Council Regulation (EU) 2023/2720 of 27 November 2023 opening and providing for the management of the Union autonomous tariff quotas for certain fishery products for the 2024–2026 period (Text with EEA relevance) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 31 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, Whereas, (1) Union supplies of certain fishery products currently depend on imports from third countries. In recent decades, the Union has become more dependent on imports to meet its demand for fishery products. In order to ensure that the Union’s production of fishery products is not jeopardised and that there is an adequate supply of fishery products to its processing industry, import duties should be suspended or reduced for a number of fishery products within tariff quotas of an appropriate volume. To ensure fair competition between imported fishery products and Union fishery products on the Union market, the impact of the measures on the competitiveness of Union fish producers should also be taken into consideration. (2) Council Regulation (EU) 2020/1706 Council Regulation (EU) 2020/1706 of 13 November 2020 opening and providing for the management of autonomous Union tariff quotas for certain fishery products for the 2021–2023 period (OJ L 385, 17.11.2020, p. 3). opened and provided for the management of autonomous Union tariff quotas for certain fishery products for the 2021–2023 period. Given that the period of application of that Regulation expires on 31 December 2023, a new regulation providing for tariff quotas should be adopted for the 2024–2026 period. (3) Since July 2014, the Union has progressively imposed restrictive measures against Russia. In its conclusions of 24 February 2022, the European Council stated that Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine is grossly violating international law and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and is undermining European and global security and stability. (4) Most recently, on 23 June 2023, the Council adopted an eleventh package of restrictive measures against Russia because of its continuous war of aggression against Ukraine. (5) While Russia is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Union can rely on the exceptions that apply under the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO Agreement), and in particular Article XXI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994, in particular with regard to the obligation to accord to products imported from Russia the advantages granted to like products imported from other countries (most-favoured-nation treatment). (6) In light of the deterioration of relations between the Union and Russia, in order to ensure coherence with the Union’s actions and principles in the field of the Union’s external action, it would therefore not be appropriate to allow products originating from Russia to enjoy duty-free treatment and most-favoured-nation treatment with regard to the products that fall within the scope of this Regulation.

(7) Relations between the Union and Belarus have deteriorated over the past years, because of the Belarusian regime’s disregard for international law, fundamental rights and human rights. In addition, Belarus has provided extensive support to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine from its very beginning. (8) Since October 2020, the Union has progressively imposed restrictive measures against Belarus over continued human rights abuses, the instrumentalisation of migrants and the involvement of Belarus in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. As Belarus is not a member of the WTO, the Union is not obliged, by virtue of the WTO Agreement, to accord the most-favoured-nation treatment to products from Belarus. (9) In light of the deterioration of the relations between the Union and Belarus, in order to ensure coherence with the Union’s actions and principles in the field of the Union’s external action, it would therefore not be appropriate to allow products originating from Belarus to enjoy duty-free treatment with regard to the products that fall within the scope of this Regulation. (10) Exclusion of products from Belarus and Russia, notably Alaska pollock, from the scope of this Regulation will have impact on trade flows and will require adaptation by the Union industry. If, as a consequence, raw materials which are currently not covered by the scope of this Regulation are identified as equivalent to those products and urgently needed during the adaptation period, this Regulation may be revised to take those circumstances into account. (11) All Union importers should benefit from equal and uninterrupted access to the tariff quotas provided for in this Regulation, and the rates set out for the tariff quotas should be applied without interruption to all imports of the fishery products concerned into all Member States until the tariff quotas have been used up. (12) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 of 24 November 2015 laying down detailed rules for implementing certain provisions of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the Union Customs Code (OJ L 343, 29.12.2015, p. 558). provides for a system of tariff-quota management which follows the chronological order of the dates on which the custom declarations for release for free circulation were accepted. Since the tariff quotas are intended to ensure the adequate supply of fishery products to the Union’s processing industry, a minimum level of treatment or operation should be required for quota entitlement. (13) To ensure that the tariff quotas are managed in an efficient way, Member States should be allowed to draw from the tariff quota amount the necessary quantities corresponding to their actual imports. Since that method of management requires close cooperation between the Member States and the Commission, the Commission should be able to monitor the rate at which the tariff quotas are used up and should inform the Member States accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Import duties on the products listed in the Annex shall be suspended or reduced to fall within the tariff quotas at the rates, for the periods and up to the amounts indicated therein.

Article 2

The tariff quotas referred to in Article 1 of this Regulation shall be managed in accordance with Articles 49 to 54 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447.

Article 3

The tariff quotas shall be subject to end-use customs supervision in accordance with Article 254 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 October 2013 laying down the Union Customs Code (OJ L 269, 10.10.2013, p. 1). .

Article 4

1. The suspension or reduction of import duties shall apply only to products intended for human consumption.
2. The tariff quotas shall not be available for products whose processing is carried out at retail or catering level.
3. The tariff quotas shall not be available for products intended solely for one or more of the following operations: (a) cleaning, gutting, tailing and heading; (b) cutting; (c) repacking of frozen individually quick-frozen (IQF) fillets; (d) sampling and sorting; (e) labelling; (f) packing; (g) chilling; (h) freezing; (i) deep-freezing; (j) defrosting; (k) glazing; (l) thawing; and (m) separation.
4. Notwithstanding paragraph 3, the tariff quotas shall be available for products intended for one or more of the following operations: (a) dicing; (b) cutting into rings and cutting into strips for materials under CN codes ex03074335, ex03074391, ex03074392 and ex03074399; (c) filleting; (d) production of flaps; (e) cutting of frozen blocks; (f) splitting of frozen interleaved fillet and cephalopod blocks to obtain individual fillets; (g) slicing for materials under CN codes ex03036611, ex03036612, ex03036613, ex03036619, ex03038970 and ex03038990; (h) treatment by packaging gases as defined in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on food additives (OJ L 354, 31.12.2008, p. 16). for products under CN codes 03061699 (TARIC subdivision 20 and 30), 03061792 (TARIC subdivision 20), 03061799 (TARIC subdivision 10), 03063590 (TARIC subdivisions 12, 14, 92 and 93), 03063690 (TARIC subdivisions 20 and 30), 16052190 (TARIC subdivisions 45, 55 and 62) and 16052900 (TARIC subdivisions 50, 55 and 60); (i) dividing the frozen product or subjecting the frozen product to heat treatment to enable the removal of internal waste material for materials under CN codes 03061110 (TARIC subdivision 10), 03061190 (TARIC subdivision 20) and 03063100 (TARIC subdivision 10); (j) pasteurisation under CN codes 03052000 and 16043200; (k) cleaning in case this operation is the only one that can be performed on a particular good and the cleaning is necessary to obtain the product acceptable for human consumption (fish roe from headings 0302, 0303 and 0305; shrimps from heading 0306; frozen fish, excluding fish fillets and other fish meat, of the species Gadus morhua for processing under CN code 03036310, of the species Merluccius, excluding Merluccius merluccius, for processing under CN codes 03036611, 03036612, 03036613 and 03036619, and of the species Theragra chalcogramma for processing under CN code 03036700); and

(l) modified atmosphere packaging under CN code 16054000. 5. The tariff quotas shall not be available to products originating from Russia or Belarus. For the purpose of establishing the origin of products under the quotas, non-preferential rules of origin shall apply in accordance with Article 60 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013.

Article 5

The Commission and the customs authorities of the Member States shall cooperate closely to ensure the proper management and control of the application of this Regulation.

Article 6

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. It shall apply from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2026. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 27 November 2023. For the Council The President X. Méndez Bértolo

Annex

ANNEX Expressed in net weight, unless otherwise stated. From 15 February to 15 June, the benefit of the tariff quota shall not be granted to goods declared for free circulation. Body of cephalopod or the squid headless and without tentacle, with skin and fins. Order NoCN codeTARIC codeDescriptionAnnual amount of quota (tonnes)Quota dutyQuota period09.2503ex0303398580Flatfish (Limanda aspera, Lepidopsetta bilineata, Pleuronectes quadrituberculatus, Limanda ferruginea, Lepidopsetta polyxystra, Eopsetta jordani), frozen, for processing75000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026ex030339859009.25040302112010Trout of the species Oncorhynchus mykiss, with heads and gills on, gutted, weighing more than 1,2 kg each, or with heads off, gilled and gutted, weighing more than 1 kg each, for processing100005 %1.1.2024–31.12.202609.2505ex0303541095Chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus), whole, fillets and flaps, for processing50007,5 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026ex0304894920ex030499991209.2508ex0307433510Squid of the species Loligo gahi, frozen, for processing750000 %1.1.2024–31.12.202609.2746ex0302899030Southern red snapper (Lutjanus purpureus), fresh, chilled, for processing15000 %1.1.2024–31.12.202609.2748ex0302910096Hard fish roes, fresh, chilled or frozen, salted or in brine, for processing57000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026ex0303919096ex030520004109.2750ex0305200035Hard fish roes, washed, cleaned of adherent organs and simply salted or in brine, for manufacture of caviar substitutes12000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026ex160432002009.2759ex0302511020Cod (Gadus morhua, Gadus ogac, Gadus macrocephalus) and fish of the species Boreogadus saida, excluding livers and roes, fresh, chilled or frozen, for processing1100000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026ex0302519010ex0302591010ex0303631010ex0303633010ex0303639010ex0303691010 09.2760ex0303661110Hake (Merluccius spp. excluding Merluccius, Urophycis spp.), and pink cusk-eel (Genypterus blacodes and Genypterus capensis), frozen, for processing100000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026ex0303661210ex0303661310ex030366191191ex0303897010ex030389903009.2761ex0304795010Blue grenadier (Macruronus Novaezelandiae) and Patagonian grenadier (Macruronus magellanicus), frozen fillets and other frozen meat, for processing175000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026ex0304959011ex030479901109.2762ex0306111010Rock lobster and other sea crawfish (Palinurus spp., Panulirus spp., Jasus spp.), live, chilled, frozen, for processing2000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026ex0306119020ex030631001009.2765ex0305620020Cod (Gadus morhua, Gadus ogac, Gadus macrocephalus) and fish of the species Boreogadus saida, salted or in brine, but not dried or smoked, for processing20000 %1.1.2024–31.12.20262529ex030569101009.2770ex0305630010Anchovies (Engraulis anchoita), salted or in brine, but not dried or smoked, for processing15000 %1.1.2024–31.12.202609.2772ex0304931010Surimi, frozen, for processing600000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026ex0304941010ex0304951010ex030499101009.2774ex0304741510Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) and Argentine hake (Southwest Atlantic hake) (Merluccius hubbsi), frozen fillets and other meat, for processing400000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026ex0304741910ex030495501020

09.2776ex0304711010Cod (Gadus morhua, Gadus macrocephalus), frozen fillets and frozen meat, for processing450000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026ex0304719010ex0304952110ex030495251009.2777ex0303670010Alaska pollack (Theragra chalcogramma), frozen, frozen fillets and other frozen meat for processing3400000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026ex0304750010ex030494901009.2778ex0304839021Flatfish (Limanda aspera, Lepidopsetta bilineata, Pleuronectes quadrituberculatus, Limanda ferruginea, Lepidopsetta polyxystra), frozen fillets and other fish meat, for processing100000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026ex030499996509.2785ex0307439110Pod of squid (Ommastrephes spp. – excluding Todarodes sagittatus (synonym Ommastrephes sagittatus) –, Nototodarus spp., Sepioteuthis spp.) and Illex spp., frozen, with skin and fins, for processing200000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026ex0307439210ex030743992109.2786ex0307439120Squid (Ommastrephes spp. – excluding Todarodes sagittatus (synonym Ommastrephes sagittatus) -, Nototodarus spp., Sepioteuthis spp.) and Illex spp., frozen, whole or tentacles and fins, for processing50000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026ex0307439220ex030743992909.2790ex1604142610Filets known as loins of tunas and skipjack, for processing350000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026ex1604143610ex160414461121929409.2794ex1605219045Shrimps and prawns of the species Pandalus borealis and Pandalus montagui cooked and peeled, for processing45000 %1.1.2024–31.12.20265562ex16052900505560 09.2798ex0306169920Shrimps and prawns of the species Pandalus borealis and Pandalus montagui, in shells, fresh, chilled or frozen for processing20000 %1.1.2024–31.12.202630ex030635901214929309.2800ex1605219055Shrimps and prawns of the species Pandalus jordani, cooked and peeled, for processing40000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026ex160529006009.2802ex0306179220Shrimps and prawns of the species Penaeus Vannamei and Penaeus monodon, whether in shell or not, fresh, chilled or frozen, not cooked, for processing480000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026ex030636903009.2804ex1605400040Crayfish tails of the species Procambarus clarkii, cooked, for processing25000 %1.1.2024–31.12.202609.28210307433310Squid of the species Loligo pealeii, frozen, for processing10000 %1.1.2024–31.12.202609.2822ex0303110020Pacific salmon of the species Oncorhynchus nerka (sockeye salmon (red salmon)), Oncorhynchus kisutch, Oncorhynchus keta and Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, headed and gutted, and in the form of fillets, frozen, for processing100000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026ex0303120020ex030481002009.28240302520010Haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) fresh, chilled or frozen with heads off, gilled and gutted, for processing35000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026030364001009.2826ex0306179910Shrimps and prawns of the species Pleoticus Muelleri, whether in shell or not, fresh, chilled or frozen, for processing160000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026ex030636902009.2515ex0304610010Frozen fillets of tilapia (Oreochromis spp.)100000 %1.1.2024–31.12.2026