Canary Islands: temporary suspension of autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on imports of certain industrial products

PURPOSE: temporarily suspend autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on imports of certain industrial products into the Canary Islands.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Council Regulation (EU) No 1386/2011 temporarily suspending autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on imports of certain industrial products into the Canary Islands.

CONTENT: the Council adopted a regulation prolonging the suspension of tariff duties applicable to imports of certain industrial products into the Canary Islands for a further ten years until 31 December 2021. The regulation also extends the suspension of tariff duties to some additional products.

The measure takes account of the remoteness of the Canary Islands, due to which economic operators suffer severe economic and commercial disadvantages with negative effects on demographic trends, employment and social and economic developments.

The Canary Islands industrial sector, together with construction, has been severely affected by the recent economic crisis. The slump in building depressed all the auxiliary industry that depends on it. Unfavourable financial conditions had a serious impact on many areas of business. In addition, the sharp rise in unemployment in Spain aggravated the slump in domestic demand, including demand for industrial products (unemployment in the Canary Islands has been consistently exceeding the national average for Spain for the last 10 years and, since 2009, the Canary Islands have recorded the highest level throughout the country).

Therefore, with the aim of giving a long-term perspective to investors and enabling economic operators to reach a level of industrial and commercial activities which stabilises the economic and social environment on the Canary Islands, it is appropriate to prolong in full the suspension of the Common Customs Tariff duties for certain goods as detailed in Annex II and Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 704/2002 for a period of 10 years

ENTRY INTO FORCE: from 01/01/2012.

DELEGATED ACTS: the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts concerning amendments and technical adaptations to Annexes I and II as are required as a consequence of amendments to the Combined Nomenclature. The power to adopt the delegated acts shall be conferred on the Commission for an indeterminate period of time as from 1 January 2012. It may be revoked at any time by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. A delegated act shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed by the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the Council has informed the Commission that it will not object. The European Parliament shall be informed of the adoption of delegated acts by the Commission, of any objection formulated to them, or of the revocation of the delegation of powers by the Council.