Regulation 2022/2583 - Amendment of Regulation (EU) 2021/2278 suspending the Common Customs Tariff duties referred to in Article 56(2), point (c), of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 on certain agricultural and industrial products - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 340/1

In order to ensure a sufficient and uninterrupted supply of certain agricultural and industrial products which are not produced in the Union and thereby avoid any disturbances on the market for those products, Common Customs Tariff duties of the type referred to in Article 56(2), point (c), of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) (‘CCT duties’) on those products have been suspended by Council Regulation (EU) 2021/2278 (2). As a result, the products listed in the Annex to Regulation (EU) 2021/2278 can be imported into the Union at reduced or zero duty rates.

The Union production of certain products that are not listed in the Annex to Regulation (EU) 2021/2278 is inadequate to meet the specific requirements of the user industries in the Union. As it is in the Union’s interest to ensure an adequate supply of certain products, and having regard to the fact that identical, equivalent or substitute products are not produced in sufficient quantities within the Union, it is necessary to grant a complete suspension of the CCT duties on those products.

With a view to promoting integrated battery production in the Union, a partial suspension of the CCT duties should be granted in respect of certain products related to battery production that are not listed in the Annex to Regulation (EU) 2021/2278, and the respective Union production of which is inadequate to meet the specific requirements of the user industries in the Union. The date for the mandatory review of those suspensions should be 31 December 2023, in order for that review to take into account the short-term evolution of the battery production sector in the Union.

It is necessary to amend the product description and classification for certain CCT duty suspensions listed in the Annex to Regulation (EU) 2021/2278 in order to take into account technical product developments and economic trends in the market.

It is no longer in the interest of the Union to maintain the suspension of CCT duties for certain products listed in the Annex to Regulation (EU) 2021/2278. To avoid administrative burden for national authorities, CCT duty suspensions where the amount of uncollected CCT duty is estimated to be less than EUR 15 000 per year should not be taken into consideration. The suspension of CCT duties for products which do not reach that threshold, as indicated by the mandatory review, should therefore be removed from the Annex to Regulation (EU) 2021/2278.

Relations between the Union and Russia have deteriorated over the past years, particularly due to Russia’s disregard for international law and its unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine. On 6 October 2022, the Council adopted an eighth package of sanctions against Russia over its continued war of aggression against Ukraine and the reported atrocities committed by Russian armed forces in Ukraine.

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 (the ‘WTO Agreement’), and in particular Article XXI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994, in particular with regard to the obligation...