Decision 2019/664 - Amendment of Decision No 940/2014/EU as regards products eligible for exemption from or a reduction in dock dues - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 112/21

Council Decision No 940/2014/EU (2) authorises the French authorities to apply exemptions or reductions to dock dues for products produced locally in the French overseas departments and listed in the Annex to that Decision. The maximum authorised tax differential is, depending on the products and the overseas department in question, 10, 20 or 30 percentage points.

Pursuant to Decision No 940/2014/EU, on 12 February 2018 the French authorities presented to the Commission a report on the application of the tax arrangements provided for in that Decision. Specific evaluation reports for each of the French outermost regions accompanied by requests to adapt the list of products eligible for differentiated taxation were sent on 15 March 2018 for French Guiana, Martinique and Guadeloupe, on 4 June 2018 for Réunion and, without a request to adapt the list, on 28 August 2018 for Mayotte. An additional request for the inclusion of a new product on the list was made for French Guiana on 26 October 2018.

On the basis of the report presented on 12 February 2018 by the French authorities, the Commission presented to the Council the report as provided for in Decision No 940/2014/EU and a proposal for amendments to that Decision. Those proposed amendments concern Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana and Réunion, and consist of the inclusion of new products on the list and of an increase, for certain products, of the authorised differential.

In the case of French Guiana, the Combined Nomenclature codes should be updated in the Annex to Decision No 940/2014/EU.

The adaptation of the lists is justified in each case in view of the additional costs of locally produced products compared with equivalent imported products produced in the Union.

The adaptations that should be made are mostly to be entered on the lists in the Annex to Decision No 940/2014/EU for products which were already produced locally in 2014 and for which no application for inclusion on lists had been submitted in 2014.

In French Guiana the products concerned are cement (product 2523 29 00) and wooden furniture (products 9403 30, 9403 50 00, 9403 60 and 9403 90 30).

In Martinique the products concerned are some plastic pellets (product 3907 61 00) and cold rooms (product 8418 69 00).

In Guadeloupe the products concerned are some meats (product 0210 12 19), some sauces (product 2103 90 90), denatured ethyl alcohol (product 2207 20 00), some fertilisers (products 2833, 2834 and 2836), some cosmetics (products 3303 00 90 and 3304 99 00), some cooling liquids (product 3820 00 00) and paper and paperboard boxes and cases (product 4819 10 00).

In Réunion the products concerned are some printed products (product 4911 99), some hygiene products (products 4818 20 10 and 4818 20 91), some spare parts for vehicles (products 8511 40 00, 8511 50 00 and 8511 90 00), some ventilation ducts and their accessories (products 7306 30 80, 7306 61 92 and 7307 99 80), solar water heaters (product 8419 90 85), some fertilisers (product 3102 10 90) and some...