Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 is hereby amended as follows:
1. Article 1(1) shall be replaced by the following:
"1. A goods nomenclature, hereinafter called the 'Combined Nomenclature', or in abbreviated form 'CN', which meets at one and the same time, the requirements of the Common Customs Tariff, the external trade statistics of the Community and other Community policies concerning the importation or exportation of goods shall be established by the Commission.";
2. Article 1(3) shall be replaced by the following:
"3. The Combined Nomenclature is reproduced in Annex I. The rates of duty of the Common Customs Tariff and, where applicable, the supplementary statistical units as well as other necessary information are laid down in the said Annex.
The Annex comprises the conventional rates of duty.
However, whenever autonomous rates of duty are lower than the conventional rates of duty or where conventional rates of duty do not apply, the autonomous rates are also shown in the said Annex.";
3. Article 2 shall be replaced by the following:
"Article 2
An Integrated Tariff of the European Communities, hereinafter referred to as the 'Taric', which meets the requirements of the Common Customs Tariff, external trade statistics, the commercial, agricultural and other Community policies concerning the importation or exportation of goods, shall be established by the Commission.
The tariff shall be based on the Combined Nomenclature and include:
(a) the measures contained in this Regulation;
(b) the additional Community subdivisions, referred to as 'Taric subheadings', which are needed for the implementation of specific Community measures listed in Annex II;
(c) any other information necessary for the implementation or management of the Taric codes and additional codes as defined in Article 3(2) and (3);
(d) the rates of customs duty and other import and export charges, including duty exemptions and preferential tariff rates applicable to specific goods on importation or exportation;
(e) measures shown in Annex II applicable on the importation and exportation of specific goods.";
4. Article 4 shall be deleted;
5. Article 5 shall be replaced by the following:
"Article 5
1. The Taric shall be used by the Commission and the Member States for the application of Community measures concerning importation into and exportation from the Community.
2. Taric codes and Taric additional codes shall be applied to the importation and, where applicable, to the exportation of goods covered by the corresponding subheadings.
3. Member States may add subdivisions or additional codes for national purposes. Identifying codes shall be assigned to such subdivisions or additional codes in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93.";
6. Article 6 shall be replaced by the following:
"Article 6
The Taric shall be established, updated, managed and disseminated by the Commission, which shall, wherever possible, use computerised means. The Commission shall, in particular, take the necessary steps to:
(a) integrate all measures contained in this Regulation or shown in Annex II thereto into the Taric,
(b) attribute Taric codes and Taric additional codes,
(c) update the Taric immediately,
(d) disseminate in electronic format changes to the Taric immediately."
7. In Article 9(1), subparagraph (a) shall be replaced by the following:
"(a) application of the Combined Nomenclature and the Taric, concerning in particular:
- the classification of goods in the nomenclatures referred to in Article 8;
- explanatory notes;
- the creation, if necessary, and for the purpose of responding to the Community's own needs, of statistical subheadings in the Taric, when to do so appears more appropriate than in the CN;";
8. In Article 9(1), subparagraph (g) shall be replaced by the following:
"(g) questions relating to the application, functioning and management of the harmonised system to be discussed within the Customs Cooperation Council, as well as their implementation by the Community.";
9. Article 9(2) shall be replaced by the following:
"2. The provisions adopted under paragraph 1 shall not amend:
- the rates of customs duties;
- agricultural duties, refunds or other amounts applicable within the framework of the common agricultural policy or within that of specific schemes applicable to certain goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products;
- quantitative restrictions laid down under Community provisions;
- nomenclatures adopted within the framework of the common agricultural policy.";
10. Article 10 shall be replaced by the following:
"Article 10
1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Customs Code Committee set up by Article 247 of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92(6).
2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC(7) shall apply.
The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months.".;
11. Article 12 shall be replaced by the following:
"Article 12
1. The Commission shall adopt each year, a regulation reproducing the complete version of the Combined Nomenclature, together with the rates of duty in accordance with Article 1, as resulting from measures adopted by the Council or the Commission. The said Regulation shall be published not later than 31 October in the Official Journal of the European Communities and it shall apply from 1 January of the following year.
2. Measures and information concerning the Common Customs Tariff or Taric shall, whenever possible, be disseminated in electronic format by using computerised means.
3. In order to ensure the uniform application of the Common Customs Tariff and the Taric, the Commission shall promote coordination and harmonisation of practices in Member States' customs laboratories, using wherever possible, computerised means.";
12. Article 13 shall be deleted.