. 18. 6. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 152/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 1706/88 of 13 June 1988 opening, allocating and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota of 42 600 head of heifers and cows, other than those intended for slaughter, of certain mountain breeds, falling within subheading ex 01.02 A II of the Common Customs Tariff THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 113 thereof, Having regard to the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal, ‘ Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Whereas the European Economic Community undertook, within the framework of GATT, to open an annual Community tariff quota of 20 000 head at a duty of 6 % for -heifers and cows, other than those intended for slaughter, of certain mountain breeds, falling within subheading ex 01.02 A II of the Common Customs Tariff ; whereas eligibility for such quota is subject to conditions to be determined by the competent authorities of the Member State of destination; whereas, in an Exchange of Letters with Austria dated 21 July 1972, the Community undertook unilaterally to increase the size of the tariff quota from 20 000 to 30 000 head and to lower the quota duty from 6 to 4 % ; whereas, subsequently, this quota was increased unilaterally to 38 000 head; Whereas according to the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters of 14 July 1986, which was adopted by Decision 86/555/EEC(!), the volume of this tariff quota was raised to 42 600 head as from 1 July 1986; whereas the abovementioned tariff quota for the period 1 July 1988 to 30 June 1989 should therefore be opened at a duty of 4 % in relation to a quantity of 42 600 head ; whereas, however, under the terms of Article 282 of the 1985 Act of Accession, the Portuguese Republic is authorized to postpone, until the beginning of the second stage, the progressive application to imports of preferences granted, unilaterally or by agreement, by the Community to certain third countries; () OJ No L 328, 22. 11. 1986, p. 57. - Whereas it is in particular necessary to ensure equal and continuous access for all Community importers to the abovementioned quota, and the uninterrupted application of the quota duties, to all imports of the animals in _question until the quota is exhausted ; whereas, having regard to the principles defined above, the Community nature of the quota can be respected by allocating the Community tariff quota among the Member States; whereas possibilities for the use of such mountain breeds are, however, limited by special factors, both geographical and zootechnical ; whereas certain Member States do not have regions suitable for breeding this kind of cattle; whereas, however, in view of such special factors, the Community nature of the tariff quota in question should be preserved by making provision for requirements which may arise in these Member States ; whereas, to this end, these Member States proceed to draw adequate shares from the Community reserve which has been set up; whereas, in order to reflect as closely as possible the actual trend of the market in question, the initial allocation must be made in proportion to the requirements of each of the Member States concerned, calculated in accordance with statistical data concerning imports from third countries during a representative reference period and with economic prospects for the quota period in question ; A} Whereas, since the animals in question belong to certain " specific breeds which are not specified as such in the statistical nomenclatures of the Member States, no data on imports provided by the Member States could be considered to be sufficiently accurate and representative to be used as a basis for the allocation in question; whereas the extent to which Community tariff quotas for those animals in the Community have been exhausted and the estimates made by certain Member States-enable the requirements of each of them as regards imports from third countries for the quota period envisaged to be assessed as follows : Germany 20 000 head France 1 800 head Italy 16 000 head Greece 3000 head;