Excerpts from the Report: The European Economic Community (EEC) implemented its variable import levy system for wheat, feed grains, pork, poultry and eggs beginning July 30, 1962. This study examines the effects of the system on imports from the United States during its first full year of operation, calendar 1963. The variable levy system is part of the EEC's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) provided for in the Rome Treaty of 1957, under which the Community was organized. Under the CAP, prices in the EEC are to be harmonized, and a common external tariff for the 6 member countries is to be imposed in stages, with the target date for integration set at 1970. The 6 countries have recently agreed to advance this date to July 1, 1967, for pork, poultry, eggs, and cereals. The CAP provides for import licenses, refunds on exports, "safeguard" measures, and variable levies. This system is supposed to replace all other existing trade restrictions, including subsidies, quotas, tariff duties, State trading, mixing regulations, etc. in Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany -- the 6 EEC members.
