Report concerning the dock dues tax arrangements in the French overseas departments

Summary:

On 14 December 2010 the European Commission presented a report on the system of dock dues in the French overseas departments.

Further information:

Decision 2004/162/EC authorises France, up to 1 July 2014, to apply exemptions from or reductions in the tax known as "dock dues" to certain products manufactured in the overseas departments.

Reasons for adopting the specific measures include isolation, raw material and energy dependence, the obligation to build up stocks, the small size of the local market and the low level of export activity. The combination of these handicaps means that production costs, and therefore the cost price of goods produced locally, are increased, so that without specific measures they would be less competitive than goods produced elsewhere.