20/01/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 20 January in Strasbourg, the European Parliament adopted by 628 votes in favour, 17 against, with 15 abstentions (consultation procedure), the report by Danuta Hübner (EPP, Poland) approving the proposal to suspend common customs duties applied to certain goods imported into the autonomous Portuguese regions of Madeira and the Azores. More precisely, this proposal advocates the suspension of autonomous duties in the common customs tariffs for certain industrial and agricultural goods from 1 January 2010 until 31 December 2019. This follows a demand by the regional governments of Madeira and the Azores, which consider that this measure encourages SMEs and local farmers to create new jobs in the remote Union regions. (O.L./transl.fl)