31On the one hand, force majeure is expressly referred to in Protocol 3 only in Article 12 thereof regarding the time-limit for submission of the EUR.l certificate and, on the other, neither the Agreement nor the protocol makes provision for the consequences of irregularities of the kind determined by the national court. In the absence of specific provisions, recognition of circumstances constituting force majeure presupposes that the external cause relied on by individuals has consequences which are inexorable and inevitable to the point of making it objectively impossible for the persons concerned to comply with their obligations (Joined Cases 154, 205, 206, 226 to 228, 263 and 264/78, 39, 31, 83 and 85/79 Valsabbia and Others v Commission [1980] ECR 907, paragraph 140). The concept oí force majeure must be understood as meaning abnormal and unforeseeable circumstances beyond the control of the trader concerned, whose consequences could not have been avoided despite the exercise of all due care, so that conduct of the public authorities may, according to the circumstances, constitute a case oí force majeure (see, in particular, Case C-50/92 Firma Molkerei-Zentrale Süd [1993] ECR I-1035).
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