Material de Consulta

Generalized System of Preferences

HANDBOOK ON THE SCHEME OF

THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND

(INT/97/A06)

UNCTAD Technical Cooperation Project on Market Access,

Trade Laws and Preferences

UNCTAD/ITCD/TSB/Misc.51 April 1999

This Handbook is intended to give, in a consolidated and concise form, information regarding the tariff advantages available to developing countries under the scheme of generalized system of preferences (GSP) of the Republic of Poland and the conditions under which goods may qualify for preferential treatment on importation into the Republic of Poland.

The Handbook has been prepared by the UNCTAD Technical Cooperation Project on Market Access, Trade Laws and Preferences (INT/97/AO6) primarily for use within the context of project activities.

It should be noted that the description of products is given in terms of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) on which the Customs Tariff of the Republic of Poland is based, as products covered by the scheme are defined on an individual tariff line basis.

Although based on official texts, the Handbook cannot be regarded as a substitute for these texts. For more detailed information, authentic and up-to-date legal texts should be consulted.

The Polish legislation implementing a system of tariff preferences in favour of developing countries was brought into effect on 21 October 1997. This Order of the Council of Ministers supersedes all previous legislation of the Polish system of Generalized Preferences previously in operation.

Developing countries whose GDP is not higher than that of Poland are granted preferential rates equivalent to 80 per cent of the basic tariff. Least Developed Countries (LDC) are granted duty-free treatment.

With the exception of those products listed in Annex I, all other dutiable products contained in the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (Harmonized System, HS) defined at the four-digit level are covered by the Polish scheme.

There are no import limits or quotas, limiting preferential access to the Polish market.

In order to qualify for preferential tariff treatment, goods eligible for tariff preferences:

- must, in general, be transported directly to the Republic of Poland;

- must comply with the origin criteria specified for such goods by the Republic of Poland; and,

- must be accompanied by appropriate documentary evidence.

Direct consignment

The rule that originating products must be transported directly from the exporting country to the preference-giving country of destination is an important common feature of all GSP origin rules. Its purpose is to enable the customs administration of the importing preference-giving country to be satisfied that the imported products are identical with the products which left the exporting country, i.e. that they were not manipulated, substituted or further processed in any third country of transit.

General conditions

The Republic of Poland recognizes as directly transported:

- Products which do not pass through the territory of another country;

- Products which pass through the territories of countries other than the exporting beneficiary country, with or without transshipment or warehousing within those countries, provided that transport through those countries is justified for geographical reasons or exclusively on account of transport requirements1 and that the products have remained

1 Polish GSP rules of origin make the provision that transport through countries other than the exporting beneficiary country must be justified for geographical

under customs control in the country of transit or warehousing, and have not entered into commerce2 or been delivered for home use there and have not undergone operations other than unloading, reloading and any other operation required to keep them in good condition.

reasons or on account of transport requirements.

Additional conditions

Splitting up of loads and repacking, except packaging for retail sale, are allowed.

Origin criteria

Products exported from a beneficiary country may be divided into two groups:

(a) Products "wholly-obtained", i.e. products which have been entirely grown, extracted from the soil or harvested within the exporting country or which have been manufactured there exclusively from any of these products. Such products of a preference-receiving country qualify for GSP treatment by virtue of the total absence of the use of any imported components or materials; and

(b) Products which are manufactured wholly or partly from materials, parts or components imported into the beneficiary exporting country (or are of unknown origin). These products qualify for GSP treatment only if they have undergone "sufficient working or processing" in the beneficiary country (see below under "products with an import content or with a content of unknown origin").

Products "wholly obtained"

The Republic of Poland recognizes the following as products "wholly obtained" in a beneficiary country:

(a) mineral products extracted from its soil or from its sea bed;

(b) vegetable products harvested there;

(c) live animals born and raised there;

(d) products obtained there from live animals;

(e) products obtained by hunting or fishing conducted there;

(f) products of sea fishing and other products taken from the sea by its vessels;

(g) products made on board its factory ships exclusively from products referred to in (f) above;

2 Polish GSP rules of origin provide that the products must not have entered into commerce in the country of transit or warehousing.

(h) used articles which are collected there and are fit only for the recovery of raw materials;

(i) waste and scrap resulting from manufacturing operations conducted there;

(j) products obtained there exclusively from the products referred to in (a) to (i), above; and,

(k) products taken from the sea-bed or subsoil beneath the sea-bed outside a country are considered to be wholly obtained in the country that has rights to exploit that sea-bed or subsoil.

The terms "vessels or ship of a beneficiary country" and "factory ships or plant vessel of a beneficiary country" refer to ships or plant vessels which jointly satisfy the following conditions:

(a) Are entered in a register or registered in a beneficiary country or the Republic of Poland;

(b) Sail under the flag of a beneficiary country or the Republic of Poland;

(c) Are, in part amounting at least 50 per cent the property of an individual who is a citizen of a beneficiary country or the Republic of Poland, or of corporate body, or of administrative unit without legal status with board of directors situated in one of these countries, manager or managers, chairman of board of directors and the majority of members of the board are citizens of a beneficiary country or the Republic of Poland, in which at least half of the capital belongs to a beneficiary country or the Republic of Poland, their public organisations or their citizens;

(d) Their capital and officers are citizens of a beneficiary country or the Republic of Poland; and,

(e) At least 75 per cent of their crew are citizens of a beneficiary country or the Republic of Poland.

Products with an import content or with a content of unknown origin

As indicated above, products which have been manufactured in a beneficiary country wholly or partly from imported materials, parts or components (including materials, etc. of undetermined or unknown origin) are considered as originating in that country if those materials, parts or components have undergone sufficient working or processing. In general terms, working or processing is regarded as sufficient if it transforms the specific nature and characteristics of the materials used to a substantial degree. According to the origin criterion applied by the Republic of Poland (process criterion), imported materials, parts or components ("inputs") are considered to have undergone sufficient working or processing if the finished product falls under a tariff heading at a four-digit level different from that of any of the materials, parts or components used in the process ("change in tariff heading"). However, since a change in tariff heading in some cases could be too liberal and some other cases too stringent a requirement to confer originating status to a product, such products are instead covered by a specific list in which the working or processing required to be carried out on the non-originating materials is laid down.

For a number of processes set out in the above-mentioned list, the rule requires the value of imported inputs not to exceed a given percentage of the value of the finished products. For the purpose of calculating whether the percentage is satisfied:

The value of imported inputs is defined as their customs value at the

time of importation into the beneficiary country or, in the case of inputs of undetermined or unknown origin, the earliest ascertainable price paid for them in that country. This also applies where the value of the originating materials used in the manufacture needs to be established; and,

The value of finished products is the ex-factory price of the products, less internal taxes refunded or refundable on exportation. The ex-factory price includes the cost of production and the producer’s profit. Where the processing has been carried out successively in two or more factories, the price to be taken into account is that paid to the last manufacturer, provided that the price includes the value of all the products used in manufacture.

Minimal or insufficient processes

Irrespective of whether the product meets the change of tariff heading requirement, the following operations and processes alone do not confer originating status:

(a) Operations to ensure the preservation of products in good condition during transport and storage (ventilation, spreading out, drying, chilling, placing in salt, sulphur dioxide or other aqueous solutions, removal of damaged parts, and like operations);

(b) Simple operations consisting of removal of dust, sifting or screening, sorting, classifying, matching (including the making up of sets of articles), washing, painting, cutting up;

(c) (i) changes of packing and breaking up and assembly of consignments;

(ii) simple placing in bottles, flasks, bags, cases, boxes, fixing on cards or boards, etc. and all other simple packing operations;

(d) The affixing of marks, labels, or other like distinguishing signs on products or their packaging;

(e) Simple mixing of products, whether or not of different kinds, where one or more components of the mixture do not meet the conditions laid down in these provisions to enable them to be considered as originating products;

(f) Simple assembly of parts of products to constitute a complete product;

(g) A combination of two or more operations specified in (a) to (f), above; and,

(h) Slaughter of animals.

Unit of qualification

For the purpose of the application of the rules of origin, the following provisions apply with regard to the unit of qualification:

- where under the terms of the Harmonized System a product composed of a group or assembly of articles is classified within a single heading, the whole constitutes the unit of qualification;

- sets in the sense of General Rule 3 of the Harmonized System shall be regarded as originating only when all component articles are originating. The set as a whole shall be regarded as originating provided that the value of the non-originating articles does not exceed 15 per cent of the total value of the set;

- accessories, spare parts and tools dispatched with a piece of equipment, machine, apparatus or vehicle which are part of the normal equipment and included in the price thereof or are not separately invoiced shall be regarded as one with the piece of equipment, machine, apparatus or vehicle in question.

Packing

Where under the General Rule 5 of the Harmonized System packing is included with the product for classification purposes, it shall also be included for the purpose of determining origin.

Cumulative origin

The Republic of Poland applies a system of cumulative origin. Under that system a preference-receiving country exporting to the Republic of Poland is allowed, for the purpose of the origin rules, to regard materials used in production, which have originated in another preference-receiving country, beneficiary under the Polish scheme, as if those materials had originated in the exporting country. For the purposes of granting cumulative origin, the origin of Polish products should be documented with EUR.1 shipment certificate issued by Polish customs authorities. In field 2 of shipment certificate notes "KRAJE KORZYSTAJACE Z GSP", "PAYS BENEFICIAIRES DU SPG", "GSP BENEFICIARY COUNTRIES" and "POLSKA", "POLOGNE" or "POLAND" should be provided.

The certificate should be filled in in handwriting, written in ink, capital letters, or typed. The Form should measure 210 mm x 297 mm - a variation in length up to 8 mm longer, or 5 mm shorter is accepted,

For the purposes of granting cumulative origin the EUR. 1 shipment certificate should fulfill the following conditions:

- The Form should be printed in Polish or, if required by commercial conditions, in another language;

- The Form should be printed on white paper, containing no wood pulp, and weighing not less than 25 g/m2;

- The Form should be printed with a green guilloching pattern in the background making any attempted forgery by mechanical or chemical methods visible;

- The Form should bear the name and address of the printing house, or a sign enabling identification of the printing house;

- The Form should bear a serial number, printed or not, enabling its identification.

Preference-giving-country content

The Republic of Poland applies the preference-giving-country content rule under which inputs originating in Poland and embodied in products exported back to Poland under the GSP are considered to be wholly produced in the beneficiary country.

In case of certificates of origin written in Form A for products for which production materials originating in Poland were used and cumulative origin was granted, notes "KUMULACJA Z POLSKA", "CUMUL POLOGNE", or "POLAND CUMULATION" should be placed in field 4 of the certificate of origin written in Form A.

Claims for GSP treatment must be supported by appropriate documentary evidence as to direct consignment and the origin of the goods.

Evidence of direct consignment

In the case of exports to the Republic of Poland, evidence that the requirements of direct consignment have been fulfilled must, for products passing through the territory of a third country, be supplied to the customs authorities of the importing country by the presentation of:

- a through bill of lading drawn up in the exporting beneficiary country covering passage through the country or countries of transit; or

- a certificate issued by the customs authorities of the country of transit, describing exactly the good, stating the dates of unloading and reloading of the products or of their embarkation or disembarkation, identifying the ships used and certifying the conditions under which the products remained in the transit country; or

- failing these, any substantiating documents deemed necessary (for example, copy of the order for the products, suppliers’ invoice, bills of lading establishing the route by which the products travelled).

Evidence as to the origin of the goods

Originating products must be accompanied by a Combined Declaration and Certificate of Origin, Form A, filled in by the exporter and stamped by a competent governmental authority of the exporting beneficiary country except as regards consignments of small value or postal consignments in respect of which special provisions apply (see below).

Certificate of origin presented in the form of Form A may be considered as proof certifying that goods origin in a beneficiary country, on condition that a beneficiary country has delivered to Glówny Urzad Cel (GUC) - Polish Customs names and addresses of the organs authorised to issue certificates of origin on Form A and examples of seals used by these organs.

Each certificate shall measure 210 x 257 mm; a tolerance of up to plus 8 mm or minus 5mm in the length may be allowed. The paper used shall be white writing paper, sized, not containing mechanical pulp and weighing not less than 25g/m2. It shall have a printed green guilloche - pattern background making any falsification by mechanical or chemical means apparent to the eye.

It shall be made out in Polish, English or French. If it is completed by hand, entries must be in ink and in capital letters.

The use of English or French for notes on the reverse side of the certificate is not obligatory.

Each certificate shall bear a serial number, printed or other wise, by which it can be identified.

It is the responsibility of the relevant certifying authority of the exporting beneficiary country to ensure that the application is duly completed.

The completion of box 2 (consignee) of Form A is optional.

Certificate issued retrospectively

Where, as a result of errors, involuntary omissions or any other special circumstances, no request for a certificate of origin was made when the products were exported, such a certificate may be issued after the actual exportation of the products to which it relates.

The appropriate government authority may issue a certificate retrospectively only after verifying that the information supplied in the exporter’s request agrees with the corresponding export file and that a certificate of origin was not issued when the goods in question were exported.

A certificate so issued should bear in box 4 the endorsement "Wystawiono", "Issued retrospectively" or délivré "a posteriori".

Duplicate certificate

In the event of theft, loss or destruction of a certificate of origin, the exporter may apply to the certifying authority which issued it for a duplicate to be made out on the basis of the export documents in their possession. The duplicate Form A issued in this way should be endorsed, in box 4, with one of the following words: "Duplikat", "Duplicata" or "Duplicate" together with the date of issue and the serial number of the original certificate.

Replacement certificates

A replacement certificate should:

(a) Provide the name of the person who applied for the original certificate in box 1;

(b) Provide the name of the final recipient of goods, if known, in box 2;

(c) Mention in box 4 the words "SWIATECTWO ZASTEPCZE", "CERTIFICAT DE REMPLACEMENT" or "REPLACEMENT CERTIFICATE" note, and the date of issue of the original certificate of origin and its serial number;

(d) Provide in boxes 3-8 all the notes contained in these boxes on the original certificate;

(e) Provide the invoice number in box 10;

(f) Be authorised by the customs authority which issued the replacement certificate in box 11;

(g) Provide the data referring to a beneficiary country and the destination country, consistent with the data provided in the original certificate in box 12 - this field should be signed by the person who applied for the issue of a replacement certificate;

(h) The customs authority issuing the replacement certificate should write on the original certificate serial numbers of replacement certificates issued with specification for what quantity of goods they were issued;

and,

(i) Customs authorities may, in justifiable cases, require that a copy of the original certificate be attached to the replacement certificate.

Consignments of small value and postal consignments

Products declared to be originating in a beneficiary country, which are sent as small packages to private persons by private persons or forming part of travellers personal luggage are granted preferential tariff treatment without documentary evidence being required, provided that their importation is occasional and not for any commercial purpose and on condition that the value of the products does not exceed the value limits established by the Polish customs authorities.3

Administrative cooperation

The correctness of certificates of origin may be subject to verification at any time, either at random or whenever there is reason to doubt the authenticity of the certificate or the accuracy of the information regarding the origin of the goods in question.

For this purpose, the Customs authorities may return the certificate of origin to the relevant authority of the exporting beneficiary country.

Where verification of a certificate of origin has been requested, it shall be carried out and the results communicated to the Swiss Customs authorities within six months. These results must be such as to make it possible to determine whether the contested certificate of origin relates to the goods actually exported, and whether these goods in fact qualify for the application of GSP treatment.

The Republic of Poland grants preferences to 88 countries. Among them 47 are listed as least developed countries. An indispensable condition for the application of the scheme is that the government of the exporting country has notified the Polish Authorities of the names of the authorities of the country empowered to issue the Form A and provided specimen impressions of stamps used by the same authorities for that purpose.

3 To claim preferential treatment a special form known as Form APR should accompany each postal consignment.

4 See annex II.

Annex I

Silk fabrics, wool fabrics, cotton fabrics (at least 85% cotton), jute, linen yarn, linen fabrics, sewing threads, synthetic fibres, synthetic yarns, synthetic fabrics, carpets, plush fabrics, haberdashery, textile fabrics used for technical purposes, knitwear, clothes and accessories, other textile goods (e.g. blankets, curtains), leather and leather products, shoes, hats and caps, umbrellas, walking sticks, artificial flowers, processed flowers, precious or semi-precious stones, precious metals, jewellery, iron alloys, steel, steel products, cast iron products, copper wire and some copper products (e.g. pipes, wire). Automatic typewriters, non-electric typewriters, hand-dryers, microwave ovens, electric irons, phone and telecommunications equipment, microphones, loudspeakers, gramophones, non-rail vehicles, and their parts (except tanks, motorcycles, bicycles, wheel hairs, baby prams),yachts, rowing boats, kayaks, clocks, watches, revolvers, pistols, furniture, mattress, bedclothes, lamps, neon signs, luminous signs, petroleum oil, natural gas, natural rubber, soaps, explosives, live poultry, live pigs, meat and eggs (except mutton and goat meat), dairy, bird`s eggs, natural honey, fresh apples, pears, and quinces, cherries, plums, nuts, dried fruits grain, malt, starch, hop cones, juices and plant extracts, swine fat, soya oil, margarine, beverage, alcohol, tobacco, sauces ,vinegar, sugar and its products, grain, flour, milk and their products, vegetables, fruit and nut preserves (except preserved in vinegar, mushroom preserves, olive preserves, sweet corn preserves, yeast, sauces, ice-creams, soups.

Annex II

A. Beneficiary countries (non-LDCs)

Algeria
Bolivia
Cameroon
China, People’s Rep. of
Colombia
Côte d’Ivoire
Cuba
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Ghana
Guatemala
Guyana
Honduras
India
Indonesia
Jamaica
Jordan
Kenya
Korea, Democratic People’s Rep. of
Lebanon
Morocco
Mongolia
Namibia
Nicaragua
Nigeria
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Senegal
Sri Lanka
Swaziland
Thailand
Tonga
Tunisia
Viet Nam
Zimbabwe

B. Least Developed countries (LDCs)

Afghanistan
Angola
Bangladesh
Benin
Bhutan
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Djibouti
Equatorial Guinea
Ethiopia
Gambia
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Haiti
Kiribati
Lao, People’s Democratic Rep. of
Lesotho
Liberia
Madagascar
Malawi
Maldives
Mali
Mauritania
Mozambique
Myanmar
Nepal
Niger
Rwanda
Samoa
Sao Tomé and Principe
Sierra Leone
Solomon Islands
Somalia
Sudan
Tanzania, United Rep. of
Togo
Tuvalu
Uganda
Vanuatu
Yemen
Zaire
Zambia

INT/97/A06

Programa de cooperación técnica de la UNCTAD sobre acceso a los mercados, leyes comerciales y preferencias

Las denominaciones empleadas en esta publicación y la forma en que aparecen presentados los datos no implican, de parte de la Secretaría de las Naciones Unidas, juicio alguno sobre la condición jurídica de países, territorios, ciudades o zonas, o de sus autoridades, ni respecto de la delimitación de sus fronteras o límites.

1. EL SISTEMA GENERALIZADO DE PREFERENCIAS (SGP ) DE SUIZA

Introducción

El 1º de marzo de 1972, entró en vigor el esquema suizo del Sistema Generalizado de Preferencias (SGP), de conformidad con la intención de Suiza de aplicar la resolución 21 (II) aprobada por la II UNCTAD (Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas sobre Comercio y Desarrollo) en 1968. Se caracteriza por otorgar trato preferencial en forma de exención de derechos en la mayoría de casos y por la amplia variedad de productos abarcados (todos los productos industriales y muchos productos agrícolas).

A raíz de la conclusión de la Ronda Uruguay del GATT, Suiza inició una revisión completa de su esquema en vigor desde el 1º de marzo de 1967. En particular, amplió las preferencias concedidas a los países menos adelantados y en la actualidad entre los productos abarcados se incluye gran número de productos agrícolas. Además, se volvió a examinar qué países pueden beneficiarse del esquema suizo. Se mantienen las características básicas del sistema: sencillez y coherencia.

La presente publicación tiene por finalidad facilitar información a los exportadores de los países beneficiarios acerca del SGP suizo con el fin de ayudarlos a aprovechar plenamente los beneficios que ofrece. Para mayor información y ejemplares adicionales, sírvanse ponerse en contacto con el servicio "Trade and clean technology cooperation", State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, Effingerstrasse 1, CH-3003 Berna, Suiza (correo electrónico: seco@seco.admin.ch) o con el Programa de cooperación técnica de la UNCTAD sobre acceso a los mercados, leyes comerciales y preferencias: teléfono Nº +41 22 9074944, fax +41 22 9070044 (correo electrónico: gsp@unctad.org).

La información que se adjunta, aunque no es vinculante jurídicamente, corresponde a la legislación en vigor al 1º de marzo de 1997 1y al 1º de octubre de 1998 2.

Principios generales del esquema de preferencias generalizadas de Suiza

El trato preferencial concedido a las exportaciones de los países en desarrollo tiene por finalidad ayudar a que aumenten y diversifiquen sus exportaciones.

El esquema de preferencias suizo concede trato preferencial, en forma de exención de derechos en la mayoría de casos, en lo que se refiere a los productos industriales. Abarca gran variedad de productos y se caracteriza por la inexistencia de todo tipo de restricciones cuantitativas sobre los productos industriales.

1 Fecha en que entró en vigor la modificación de la orden suiza sobre el SGP (Arrêté Fédéral concernant l'octroi de préférences tarifaires en faveur des pays en développement).

2 Fecha en que entró en vigor la modificación del esquema suizo del SGP en lo relativo a las normas de origen (Ordonnance relative aux règles d'origine régissant l'octroi de préférences tarifaires aux pays en développement).

Cabe recordar no obstante que el mercado suizo es estricto y que a menudo la calidad es más importante que el precio. Además, el mercado suizo es pequeño.

Beneficiarios de las preferencias (anexo 1)

En principio, todos los países en desarrollo tienen derecho a las preferencias del esquema suizo, con excepción de los países y territorios que hayan alcanzado un alto nivel de desarrollo.

La exclusión se basa en criterios objetivos. No se conceden los beneficios del SGP a los países de la OCDE o que han concertado acuerdos de libre comercio con Suiza. También quedan excluidos los países y territorios que el Comité de asistencia al desarrollo (CAD) de la OCDE ha clasificado como países o territorios en desarrollo más adelantados en la Parte II de su lista de receptores de ayuda para el desarrollo.

Alcance de las preferencias (anexos 2 y 3)

Productos agrícolas

Suiza concede preferencias a gran número de productos agrícolas, si bien con respecto a algunos aplica determinadas restricciones (véase el anexo 2). Los productos se admiten con exención de derechos en la mayoría de casos o gozan de reducciones sustanciales. En lo que se refiere a los países menos adelantados, se incluye gran número de productos agrícolas, la mayoría exentos de derechos.

Productos industriales

Suiza concede preferencias a todos los productos industriales sujetos a derechos (véase el anexo 3). Los productos abarcados por este esquema se admiten con exención de derechos, excepto los textiles y las prendas de vestir para los que se conceden reducciones preferenciales del 50% del tipo impositivo normal. Los países menos adelantados están exentos en lo que respecta a todos los productos industriales. Algunos productos originarios de China, la República Popular de Corea y Macao sólo gozan de un grado reducido de preferencias.

Normas de origen (punto 2 y anexo 4)

Las normas de origen del esquema suizo son similares a las de la Unión Europea (UE) y de Noruega.

El esquema suizo incluye normas de origen que tienen que cumplir las mercancías para tener derecho a trato SGP. Para cumplir las normas de origen las mercancías tienen que estar producidas totalmente en el país beneficiario o haber estado sometidas a fabricación o elaboración en un país beneficiario con arreglo a los criterios específicos en materia de transformación establecidos en los reglamentos. A partir del 1º de octubre de 1998, se ha modificado la lista de normas aplicables a los productos industriales, armonizando las normas de origen con las del sistema acumulativo paneuropeo 3.

En algunos casos, previa solicitud especial, los países menos adelantados pueden quedar exentos de la aplicación de las normas de origen.

En principio, estas normas sólo se aplican a las mercancías transportadas directamente del país beneficiario a Suiza. No obstante, se autoriza el tránsito de mercancías por otros países (por ejemplo, la UE, Noruega) por motivos de transporte o por otras razones de tipo práctico.

Para determinar el origen preferencial se prevén normas especiales que tienen en cuenta la acumulación de materiales entre países beneficiarios que formen agrupaciones económicas regionales.

En virtud de las modificaciones de 1996 del SGP suizo en lo que respecta a las normas de origen, se introdujo la norma del contenido de país donante. Además, se espera que en el curso de 1999 (véase el punto 2.2.2) se autorice que, para determinar los materiales de origen preferencial los países beneficiarios no sólo tengan en cuenta los originados en Suiza sino también los originarios de la Unión Europea y de Noruega. Esta regla de la acumulación en lo que respecta a los productos industriales tiene por finalidad facilitar la cooperación entre empresas del país beneficiario y empresas de Europa.

Prueba documental del origen (punto 2.8 y anexo 5)

Los importadores que pretendan obtener trato SGP tienen que aportar pruebas documentales del origen. De este requisito sólo quedan excluidos algunos pequeños envíos y el equipaje personal de los viajeros. A partir del 1º de octubre de 1998, el formulario APR para envíos postales se sustituyó por la declaración en factura (véase el punto 2.8.2).

Cláusula de salvaguardia

Existe una cláusula de salvaguardia en virtud de la cual, a reserva de condiciones específicas, el trato SGP puede suspenderse durante un plazo determinado. Hasta el 1º de marzo de 1998, esta cláusula no se había aplicado nunca.

Importancia de la notificación

Una condición indispensable para la aplicación del esquema es que el gobierno del país exportador comunique a las autoridades suizas los nombres de las autoridades oficiales de dicho país que estén facultadas para expedir certificados de origen y proporcionar marcas de muestra de los sellos utilizados por esas autoridades con tal fin.

3 El sistema acumulativo paneuropeo es un sistema de libre comercio de los productos industriales que incluye los países siguientes: Unión Europea, Suiza, Noruega, Islandia, Principado de Liechtenstein, Polonia, Hungría, República Checa, República Eslovaca, Eslovenia, Rumania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Letonia, Lituania y Turquía.

Las notificaciones deben enviarse a la dirección siguiente:

General Directorate of Swiss Customs
Origin Section
Monbijou St. 40
3003 Bern
Suiza

2. NORMAS DE ORIGEN

Resumen

Para tener derecho a trato arancelario preferencial en Suiza, los productos enviados de un país beneficiario a Suiza tienen que reunir las condiciones siguientes:

- ser transportados directamente a Suiza desde el país beneficiario;

- cumplir las normas de origen establecidas por Suiza para estos productos;

- ir acompañados de las pruebas documentales adecuadas con respecto a su origen.

A continuación se exponen pormenorizadamente las condiciones y disposiciones que tienen que cumplir las mercancías importadas para recibir trato preferencial:

2.1. Productos originarios

A efectos del SGP se consideran originarios de un país beneficiario las mercancías siguientes:

- las obtenidas totalmente en un país beneficiario (véase la sección A, a continuación);

- las mercancías producidas en el país beneficiario en cuya fabricación se hayan utilizado productos distintos de los arriba mencionados, a condición de que se hayan transformado o elaborado según se establece en la sección B siguiente (fabricación o elaboración suficiente).

El envasado de tipo normal para el artículo de que se trate que no tenga un valor de uso intrínseco de carácter duradero excepto como envasado se considera parte del artículo envasado.

A. Productos obtenidos totalmente en un país beneficiario

Los productos siguientes se consideran obtenidos totalmente en un país beneficiario:

a) Los productos minerales extraídos de su suelo o de sus fondos marinos;

b) Los productos vegetales allí recolectados;

c) Los animales vivos nacidos y criados allí;

d) Los productos obtenidos allí de animales vivos;

e) Los productos obtenidos de la caza o la pesca realizada allí;

f) Los productos de la pesca marítima y otros productos marinos sacados del mar por sus embarcaciones;

g) Los productos fabricados a bordo de sus buques factoría a partir exclusivamente de los productos a que se hace referencia en el apartado f) anterior;

h) Los artículos usados allí recogidos, aptos únicamente para la recuperación de materias primas;

i) Los residuos y chatarra resultantes de operaciones de fabricación llevadas a cabo allí;

j) Las mercancías producidas allí a partir exclusivamente de los productos a que se hace referencia en los apartados a) a i) anteriores.

B. Fabricación o elaboración suficiente

a) Productos agrícolas (capítulos 1 a 24 del SA)

A efectos de las normas de origen, se considera suficiente la fabricación o elaboración siguiente: aquella como resultado de la cual las mercancías obtenidas quedan clasificadas en una partida arancelaria del Sistema Armonizado 4(SA) distinta de la que corresponde a cada uno de los productos no originarios fabricados o elaborados.

No obstante, en vez de ello los productos especificados en el anexo 4 tienen que cumplir las condiciones establecidas en el anexo.

b) Productos industriales (capítulos 25 a 97 del SA)

Los productos industriales tienen que cumplir la condiciones establecidas en la lista del anexo 4.

4 El Sistema Armonizado es un sistema de clasificación de mercancías que tiene 21 secciones, 96 capítulos y 1.241 partidas (a nivel de 4 dígitos). Algunas partidas se subdividen en subpartidas (a nivel de 6 dígitos), que a su vez vuelven a subdividirse en subpartidas dobles (a nivel de 6 dígitos). El Sistema Armonizado comprende 5.018 categorías de clasificación de mercancías. Se aplica mediante el Convenio internacional sobre el Sistema Armonizado de designación y codificación de mercancías, de 14 de junio de 1983. Actualmente se emplea en los aranceles aduaneros y la nomenclatura de las estadísticas comerciales de casi 120 países.

2.2. Origen acumulativo

2.2.1. Acumulación con Suiza: contenido de país donante

La acumulación con el país donante (Suiza) ofrece la posibilidad de utilizar insumos de origen suizo y considerarlos originarios de un país beneficiario del SGP para determinar el origen.

El concepto de contenido de país donante, introducido en julio de 1996, tiene por finalidad aumentar la cooperación industrial entre empresas suizas y empresas de países beneficiarios del esquema suizo de preferencias generalizadas (ejemplo: anexo 6).

2.2.2. Acumulación con la Unión Europea y Noruega: se espera que entre en vigor en el curso de 1999

a) Ampliación del contenido suizo de país donante a materiales de la UE y de Noruega

Los países beneficiarios del SGP pueden considerar no sólo los materiales de origen suizo (contenido de país donante) sino también los de la Unión Europea y de Noruega para la determinación del origen preferencial. Dicho de otro modo, los países beneficiarios también pueden proceder a la acumulación de materiales procedentes de la Unión Europea y de Noruega.

Esta acumulación se limita a los productos industriales de los capítulos 25 a 97 del SA.

No obstante, las disposiciones relativas al contenido de país donante sólo se aplican a los materiales originarios de la Unión Europea, Noruega o Suiza que se transporten directamente entre esos países y los países beneficiarios.

b) Ampliación del contenido de país donante de la UE y de Noruega a los materiales suizos

Las normas de origen de los esquemas SGP de la Unión Europea y de Noruega también incluyen la posibilidad de que los países beneficiarios del SGP puedan acumular materiales de la UE, noruegos y suizos. Esto significa que los beneficiarios del SGP de la UE pueden utilizar materiales suizos (en las mismas condiciones que si estos materiales tuvieran su origen en sus propios países, en la UE o en Noruega) y, a condición de que su producto manufacturado cumpla las normas de origen de la UE, beneficiarse de las preferencias del SGP de la UE. Esta acumulación se limita a los productos industriales de los capítulos 25 a 97 del SA.

No obstante, las disposiciones relativas al contenido de país donante sólo se aplican a los materiales originarios de la Unión Europea, Suiza o Noruega que se transporten directamente entre esos países y los países beneficiarios.

Importante: Antes de aprovechar la posibilidad de acumulación con la Unión Europea o Noruega es necesario consultar a las autoridades aduaneras suizas (véase la dirección en la página ...) para saber si este esquema ha entrado en vigor.

2.2.3. Acumulación dentro de agrupaciones económicas regionales: ASEAN

Un producto originario de un país miembro de una agrupación económica regional que se haya utilizado como material para la fabricación o elaboración de mercancías en otro país miembro de la misma agrupación económica puede considerarse originario de ese último país. En la actualidad sólo la agrupación económica regional ASEAN 5ha solicitado -y obtenido el derecho a utilizar ese trato acumulativo.

2.3. Norma de la tolerancia general

En virtud de la norma de la tolerancia general, los insumos que no puedan utilizarse para tener derecho a preferencias en aplicación de las normas de origen sí podrán emplearse a condición de que su valor no supere el 5% del precio ex fábrica.

No obstante, cuando en la lista del anexo 4 se aplique una norma en la que figure el valor máximo de todos los materiales no originarios para determinar la condición originaria del producto final de que se trate, el valor total de los materiales no originarios utilizados no podrá superar el porcentaje establecido.

Además, esta norma no se aplica a los textiles y las prendas de vestir de los capítulos 5 a 63 del SA (ejemplo: anexo 6).

2.4. Procesos mínimos o insuficientes

Por sí solas las operaciones y procesos siguientes no confieren la condición de productos originarios, incluso aunque se registre un cambio de partida arancelaria:

a) Las operaciones destinadas a garantizar la conservación en buen estado de los productos durante el transporte y el almacenamiento (ventilación, esparcimiento, secado, refrigeración, inmersión en sal, dióxido de azufre u otras soluciones acuosas, supresión de partes dañadas y operaciones afines);

b) Las operaciones sencillas consistentes en quitar el polvo, tamizar o resguardar, seleccionar, clasificar, igualar (incluida la preparación de un surtido de artículos), lavar, pintar, cortar;

c) Los cambios de embalaje, la división y la reunión de envíos;

d) La simple colocación en botellas, frascos, bolsas, cajones o cajas, la fijación en cartulinas o cartones, etc., y cualquier otra operación simple de embalaje;

5 Excluido Singapur y Brunei Darussalam.

e) La colocación de marcas, etiquetas o cualquier otro signo distintivo en los productos o sus embalajes;

f) La simple mezcla de productos, sean o no de diferentes clases, cuando uno o varios componentes de la mezcla no tenga derecho a la consideración de producto originario;

g) El simple montaje de partes de productos para constituir un producto completo;

h) Una combinación de dos o más operaciones de las especificadas en a) a g);

i) El sacrificio de animales.

2.5. Definición de "valor en aduana" y "precio ex fábrica"

Se entiende por "valor en aduana" el valor aduanero establecido en el Acuerdo de la OMC relativo a la Aplicación del Artículo 7 del Acuerdo General sobre Aranceles Aduaneros y Comercio (Código de valoración en aduana).

Cuando en la lista relativa a la fabricación o elaboración requerida (anexo 4) se establezca que las mercancías obtenidas en un país beneficiario sólo se considerarán originarias de dicho país cuando el valor de los productos fabricados o elaborados no supere un determinado porcentaje del valor de las mercancías obtenidas, los valores que tienen que tomarse en consideración para determinar ese porcentaje son los siguientes:

a) Cuando se trate de un producto utilizado como material, el valor en aduana en el momento de efectuarse la importación. Si no se conoce y no puede saberse, el último precio comprobable pagado en el país o territorio en que se produzca la fabricación;

b) En el caso de productos producidos en el país de que se trate, el precio ex fábrica de las mercancías obtenidas menos los impuestos internos que se reembolsen, o puedan reembolsarse, cuando se exporta el producto obtenido.

Se entiende por "precio ex fábrica" el precio pagado al fabricante en cuyas instalaciones se haya registrado una fabricación o elaboración suficiente. Cuando esto se haya efectuado sucesivamente en dos o más instalaciones, el precio que tiene que tenerse en cuenta es el pagado al último fabricante, a condición de que incluya el valor de todos los productos utilizados en la fabricación.

2.6. Unidad de calificación

Cada artículo de un envío se considera por separado. A efectos de esta norma:

a) Cuando en el SA se especifique que un conjunto de artículos tiene que clasificarse dentro de una sola partida, ese conjunto se considerará un solo artículo.

Los conjuntos definidos en la Regla general 3 del SA se consideran originarios cuando todos los artículos que los componen son productos originarios. No obstante, cuando un conjunto esté compuesto por productos originarios y no originarios, todo el conjunto se considera originario cuando el valor de los artículos no originarios no supere el 15% del valor total del conjunto;

b) Las herramientas, partes y accesorios importados con una pieza de equipo, maquinaria, aparato o vehículo, cuyo precio se incluya en el de la pieza de equipo, etc., o que no se cobran por separado, se considerará que forman un todo con la pieza de equipo, etc., a condición de que constituyan el equipamiento habitual incluido normalmente en la venta de un artículo de esta clase.

Un artículo, montado o desmontado, que corresponda a los capítulos 84 ó 85 del SA, importado en más de un envío, se considera un solo artículo si así lo solicita el importador.

2.7. Envío directo

Para garantizar que los beneficios del SGP se concedan únicamente a las mercancías originarias de los países beneficiarios, Suiza aplica la norma del envío directo. Cumplen esta norma los envíos siguientes:

a) Los productos transportados del país beneficiario a Suiza sin pasar por el territorio de ningún otro país;

b) Los productos cuyo transporte del país beneficiario a Suiza haya supuesto transitar por el territorio de uno o más países, con o sin transbordo o almacenamiento temporal en esos países. Y ello a condición de que el transporte de las mercancías a través de terceros países esté justificado por motivos geográficos o exclusivamente por necesidades del transporte, de que las mercancías permanezcan bajo control aduanero en esos países y de que en ellos no hayan sido objeto de ninguna operación excepto la carga y descarga o alguna operación necesaria para mantenerlas en buen estado.

Las autoridades aduaneras pueden exigir la presentación de pruebas para demostrar que se han cumplido las condiciones indicadas.

Los productos enviados originalmente de un país beneficiario a un país miembro de la Unión Europea o a Noruega y posteriormente reexportados a Suiza desde ese país de la UE o desde Noruega también se consideran transportados directamente a Suiza desde el país beneficiario a condición de que hayan permanecido bajo control aduanero en la UE o en Noruega y no hayan sufrido operaciones distintas de las enumeradas en la primera frase del apartado b) del presente punto.

2.8. Prueba documental

2.8.1. Certificado de origen, formulario A

La solicitud de trato SGP tiene que ir acompañada de la presentación de un certificado de origen en el formulario A (véase el anexo 5) refrendado por una autoridad competente del país de origen (véase también la sección 2.8.5 más adelante). Se presentará en francés o inglés.

Si se llena a mano, tendrá que hacerse con tinta y letras mayúsculas. Cada certificado medirá 210 x 297 mm. Se empleará papel de escribir blanco del tamaño determinado que no contenga pasta mecánica. Tendrá un fondo verde de líneas entrecruzadas que permitan descubrir a simple vista toda falsificación por medios mecánicos o químicos. Cada certificado llevará un número de serie que permita su identificación.

La autoridad competente del país beneficiario exportador es responsable de garantizar que se llene de la manera debida el formulario de solicitud.

Si se produce acumulación con Suiza (sección 2.2.1), la Unión Europea o Noruega (sección 2.2.2), en el recuadro 4 del formulario A tiene que incluirse, respectivamente, el texto siguiente: "CUMUL SUISSE" o "SWISS CUMULATION", CUMUL CE" o "EC CUMULATION", "CUMUL NORVÈGE" o "NORWAY CUMULATION".

La autoridad competente del país beneficiario refrendará el certificado si los productos que vayan a exportarse se originan en dicho país. Cuando ha habido acumulación con Suiza, la Unión Europea o Noruega, el refrendo tiene que hacerse sobre la base de un certificado EUR.1 (véase el anexo 5) o de una declaración de factura (véase el anexo 5) que se refiera a los materiales acumulados.

2.8.2. Declaración de factura

Desde el 1º de octubre de 1998 el formulario APR se ha sustituido por la declaración de factura. Todo envío que consista en uno o más embalajes que contengan productos originarios puede recibir trato preferencial sobre la base de la declaración de factura si el valor del envío no supera la cantidad de 7.500 francos suizos.

La declaración de factura, que figura en el anexo 5, es una declaración de origen del exportador que figura en el documento de factura y no requiere el refrendo de ninguna autoridad.

Tiene que hacerse en francés o en inglés y firmarlo el exportador.

Si ha habido acumulación con Suiza (sección 2.2.1), la Unión Europea o Noruega (sección 2.2.2), en la declaración de factura tiene que figurar, respectivamente, el texto siguiente: "CUMUL SUISSE" o "SWISS CUMULATION", CUMUL CE" o "EC CUMULATION", "CUMUL NORVÈGE" o "NORWAY CUMULATION".

2.8.3. Certificado expedido retroactivamente

Si debido a algún error, una omisión involuntaria o alguna circunstancia especial no se solicitó certificado de origen en el momento en que se exportaron las mercancías, ese certificado podrá expedirse después de que se haya producido la exportación efectiva de las mercancías a las que se refiera.

La autoridad competente sólo puede expedir retroactivamente un certificado previa verificación de que la información proporcionada a solicitud del exportador concuerda con los documentos y registros de exportación y no se procedió a expedir ningún certificado de origen cuando se exportaron las mercancías de que se trate.

En el recuadro 4 de los certificados así expedidos deben figurar las palabras "DELIVRÉ À POSTERIORI" o "ISSUED RETROSPECTIVELY".

2.8.4. Certificados duplicados

En caso de robo, pérdida o destrucción de un certificado de origen, el exportador puede solicitar a la autoridad que lo expidió un duplicado basado en los documentos de exportación en posesión de dicha autoridad. El duplicado debe estar refrendado con la palabra siguiente: "DUPLICATE" o "DUPLICATA"

2.8.5. Certificados sustitutivos

Suiza también acepta el Formulario A de los certificados de origen, refrendado por las autoridades de aduanas de un país miembro de la Unión Europea o de Noruega, basándose en un formulario A de certificado de origen expedido por las autoridades competentes del país beneficiario exportador, a condición de que las mercancías se hayan transportado a Suiza según lo establecido en la sección 2.7 y que se hayan cumplido también las demás condiciones de esas normas.

Las autoridades aduaneras suizas pueden refrendar un formulario A de certificado de origen basándose en un formulario A de certificado de origen expedido por las autoridades competentes de un país beneficiario exportador cuando las mercancías se reexporten a un país miembro de la Unión Europea o a Noruega, a condición de que hayan permanecido bajo control aduanero en Suiza y que se hayan cumplido también las demás condiciones indicadas en la sección 2.7.

En los casos a que se hace referencia en el párrafo anterior, las autoridades suizas, si así se les solicita, pueden enviar copia del certificado de origen expedido en el país beneficiario exportador a las autoridades aduaneras competentes del país de destino para que puedan utilizarlo.

2.9. Normas aplicables a pequeños paquetes y al equipaje personal de viaje

Los productos originarios de un país beneficiario enviados como pequeños paquetes a personas particulares o que formen parte del equipaje de viaje están exentos de derechos de aduana sin que sea necesario presentar prueba documental de su origen, a condición de que su importación sea ocasional y no tenga fines comerciales, y de que el valor de los productos no sea superior a 500 francos suizos en el caso de pequeños paquetes, y a 1.500 en el caso de productos que formen parte del equipaje personal de viaje.

2.10. Cooperación administrativa

En todo momento puede verificarse la corrección de los certificados de origen, al azar o en todo caso cuando existan motivos para dudar de la autenticidad del certificado o de la veracidad de la información relativa al origen de las mercancías de que se trate.

Con tal fin, las autoridades aduaneras pueden devolver el certificado de origen a la autoridad competente del país beneficiario exportador.

Cuando se haya solicitado la verificación de un certificado de origen, se procederá a efectuarla y los resultados se comunicarán a las autoridades aduaneras suizas en el plazo de seis meses. Estos resultados tienen que permitir determinar si el certificado de origen cuestionado se refiere a las mercancías realmente exportadas y si esas mercancías tienen verdaderamente derecho a que se les aplique el trato SGP.

Si no se recibe respuesta en el plazo de seis meses desde la fecha en que se solicitó la verificación, las autoridades aduaneras suizas enviarán a la autoridad competente del país beneficiario exportador una segunda solicitud.

Si en el plazo de cuatro meses a contar desde la fecha en que se envió la segunda solicitud no se recibe respuesta o si ésta no contiene información suficiente para determinar la autenticidad del documento de que se trate o el origen real de los productos, se negará el derecho a obtener preferencias.

Lista 1: PAÍSES Y TERRITORIOS EN DESARROLLO

EUROPA

Albania Gibraltar

Bosnia y Herzegovina Macedonia

Croacia Malta

ESTADOS DE LA CEI

Armenia Moldova

Azerbaiyán Tayikistán

Georgia Turkmenistán

Kazajstán Uzbekistán

Kirguistán

ÁFRICA(11)

Angola Malawi

Antártida Malí

Argelia Mauricio

Benin Mauritania

Botswana Mozambique

Burkina Faso Namibia

Burundi Níger

Cabo Verde Nigeria

Camerún República Centroafricana

Chad Rwanda

Comoras Sáhara Occidental

Congo Santa Elena

Côte d'Ivoire Santo Tomé y Príncipe

Djibouti Senegal

Egipto Seychelles

Eritrea Sierra Leona

Etiopía Somalia

Gabón Sudáfrica

Gambia Sudán

Ghana Swazilandia

Guinea Tanzanía

Guinea Bissau Territorios Británicos del Océano Índico

Guinea Ecuatorial Tierras australes francesas

Islas Bouvet Togo

Kenya Túnez

Lesotho Uganda

Liberia Zaire

Libia Zambia

Madagascar Zimbabwe

ASIA

Afganistán Macao8

Arabia Saudita Malasia

Bahrein Maldivas

Bangladesh Mongolia

Bhután Myanmar (Birmania)

Camboya Nepal

China6 Omán

Corea (Norte)7 Pakistán

Filipinas Ribera Occidental + Faja de Gaza

India Siria

Indonesia Sri Lanka

Irán Tailandia

Iraq Timor Oriental

Jordania Viet Nam

Laos Yemen

Líbano

6 Los derechos de Aduana preferenciales no se aplican a las mercancías de los capítulos 50 a 64 (materias textiles y sus manufacturas, calzado), con exclusión de las mercancías de las partidas 5001 00 00, 5002 00 00, ex 5007 20 10 (tejidos pongees, habutai, honan, shantung, corah y tejidos similares de Extremo Oriente, de seda pura, sin mezclar con borra de seda, con desperdicios de borra de seda ni con otras materias textiles), 5101 11 00/19 00, 5201 00 90, 5307 20 00, 5310 10 00/90 00, 5607 10 10, ex. 5608 90 00 (artículos de yute y de coco), 5701 10 00 a 5703 90 00, 5705 00 00, 5805 00 00, 6305 10 00, y ex 6305 90 00 (artículos de coco) originarios de este país o territorio.

7 Los derechos preferenciales de los Capítulos 50 a 63 del Arancel de Aduanas suizo y de las partidas 6401 a 6404, 6405 90 10 (materias textiles y sus manufacturas, calzado), así como de la partida 9405 99 12 (pantallas) no son aplicables a las mercancías originarias de este país o territorio.

8 Los derechos de Aduana preferenciales de los Capítulos 50 a 64 (materias textiles y sus manufacturas, calzado) del Arancel de Aduanas suizo, así como de la partida 9405 99 12 (pantallas) no son aplicables a las mercancías originarias de este país o territorio.

AMÉRICA

Anguila Honduras

Antigua y Barbuda Islas Georgia y Sandwich del Sur

Antillas Neerlandesas Islas Turcos y Caicos

Argentina Islas Vírgenes Británicas

Aruba Islas Vírgenes de los Estados Unidos

Barbados Jamaica

Belice Montserrat

Bolivia Nicaragua

Brasil9 Panamá

Chile Paraguay

Colombia Perú

Costa Rica República Dominicana

Cuba Saint Kitts y Nevis

Dominica Saint Pierre y Miquelon

Ecuador San Vicente y las Granadinas

El Salvador Santa Lucía

Granada Suriname

Guatemala Trinidad y Tabago

Guyana Uruguay

Haití Venezuela

AUSTRALIA Y OCEANÍA

Fiji Niue

Islas Cook Nueva Caledonia

Islas Marianas del Norte Oceanía americana

Islas Marshall Papua Nueva Guinea

Islas Pitcairn Polinesia francesa

Islas Salomón Samoa

Islas Walis y Futuna Tokelau

Kiribati Tonga

Micronesia Tuvalu

Nauru Vanuatu

9 Los derechos de Aduana preferenciales de las partidas 0901 12 00/22 00 (café) del Arancel de Aduanas suizo no son aplicables a las mercancías originarias de este país o territorio. El derecho de Aduana preferencial de la partida 2101 11 00/12 00 (extractos, esencias y concentrados de café y preparaciones a base de estos extractos, esencias o concentrados) aplicable a las mercancías originarias de este país o territorio es de fr. 144,50 por 100 kg brutos.

Lista 2: PAÍSES MENOS ADELANTADOS (Países PMA)

ÁFRICA

Angola Madagascar

Benin Malawi

Burkina Faso Malí

Burundi Mauritania

Cabo Verde Mozambique

Chad Níger

Comoras República Centroafricana

Djibouti Rwanda

Eritrea Santo Tomé y Príncipe

Etiopía Sierra Leona

Gambia Somalia

Guinea Sudán

Guinea-Bissau Tanzanía

Guinea Ecuatorial Togo

Lesotho Uganda

Liberia Zaire

ASIA

Afganistán Laos

Bangladesh Maldivas

Bhután Myanmar

Camboya Yemen

AMÉRICA

Haití

AUSTRALIA Y OCEANÍA

Islas Salomón Tuvalu

Kiribati Vanuatu

Samoa

Lista 3: PAÍSES EXCLUIDOS DEL ESQUEMA DE PREFERENCIAS DE SUIZA DESDE EL 1º DE MARZO DE 1998

EUROPA

Chipre

ASIA

Brunei Kuwait

Corea del Sur Qatar

Emiratos Árabes Unidos Singapur

Hong Kong

AMÉRICA

Bahamas Islas Malvinas (Falkland)

Bermudas México

Islas Caimán

El Sistema Generalizado de Preferencias (SGP) de laFederación de Rusia

¿Qué es un SGP?

Es un sistema establecido en 1961 por iniciativa de la Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (UNCTAD), cuyo propósito es otorgar preferencias arancelarias a las exportaciones de productos originarios de los países en vías de desarrollo, sin ninguna reciprocidad por parte de los países desarrollados, con el fin último de fomentar la diversificación de las exportaciones, la industrialización y mayores ingresos en los países beneficiarios.

El SGP consta actualmente de 16 esquemas de preferencias diferentes, aplicados por 27 países, cada esquema es independiente, aunque con muchos elementos en común. En total existen aproximadamente 138 países beneficiarios del SGP. En la actualidad todos los países en desarrollo miembros del grupo de los 77, están reconocidos como beneficiarios en la mayor parte de los esquemas.

Los países que otorgan preferencias arancelarias SGP son:

Alemania Francia Grecia Nueva Zelanda

Australia Holanda Polonia

Austria Hungría Portugal

Bulgaria Canadá Irlanda

Belarus Estados Unidos Reino Unido

Dinamarca Finlandia República Checa

Eslovaquia Japón Suecia

España Luxemburgo Suiza

Federación de Rusia Noruega Italia

Los siguientes productos no gozan de las preferencias arancelarias del SGP:

• Los artículos textiles y de vestir sujetos a acuerdos textiles, relojes, incluyendo sus correas o brazaletes,

• Artículos electrónicos susceptibles de resultar afectados por las importaciones,

• Artículos de acero, susceptibles de resultar afectados por las importaciones,

• Calzado, bolsos de mano, maletas de viaje, artículos "planos", guantes de trabajo y prendas de vestir de cuero,

• Productos de vidrio semi-manufacturado, susceptibles de resultar afectados por las importaciones.

Normas de origen

Para poder beneficiarse de las preferencias arancelarias otorgadas bajo el esquema SGP, los beneficiarios deben cumplir los criterios para la determinación de origen y la norma de expedición directa prescrita por cada país.

Las reglas de origen de las mercancías fueron instauradas para justificar el derecho al beneficiario del SGP. Existen dos modalidades de reglas de origen para la definición de productos originarios: los denominados productos “obtenidos totalmente” y los “suficientemente transformados”.

Para hacer uso del trato preferencial SGP, el exportador debe enviar sus productos directamente al país importador, pero la mercancía puede ser transportada a través de un tercer país por razones geográficas (por ejemplo si el país beneficiario no tiene litoral) o por dificultades logísticas, siempre y cuando las mercancías permanezcan bajo el control de las aduanas y que en el tercer país sólo se realicen operaciones menores como: embalaje, desembalaje, cambio de contenedores, marcaje, etiquetaje y las operaciones destinadas a conservar las mercancías.

Los países que conceden unilateralmente el SGP exigen la presentación de un documento denominado Certificado de Origen o Formulario “A”, con el fin de demostrar la procedencia de la mercancía.

El SGP de la Federación de Rusia

Colombia es uno de los países beneficiarios del SGP de la Federación Rusa, mediante el cual los países beneficiarios obtienen un descuento del 25% del arancel NMF. En el anexo I se relacionan los productos para los cuales se otorgan las preferencias; este no incluye el azúcar, para el cual se debe cancelar la totalidad del arancel.

Fuente: Orden del Comité de Aduanas de la Federación de Rusia Nº 258 del 26 de abril de 1996 «Sobre las tasas arancelarias»

ANEXO 1

Listado de mercaderías provenientes de los países en desarrollo y de los países con menor grado de desarrollo, que obtienen preferencias arancelarias al ingresar al territorio de la Federación de Rusia.

El Sistema Generalizado de Preferencias (SGP) de laFederación de Rusia

Fuente: Disposición del Gobierno de la Federación de Rusia del 18 de noviembre de 1999N. 1271; Orden del Comité Estatal de Aduanas del 30 de noviembre de 1999 N. 830.Fuente: http://www.latintrade.ru/main/esp/base/custview_es.php3

Colombia y los beneficios del SGP de la Federación de Rusia

Además de las preferencias arancelarias otorgadas a los productos colombianos contemplados en el Anexo I, la Federación de Rusia manifestó el pasado 16 de mayo de 2006 su compromiso de mantener las preferencias el SGP por un período no inferior a 7 años para una serie de partidas del arancel armonizado de interés exportador para Colombia, a saber: 0201, 0202, 0203, 0207, 0301,0302, 0303, 0306, 0402, 0403, 0408, 0603, 0604, 0803, 0804, 0805, 0807, 0810,0901, 0902, 1108 12, 1511 90, 1602 32, 1801 00,2001 90,2007, 2401, 3208, 3214, 3215 90, 3302 10, 3402 20, 3506, 3923, 4602, 5201 00, 5601, 6813, 6913 90.

La secretaría de la UNCTAD ha recibido del Gobierno de Turquía la siguiente comunicación:

"... transmitir adjunto el texto de la reglamentación turca relativa a la aplicación del Sistema Generalizado de Preferencias a determinados productos originarios de países en desarrollo y países menos adelantados..."

En breve se dispondrá del texto completo de la comunicación en forma de manual.

TURKEY'S GSP(Generalized System of Preferences)

May 2002EXPLANATORY NOTES

Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) aims at contributing, to the economic development of developing countries. GSP provides benefits to developing countries by enabling qualified products to enter the markets of preference - giving countries changing rates from duty free to reductions in the NIFiN rate.

On the other hand. Turkey applied for association with the European Economic Community in 1959, one year after the enforcernent of the Treaty of Rome. The Ankara Agreement of 1963 and the Additional Protocol of 1970 are two irnportant documents, which identify modalities and calendars ensuring the future customs uníon and confirms the ultímate aim of full membership.

The custorns union covering industrial products and processed agricultural products which carne finto force on 1 Januarv 1996 with Decision No 1195 of The Turkey - EC Association Council was an outcome of these calendars.

Article 16 of Decision No L`95 of the Association Council states that"Vith a view to harmonising its commercial policy %-vith that of the EC, Turkey shall align itself progressiveh., with preferential customs regime of the EC within five years as from the date of entry finto force of this decision. This alignment will concern both autonomous regimes and preferential agreements with third countries."

Within this context, Turkey initiated a Generalised System of Preferences by harmonising with EC's GSP on 1 January 2002.

BENEFICIARIES

Turkev grants preferential treatment to selected countries and territories which are classified as developing countries in Worldbank statistics in fine with EC

Beneficiaiy countries are announced annually in Annexes of The Import Regime Decree.

PRODUCT COVERAGE

Preferences are granted for selected industrial products. Turkey adapted the GSP system of the EC offly for the raw materials and serni-products in which those ítems account for approximately 2.500 Turkish Customs Tariff Numbers. (12 digít-Turkísh Statistical codes based on HS Cedes) 1500 products are approximately 15-20 % of the total Turkish Customs Tariff Number, These products were generalty- selected from the Chapters 29. 29, 37, 381 82., 84, 85 and some products from other Chapters as well.

Preferences are not granted for agricultural products.

DEPTH OF TARIFF CUTS FOR GSP PRODUCTS

Preferences are differentiated according to the sensitivity of the products fully in harmony with the EC's. It is sufficient to differentiate between two product categories, narnely non-sensitive arad sensitive products for the developing countries.

Tariff duties on non-sensitive products are suspended, while duties on sensitive products are subject to a tañff reduction.

As for the least developed countries, tariff duties are suspended.

Finally, Turkey adopted the swne tariff duties with the EC, neither higher nor lower, for GSP products.

Turkey has reserved the right to suspend preferential treatment for GSP products under ceaán circurnstances.

GRADUATION MECHANISM (Country/Sector)

Turkey applied graduation rnechanism for concemed list in fine with EC's application.

RULES OF ORIGIN UNDER THE TURKISH GSP SCHEME

In tíle contexi of Generalised Systeni of Preferences. Turkey has granted tariff preference to the beneficies countries as from 1 lanuary 2002 as a result of the custorns union between Turkey and the Europea Community wich is based on Association Council Decision No 1195 between Turkey and the European community.

The rules of origin are regulated by "Decision on Determination of Orígin of Goods Benefiting from Preferential Regime for the Purposes of the Generalised System of Preferences No. 20011-33485"(Hereinafter referred to as "Decision) which is published on the Turkish Oficial Gazette on 30 December 2001.

The Decision regulates the procedures and principles on determining tbe otigin of goods beneficing from the preferential regime at trade wiih Turkey for the purposes of the Generalised System of Prefereaces. The provisions of Decision are in accordance with ones of the ""Commission Regulation No 1602/2000 amending Regulation No. 2454193 laying down provision for the implementation of Council Regulation 2193/92 establishing the Community Customs Code"

Goods to benefit from preferential treatment under the Turkish GSP scheme must meet tite followiizg main three requirements:

1- Exporting country must be designated as beneficiary country;

2- The product must be eligible for the GSP treatment,

3- The product must meet the origin criteria

Concerning the origín criteria, goods exported from beneficiary country to Turkey must comply with the requirements of rules of origin if they are to benefit from the preferential tariff treament provided that they are under the GSP scheme, Goods not complying with the rules of origin requírements will be denied preferential treatment and the normal duty rase will apply to these goods.

The rules of origin under TurTurkish GSP scheme comprises the followíng, elements;

(1) Origin Criteria

(2) Direct Consignment

(3) Documentary Evidence

(1) Origin Criteria

Article 3, 4, 6 and 7 of Decision refers to the conditions of products to be considerad as originating in Turjey or in a beneficiary country. Article 5 concems cumulation with Norwav, Switzerland and the European Community Article 13 sets out the provision with Regional Cumulation.

-Wholly Obtained .Products
(Article 6)

The foilowing shall be considered as wholly obtained in Turkey or in a beneficiary country:

(1) mineral prcducts extracted from its soil or from its seabed;

(2) vegetable produces harvested there;

(3) live animais born and raised there;

(4) products from live animals raised there;

(5) products obtained by hunting or fishing conducted there;

(6) products of sea fishing and other products taken from the sea outside its territorial waters by its vessels -,

(7) products made on board as factory ships exclusively from the products referred to in subparagraph (6)-,

(8) used articles collected there fit ouny for the recovery of raw materíaIs;

(9) waste and scrap resulting from manufacturing operations conducted there;

(10) products extracted from the seabed or below the seabed which is situated outside its territorial waters but where it has exclusive exploitation rights;

(11) goods produced there exclusively from products specified in subparagraphs (1) to (10)

Products which have undergone sufficient working or processing

(Article 7)

Products which are not wholly obtained are considered to be sufficiently worked or processed when the conditons set out in the list in Anex II of the Decision are fulfilled.

On the other hand, non.-originating materials may be used in the manufacture of a product provided that (a) their total value does not exceed 10 per cent of the ex-works price of the product, (b) any of the percentages given in de list for the maximum value of non-originating materials are not exceed through the application of this paragraph.-

-Bilateral Cumulatíon
(Artícle 4)

Materials ori-ginating in Turkey shall be considered as materials originating in a beneficiary countrv when incorporated into a product obtained there. It shal not be necessary that such materials have undergone sufficient workng or processing, provided they have undergone workíng or processing goirg beyond the operations referred to in Article 8 of the decision.

-Insufficient Workíng or Processing
(Article 8)

The following operations shall be consídered as insufficient working or processing to confer the status of originating products

(a) operations to ensure the preservation of products in good condition during transport and storage (ventilation, spreading out, drying, chilling, placing in salt, sulphur dioxide or other aqueous solutions, removal of damaged parts, and like operations);

(b) simple operations consisting of removal of dust, sifting or screening, sorting, classifying matching (including the making-up of sets of articles), washing, painting, cutting up;

(c) changes of packing and breaking-up and assembly of packages, simple placing in bottles, flasks, bags, cases, boxes, fixing on cards or boards, etc., and all other simple packaging operations,

(d) affixing marks; labels and other like distinguishing signs ona products or their packaging,

(e) simple mixing of products, whether or not of different kinds, where one or more components of the mixture do not meet the conditions laid down in this Decision to enable them to be considered as ooriginating in the Republic of Turkey or in a beneficiary country;

(f) simple assembly of parts to constitute a complete product;

(g) a combination of two or more of the operations specified in subparagras-(a) to (f);

(h) slaughter of animals.

-Cumulaban with Norway, Switzerland and the European Community
(Article 5)

Article 5 lays down the provision with cumulation with Norway; Switzerland and EC. However, this Article will not be applicable till necessary agreernents will be made between these countries.

-Regional Cumulation
Article 13)

According to the Article13 of the decision, regional cumulation is applicable which means that products originating in any of tthe countries of that regional group and used in further manufacture in another country of the group shall be treated as if they originated in the country of further manufacture.

Four regional economic groups may utilize the Turkish GSP Scheme. These are;

(a) the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei, Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam).

(b) the Central American Common Market (CACM) (Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panamá, El Salvador);

(c) The Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Venezuela);

(d) the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka).

On the other hand the provisions relating to the regional cumulation shall be applied provided that these rules, as between the countries of the regional group, are identical to those laid down in this Decision and each country of the regional group has undertaken to comply or ensure compliance with the terms of this Decision and to provide the administrative cooperation necessary both to Turkey and to the other countries of the regional group in order to ensure the correct issue of certicates of origin Form A and the verification of certificates or origin Form A and invoice declarations.

This undertaking shall be transmitted via diplomatic channels to Turkey.

(2) Dírect Consigment:

According to the Article 22 of the Decision, preferential treatment shall only be applied to the products fulfilling the requirements of this Decision and transported directly between Turkey and the beneficiary country.

This requirement aims at to ensure that goods shipped from a beneficiary country are the same goods as those presented al the port of entry in to Tyrkey and that they have not been manipulated or further processed in third countries during shipment.

(3) Documentary Evidence

(a) Products originating in the beneficiary country shall benefit from the Generalised System of Preferences on Importation to Turkey on submission of either Certificate of Origin Form A or Invoice Declaration.

- Certificate of Origin Form A

Originating products within the meaning of the Decision shall be eligible, on importation into the Republic of Turkey to benefit from the preferential regime on submission of a certificate of origin Form A which is issued by the customs authorities or by other competent governumental authorities of the beneficiary country.

-Invoice Declaration

An ínvoíce declaration may be made out if the products concemed can be consídered as originating in Turkey or in a beneficiary country and fulfil the other requirements of the Decision. The invoice declaration may be either made out by an approved exporter of the Republic of Turkey or by any exporter for any consignment consisting of one or more packages containing originating products whose total value doest not exceed EUR 6000.

-Certificate of Origin Form A issued retrospectively and duplicated

A certicate of origin Form A may be exceptionally issued after exportation of products in the following cases.

-it was not ¡ssued at the time of exportation because of errors and involuntary omissions or special circunstances

-it is demostrated to the satisfaction of the competent governmental authorities that a certificate of origin Form A was issued but not accepted at importation for technical reasons.

In the event of the theft, loss or destruction of a certificate of origin Form A, the exporter of a certificate of origin Form A, the exporter may apply to the governmental authorities which issued it for a duplicate to be made out on the basis of the export documents in their possession.

(b) On exportation from Turkey to the beneficiary countries in order to benefit from bilateral cumulation for goods originating in Turkey and fulfilling the other requirements of the Decision, evidence of the originating status of products shall be furnished by either an EUR.1 movement certificate or an invoice declaration.

The procedure and principles of use of EUR.1 Movement Certificates issued and invoice declarations are laid down in the "Regulation on Movement Certificate of EUR.1 and Invoice Declaration To Be Issued On Exportation Under The Generalised System of Preferences of Turkey" which is published on the Turkish Official Gazette numbered 24704 on 23 April 2002.

-Non commercial Products

Products sent as small packages from private persons not exceed the value of which does not exceed EUR 500 and ones forming part of traveller¨s personal luggage the total value of which does not exceed EUR 1200 shall be admitted as originating without requiring the submission of proof of origin.

-Validity of Proof of Origin

A proof of origín shall be valid for ten months from the date of issue in the exporting country and shall be submitted within the said period to the customs authorities of the importing country.

-Subsequent Verification

The ínformaton províded on certificates of origin Form A and invoice declaratíons may be verified at random or whenever the customs authorities of Turkey have reasonable doubt as to the authenticity of the documents or the accuracy of the information regarding the origin of the goods.

When an application for subsequent verification has been made, such verification shall be carried out and its results communicated to Turkey within a maximum of six months. If in cases of reasonable doubt there is no reply within the six months or if the reply does not contain sufficient information to determine the authenticity of the document in question or the real origin of the products, a second communication shall be send to the competent authorities. If after the second communication the result of the verification are not communicated to the requesting authorities within four months, or if these results do not allow the authenticity of the document in question or the real origin of the products to be determines, the requesting authorities shall except in exceptional curcunstances, refuse entitlement to the preferential regime.

- Validity

The Decision shall enter into force as from 1 January 2002.

ANNEX II

Beneficiary countries and territories of Turkey`s scheme of Generalised System of Preferences

A-Developing Countries (DCs)

B - Least Developed Countries ( LDCs)

1. Each certificate shall measure 210 x 297 mm; a tolerance up to plus 5 mm or minus 8 mm in the length may be allowed. The paper used shall be white, sized for writing, not containing mechanical pulp and weighing not less than 25 g/m2. It shall have a printed green guilloche-pattern background making any falsification by mechanical or chemical means apparent to the eye.

2. The competent authorities of the European Community may reserve the right to print the forms themselves or may have them printed by approved printers. In the latter case, each form must include a reference to such approval. Each form must bear the name and address of the printer or a mark by which the printer can be identified. It shall also bear a serial number either printed or not, by which it can be identified.

Generalized System of Preferences

HANDBOOK ON THE SCHEME OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY

Introduction

The first European Community Generalized System of Preferences (EC GSP) scheme spanned an initial phase of 10 years (1971–1981) and was subsequently renewed for a second decade (1981–1991). During these periods, the EC GSP was reviewed each year. The reviews involved changes in product coverage, quotas, ceilings and their administration, beneficiaries and depth of tariff cuts for agricultural products. In 1991, at the end of the second decade, the scheme was due for major revision. Pending the outcome of the Uruguay Round, however, the 1991 scheme was extended with various amendments until 1994, when the Community made another 10-year offer.

Accordingly, the second cycle of the EC GSP scheme covered the period from 1995 to 2004. The first phase started on 1 January 1995, when the Community adopted the following basic legislative acts: Council Regulation (EC) No. 3281/94,1 concerning industrial products, and Council Regulation 1256/96, 2 concerning agricultural products. For the second phase, lasting from 1 July 1999 to 31 December 2001, the European Community (EC) revised its GSP scheme on the basis of Council Regulation (EC) No. 2820/98.3

For the period from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2005, the European Union put in place the third phase of the scheme by adopting Council Regulation (EC) No. 2501/2001. Arrangements under this phase of the scheme included:

􀁸 General arrangements;

􀁸 Special incentive arrangements for the protection of labour rights;

􀁸 Special incentive arrangements for the protection of the environment;

􀁸 Special arrangements to combat drug production and trafficking;

􀁸 Special arrangements for LDCs: the “Everything but Arms” initiative.

Based on the guidelines drawn up in 2004,4a third EC GSP scheme, adopted on 27 June 2005 under Council Regulation (EC) No. 980/2005 covering the period from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2008, simplified the scheme by reducing the number of arrangements from five to three, namely:

􀁸 General arrangements;

􀁸 Special incentive arrangements for sustainable development and good governance (“GSP Plus”);5

1 This applies a four-year scheme of generalized tariff preferences (1995–1998) in respect of certain industrial products originating in developing countries. Official Journal L 348, 31.12.1994: 1.

2 This applies multiannual schemes of generalized tariff preferences from 1 July 1996 to 30 June 1999 in respect of certain agricultural products originating in developing countries. Official JournalL 160, 29.6.1996: 1.

3 This applies a multiannual scheme of generalized tariff preferences for the period 1 July 1999 to 31 December 2001. Official Journal L 357, 30.12.1998: 1.

4 Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee. Developing countries, international trade and sustainable development: The function of the Community’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) for the 10-year period from 2006 to 2015.

5 See column E of annex I to the regulation for a list of countries included in the GSP Plus arrangements.

􀁸 Special arrangements for least developed countries:6 the “Everything but Arms” initiative (which remains unchanged).

This basic structure was maintained under the new EU GSP scheme effective from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011. The EU General Affairs and External Relations Council adopted a regulation (Council Regulation (EC) No. 732/2008) on 22 July 2008 renewing the EU GSP scheme for the three-year period. The new scheme remains therefore broadly unchanged while incorporating a few technical changes.

The EC GSP scheme has three key features, namely: (1) tariff modulation, (2) country-sector graduation and (3) special incentive arrangements.

The first feature – tariff modulation – represented a radical departure from schemes adopted before 1994, under which quantitative limitation of GSP imports applied.

After 1994, these limitations – essentially individual fixed duty-free amounts and ceilings in the case of sensitive industrial products and fixed reduced-duty7 amounts in the case of agricultural products – were replaced by four reduced rates of duty according to product sensitivity: a 15 per cent preferential margin for very sensitive products; a 30 per cent preferential margin for sensitive products; a 65 per cent preferential margin for semi-sensitive products; and duty-free entry for non-sensitive products, i.e. a 100 per cent preferential margin.

Two simplified categories of sensitivity were created under the 2002–2004 scheme: non-sensitive and sensitive products. The 2006 scheme also used these categories. Eligible non-sensitive products continue to enjoy a􀀂preferential zero rate of duty, while eligible sensitive products enjoy a reduction of 3.5 percentage points in the full ad valorem rate of customs duty payable.8

The second feature – country-sector graduation – was introduced in 1995 through an open policy of graduation containing the relevant criteria. Regulation (EC) No. 3281/94 provided for a country graduation mechanism which entered into force on 1 January 1998 and continued to apply under the 1999–2001 scheme.

The country-section graduation system wasfurther simplified in 2006 and remains valid for the 2009-2001 period. When products from beneficiary countries account for more than 15 per cent of EU imports of that product from GSP countries, the country has “graduated” as far as the Combined Nomenclature (CN) section of products is concerned and ceases to benefit from preferential access. In the case of textiles and textile articles, the graduation threshold is set at the lower level of 12.5 per cent.

The third feature is the special incentive arrangements introduced for sustainable development and good governance. The 2002–2004 scheme introduced three special arrangements for the protection of labour rights, the protection of the environment and combating drug production and trafficking. These special incentive schemes granting deeper preferences were intended to assist qualified beneficiary countries in􀀂

6 See column D of annex I to the regulation for a list of countries included in the “Everything but Arms” arrangements.

7 For the definition of fixed duty-free amounts and individual duty-free tariff ceilings, see document UNCTAD/ITD/GSP/9 (July 1994).

8 For exceptions, see part I (C) of this handbook. sustaining and improving their environmental and social standards and fighting against illicit production. As a result of a dispute case brought before the World Trade Organization (WTO) by India concerning Community special arrangements to combat drug production and trafficking,9 the 2006 EC GSP scheme introduced the GSP Plus arrangements for sustainable development and good governance, which replaces the three special incentive schemes of the previous GSP scheme and provides special incentives for countries that are considered vulnerable, on condition that they become party to 27 specific international conventions on human rights, labour standards and sustainable development. The system is basically unchanged for the period 2009- 2011.

The EC GSP scheme􀀂includes the “Everything but Arms” (EBA) initiative, a special arrangement for least developed countries10which entered into force on 5 March 2001. The EBA initiative extends unrestricted duty-free access to all products originating in beneficiary least developed countries, excluding arms and munitions.

Only three highly sensitive products – namely, bananas, rice and sugar – are subject to transitional periods, which end on 1 October 2009 with the liberalization of sugar imports. The EBA initiative is broadly unchanged under the 2009 scheme and continues to benefit the world’s 50 poorest countries.

As regards rules of origin, the relevant regulations are contained in articles 66–97 and annexes 14–18 and 21 to Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2454/93, as amended by regulations (EC) Nos. 12/97, 1602/2000 and 881/2003. A consolidated version of Regulation (EEC) No. 2454/93 is available on the European Union website eurlex. europa.eu.

The European Commission has begun internal consultations on the reform of the preferential rules of origin applicable to the GSP scheme since 2003, including on possible improvements in the conditions for conferring origin, cumulation and administrative procedures. A green paper was issued in 2003,11 and a communication outlining future strategy was issued on 16 March 2005. The reformed preferential rules of origin were initially expected to enter into force by 2006, 12 but the consultation process was extended and a proposal for a new Council regulation for the period from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011 was finally submitted on 10 January 2008 and is awaiting adoption.13 Thus, the existing rules of origin remain valid under the 2009 scheme.14

9 European Communities – Conditions for the granting of tariff preferences to developing countries. WT/DS246/AB/R.

10 Council Regulation (EC) No. 416/2001 of 1 March 2001 extending duty-free access without quantitative restriction to products originating in least developed countries. Official JournalL 60: 43.

11 Green paper on the future of rules of origin in preferential trade arrangements. COM(2003)787 final.

12 Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee. The rules of origin in preferential trade arrangements – Orientations for the future. COM(2005) 100 final (16 March 2005).

13 Proposal for a Council regulation applying a scheme of generalized tariff preferences for the period 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011 and amending Regulations (EC) No. 552/97, No. 1933/2006 and Commission regulations (EC) Nos. 964/2007 and 1100/2006. COM(2007) 857 final (21 December 2007).

14 The new regulation will be published on the website ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs.

Checklist: How to benefit from the European Community Generalized System of Preferences scheme

Step 1: Check the product eligibility

􀁸 Establish the tariff classification of the product according to the Combined Nomenclature (CN);

􀁸 Ascertain that the product is covered by the EC GSP scheme (see annex II to Regulation (EC) No. 732/2008, contained in annex I to this handbook);

􀁸 Check the country-section graduation, since certain sections of certain countries are excluded from the EC GSP scheme (see column C of annex I to Regulation (EC) No. 732/2008).

Step 2: Identify the correct GSP rate

􀁸 Check annex II to Regulation (EC) No. 732/2008 to ascertain the product sensitivity category in which the product is listed (“S” for sensitive or “NS” for non-sensitive), observing the precise tariff classification and product description;

􀁸 Identify the conventional most-favoured-nation rate which applies to the product under the Community’s Customs Code (Taric);15

􀁸 Check the composition of the duty, i.e. whether it is made of ad valorem duty, a specific duty or a combination of the two, as the GSP tariff reduction applies only to the ad valorem part of the duty and not to both;

􀁸 Apply the reduction granted to the product category in which the Harmonized System (HS) product is listed, taking into account that for a limited number of products (sections XI (a) and XI (b) and HS heading 2207) a lower preferential margin applies.

Step 3: Investigate the possibility of obtaining additional preferences

􀁸 Special treatment is granted to least developed countries under the “Everything but Arms” initiative. Check column D, annex I to Regulation (EC) No. 732/2008 to ascertain if the country is a beneficiary of these arrangements.

􀁸 For EBA beneficiary countries, all productswith the exception of those listed in chapter 93 (Arms and ammunition), are granted duty-free entry (transitional quota restrictions are applicable to bananas, sugar and rice).

􀁸 Special incentive arrangements may be granted under the GSP Plus arrangements for beneficiaries that respect international conventions by promoting sustainable development and good governance.

15 Taric is the integrated tariff of the European Community, published annually. It is based on the Combined Nomenclature (CN) which has some 10,000 headings (coded with eight digits) and constitutes the basic nomenclature for the Common Customs Tariff as well as for trade statistics.

Taric contains around 18,000 further subdivisions (coded with two extra digits or with an additional code) necessitated by tariff quotas, tariff preferences, the GSP, agricultural components, antidumping and countervailing duties, etc. For Taric consultations, see the website ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs.

Step 4: Check the origin criteria

􀁸 Ensure that the product complies with the origin criteria set by the EC.

Step 5: Check the consignment conditions

􀁸 Ensure that the modalities for the transport of goods from the preferencereceiving country to the EC market fulfil the provisions laid down in the EC regulations.

Step 6: Prepare documentary evidence

􀁸 Fill in the certificate of origin Form A or the invoice declaration correctly; they are the official documents on which the EC customs authorities rely to grant the GSP benefits to products.

Part I

Explanatory notes to the European Community Generalized System of Preferences scheme (2008)

A. BENEFICIARIES

The granting of the EC generalized tariff preferences for the period from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011 is restricted to 176 countries and territories listed in annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No. 732/2008 (hereinafter, “the regulation”), which is reproduced in annex I to this handbook. The annex also provides information on the product sections excluded for particular countries and indicates if a particular country is covered by the special incentive arrangements or general arrangements of the EC GSP scheme. 16 Myammer and Belarus remain temporarily withdrawn from GSP preferences due to political reasons.17 Moldova was removed from the list of beneficiaries as the EC granted more favourable preferences under a separate legal instrument in March 2008.

B. PRODUCT COVERAGE

The regulation contains rules for both industrial and agricultural products. Some 6,350 products are eligible for the EC GSP general arrangements and 7,200 for the EBA initiative, including a number of agricultural and fish products listed in HS chapters 1–24, and almost all processed and semi-processed industrial products, including ferro-alloys, that are listed in HS chapters 25–97, except for those in chapter 93 (Arms and ammunition). The list of products covered and the relevant treatment is contained in annex II to the regulation, which is reproduced in annex I to this handbook.

C. DEPTH OF TARIFF CUTS

The current EC GSP scheme simplifies the previous system, since, while maintaining duty-free access for all non-sensitive products,18 it replaces the three categories of very sensitive, sensitive and semi-sensitive products with just one single category of sensitive products.

The new GSP rate for sensitive products is calculated by applying􀀂one of following:

􀁸 A flat-rate reduction of 3.5 percentage points to the most-favoured-nation duty (applicable to the ad valorem duties);

􀁸 A 30 per cent reduction in the most-favoured-nation duty where only specific duties apply; or,

16 Column C of annex I to the regulation.

17 Council Regulations (EC) No. 552/97 and No. 1933/2006 respectively.

18 For non-sensitive products, duties shall be entirely suspended except for the agricultural components (art. 7, para. 1, of the regulation).

􀁸 A flat-rate reduction of 3.5 percentage points applicable to the ad valorem duties only, where duties are composed of both ad valorem and specific duties.

Limited exceptions apply for the following products:

􀁸 Textiles and clothing (products of sections XI (a) and XI (b)), whose mostfavoured- nation duties shall be reduced by 20 per cent;

With respect to agricultural products listed in chapters 1–24, wherever customs duties comprise an ad valorem duty and one or more specific duties, the preferential reduction is limited to the ad valorem duty.

Where the customs duties specify a maximum duty, that maximum duty shall not be reduced. Conversely, where the customs duties specify a minimum duty, that minimum duty shall not apply (art. 6.6).

The final rate of preferential duty calculated in accordance with the regulation shall be rounded down to the first decimal place. When the rate of an ad valorem duty for an individual declaration reduced in accordance with the regulation is calculated to be 1 per cent or 2 euros or less for a specific duty, that duty shall be entirely suspended (art. 14).

D. MAINTENANCE OF PREVIOUS PREFERENTIAL MARGINS

Given that the preferential duty rates under the previous GSP Regulation (EC) No. 2501/2001 might have resulted, for a certain number of products, in a more favourable treatment than a reduction of 3.5 percentage points, the previous preferential duty rates shall apply in such cases (art. 6, para. 3).

When checking for possible preferences, it is important for users of the GSP to determine correctly the customs classification for their products according to the Combined Nomenclature (CN).19Once this has been done, the user should check whether the CN subheading under which the product is classified is listed in annex II to the regulation, and then calculate the applicable tariff reduction accordingly.

19 For the latest CN update, see Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1719/2005 of 27 October 2005, amending annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff.

Table 1

Summary of the tariff cuts provided by the 2008 EC GSP scheme

Since tariffs on all imports listed as non-sensitive in annex II to the regulation have been totally suspended, only sensitive products have been used below to demonstrate how to calculate the GSP rate.

Case 1 (see table 2). In the case of “Swordfish”, which is on the list of sensitive products, the GSP rate is calculated as follows:

20 For products of CN codes 1704 10 91 and 1704 10 99, the specific duty shall be limited to 16 per cent of the customs value under the special incentive arrangements for sustainable development and good governance.

21 For Taric consultations, see the website ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs.

Case 2 (see table 3). In the case of “Sweet potatoes: other”, to which only specific duty applies, the GSP rate is calculated as follows:

Case 3 (see table 4). In the case of “Couscous: other”, to which combined duty applies, the GSP rate is calculated as follows:

Case 4 (see table 5). In the case of “Other beans”, which incorporates a minimum duty, the calculation is as follows:

Case 5 (see table 6). In the case of “Tobacco, not stemmed/stripped (flue-cured Virginia type)”, which incorporates a maximum and a minimum duty, the GSP rate is calculated as follows:

Case 6 (see table 7). For “Men’s or boys’ shirts, knitted or crocheted: cotton”, as for all products in chapters 50–63 of the CN, the tariff cut under the GSP scheme amounts to 20 per cent of the most-favoured-nation rate.

Case 7 (see table 8). Lastly, where the old formulae provides for deeper preferential tariff cuts, the applicable GSP rate does not change. For example, in the case of “Cigars, cheroots and cigarillos containing tobacco”, which is on the list of sensitive products and incorporates a maximum and a minimum duty, the calculation is as follows:

Instead of applying to products in a certain category or sector, the new graduation mechanism, introduced in 2006 and maintained for the 2009-2011 scheme, applies to all products in a section of the CN code. Country-section graduation refers to the withdrawal of preferences for an entire section of products originating in a certain GSP beneficiary country when the graduation criteria are met (art. 13).

Preferences will only be withdrawn from countries/products after they have met the parameters for three consecutive years, thus providing beneficiary countries with some early-warning mechanisms before any graduation action is actually undertaken by the EU.

The application of country-section graduation is based on criteria laid down in article 13 of the regulation.22

The previous scheme took into account the development index of the beneficiary country and either the level of imports from that country of all products or a sectorspecialization index. The current arrangements set only one criterion for graduation: when the value of GSP-covered products in the relevant section imported from a country exceeds 15 per cent of the total imports of the same products from all GSP beneficiary countries to the EU over three consecutive years, the GSP treatment will be withdrawn from the section of products originating in this beneficiary country. The threshold is set at a lower level of 12.5 per cent􀀂for textile and textile articles products.

If imports from a GSP beneficiary country in respect of any section represent more than 50 per cent in value of its total GSP imports to the EU, the graduation rules do not apply.

The beneficiary countries and product sections for which GSP preferences are withdrawn are listed in column C of annex I to the regulation. (see table 9).

22 See annex I to this handbook.

The excerpt shows that products in sections VI, VII, VIII, IX, XI (a) and (b) which originate in China have graduated from the GSP scheme (this also applies to sections XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII and XX); thus, the GSP preferential tariff rates no longer apply to these products. The same applies to products originating in Brazil that are listed in sections IV and IX. See annex I, column C, to the regulation (as contained in annex I to this handbook) for the full list of the graduated country sections.

The simplified graduation critera have allowed􀀂products originating in a number of countries that lost their entitlement to the GSP rates under the previous GSP scheme to be granted the preferential rates when the above criteria are no longer met (see below)

Article 3.1 of the regulation provides that beneficiary countries and territories shall be removed from the list of beneficiary countries and territories in annex I to the regulation if they meet both of the following criteria during three consecutive years:

􀁸 The country is classified by the World Bank as a high-income country (e.g. GNI per capita of $11,456 for 2007 or more, according to the most recent figures from the World Bank)23; and

􀁸 Imports to the Community from its five largest sections represent less than 75 per cent in value of its total GSP-covered imports to the Community.

23 Figures for 2004.

Both conditions must be met before country graduation can be considered. The EC decided to withdraw some advanced developing countries and territories from the list of GSP beneficiaries, including Hong Kong (China), the Republic of Korea and Singapore, as of May 1998 (art. 3 of Regulation (EC) No. 2623/97, Official Journal L 354, 30.12.1997, p. 9). Since then, no countries have been excluded from the later EC GSP schemes.24

In addition, the current regulation provides that, if a beneficiary country is covered by another free trade agreement with the EU that provides at least the same preferences provided by this GSP scheme, it too shall be removed from the GSP beneficiary country list.

The 2002–2005 GSP scheme also provided for the graduation system to be reversed, i.e. for the GSP preferences to be reintroduced for a graduated sector and/or country.

The Commission decides on annual basis which sectors are to be removed and which are to be re-established.25 For preferences to be reintroduced for a certain graduated country-sector and/or a country, the same parameters that led to the graduation action must not be met for the same period of time (i.e. three years).26

The current GSP scheme simply sets out the effective period for those graduated country-sections listed in annex I to the regulation as three years from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011. Intra- and Extra-EU Trade Data (Comext) statistics27 serve as the basis for calculating the share of imports when checking if the graduation threshold has been met.

The recalculation of trade data for 2004-2006 has led to the re-inclusion ("degraduation") of certain product-sections for six beneficiaries for the preferential treatment under the 2009-2011 scheme. These are: Algeria (for Section V "Mineral products"); India (for Section XIV "Jewellery, pearls, precious metals and stones"); Indonesia (for Section IX "Wood and articles of wood"); Russian Federation (for Section VI "Products of the chemical or allied industiries" and Section XV "Base metals"); South Africa (for Section XII "Transport equipment"), and; Thailand (for Section XVII "Transport equipment").

By contract, GSP preferences are suspended for Vietnam for Section XII "Footwear, headgeqar, umbrellas, sun umbrellas, artificial flowers". 28

24 Due to the political situation in Myanmar, temporary withdrawal of all tariff preferences in respect of imports or products originating in Myanmar remains in force (Official Journal L 169/2, 30.6.2005).

25 Official Journal L 346, 31.12.2001: 5.

26 See art. 14 of the regulation.

27 Comext is the data base with statistics that represents the commercial interchanges between the States members of the European Union and those between EU member States and their commercial partners.

28 See column C of annex I to the regulation No. 732/2008 (Official Journal L 211, 6.8.2008) against column C of annex I to Regulation (EC) No. 980/2005 (Official Journal L 139/1,30.6.2005).

Under the special treatment granted to least developed beneficiaries, the regulation fully incorporates the “Everything but Arms” (EBA) initiative (Regulation (EC) No. 416/200129 amending Regulation (EC) No. 2802/98), which entered into force on 5 March 2001.

The 2001 EBA initiative, as currently incorporated in Regulation (EC) No. 732/2008 (chapter II, section 3), extends duty/quota-free access to all products originating in LDCs, except for arms and ammunition listed in HS chapter 93.30 The EBA initiative now covers all agricultural products, including such sensitive products as beef and other meat; dairy products; fruit and vegetables; processed fruit and vegetables; maize and other cereals; starch; oils; processed sugar products; cocoa products; pasta; and alcoholic beverages. On most of these products, the pre-EBA GSP scheme provided a percentage reduction of most-favoured-nation rates, which would apply only to the ad valorem duties, thus leaving the specific duties still entirely applicable. The 2002– 2005 EC GSP scheme changed this provision, and the current regulation states in article 11, paragraph 1, that, “Common Customs Tariff duties on all products of chapters 1 to 97 of the Harmonised System, except those of chapter 93 thereof, originating in a country that according to annex I benefits from the special arrangement for least developed countries shall be entirely suspended” (see table 10).

Thus, specific and other duties are no longer applicable to exports from LDCs, an example being the rather complicated “entry-price system” used to regulate the access of certain fruit and vegetables, such as cucumbers and courgettes, to the EC market.

29 This amends Regulation (EC) No. 2820/98 of 21 December 1998 applying a multiannual scheme of generalized tariff preferences for the period 1 July 1999 to 31 December 2001 so as to extend dutyfree access without any quantitative restrictions to products originating in least developed countries.Official Journal L 60, 1.3.2001: 43.

30 It should be noted that products of chapter 93 are excluded from the EC GSP product coverage for all beneficiaries.

Under the EBA initiative, only three of the most sensitive agricultural products are not subject to immediate liberalization:

(a) Fresh bananas (CN code 0803 00 19): The EBA initiative provided for full liberalization between 1 January 2002 and 1 January 2006 by reducing the full EC tariff by 20 per cent every year. The tariff was entirely suspended as of 1 January 2006.

(b) Rice (HS heading 1006): Customs duties on rice will be phased out between 1 September 2006 and 1 September 2009 by gradually reducing the full EU tariff to zero. 31 During the interim period, in order to provide effective market access, LDC rice will be allowed to enter the EC market duty-free within the limits of a tariff quota. The initial quantities of this quota are based on best LDC export levels to the EU in past years plus 15 per cent. The quota will grow by 15 per cent every year from 2,517 tons (husked-rice equivalent) in 2001/02 to 6,694 tons in 2008/09 (the marketing year starts in the September and finishes in the August of the following year).

31 Tariff duties should be reduced by 20 per cent on 1 September 2006, by 50 per cent on 1 September 2007 and by 80 per cent on 1 September 2008.

(c) Sugar (HS heading 1701): Full liberalization will be phased in between 1 July 2006 and 1 October 2009 by gradually reducing the full EU tariff to zero.32In the meantime, as for rice, LDC raw sugar can come in duty-free within the limits of a tariff quota, which will grow by 15 per cent every year: from 74,185 tons (white-sugar equivalent) in 2001/02 to 197,355 tons in 2008/09 (the marketing year starts in the July and ends in the June of the following year). Imports of sugar under Community Protocol 3 on ACP sugar will be excluded from the above calculations so that the protocol remains viable.

Table 11 below shows the planned evolution of the quota for rice and sugar imports to the EU from LDCs.

(1) Marketing years: September 2001 to September 2009.

(2) Marketing years: July 2001 to October 2009.

The Commission, in cooperation with the member States, will monitor imports of rice, bananas and sugar from LDCs.

Taking into account that, under the Cotonou Agreement, products covered by the common agricultural policy still face customs duties, the EBA initiative has made the EC GSP a more favourable scheme for LDCs in terms of tariff treatment and product coverage than the preferential trade arrangements available under the Cotonou Agreement.

The EBA initiative does not, however, include any amendment to existing EC preferential rules of origin applicable to GSP imports,33as contained in Regulation (EC) No. 2454/93, as amended most recently by 881/2003.34

In this respect, the implementation of the EBA initiative has an important implication for LDCs, as there are different cumulation systems available under the GSP scheme

32 Tariff duties were to be reduced by 20 per cent on 1 July 2006, by 50 per cent on 1 July 2007 and by 80 per cent on 1 July 2008. To synchronize with the EU marketing year as well as to ensure coherence with ACP–EU EPA negotiations, the regulation provided that the full liberalization of sugar be scheduled for 1 October 2009 instead of 1 July (Article 11.3). The regulation also reintroduced a minimum price arrangement for sguar to ensure coherence with the result of EPA negotiations, which will apply from 1 October 2009 to 30 September 2012 (Article 11.4).

33 The Commission stressed that there was no need to tighten origin requirements and that the establishment of rules of origin specifically for LDCs would be inconsistent with EC efforts to harmonize and simplify the various sets of rules of origin in force under the different trade arrangements entered into by the Community.

34 Official Journal L 134/1, 29.5.2003. See annex II to this handbook. and under the Cotonou Agreement. On the one hand, if an LDC from the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) desires to take advantage of the EBA duty/quota-free treatment, it will have to do so as a GSP beneficiary and thus it will lose the opportunity of full cumulation with its ACP partners35􀀐 an opportunity that is only available to a party to the Cotonou Agreement. On the other hand, if an ACP LDC wants to take advantage of the more favourable Cotonou cumulation system, it will face, where applicable, the customs duties and quantitative limitations specified under the Cotonou Agreement.

Similarly, LDCs must be aware that, since the EBA initiative is an integral part of the EC GSP scheme, such duty/quota-free treatment will be subject to the authority and all the various limitations of that scheme, such as the unilateral and unbound character of the GSP, the possibility of the temporary withdrawal of the preferences (also provided for under the EBA initiative itself) and its rules of origin.

A beneficiary country should be withdrawn from the EBA initiative when it is excluded from the United Nations list of LDCs. It is the Commission, however, that will decide on the removal of the country and the establishment of at least a three-year transitional period.

The 2006 EC GSP scheme introduced special􀀂incentive arrangements focusing on sustainable development and good governance, known as "GSP Plus". Under the scheme, more favourable tariff treatment is granted to a range of products originating in those countries that meet certain conditions pertaining to economic vulnerability and the sustainable development criteria as provided by the 27 international conventions􀀂on human rights, the environment and internationally agreed labour standards listed in annex III to the regulation. Fourteen developing countries benefited from the provisions during 2006–2008. The sheme was maintained broadly unchanged under the 2009–2011 scheme except for changes pertaioning to the eligilibity criteria and the timing for the application to the scheme.

Under article 7 of the regulation, this incentive arrangement applies to all GSPcovered products originating in GSP Plus beneficiary countries, as listed in annex II to the regulation. GSP Plus rates are calculated as follows:

􀁸 Total suspension of duty for all eligible products, whether sensitive or nonsensitive, whose duty is composed of ad valorem duty only (art. 7.1);

􀁸 Total suspension of duty for all eligible products, whether sensitive or nonsensitive, whose duty is composed of specific duty only (art. 7.2);

􀁸 When the duty rate of an eligible product is composed of both ad valorem and specific duty, only the ad valorem duty is totally suspended, i.e. the

35 For the purpose of cumulation all ACP countries are grouped together as one territory, which means that production may be shared freely between ACP countries. total payable tariff is the specific duty component only. If the􀀂tariff is composed of 10 per cent (ad valorem duty) and 50 euros per 1,000 kg (specific duty), the total suspension of duty applies to the 10 per cent part only, meaning that the full amount of the specific duty component continues to apply (in this case, 50􀀂euros per 1,000 g).

There is a limited exception to this preferential treatment for products classified under CN codes 1704 10 91 and 1704 10 99 (“Chewing gum: gum in strips” and “Other chewing gum” respectively), for which specific duty shall be limited to 16 per cent of the customs value.

It is important to note that, as opposed to the old scheme under which special incentive arrangements related to labour rights and environment were available to all products covered by the GSP Plus scheme (even those in sectors affected by graduation), the 2009 GSP scheme does not grant preferential treatment to those graduated products listed in column C of annex I to the regulation.

In order to become a beneficiary country of the GSP Plus arrangement, the country needs to be considered a vulnerable country. The definition of vulnerability is that:

􀁸 First, the country is not classified as a high-income country during three consecutive years, i.e. its per capita GNI should not exceed $11.456 according to the World Bank 2007 data;

􀁸 Second, it has a non-diversified economy, as measured by the fact that its five largest sections of GSP-covered imports represent more than 75 per cent in value of its total GSP-covered imports to the EU; and

􀁸 Third, its GSP-covered imports to the EU represent less than 1 per cent in value of total GSP imports.

The data to be used are (a) those available on 1 September 2007, as an annual average over three consecutive years, for the application of the scheme as from 1 January 2009 (art. 9(a)(i)) or (b) those available on 1 September 2009, as an annual average over three consecutive years for the application of the scheme as from 1 July 2010 (art. 9(a)(ii)) (see below).

In fact, a beneficiary country will be both ineligible for the GSP Plus incentive arrangements and completely excluded from the list of beneficiary countries when it is classified as high-income country by the World Bank for three consecutive years and when its largest five sections of GSP-covered imports to the EU represent less than 75 per cent in value of its total GSP imports (art. 2).

The special incentive arrangements are not automatic and need to be requested by a beneficiary country that complies with a list of international standards and agreements relating to human rights, environmental and social standards. These standards, contained in annex III to the regulation, include 16 core human and labour rights conventions (part A of the annex)and 11 conventions related to the environment and governance principles (part B).

The criteria for complying with those standards were as follows:

􀁸 First, the country had ratified and effectively implemented all the 27 conventions listed in annex IIIincluding:

o 16 conventions relating to core political, human and labour rights listed in part A, including: International Convention on Civil and Political Rights; International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Descrimination; Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; Convention on the Rights of the Child; Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment (No 138); Convention converning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Form of Child Labour (No. 182); Convention converning the Abolition of Forced Labour (No. 105); Convention concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour (No. 29); Convention concerning Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers for Wor of Equal Value (No. 100); Convention concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation (No. 111); Convention concerning Freedom of Association and Protectino of the Right to Organize (No. 87); the Convention concerning the Application of the Principles of the Right to Organize and to Bargain Collectively (No. 98); and International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid.

o 11 conventions relating to the environment, good governance and the fight against drug production and trafficking, as listed in part B of annex III, including : Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer; Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal; Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants; Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Founa and Flora; Convention on Biological Diversity; Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety; the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961); United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971); United Natopms Convention against Illicit Trafic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (988); United Nations Convention against Corruption (Mexico).

􀁸 Second, it gives an undertaking to maintain the ratification of the conventions and their implementing legislation and measures, and accept regular monitoring and review of its implementation record in accordance with the implementation provisions of the conventions it has ratified.

Under article 9 of the regulation, in order to benefit from the GSP Plus special arrangements for their originating products, the country’s authorities had to submit a request to that effect in writing:

(i) by 31 October 2008 for the application of the arrangements as from 1 January 2009, or;

(ii) by 30 April 2010 for the application of the scheme as from 1 July 2010.

The requesting country is required to provide comprehensive information on:

􀁸 Ratification of the conventions referred to in annex III;

􀁸 Its national legislation and measures to effectively implement the provisions of the conventions; and

􀁸 Its commitment to accept and fully comply with the monitoring and review mechanisms envisaged in the relevant conventions and related instruments.

The 15 beneficiary countries that had qualified for the GSP plus treatment under the 2006-2008 sheme would need to submit anew a request if they so wish. These are: Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, Moldova, 36 Mongolia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Sri Lanka and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

The Commission would examine the requests submitted by the applicant beneficiary countries by taking into account the findings of the relevant international organizations and agencies.

The Commission would notify the requesting beneficiary country of a decision as to whether the country would be granted the GSP-plus treatment, and, if so, of the date on which that decision would enter into force. Products eligible for the special incentive arrangements would be admitted under the arrangements from the date of entry into force of the Commission’s decision. The Commission is required to publish the list of beneficiary countries in the Official Journal of the European Union by 15 December 2008 for those countries that submitted requests by 31 October 2008, and 15 June 2009 for those countries that submitted requests by 30 April 2009. It needs to explain the reasons for a requesting country being refused the special incentive arrangement if the countries so request.

Accordingly, the Commission issued a Commission Decision on 9 December 2008 designating the following 16 countries as the beneficiaries for the GSP-plus scheme: Armenia; Azerbaijan; Bolivia; Colombia; Costa Rica; Ecuador; Georgia; Guatemala; Honduras; Sri Lanka; Mongolia; Nicaragua; Peru; Paraguay; El Salvador, and; Venezuela.37

36 Moldova had not been approved when the regulation was published in July 2005 and is therefore not included in column E of annex I to the regulation.

37 Official Journa/ L 334/90, 12.12.2008.

The Commission would keep under review the status of ratification and effective implementation of the listed conventions by beneficiary countries by examining available information from relevant monitoring bodies. By the time of the discussion on the next regulations, the Commission would present to the Council a summary report on the status of the ratification and available recommendations by relevant monitoring bodies.

Under article 15 of the regulation, preferences may at any time be temporarily withdrawn in whole or in part under the following circumstances:

(a) Serious and systematic violations of principles laid down in the conventions listed in part A of annex III, judging from the conclusions of the relevant monitoring bodies;

(b) Export of goods made by prison labour;

(c) Serious shortcomings in customs controls on export or transit of drugs (illicit substances or precursors), or failure to comply with international conventions on money-laundering;

(d) Serious and systematic unfair trading practices which have an adverse effect on the Community’s industry and have not been addressed by the beneficiary country. For those unfair trading practices which are prohibited or actionable under WTO agreements, the application of article 16 shall be based on a previous determination to that effect by the competent WTO body;

(e) Serious and systematic infringements of the objectives of regional fishery organizations or arrangements concerning the conservation and management of fishery resources to which the Community is a member.

The regulation specifies that preferences provided for products which are subject to anti-dumping or countervailing measures under regulations Nos. 384/96 and 2026/97, as amended,38 shall not be withdrawn pursuant to paragraph (d) above.

Under article 15, paragraph 2, the regulation provides􀀂 criteria for the temporary withdrawal of preferences􀀂in respect of all or certain products included in the GSP Plus arrangement:

􀁸 If the beneficiary country’s legislation no longer incorporates those conventions referred to in annex III to the regulation, which it has ratified to become a beneficiary country of the GSP Plus arrangements; or

􀁸 If its legislation incorporating those conventions referred to in annex III is not effectively implemented.

Furthermore, article 16􀀂provides that the Commission may suspend the preferential arrangements on the following grounds:

38 Official Journal L 56, 6.3.96: 1 (regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No. 905/98, Official Journal L 128. 30.4.98) and Official Journal L 288, 21.10.978: 1.

􀁸 Fraud, irregularities or systematic failure to comply with the rules of origin and procedures related thereto; or

􀁸 Systemic failure to provide administrative cooperation.

Administrative cooperation means that, inter alia, a beneficiary country should communicate to the Commission and update the information necessary for the implementation of the rules of origin; assist the Community by carrying out verification of origin and allowing the Commission to conduct investigations and verify the authenticity of documents or the accuracy of information in the country (art. 16, para. 2).

Temporary withdrawal is not automatic, but instead follows the procedural requirements laid down in articles 17–20 of the regulation. The Commission may suspend the preferential arrangements, provided that it has followed the procedure below:

When the Commission or a member State considers that there are sufficient grounds for an investigation, it shall inform the Generalized Preferences Committee and request consultations, which should take place within one month.

Following the consultation, the Committee decides within one month whether or not to initiate an investigation. If it initiates an investigation, the Commission shall: 􀁸 Announce the initiation of the investigation in the Official Journal of the European Union and notify the country concerned; and

􀁸 Commence the investigation, which should be completed within one year. The duration of the investigation may be extended if necessary. During the investigation, the Commission may (art. 18, paras. 3–5):

􀁸 Seek all information it considers necessary, including the assessments, comments and decisions of the relevant supervisory bodies of the United Nations, the International Labour Organization and other competent international organizations;

􀁸 Verify the information with economic operators and the competent authorities of the beneficiary country concerned; and

􀁸 Hear interested parties.

When the investigation is complete, the Commission reports the findings to the Generalized Preferences Committee. If the Commission considers temporary withdrawal unnecessary, it publishes a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union, announcing the termination of the investigation and its conclusions.

If, on the contrary, the Commission considers temporary withdrawal to be necessary,

it shall notify the beneficiary country concerned of the decision and publish a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union, announcing its intention to submit a proposal to the Council for temporary withdrawal. This will give the beneficiary country concerned the possibility of committing to taking the measures necessary to conform, within a reasonable period of time, with conventions referred to in part A of annex III to the regulation.

When the Commission considers temporary withdrawal to be necessary, it submits an appropriate proposal to the Council, which decides thereon within two months by qualified majority (art. 19). Where such a decision is taken, it will enter into force six months later.39

Before the Commission adopts the decision to suspend the preferential treatment provided by the regulation, it is requested to complete the following administrative procedure:

(a) Inform the Committee;

(b) Call on the member States to take such precautionary measures as are necessary in order to safeguard the Community’s financial interests and/or secure compliance by the beneficiary country with its obligations;

(c) Publish a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union stating the grounds for reasonable doubts about the right of the country in question to continue enjoying preferential treatment as granted by the regulation.

Before any decision comes into effect, the Commission shall inform the beneficiary country concerned. Any member State may refer to the Council a decision to suspend preferential arrangements within one month, and the Council may take a different decision within one month.

The period of suspension shall not exceed six months. At the end of the suspension period, the Commission shall decide either to:

􀁸 Terminate the suspension after consulting the Generalized Preferences Committee; or

􀁸 Extend the period of suspension in accordance with the procedure laid down in article 16, paragraph 3, as mentioned above.

Member States shall communicate to the Commission the relevant information justifying the suspension. If the Commission considers that the information provides sufficient evidence, it shall take, after informing the Committee, all the appropriate measures as quickly as possible.

Under the EC GSP scheme, there are two general safeguard clauses.

39 Due to political situation in Myanmar, temporary withdrawal of all tariff preferences in respect of imports of products originating in Myanmar should remain in force (Official Journal L 169, 30.6.2005: 2).

The first provides that the most-favoured-nation duties on a particular product may be reintroduced at any time at the request of a member State or on the Commission’s own initiative, if a product originating in one of the beneficiary countries or territories is imported on terms which cause or threaten to cause serious difficulties to a Community producer of like or directly competing products (art. 20, para. 1).

Under the second safeguard clause, the Commission may suspend the preferential arrangements in respect of the products concerned, 40 where imports of products included in annex I to the Treaty of Rome cause, or threaten to cause, serious difficulties to Community markets or their regulatory mechanisms (art. 21).

Where the Commission decides to initiate an investigation, it shall first publish a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union announcing the investigation, providing relevant information and specifying the period – which shall not exceed four months from the date of publication of the notice – within which interested parties may make their views known in writing. In examining whether there are serious difficulties, the Commission takes into account, inter alia, the following factors, where the information is available:

􀁸 Reduction in the market share of Community producers;

􀁸 Reduction in their production;

􀁸 Increase in their stocks;

􀁸 Closure of their production capacity;

􀁸 Bankruptcies;

􀁸 Low profitability;

􀁸 Low rate of capacity utilization;

􀁸 Employment;

􀁸 Trade; and

􀁸 Prices.

The investigation shall be completed within six months of the publication of the notice. In exceptional circumstances (art. 20, para. 5), the Commission may extend this period. A decision on the investigation is taken within 30 working days and the decision shall enter into force within 30 days of its publication.

The beneficiary country concerned shall be informed by the Commission as soon as possible of any decision to take safeguard measures. The Commission shall also notify the Council and the EU member States thereof. Any member State (not just the State concerned) may refer a Commission decision to the Council within one month, and the Council may adopt a different decision within one month.

In the case of imports of the products listed in section XI (b) (Textile articles), the EC GSP scheme provides that safeguard measures are applied, at Commission’s own initiative or at the request of a member State, when these imports:

40 The Commission shall first inform the management committee for the relevant common market organization.

􀁸 Increase by at least 20 per cent in quantity (by volume) as compared to the previous calendar year; or

􀁸 Exceed the 12.5 per cent threshold during any 12-month period.

Both cases will result in the withdrawal of the preferential tariff rates applied to products from section XI (b) originating in a beneficiary country covered under the general arrangements and the GSP Plus arrangements. Beneficiary countries of the EBA initiative and countries with not more than an 8 per cent share of the imports into the Community from all GSP-covered countries are not affected by safeguard measures. The removal of preferences shall take effect two months after the publication of the Commission’s decision in the Official Journal of the European Union.

These safeguard clauses do not affect the application of safeguard clauses adopted as part of the common agricultural policy under article 37 of the Treaty of Rome, or as part of the common commercial policy under article 133 of the same treaty, or any other safeguard clauses that may be applied.

In view of the increased product coverage under the 2006 EC GSP scheme, mainly for agricultural and fishery products, the 2006 GSP scheme introduced a special surveillance mechanism for HS chapters 1–24 that had not existed under the previous arrangements. The purpose is to avoid the Community market being disrupted by the import of agricultural products.

In the following two cases, none of the procedural periods for initiating the safeguards clause, i.e. the consultation, the investigation, or the submission of views by interested parties, may exceed two months: when the beneficiary country systematically fails to comply with the rules of origin or does not provide administrative cooperation; or when imports of GSP-covered agricultural products massively exceed the usual levels of exports of the beneficiary country.

If preferential treatment is to be granted to goods produced or grown in a certain country, then it has to be determined whether such goods or products have really been produced in that beneficiary country. The rules of origin exist to serve this specific purpose; i.e. to identify the goods produced in the beneficiary country and to ensure that the benefits provided under the preferential trade arrangements are confined to those products originating in the beneficiary country. Among other things, the rules of origin are intended to prevent goods produced in other countries and then simply trans-shipped or given minimal processing in a beneficiary country from enjoying trade preferences. The role of the rules of origin in international trade is not, however, limited to preferential trade agreements. In fact, the notion of the origin of goods is an essential instrument in the implementation of any commercial policy, ranging from the negotiation of a free-trade area or the establishment of a regional economic grouping, to the application of an anti-dumping duty or the issuance of an import licence.

The rules of origin applicable under the GSP scheme are contained in Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2454/93of 2 July􀀂1993, which lays down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2913/92 41 establishing the Community Customs Code, as amended by regulations (EC) Nos. 12/97, 1602/2000 and 881/2003. For the purpose of this handbook, the terms “article” and “annex” are used in the following text to refer to the articles of and annexes to Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2454/93 (hereinafter, “the regulation”), as last modified by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 881/200342.

The European Commission launched a general debate on the reform of applicable preferential rules of origin by issuing a green paper in 2003.43 Subsequently, a Commission communication was issued on 16 March 2005, outlining future reform as foreseen by the Commission and indicating that it should first be applied under the GSP scheme. 44 At the end of October 2007, following completion of an impact assessment, the Commission produced a draft regulation that included important changes concerning both the rules for determining origin and the relevant administrative procedures. Once adopted, the new rules on determining origin should come into effect in 2009 and the rules on procedure in 2012. Discussions with member States are continuing, however, so the final text has not yet been produced.

41 Official Journal L 302, 19.10.1992: 1.

42 See annex II to this handbook. A consolidated version of the complete Regulation (EEC) No. 2454/93 is available on the website eur-lex.europa.eu.

43 Green paper on the future of rules of origin in preferential trade arrangements. COM(2003) 787 final.

44 Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee: The rules of origin in preferential trade arrangements - Orientations for the future. COM(2005) 100 final (16 March 2005).

The existing rules of origin remain valid, including under the 2009–2011 scheme, until the new rules come into effect. The green paper, the communication and the draft regulation are all available on the Commission’s website.45

Goods shipped to the EC market must comply with the requirements of the rules of origin if they are to benefit from the preferential tariff treatment provided under the GSP scheme. Goods not complying with the requirements of the rules of origin will be denied preferential treatment and normal (most-favoured-nation) duty will apply.

The EC rules of origin, like those of other preferential schemes, can be divided into three parts:

(a) Origin criteria;

(b) Direct consignment conditions; and

(c) Valid documentary evidence.

The origin criteria are fundamental to the rules of origin. They determine how and when a product can be considered as originating in a GSP beneficiary country. Under the GSP scheme, a product shall be considered as originating in a beneficiary country if it has been:

􀁸 Wholly obtained in that country; or

􀁸 Sufficiently worked or processed there (art. 67).

Article 68 lays down a list of products considered to be wholly obtained in a country. Products are included in this category by virtue of the total absence of imported input used in their production. The following are considered to be wholly obtained in a country:

(a) Mineral products extracted from its soil or from its seabed;

(b) Vegetable products harvested there;

(c) Live animals born and raised there;

(d) Products obtained there from live animals;

(e) Products obtained by hunting or fishing conducted there;

45 See ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs.

(f) Products of sea-fishing and other products taken from the sea by their vessels;46

(g) Products made on board their factory ships exclusively from products referred to in (f);

(h) Used articles collected there which are fit only for the recovery of raw materials;

(i) Waste and scrap resulting from manufacturing operations conducted there;

(j) Products extracted from the sea-bed or below the sea-bed which is situated outside its territorial waters, provided that it has exclusive exploitation rights; and

(k) Products produced there exclusively from products specified in (a) to (j).

One of the changes proposed by the above-mentioned draft regulation 47 is the simplification of the rules relating to fisheries vessels catching fish outside the country’s territorial waters.

As mentioned above, a product is considered to be wholly obtained in a beneficiary country when it does not contain any imported input. When imported inputs are used to manufacture a finished product, the regulation requires that these non-originating materials be sufficiently worked or processed to be considered as originating in the beneficiary country. In particular, article 69, paragraph 1, as last amended by Regulation (EC) No. 1602/2000, specifies what is considered sufficient working or processing as follows:

“Products which are not wholly obtained in a beneficiary country or in the Community are considered to be sufficiently worked or processed when the conditions set out in the list in annex 15 are fulfilled.”48

The EC GSP rules of origin are laid down in a comprehensive list which contains the applicable requirements for determining origin. Thus, provided that the working or processing operation is not insufficient (see below), in order to determine the origin of a product, it is necessary to establish the tariff classification of the product under the

46 The terms “their vessels” and “their factory ships” (see (f) and (g) above) only refer to vessels and factory ships which are registered or recorded in the beneficiary country or in a member State, which sail under the flag of a beneficiary country or of a member State or at least 50 per cent of which is owned by nationals of the beneficiary country or of a member State or by a company having its head office in the country or in one of the member States; of which the manager(s), chairman of the board and the majority of the members of such boards are nationals of that beneficiary country or of the member State and of which, in the case of companies, at least half the capital belongs to that beneficiary country or one of the member States or to public bodies or nationals of that beneficiary country or of the member States; of which the master and officers are nationals of the beneficiary country or one of the member States; and of which at least 75 per cent of the crew are nationals of the beneficiary country or of a member State (art. 68, para. 2, of Regulation (EEC) No. 2454/93).

47 Still under discussion.

48 This list is the basic reference for the application of the EC GSP rules of origin (see annex II to this handbook).

Harmonized System (HS) and check whether the conditions laid down in the list (annex 15 to the regulation) for that specific product are fulfilled.

Article 71 provides that, by way of derogation, the total value of the non-originating materials used in the manufacture of a given product shall not exceed 10 per cent of the ex-works price of the product, subject to certain conditions (art. 71, para. 1, of the regulation). This provision does not apply to products listed in chapters 50–63, for which specific tolerances (laid down in annex 14) apply instead.49

The draft regulation mentioned earlier proposes a single criterion for determining whether virtually all goods have been sufficiently worked or processed, which is based on the value added in the beneficiary country concerned.50

Let us suppose that a producer in a beneficiary country manufactures a chair from imported sawn wood. The chair cannot be considered as wholly obtained in one country because the producer has used imported sawn wood. Therefore, it is essential to know if the sawn wood (the imported material) can be considered to have undergone sufficient working or processing as according to the conditions laid down in the list.

49 Art. 71, para. 1, of Regulation (EEC) No. 2454/93, as contained in Regulation (EC) No.1602/2000, states that “where, in the list, one or several percentage are given for the maximum value of nonoriginating materials, such percentages must not be exceeded through the application of the first subparagraph”.

50 Still under discussion.

51 For other products, please consult the list of working or processing required that must be carried out on non-originating materials for the product manufactured to obtain originating status (annex II to Commission Regulation (EC) No. 881/2003).

52 “Ex” denotes that the rule does not apply to the whole chapter, but only to those parts of it for which a specific rule is not provided. In the case of chapter 94 there are specific rules for products ex 9401 and ex 9403 (i.e. parts of these only) and 9405 and 9406 (in these last two cases, all such products).

The final product, a chair, is classified under HS heading 9403 at the four-digit-level.

As shown by the above excerpt, in the case of goods listed under HS chapter 94 for which a specific rule is not provided, the list provides for two alternative origin criteria (between which the exporter decides):

(a) The “Change of tariff heading” rule; and

(b) The percentage-value-addition criterion.

Thus, the chair would be eligible for the GSP arrangements under one of the two following conditions:

(a) The non-originating material, sawn wood, must be classified under a HS heading which differs from the heading under which the final product is classified (the “Change of tariff heading” rule). Given that the sawn wood is classified under HS heading 4407, which is different from the one under which the chair is classified, we can determine that the sawn wood has been sufficiently worked or processed and that the chair qualifies as an originating product; or

(b) The value of imported inputs must not exceed 40 per cent of the value of the finished product. In order to fulfil this condition, it is necessary to calculate the amount of non-originating sawn wood incorporated in the final product, the chair. In order to do this, the exporter must take into account the following:

􀁸 The term “value” in the list means the customs value53 at the time of the importation of the non-originating materials used or, if this is not known and cannot be ascertained, the first ascertainable price for the materials in the territory concerned.

􀁸 The term “ex-works price” in the list means the price paid for the product obtained from the manufacturer within whose enterprise the final working or processing is carried out: this price includes the value of all materials used in manufacture, minus any internal taxes which are, or may be, payable when the product obtained is exported.

The list requires most articles of apparel and clothing accessories listed in HS chapter 62 that are not knitted nor crocheted to be manufactured from yarn; this means that the use of imported fabric would not confer origin.

For plastic articles included under HS headings 3922–3926, the list requires that the value of all non-originating inputs used in their manufacture should not exceed 50 per cent of the ex-works price of the product.

53 Customs value is defined as the customs value determined in accordance with the 1994 Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

Certain working or processing can never confer origin. Regulation (EC) No. 881/2003 amended the list of what would be considered insufficient working or processing to read as follows (art. 70):

(a) Preserving operations to ensure that the products remain in good condition during transport and storage;

(b) Breaking-up and assembly of packages;

(c) Washing or cleaning; removal of dust, oxide, oil, paint or other coverings;

(d) Ironing or pressing of textiles;

(e) Simple painting and polishing operations;

(f) Husking, partial or total milling, polishing or glazing of cereals and rice;

(g) Operations to colour sugar or form sugar lumps; partial or total milling of sugar;

(h) Peeling, stoning or shelling, of fruits, nuts and vegetables;

(i) Sharpening, simple grinding or simple cutting;

(j) Sifting, screening, sorting, classifying, grading, matching (including the making-up of sets of articles);

(k) Simple placing in bottles, cans, flasks, bags, cases, boxes, fixing on cards or boards and all other simple packaging operations;

(l) Affixing or printing marks, labels, logos and other such distinguishing signs on products or their packaging;

(m) Simple mixing of products, whether or not of different kinds, where one or more components of the mixtures do not meet the conditions laid down in this section to enable them to be considered as originating in a beneficiary country or in the Community;

(n) Simple assembly of parts of articles to constitute a complete article or disassembly of products into parts;

(o) A combination of two or more of the operations specified in points (a) to (n);

(p) Slaughter of animals.

For the EU, the main purpose of this list is to ensure that the working or processing which takes place in the beneficiary country is an activity which brings real economic benefit to the country. It is also used in the rules on cumulation of origin (see below).

It is important to bear in mind that if an operation is not listed as insufficient, this does not necessarily mean that it is sufficient. Equally, even if a product fulfils the requirements of the list, it will not acquire origin if the working or processing operation which takes place is listed as an insufficient one. The user must consult both the list of insufficient working or processing operations and the list of sufficient working and processing to see what conditions must be met for the product concerned.

4. Cumulative origin 􀀐 regional cumulation (arts. 72, 72 (a) and 72 (b))

The GSP rules of origin are, in principle, based on the concept of single-country origin, i.e. the origin requirements must be fully met within one exporting preferencereceiving country, which must also be the country where the finished products are manufactured. Under the schemes of some preference-giving countries, this rule has been liberalized so as to permit imported inputs from other beneficiary countries to be regarded as local content, thus making it easier to comply with the rules of origin requirements.

Under the EC GSP scheme, cumulation on a regional basis is permitted, subject to certain conditions. As Regulation (EC) No. 881/2003 combined the Andean Group and Central American Common Market Group, there are now three regional economic groupings of preference-receiving countries able to utilize the EC regional cumulation system (art. 72):

􀁸 Group I: Brunei-Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam;

􀁸 Group II: Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela;

􀁸 Group III: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Consequently, the following secretariats of the regional groups are responsible for transmitting information on the undertakings of its member countries to ensure compliance with cumulation requirements and verification of proof of origin to the Commission:

􀁸 Group I: General Secretariat of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN),

􀁸 Group II: Andean Community – Central American Common Market and Panama Permanent Joint Committee on Origin;

􀁸 Group III: Secretariat of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

The withdrawal of one country or territory from the list of the countries and territories benefiting from generalized preferences by virtue of the criteria referred to in article 5 of Regulation (EC) No. 732/2008 on the country graduation mechanism does not affect the possibility of using products originating in that country under the regional cumulation rules.54 This possibility is subject to the following conditions (see Council Regulation (EC) No. 2623/97, Official Journal L 354, 30.12.1997, p. 9):

(a) The country in question must have been a member of the regional grouping since the multiannual system of preferences applicable to the product concerned entered into force; and

(b) Must not considered to be the country of origin of the final product within the meaning of article 72 (a) of Regulation (EEC) No. 2454/93.

54 Art. 5.3 states that, “regional cumulation within the meaning of Regulation (EEC) No. 2454/93 shall also apply where a product used in further manufacturing in a country belonging to a regional group originates in another country of the group, which does not benefit from the arrangements applying to the final product, provided that both countries benefit from regional cumulation for that group” (Official Journal L 211/1, 6.8.2008).

For example, a product originating in Indonesia incorporating Singapore-originating goods will continue to enjoy GSP preferences, even though Singapore is no longer an EC GSP beneficiary country, since Singapore belongs to Group I of the regional cumulation to which Indonesia also belongs.

Under the EC rules for regional cumulation, materials or parts imported by a member country of one of these three groupings from another member country of the same grouping for further manufacture are considered as originating products of the country of manufacture and not as third-country inputs, provided that the materials or parts are already products originating in the exporting member country. Originating products are those that have acquired origin by fulfilling the individual origin requirements under the basic EC rules of origin for GSP purposes.

Article 72 (a), paragraph 1, of the regulation, as amended by Regulation (EC) No. 2913/92, lays down the rules according to which the country of origin of the final product shall be determined:

“When goods originating in a country which is a member of a regional group are worked or processed in another country of the same regional group, they shall have the origin of the country of the regional group where the last working or processing was carried out, provided that:

(a) The value added 55 there … is greater than the highest customs value of the products used originating in any of the other countries of the regional group, and

(b) The working or processing carried out there exceeds that set out in article 70 and, in the case of textile products, also those operations referred to in annex 16.”

When the above-mentioned conditions are not met, the products shall have the origin of the country of the regional group which accounts for the highest customs value of the originating products coming from other countries of the regional group (art. 72 (a), para. 2).

The list requires cotton jackets (HS heading 6203) to be produced from originating yarn. With regional cumulation, however, preference-receiving country A may utilize imported fabrics from country B (note that these fabrics must already have acquired originating status in country B), which is a member of the same regional grouping, and the finished jacket will be considered as an originating product. This is because the imported fabric, which, again, must already have come from an originating producer in the same grouping, is counted under the cumulation rules as a domestic input and not as an imported input.

55 “Value added” means the ex-works price minus the customs value of each of the products incorporated which originated in another country of the regional group.

The list requires that cars classified under HS heading 8702 must not incorporate more than 40 per cent of imported inputs. A car manufactured in Malaysia, for example, may incorporate the following inputs (all prices are in $):

According to the regional cumulation provision of the regulation, the materials imported from Singapore and Thailand will not be taken into account in calculating the percentage of imported inputs, if the materials already originate in the respective countries. Materials originating in other ASEAN member countries will not be considered imported inputs. Therefore, only the components imported from elsewhere (in this hypothetical case, Japan, which is not an ASEAN member country) are to be considered imported inputs. As the amount of the inputs from Japan is $1,500, equal to 15 per cent of the export price, and as this is under the 40 per cent limit, the car will be considered as originating in Thailand and will be entitled to preferential treatment under the GSP arrangements.

Proof of the originating status of goods exported from a country belonging to a regional group to another country of the same group for further working or processing, or for re-exportation without further operations, shall be established by the certificate of origin Form A issued in the first country (art. 72 (a), para. 4). On the basis of this certificate, a further certificate of origin Form A or invoice declaration made out in that country will establish proof of the originating status of the goods reexported to the EC from a country belonging to a regional group (art. 72 (a), para. 5).

An exporter in country C wishes to export a finished product that contains imported inputs originating in countries A and B of the same regional grouping. The exporter will have to submit to the competent authority two certificates of origin Form A relating to the inputs originating in country A and country B, respectively, and issued by the competent authorities in each of these countries. On the basis of these two

56 Note that Singapore has been withdrawn from the list of beneficiary countries in application of the country graduation mechanism, but its inputs may still be used in application of the regional cumulation rules.

certificates, the competent authority in country C will then issue the final certificate of origin Form A relating to the finished product to be exported.

Article 67, paragraphs 2–4, of the regulation, as amended by Regulation (EC) No. 1602/2000, provides that products originating in the EC which are subject to sufficient working or processing in a beneficiary country are to be considered as originating in that beneficiary country. This provision further expands the cumulation options by allowing the use of inputs or intermediate products which have already acquired originating status in the Community.

Proof of originating status of Community products has to be provided in accordance with article 90 (b) either by producing a EUR.1 movement certificate or an invoice declaration. In order to establish origin, the issue, use and subsequent verification of certificates of origin Form A shall apply mutatis mutandis to EUR.1 movement certificates and, with the exception of the provisions concerning their issue, to invoice declarations.

By virtue of article 67, paragraph 4, of the regulation, as amended by Regulation (EC) No. 1602/2000, the rules on donor-country content are also extended to products originating in Norway and Switzerland, in so far as these countries grant generalized preferences and apply a definition of the concept of origin corresponding to that set out under the EC GSP scheme. These arrangements have been applied since 2001 following an exchange of letters between the Community, Norway and Switzerland.57 When products originating in the Community, Norway and Switzerland are subject to processing in a beneficiary country that exceeds the definition of “insufficient” described in article 70, these products shall be considered as originating in that beneficiary country when exporting back to the EU market, on condition that products should be exported directly from the Community, Norway or Switzerland to the beneficiary country before undergoing processing and working in the beneficiary country.

When the competent authorities of a beneficiary country are asked to issue a certificate of origin Form A for products manufactured with materials originating in the Community, Norway or Switzerland, they shall use the EUR.1 movement certificate or, where necessary, the invoice declaration to establish origin (art. 91, para. 1).

Box 4 on the certificates of origin Form A issued in the cases set out in article 91, paragraph 1, shall contain the endorsement “Cumul CE”, “Cumul Norvège”, “Cumul Suisse” (in French) or “EC cumulation”, “Norway cumulation”, “Switzerland cumulation” (in English) (art. 91, para. 2).

The customs authorities of the Community, Switzerland and Norway have undertaken to provide each other with any appropriate administrative assistance, particularly for

57 Official Journal of the European Union L 38, 8.2.2001: 24.

the purposes of subsequent verification of the EUR.1 movement certificate for the materials referred to above. These provisions shall not apply to products listed in HS chapters 1–24 (art. 67, para. 4)

Article 76 provides for derogations from the provisions on the rules of origin under the EC GSP scheme in favour of least developed countries (LDCs) when so justified by the development of existing industries or creation of new industries. For this purpose, the country concerned shall submit to the Community a request for derogation together with the fullest possible information justifying the request. The following, in particular, shall be taken into account when the request is considered:

(a) Cases where the application of existing rules of origin would significantly affect the ability of an existing industry in the country concerned to continue its exports to the Community, in particular in cases where this could lead to cessation of these activities;

(b) Specific cases where it can be clearly demonstrated that significant investment in an industry could be deterred by the rules of origin and where a derogation favouring the realization of the investment programme would enable these rules to be satisfied in stages; and

(c) The economic and social impact of the decision to be taken, especially in respect of employment.

In order to facilitate consideration of the request for derogation, the country making the request shall furnish the fullest possible information on the points listed below in support of its request:

􀁸 Description of the finished product;

􀁸 Nature and quantity of the products processed;

􀁸 Manufacturing process;

􀁸 Value added;

􀁸 Number of employees in the company concerned;

􀁸 Anticipated volume of exports to the Community;

􀁸 Other possible sources of supply for raw materials;

􀁸 Reasons for the duration requested; and

􀁸 Other observations.

The Commission will make the decision whether to grant derogation to the requesting country in accordance with procedure. The same rules apply to any justifiable request for an extension of derogation.

The Community currently grants a waiver from the definition of originating products for certain exports of textiles, in order to take account of the special situation of three LDCs: Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Nepal.

These derogations have existed since the 1990s but have been extended several times.58 The provisions relevant to Cambodia are contained in Regulation (EC) No. 1614/2000, 59 as amended by regulations (EC) Nos. 292/2002, 2187/200460 and 1807/2006;61 the provisions relevant to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic are contained in Regulation (EC) No. 1613/2000,62as amended by regulations (EC) Nos. 291/2002, 2186/2004 63 and 1806/2006; 64 and, lastly, those relevant to Nepal are contained in Regulation (EC) No. 1615/2000,65as amended by regulations (EC) Nos. 293/2002, 2188/2004 66 and 1808/2006. 67 The latest amendments extend the derogations until the 31 December 2008. The derogation should, however, be reviewed in the light of the new rules of origin.

The products listed in the annexes to regulations (EC) Nos. 1613/2000, 1614/2000 and 1615/2000 which are manufactured in these three Asian LDCs from woven fabric (woven items) or yarn (knitted items) imported into those countries and originating in a country belonging to SAARC or ASEAN – except Myanmar – or an ACP country, shall be deemed to originate in these three countries by way of derogation from articles 67–97 of Regulation (EEC) No. 2454/93. The derogation shall apply only to products imported into the Community from Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Nepal prior to the expiry date of the derogation (currently 31 December 2008), up to the annual quantities listed for each product in the attached annexes.

When drawings of one of these countries account for 80 per cent of annual quantities, the Commission, in consultation with the relevant government, shall consider whether it is still necessary for this country to apply for derogation beyond those quantities (art. 4 of regulations (EC) Nos. 1613/2000, 1614/2000 and 1615/2000).

The practical effects of the derogation in favour of LDCs are fourfold: (1) to simplify the origin criterion applicable to apparel products (single-stage instead of doublestage transformation); (2) to make sure that the beneficiary LDC actually retains the origin of the apparel products exported to the Community (by waiving the application of the rule on allocation of origin in the context of the partial regional cumulation system) and to maintain the manufacturing operation taking place in the beneficiary country; (3) to extend the geographical coverage of the regional cumulation facility so as to facilitate their sourcing of input, otherwise limited to the regional grouping to which the exporting beneficiary LDC belongs; and (4), by extending the derogations over a longer period of time, to provide these LDC beneficiaries with more stability and predictability for their market access.

C. DIRECT CONSIGNMENT CONDITIONS

The second part of the rules of origin relates to the modalities of the transport of goods from the preference-receiving country to the EC market. Once the goods in

58 The basic regulations and latest amendments are contained in annex III to this handbook.

59 Official Journal L 185, 25.7.2000: 46

60 Official Journal L 373, 21.12.2004: 16

61 Official Journal L 343, 8.12.2006: 71.

62 Official Journal L 185, 25.7.2000: 38

63 Official Journal L 373, 21.12.2004: 14

64 Official Journal L 343, 8.12.2006: 69.

65 Official Journal L 185, 25.7.2000: 54

66 Official Journal L 373, 21.12.2004: 18

67 Official Journal L 343, 8.12.2006: 73.

question have complied with the origin criteria, exporters have to make sure that the shipment of their products follows the provisions laid down in the regulation. These provisions aim to ensure that goods shipped from a beneficiary country will be the same goods as those presented at the port of entry into the EC and that they have not been manipulated or further processed in third countries during shipment. As a general rule, article 78 requires that a product be transported directly. Pursuant to that article, the following shall be considered as transported directly from the beneficiary country to the Community or from the Community to the beneficiary country:

(a) Products transported without passing through the territory of any other country, except in the case of the territory of another country of the same regional group where article 72 is applicable;

(b) Products constituting one single consignment transported through the territories of countries other than the beneficiary country or the Community, with, should the occasion arise, trans-shipment or temporary warehousing in those countries, provided that the products have remained under the surveillance of the customs authorities in the country of transit or warehousing and have not entered into commerce or been delivered for home use there or undergone operations other than unloading, reloading or any operation designed to preserve them in good condition;

(c) Goods transported through the territory of Norway or Switzerland and subsequently re-exported in full or in part to the EC or to the beneficiary country, provided that the goods have remained under the surveillance of the customs authorities of the country of transit or warehousing and have not undergone operations other than unloading, reloading or any operation designed to preserve them in good condition;

(d) Products which are transported by pipeline without interruption across a territory other than that of the exporting beneficiary country or that of the Community.

For products passing through the territory of a third country, documentary evidence that the requirements of direct transportation have been fulfilled must be supplied to the customs authorities in the EC by the presentation of:

(a) A detailed bill of lading covering the passage through the country or countries of transit; or

(b) Certification issued by the customs authorities of the country or countries of transit:

􀁸 Giving an exact description of the products;

􀁸 Stating the dates of unloading and reloading of the products or of their embarkation or disembarkation and identifying the ships used; and

􀁸 Certifying the conditions under which the products have remained in the transit country or countries; or

(c) Failing these, any substantiating documents deemed necessary (for example, a copy of the order for the products, a supplier’s invoice, or bills of lading establishing the route by which the products travelled).

Apart from the documentary evidence relating to the direct consignment conditions, evidence of the originating status is provided by a certificate of origin Form A duly filled in by the exporter and officially certified by the competent authorities in the exporting beneficiary country. Exporters should be aware that the certificate of origin Form A is one of the official documents on which the EC customs authorities rely in order to grant GSP benefits to the exporter’s goods. Therefore, it is of vital importance that it be filled in correctly and in accordance with the rules contained in the regulation.

A certificate of origin Form A is issued only upon written application from exporters or their authorized representatives (art. 81, para. 3). Exporters or their representatives must submit with the application any appropriate supporting documents proving that the products to be exported qualify for the issue of a certificate of origin (such documents could be invoices, cost statements, bills of lading, etc.) (art. 81, para. 4).

The certificate of origin Form A must meet certain requirements, including those concerning paper quality and size (see annex V to Commission Regulation (EC) No. 12/9768 containing a specimen certificate of origin Form A):

(a) Each certificate shall measure 210 × 297 mm; a tolerance of up to plus 5 mm or minus 8 mm in the length may be allowed. The paper used shall be white, sized writing paper, which does not contain mechanical pulp and weighs no less than 25g/m2. It shall have a printed green guilloche-pattern background, making any falsification by mechanical or chemical means apparent to the naked eye.

(b) If the certificates have several copies, only the top copy (the original) shall be printed on a green guilloche-pattern background69. The original copy is the one to be sent to the EC importer.

(c) Each certificate must bear a serial number, printed or otherwise, by which it can be identified. This serial number must be assigned to the certificate by the issuing government authorities.

(d) The certificate of origin Form A must be made out in English or French. If it is completed by hand, entries must be in ink and in capital letters.

(e) The use of English or French for the notes on the reverse of the certificate is not obligatory.

(f) The certificate of origin Form A is issued by the competent government authority of the beneficiary country if the products to be exported can be considered products originating in that country (art. 81, para. 5).

(g) It shall be the responsibility of the competent government authority of the exporting country to take any steps necessary to verify the origin of the products and to check the other statements on the certificate (art. 83).

68 Official Journal L 9, 13.01.1997.

69 A guilloche pattern is one consisting of wavy, interlaced lines.

(h) The completion of box 2 of the certificate of origin Form A is optional. Box 12 shall be duly completed by indicating “European Community” or entering the name of one of the member States (art. 81, para. 8).

(i) The signature entered in box 11 of the certificate must be handwritten (art. 81, para. 9).

The certificate should be made available to the exporter as soon as exportation takes place or when it is certain that it will take place. For the purpose of verifying whether the conditions for issuance have been met, the appropriate government authorities have the right to call for any documentary evidence or to carry out any check which they consider appropriate (art. 81, paras. 5 and 6).

According to article 90 (b), paragraph 4, of the regulation, at the request of the importer and having regard to the conditions laid down by the customs authorities of the importing member State, a single proof of origin may be submitted to the customs authorities upon importation of the first consignment, provided that:

(a) The goods are imported within the framework of frequent and continuous trade flows of a significant commercial value;

(b) The goods are the subject of the same contract of sale, the parties to which are established in the exporting country and in the Community;

(c) The goods are classified in the same code (eight digits) of the Combined Nomenclature; and

(d) The goods come exclusively from the same exporter, are destined for the same importer and are made the subject of entry formalities at the same customs office in the Community.

This procedure shall be applicable for the quantities and a period determined by the competent customs authorities. This period cannot, however, under any circumstances exceed three months.

In the event of the theft, loss or destruction of a certificate of origin Form A, the exporter may apply to the competent government authority which issued it for a duplicate to be made out on the basis of the export documents in their possession (art. 86). The duplicate Form A issued in this way must contain the word “DUPLICATE” or “DUPLICATA” printed in box 4 of Form A. The duplicate, which must bear the date of issue and the serial number of the original certificate, will take effect as from that date.

A certificate of origin Form A may exceptionally be issued after exportation of the products to which it relates, provided that (art. 85):

(a) The certificate was not issued at the time of exportation because of error, accidental omission or special circumstances; or

(b) It is demonstrated to the satisfaction of the customs authorities that a certificate of origin Form A was issued but was not accepted on importation for technical reasons.

The competent government authority may issue a certificate retrospectively only after verifying that the particulars contained in the exporter’s application agree with those contained in the corresponding export documents and that a certificate of origin Form

A was not issued when the products in question were exported. Certificates of origin Form A issued retrospectively must bear the endorsement “issued retrospectively” or “délivré a posteriori”, printed in box 4.

Under article 90 (b), paragraph 1, a certificate of origin Form A must be submitted within 10 months from the date of issue by the competent government authority of the beneficiary country to the customs authorities of the member State where the goods are presented.

The article 90 (b), paragraph 2, states that certificates of origin Form A submitted to the customs authorities or the member State of importation after expiry of the 10- month period of validity may be accepted, provided that the failure to observe the time limit is due to exceptional circumstances. In other cases of belated presentation, the competent customs authorities of the importing member State may accept the certificates, provided that the products have been presented to them before expiry of the time limit (art. 90 (b), para. 3).

The discovery of slight discrepancies between the statements made in the certificate of origin Form A, the EUR.1 movement certificate or an invoice declaration and those made in the documents presented to customs for the purpose of carrying out the formalities for importing the products shall not ipso facto render the certificate null and void, provided that it is duly established that the document corresponds to the products concerned (art. 92).

By virtue of article 88, when originating products are placed under the control of a customs office in the Community, it shall be possible to replace the original proof of origin with one or more certificates of origin Form A for the purpose of sending all or some of these products elsewhere within the Community, Norway or Switzerland. The replacement certificate of origin Form A shall be issued, on the written request of the re-exporter, by the customs office under whose control the products are placed and shall be regarded as the definitive certificate of origin for the products to which it refers. The top right-hand box of the replacement certificate shall indicate the name of the intermediary country where it is issued; box 4 shall contain the words “replacement certificate” or “certificat de remplacement”, as well as the date of issue of the original certificate and its serial number. A photocopy of the original certificate of origin Form A may be attached to the replacement certificate.

An invoice declaration may be made out by an approved Community exporter or by any exporter for any consignment consisting of one or more packages containing originating products whose total value does not exceed 6,000 euros (art. 89). An invoice declaration may be established if the goods concerned are considered as originating in the EC or in a beneficiary country. In the latter case, the beneficiary country shall assist the Community by allowing the customs authorities of member States to verify the authenticity of the document or the accuracy of the information regarding the true origin of the products in question (art. 89, paras. 2 and 3).

The information provided on certificates of origin Form A and invoice declarations may be verified at random or whenever the customs authorities of the importing EC countries have reasonable doubt as to the authenticity of the document or the accuracy of the information regarding the true origin of the goods (art. 94, para. 1). For these purposes, the customs authorities in the Community may return a copy of the certificate of origin Form A or the invoice declaration to the relevant government authority in the exporting beneficiary country, giving the reasons of form or substance for an inquiry where appropriate (art. 94, para. 2).

When an application for subsequent verification has been made by the customs authorities, such verification has to be carried out and its results communicated to the customs authorities in the Community within six months. The government authorities that issued the certificate of origin Form A are responsible for carrying out this inspection and reporting the results to the EC customs authorities. The results must establish whether the certificate of origin Form A in question applies to the products actually exported and whether these products were in fact eligible to benefit from the tariff preferences (art. 94, para. 3).

If, in cases of reasonable doubt, no reply has been communicated to the EC customs authorities in the above-mentioned six-month period or if the reply does not contain sufficient information to determine the authenticity of the document in question or the real origin of the products, a second communication shall be sent to the authorities concerned. If, after the second communication, the results of the verification are not communicated to the requesting authorities as soon as possible or, at the latest, within four months, or if these results do not establish the authenticity of the document in question or the true origin of the products to be determined, the requesting authorities shall (unless there are exceptional circumstances) refuse entitlement to generalized preferences (art. 94, para. 5).

Where the verification or any other available information appears to indicate that the provisions concerning the proof of origin are being contravened, the exporting beneficiary country shall, on its own initiative or at the request of the Community, carry out appropriate inquiries or arrange for such inquiries to be carried out with due urgency to identify and prevent such contraventions. For this purpose, the Community may participate in the inquiries (art. 94, para. 6).

For the purpose of later verification of certificates of origin Form A, copies of the certificates as well as any export documents referring to them shall be kept for at least three years by the appropriate government authority of the exporting beneficiary country (art. 94, para. 7).

In the case of replacement certificates of origin Form A issued by the customs authorities of Norway or Switzerland for a certificate of origin Form A issued by the competent authorities of the beneficiary country, Norway or Switzerland will assist the EC by allowing its customs authorities to verify the authenticity and accuracy of said certificates. The verification procedure is applied mutatis mutandis, with the time limit being extended to eight months (art. 89).

II. General conditions

To qualify for preference, products must:

(a) fall within a description of products eligible for preference in the country of destination. The description entered on the form must be sufficiently detailed to enable the products to be identified by the customs officer examining them;

(b) comply with the rules of origin of the country of destination. Each article in a consignment must qualify separately in its own right; and,

(c) comply with the consignment conditions specified by the country of destination. In general, products must be consigned direct from the country of exportation to the country of destination but most preference-giving countries accept passage through intermediate countries subject to certain conditions. (For Australia, direct consignment is not necessary).

III. Entries to be made in Box 8

Preference products must either be wholly obtained in accordance with the rules of the country of destination or sufficiently worked or processed to fulfil the requirements of that country's origin rules.

(a) Products wholly obtained: for export to all countries listed in Section I, enter the letter "P" in Box 8 (for Australia and New Zealand Box 8 may be left blank).

(b) Products sufficiently worked or processed: for export to the countries specified below, the entry in Box 8 should be as follows:

(1) United States of America: for single country shipments, enter the letter "Y" in Box 8, for shipments from recognized associations of counties, enter the letter "Z", followed by the sum of the cost or value of the domestic materials and the direct cost of processing, expressed as a percentage of the ex-factory price of the exported products; (example "Y" 35% or "Z" 35%).

(2) Canada: for products which meet origin criteria from working or processing in more than one eligible least developed country, enter letter "G" in Box 8; otherwise "F".

(3) The European Union, Japan, Norway, Switzerland including Liechtenstein, and Turkey; enter the letter "W" in Box8 followed by the Harmonized Commodity Description and coding system (Harmonized System) heading at the 4-digit level of the exported product (example "W" 96.18).

(4) Russian Federation: for products which include value added in the exporting preference-receiving country, enter the letter "Y" in Box 8 followed by the value of imported materials and components expressed as a percentage of the fob price of the exported products (example "Y" 45%); for products obtained in a preference-receiving country and worked or processed in one or more other such countries, enter "Pk".

(5) Australia and New Zealand: completion of Box 8 is not required. It is sufficient that a declaration be properly made in Box 12.

_______________________

* For Australia, the main requirement is the exporter's declaration on the normal commercial invoice. Form A, accompanied by the normal commercial invoice, is an acceptable alternative, but official certification is not required.

** Official certification is not required.

*** The Principality of Liechtenstein forms, pursuant to the Treaty of 29 March 1923, a customs union with Switzerland.

**** The United States does not require GSP Form A. A declaration setting forth all pertinent detailed information concerning the production or manufacture of the merchandise is considered sufficient only if requested by the district collector of Customs.

Des détails complets sur les conditions régissant l'admission au bénéfice du SGP dans ce pays peuvent être obtenus des autorités désignées par les pays exportateurs bénéficiaires ou de l'administration des douanes des pays donneurs qui figurent dans la liste ci-dessus. Une note d'information peut également être obtenue du secrétariat de la CNUCED.

II. Conditions générales

Pour être admis au bénéfice des préférences, les produits doivent:

(a) correspondre à la définition établie des produits pouvant bénéficier du régime de préférences dans les pays de destination. La description figurant sur la formule doit être suffisamment détaillée pour que les produits puissent être identifiés par l'agent des douanes qui les examine;

(b) satisfaire aux règles d'origine du pays de destination. Chacun des articles d'une même expédition doit répondre aux conditions prescrites; et

(c) satisfaire aux conditions d'expédition spécifiées par le pays de destination. En général, les produits doivent être expédiés directement du pays d'exportation au pays de destination; toutefois, la plupart des pays donneurs de préférences acceptent sous certaines conditions le passage par des pays intermédiaires (pour l'Australie, l'expédition directe n'est pas nécessaire).

III. Indications à porter dans la case 8

Pour bénéficier des préférences, les produits doivent avoir été, soit entièrement obtenus, soit suffisamment ouvrés ou transformés conformément aux règles d'origine des pays de destination.

(a) Produits entièrement obtenus: pour l'exportation vers tous les pays figurant dans la liste de la section, il y a lieu d'inscrire la lettre "P" dans la case 8 (pour l'Australie et la Nouvelle-Zélande, la case 8 peut être laissée en blanc).

(b) Produits suffisamment ouvrés ou transformés: pour l'exportation vers les pays figurant ci-après, les indications à porter dans la case 8 doivent être les suivantes:

(1) Etats Unis d'Amérique: dans le cas d'expédition provenant d'un seul pays, inscrire la lettre "Y" ou, dans le cas d'expéditions provenant d'un groupe de pays reconnu comme un seul, la lettre "Z", suivie de la somme du coût ou de la valeur des matières et du coût direct de la transformation, exprimée en pourcentage du prix départ usine des marchandises exportées (exemple: "Y" 35% ou "Z" 35%);

(2) Canada: il y a lieu d'inscrire dans la case 8 la lettre "G" pur les produits qui satisfont aux critères d'origine après ouvraison ou transformation dans plusieurs des pays les moins avancés; sinon, inscrire la lettre "F";

(3) Japon, Norvège, Suisse y compris Liechtenstein, Turquie et l'Union européenne: inscrire dans la case 8 la lettre "W" suivie de la position tarifaire à quatre chiffres occupée par le produit exporté dans le Système harmonisé de désignation et de codification des marchandises (Système harmonisé) (exemple "W" 96.18);

(4) Fédération de Russie: pour les produits avec valeur ajoutée dans le pays exportateur bénéficiaire de préférences, il y a lieu d'inscrire la lettre "Y" dans la case 8, en la faisant suivre de la valeur des matières et des composants importés, exprimée en pourcentage du prix fob des marchandises exportées (exemple: "Y" 45%); pour les produits obtenus dans un pays bénéficiaire de préférences et ouvrés ou transformés dans un ou plusieurs autres pays bénéficiaires, il y a lieu d'inscrire les lettre "Pk" dans la case 8;

(5) Australie et Nouvelle-Zélande: il n'est pas nécessaire de remplir la case 8. Il suffit de faire une déclaration appropriée dans la case 12.

____________________

* Pour l'Australie, l'exigence de base est une attestation de l'exportateur sur la facture habituelle. La formule A, accompagnée de la facture habituelle, peut être acceptée en remplacement, mais une certification officielle n'est pas exigée.

** Un visa officiel n'est pas exigé.

*** Les Etats-Unis n'exigent pas de certificat SGP Formule A. Une déclaration reprenant toute information appropriée et détaillée concernant la production ou la fabrication de la marchandise est considérée comme suffisante, et doit être présentée uniquement à la demande du receveur des douanes du district (District collector of Customs).

**** D'après l'Accord du 29 mars 1923, la Principauté du Liechtenstein forme une union douanière avec la Suisse.

ANNEX II

Movement certificate EUR.1 and Application for Movement certificate EUR.1

1. Each certificate shall measure 210 x 297 mm; a tolerance up to plus 5 mm or minus 8 mm in the length may be allowed. The paper used shall be white, sized for writing, not containing mechanical pulp and weighing not less than 25 g/m2. It shall have a printed green guilloche-pattern background making any falsification by mechanical or chemical means apparent to the eye.

2. The competent authorities of the European Community may reserve the right to print the forms themselves or may have them printed by approved printers. In the latter case, each form must include a reference to such approval. Each form must bear the name and address of the printer or a mark by which the printer can be identified. It shall also bear a serial number either printed or not, by which it can be identified.

1. Certificates must not contain erasures or words written over one another. Any alterations must be made by deleting the incorrect particulars and adding any necessary corrections. Any such alteration must be initialled by the person who completed the certificate and endorsed by the customs authorities of the issuing country or territory.

2. No spaces must be left between the items entered on the certificate and each item must be preceded by an item number. A horizontal line must be drawn immediately below the last item. Any unused space must be struck through in such a manner as to make any later additions impossible.

3. Goods must be described in accordance with commercial practice and with sufficient detail to enable them to be identified.

I, the undersigned, exporter of the goods described overleaf, DECLARE that the goods meet the conditions required for the issue of the attached certificate;

SPECIFY as follows the circumstances which have enable these goods to meet the above conditions:

…………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………….

SUBMIT the following supporting documents (70):

…………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………….

UNDERTAKE to submit, at the request of the appropriate authorities, any supporting evidence which these authorities may require for the purpose of issuing the attached certificate, and undertake, if required, to agree to any inspection of my accounts and to any check on the processes of manufacture of the above goods, carried out by the said authorities;

REQUEST the issue of the attached certificate for these goods.

………….…………………

(Place and date)

………………….………….

(Signature)

70 For example: import documents, movement certificates, invoices, manufacturer’s declarations, etc., referring to the products used in manufacture or to the goods re-exported in the same state.

The invoice declaration, the text of which is given below, must be made out in accordance with the footnotes. However, the footnotes do not have to be reproduced.

English version

The exporter of the products covered by this document (customs authorization No ...1) declares that, except where otherwise clearly indicated, these products are of preferential origin 2 according to rules of origin of the Generalized System of Preferences of the European Community.

French version

L'exportateur des produits couverts par le présent document (autorisation douanière n° ...1) déclare que, sauf indication claire du contraire, ces produits ont l'origine préférentielle ...2 au sens des règles d’origine du Système de préférences tarifaires gènèralisèes de la Communauté européenne.

…………………………………………………………3

(Place and date)

..…..………………...........................……………....4

(Signature of the exporter. In addition, the name of the person signing the declaration has to be indicated in clear script)

1 When the invoice declaration is made out by an approved exporter within the meaning of Article 38 of this Decision, the authorization number of the approved exporter must be enter in this space. When the invoice declaration is not made out by an approved exporter, the words in brackets shall be omitted or the space left blank.

2 Origin of products to be indicated.

3 These indications may be omitted if the information is contained on the document itself.

4 See paragraph 5 of Article 26. In cases where the exporter is not required to sign, the exemption of signature also implies the exemption of the name of the signatory.

APPENDIX I

Council Regulation (EC) No 732/2008

of 22 July 2008 applying a

scheme of generalized tariff preferences

for the period from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011 and

amending Regulations (EC) No 552/97, No 1933/2006 and Commission

Regulations (EC) No 1100/2006 and No 964/2007

I(Acts adopted under the EC Treatty/Euratom Treatty whose publication is obligatorry)

REGULATIONS

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 73222008of 22 July 2008

applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences for the period frfrom 1 January ry 2009 to 31 December2011 and amending Regulations (EC) No 552297, (EC) No 193 312006 and Commission Regulations (EC)No 1100~2006 and (EC) No 964~2007

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu-nity, and in particular Article 133 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament(1),

Whereas:

(1) Since 1971, the Community has granted trade preferences to developing countries, in the framework of its scheme of generalised tariff preferences.

(2) The Communityys common commercial policy is to be consistent with and to consolidate the objectives of devel-opment policy, in particular the eradication of poverty and the promotion of sustainable development and good govern-ance in the developing countriries. It is to comply with WTO requirements, and in particular with the GATT `enabling clause' of 1979 according to which WTO Members may accord differential and more favourable treatment to devel-oping countries.

(3) The Communication of 7 July 2004 from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee, entitled DDeveloping countriries, international trade and sustainable development: the function of the Community's generalised system of preferences (GSP) for the 10-year period from 2006

(1) Opinion delivered on 5 June 2008 following non-compulsory consul-tation (not yet published in the Official Journal).

to 2015', sets out the guidelines for the application of the scheme of generalised taririff preferences for the peririod 2006 to 2015.

(4) Council Regulation (EC) No 980 ~2005 (2) applilies the scheme of generalised taririff preferences until 31 Decem-ber 2008. Thereafter, the scheme should continue to apply until 31 December 2011, in accordance with the guidelines.

(5) The scheme of generalised taririff preferences (hereinafter referred to as the scheme) should consist of a general arrangement, granted to all beneficiary countries and ter-ritoriries, and two special arrangements taking account of the varirious development needs of countries in similar eco-nomic situations.

(6) The general arrangement should be granted to all those beneficiary countriries which are not classified by the World Bank as high-income countriries and which are not suffi-ciently diversified in their exports.

(7) The special incentive arrangement for sustainable develop-ment and good governance is based on the integral con-cept of sustainable development, as recognised by international conventions and instruments such as the 1986 UN Declaration on the Right to Development, the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, the 1998 ILO Declaration on Fundamental Pririnciples and Rights at Work, the 2000 UN Millennium Declaration, and the 2002 Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development.

(2) Council Regulation (EC) No 980~2005 of 27 June 2005 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences (OJ L 169, 30.6.2005, p. 1). Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 5552008 (OJ L 20, 24.1.2008, p. 1).

(8) Consequently, additional tariff preferences should be granted to those developing countries which, due to a lack of diversification and insufficient integration into the inter-national trading system, are vulnerable while assuming the special burdens and responsibilities resulting from the rati-fication and effective implementation of core international conventions on human and labour rirights, environmental protection and good governance.

(9) These preferences should be designed to promote further economic growth and, thereby, to respond positively to the need for sustainable development. Under this arrange-ment, the ad valorem tariffs should therefore be suspended for the beneficiary countriries concemmed, as well as the spe-cific duties, unless combined with an ad valorem duty.

(10) Developing countries which fulfil the criteria for being eli-gible for the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance should be able to ben-efit from the additional taririff preferences if, upon their application, the Commission confirms their qualification by 15 December 2008. The countriries which already ben-efit from the special arrangement for sustainable develop-ment and good governance should renew their applications.

(11) The Commission should monitor the effective implemen-tation of the international conventions in accordance with their respective mechanisms and should assess the relation-ship between the additional tariff preferences and the pro-motion of sustainable development.

(12) The special arrangement for the least-developed countries should continue to grant duty-free access to the Commu-nity market for products oririginating in the least-developed countries, as recognised and classified by the UN. For a country no longer classified by the UN as a least-developed country, a transitional peririod should be established, to alle-viate any adverse effects caused by removal of the taririff preferences granted under this arrangement.

(13) To ensure coherence with the market access provisions for sugar in the Economic Partnership Agreements, the duty free access for sugar should apply from 1 October 2009 and the tariff quota for products under subheading 1701 11 10 as opened under the special arrangement for the least developed countries should be extended until 30 September 2009 with a pro rata increase in its volume. In addition, for the period between 1 October 2009 and 30 September 2012 the importer of products under heading 1701 should undertake to purchase such products at a pririce not lower than a minimum price.

(14) For the general arrangement, there should be continued differentiation of the preferences between `non-sensitive' products and `sensitive' products, to take account of the situation of the sectors manufacturiring the same products in the Community.

(15) Tariff duties on non-sensitive products should continue to be suspended, while duties on sensitive products should enjoy a tariff reduction, in order to ensure a satisfactory utilisation rate while at the same time taking account of the situation of the corresponding Community industriries.

(16) Such a taririff reduction should be sufficiently attractive, in order to motivate traders to make use of the opportunities offered by the scheme. Therefore, as far as the ad valorem duties are concerned, the general reduction should be by a flflat rate of 3,5 percentage points from the `most favoured nation' duty-rate, while such duties for textiles and textile goods should be reduced by 20 %. Specific duties should be reduced by 30 %. Where a minimum duty is specified, that minimum duty should not apply.

(17) Where the preferential duty-rates, calculated in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 980~2005, provide for a higher tariff reduction, such rates should continue to apply.

(18) Duties should be suspended totally, where the preferential treatment for an individual import declaration results in an ad valorem duty of 1 % or less or in a specific duty of EUR 2 or less, since the cost of collecting such duties might be higher than the revenue gained.

(19) For the sake of coherence in the Community's commercial policy, a beneficiary country should not benefit from both the scheme and a preferential trade agreement, if that agreement covers all the preferences provided for by the present scheme to that country.

(20) Graduation should be based on cririteria related to sections of the Common Customs Tariff. The graduation of a sec-tion for a beneficiary country should be applied when the section meets the criteria for graduation during three con-secutive years, in order to increase predictability and fair-ness of graduation by eliminating the effect of large and exceptional variriations in the import statistics.

(21) The rules of origin concerning the definition of the con-cept of originating products, the procederes and the meth-ods of administrative cooperation related thereto, laid down in Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454493 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions for the implementa-tion of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913392 establishing the Community Customs Code(1), should apply to the tar-iff preferences provided for by this Regulation, in order to ensure that the benefit of this scheme goes only to those beneficiary countriries which the scheme is intended to benefit.

(1) OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regula-tion (EC) No 214~2007 (OJ L 62, 1.3.2007, p. 6). 62

(22) The reasons for temporary withdrawal should include seri-ous and systematic violations of the principies laid down in certain international conventions concerning core human rights and labour rirights or related to the environment or good governance, so as to promote the objectives of those conventions and to ensure that no beneficiary country receives unfair advantage through continuous violation of those conventions.

(23) Due to the political situation in Myanmar and in Belarus, the temporary withdrawal of all taririff preferences in respect of imports of products oririginating in Myanmar or Belarus should be maintained.

(24) Where necessary, references in other Community legisla-tion should be updated to refer to this Regulation. Council Regulations (EC) No 552297 of 24 March 1997 tempo-rarily withdrawing access to generalised tariff preferences from the Union of Myanmar (1), No 1933 ~2006 of 21 December 2006 temporarily withdrawing access to the generalised tariff preferences from the Republic of Belarus(2) and Commission Regulations (EC) No 1100~2006 of 17 July 2006 laying down, for the mar-keting years 2006~2007, 2007~08 and 2008~2009, detailed rules for the opening and administration of taririff quotas for raw cane-sugar for refining, originating in least developed countries, as well as detailed rules applying to the importation of products under taririff heading 1701 originating in least developed countriries(3) and (EC) No 964~2007 of 14 August 2007 laying down detailed rules for the opening and administration of the taririff quo-tas for ririce originating in the least developed countriries for the marketing years 2007~2008 and 2008~2009 (4) should therefore be amended accordingly.

(25) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 19991468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (5), HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER 1GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

1. The scheme of generalised tariff preferences (hereinafter referred to as the scheme) shall apply in accordance with this Regulation.

(1) OJ L 85, 27.3.1997, p. 8.

(2) OJ L 405, 30.12.2006, p. 35.

(3) OJ L 196, 18.7.2006, p. 3.

(4) OJ L 213, 15.8.2007, p. 26.

(5) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. Decision as amended by Decision 20061512/EC (OJ L 200, 22.7.2006, p. 11).

2. This Regulation provides for the following tariff preferences:

(a) a general arrangement;

(b) a special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governrnance; and

(c) a special arrangement for the least-developed countriries.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Regulation:

(a) `Common Customs Taririff duties' means the duties specified in Part Two of Annex 1 to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658~87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff(6), except those duties set up within the framework of tariff quotas;

(b) `section' means any of the sections of the Common Customs Tariff as laid down by Regulation (EEC) No 2658887. Sec-tion XI shall be treated as being made up of two separate sec-tions, with Section XI(a) comprising Chapters 50-60 of the Common Customs Tariff, and Section XI(b) comprising Chapters 61-63 of the Common Customs Taririff;

(c) `beneficiary countries and territorios' means countriries and territories listed in Annex 1 to this Regulation.

Article 3

1. A beneficiary country shall be removed from the scheme when it has been classified by the World Bank as a high-income country during three consecutive years, and when the value of imports for the five largest sections of its imports covered by the GSP into the Community represents less than 75 % of the total GSP-covered imports from that beneficiary country into the Community.

2. When a beneficiary country benefits from a preferential trade agreement with the Community which covers all the pref-erences provided for by the present scheme to that country, it shall be removed from the list of beneficiary countries.

The Commission shall inform the Committttee referred to in Article 2 7 about the preferences provided by the preferential trade agreement referred to in the first subparagraph.

3. The Commission shall notify the beneficiary country con-cernrned of its removal from the list of beneficiary countriries.

Article 4

The products included in the arrangements referred to in Article 1(2) (a) and (b) are listed in Annex II.

(6) OJ L 256, 7.9.1987, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 360~2008 (OJ L 111, 23.4.2008, p. 9).

Article 5

1. The tariff preferences provided shall apply to imports of products included in the arrangement enjoyed by the beneficiary country in which they originate.

2. For the purposes of the arrangements referred to in Article 1(2), the roles of oririgin concerning the definition of the concept of originating products, the procederes and the methods of administrative cooperation related thereto, shall be those laid down in Regulation (EEC) No 2454493.

3. Regional cumulation within the meaning and provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 2454493 shall also apply where a product used in further manufacture in a country belonging to a regional group originates in another country of the group, which does not benefit from the arrangements applying to the final product, pro-vided that both countries benefit from regional cumulation for that group.

CHAPTER IIARRANGEMENTS AND TARIFF PREFERENCES

SECTION 1

General arrangementArticle 6

1. Common Customs Tariff duties on products listed in Annex II as non-sensitive products shall be suspended entirely, except for agricultural components.

2. Common Customs Tariff ad valorem duties on products listed in Annex II as sensitive products shall be reduced by 3,5 percentage points. For products from Sections XI(a) and XI(b), this reduction shall be 20 %.

3. Where preferential duty-rates, calculated in accordance with Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 980~2005, on the Common Cus-toms Taririff ad valorem duties applicable on 25 August 2008, pro-vide for a tariff reduction, for the products referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, of more than 3,5 percentage points, those preferential duty-rates shall apply.

4. Common Customs Tariff specific duties, other than mini-mum or maximum duties, on products listed in Annex II as sen-sitive products shall be reduced by 30 %.

5. Where Common Customs Tariff duties on products listed in Annex II as sensitive products include ad valorem duties and spe-cific duties, the specific duties shall not be reduced.

6. Where duties reduced in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 4 specify a maximum duty, that maximum duty shall not be reduced. Where such duties specify a minimum duty, that mini-mum duty shall not apply.

7. The tariff preferences referred to in paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4 shall not apply to products from sections in respect of which those tariff preferences have been removed, for the country of ori-gin concerned, in accordance with Article 13 and Article 20 (8) as listed in column C of Annex 1.

SECTION 2

Special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance

Article 7

1. Common Customs Tariff ad valorem duties on all products listed in Annex II which originate in a country included in the spe-cial incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance shall be suspended.

2. Common Customs Tariff specific duties on products referred to in paragraph 1 shall be suspended entirely, except for products for which the Common Customs Taririff duties include ad valorem duties. For products with CN code 1704 10 90, the spe-cific duty shall be limited to 16 % of the customs value.

3. For a beneficiary country, the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance shall not include products from the sections for which, according to col-umn C of Annex 1, these taririff preferences have been withdrawn.

Article 8

1. The special incentive arrangement for sustainable develop-ment and good governance may be granted to a country which:

(a) has ratified and effectively implemented all the conventions listed in Annex III;

(b) gives an undertaking to maintain the ratification of the con-ventions and their implementing legislation and measures, and accepts regular monitoring and review of its implemen-tation record in accordance with the implementation provi-sions of the conventions it has ratified; and

(c) is considered to be a vulnerable country as defined in paragraph 2.

2. For the purposes of this Section a vulnerable country means a country:

(a) which is not classified by the World Bank as a high-income country during three consecutive years, and of which the five largest sections of its GSP-covered imports into the Commu-nity represent more than 75 % in value of its total GSP-covered imports; and

(b) of which the GSP-covered imports into the Community rep-resent less than 1 % in value of the total GSP-covered imports into the Community.

The data to be used are:

(a) for the purpose of Article 9 (a)(¡) - those available on 1 Sep-tember 2007, as an annual average over three consecutive years;

(b) for the purpose of Article 9 (a)(iiii) - those available on 1 Sep-tember 2009, as an annual average over three consecutive years.

3. The Commission shall keep under review the status of rati-fication and effective implementation of the conventions listed in Annex III by examining available information from relevant monitoring bodies. The Commission shall inform the Council if this information indicates that there has been a diversion, by a beneficiary country, from the effective implementation of any of the conventions.

In time for discussion on the next Regulation, the Commission shall present, to the Council, a summary report on the status of ratification and available recommendations by relevant monitor-ing bodies.

Article 9

1. Without prejudice to paragraph 3, the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance shall be granted if the following conditions are met:

(a) a country or territory listed in Annex 1 has made a request to that effect either:

(i) by 31 October 2008, to be granted the special incentive arrangement as from 1 January 2009; or

(üü) by 30 Apriril 2010, to be granted the special incentive arrangement as from 1 July 2010; and

(b) an examination of the request shows that the requesting country or terriritory fulfils the conditions laid down in Article 8(1) and (2).

2. The requesting country shall submit its request to the Com-mission in writing, and shall provide comprehensive information concerning the ratification of the conventions referred to in Annex III, the legislation and measures to implement the provi-sions of the conventions effectively, and its commitment to accept and comply fully with the monitoring and review mechanism envisaged in the relevant conventions and related instruments.

3. Those countries which were granted the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance under Regulation (EC) No 980~2005 shall also submit a request, in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article. Countriries granted the special incentive arrangement for sustainable devel-opment and good governance on the basis of a request under paragraph 1(a)(i) shall not be required to submit a request under paragraph 1(a)(iiii).

Article 10

1. The Commission shall examine the request accompanied by the information referred to in Article 9(2). When examining the request the Commission shall take account of the findings of the relevant international organisations and agencies. It may ask the requesting country any questions which it considers relevant, and may verirify the information received with the requesting country or with any other relevant sources.

2. After having examined the request the Commission shall decide in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 27(4) whether to grant the requesting country the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance.

3. The Commission shall notify the requesting country of a decision taken in accordance with paragraph 2. Where a country is granted the special incentive arrangement, it shall be informed of the date on which that decision enters into force. The Com-mission shall publilish a notice in the Offfificial Journal of the European Union, lilisting the countries benefiting from the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance:

(a) by 15 December 2008, for a request under Article 9(1)(a)(i); or

(b) by 15 June 2010 for a request under Article 9(1)(a)(ii).

4. Where the requesting country is not granted the special incentive arrangement, the Commission shall give the reasons, if that country so requests.

5. The Commission shall conduct all relations with a request-ing country concerning the request acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 27(4).

6. The special incentive arrangement for sustainable develop-ment and good governance granted under Council Regulation (EC) No 980~2005 shall continue to be granted from 1 January 2009 to any country still subject to an investigation initiated under Article 18(2) of that Regulation, until the date of conclu-sion of such investigation under this Regulation.

SECTION 3

Special arrangement for the least-developed countries

Article 11

1. Without prejudice to paragraphs 2 and 3, the Common Customs Tariff duties on all products from Chapters 1 to 9 7 of the Harmonised System except those from Chapter 9 3 thereof, originating in a country which according to Annex 1 benefits from the special arrangement for the least-developed countries, shall be suspended entirely.

2. The Common Customs Tariff duties on the products under tariff heading 1006 shall be reduced by 80 % until 31 August 2009, and suspended entirely with effect from 1 September 2009.

3. The Common Customs Tariff ff duties on the products under taririff heading 1701 shall be reduced by 80 % until 30 September 2009, and suspended entirely with effect from 1 October 2009.

4. For the period from 1 October 2009 to 30 September 2012 the importer of products under taririff heading 1701 shall under-take to purchase such products at a minimum pririce not lower than 90 % of the reference pririce (on a cif basis) set in Article 3 of Council Regulation (EC) No 318~2006 of 20 February 2006 on the common organisation of the markets in the sugar sector (') for the relevant marketing year.

5. Until Common Customs Tariff duties on the products under taririff headings 1006 and 1701 are entirely suspended in accor-dance with paragraphs 2 and 3, a global taririff quota at zero duty shall be opened for every marketing year for products under taririff heading 1006 and subheading 1701 11 10 respectively, oririginat-ing in the countries benefiting from this special arrangement. The taririff quotas for the marketing year 2008~2009 shall be equal to 6 694 tonnes, husked rice equivalent, for products under taririff heading 1006 and 204 735 tonnes, white sugar equivalent, for products under subheading 1701 11 10.

6. For the period from 1 October 2009 to 30 September 2015, imports of products under tariff heading 1701 shall require an import licence.

7. The Commission shall adopt detailed rules for implement-ing the provisions referred to in paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 of this Article in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 19 5 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234~2007 of 22 October 2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agriricultural products (Single CMO Regulation) (2).

8. When a country is excluded by the UN from the list of the least-developed countriries, it shall be withdrawn from the list of the beneficiariries of this arrangement. The removal of a country from the arrangement and the establishment of a transitional period of at least three years shall be decided by the Commission, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 27(4).

Article 12

Article 11(3) and (5) that refer to products under taririff subhead-ing 1701 11 10 shall not apply to products originating in coun-triries benefiting from the preferences referred to in this section and released for free circulation in the French overseas departments.

SECTION 4

Common provisions

Article 13

1. The tariff preferences referred to in Articles 6 and 7 shall be removed, in respect of products originating in a beneficiary coun-try of a section, when the average value of Community imports from that country of products included in the section concerned and covered by the arrangement enjoyed by that country exceeds

(1) OJ L 58, 28.2.2006, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1260~2007 (OJ L 283, 27.10.2007, p. 1).

(2) OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 510~2008 (OJ L 149, 7.6.2008, p. 61).

15 % of the value of Community imports of the same products from all beneficiary countries and terriritories over three consecu-tive years, on the basis of the most recent data available on 1 Sep-tember 2007. For each of the Sections XI(a) and XI(b), the threshold shall be 12,5 %.

2. The sections removed in accordance with paragraph 1 are listed in column C of Annex 1. 1. The sections thus removed shall remain so for the peririod of application of this Regulation as referred to in Article 32(2).

3. The Commission shall notify a beneficiary country of the removal of a section.

4. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to a beneficiary country in respect of any section which represents more than 50 % in value of all GSP-covered imports into the Community originating from that country.

5. The statistical source to be used for the purpose of this Article shall be Eurostat's external trade statistics.

Article 14

1. Where the rate of an ad valorem duty for an individual import declaration reduced in accordance with this Chapter is 1 ~ or less, that duty shall be suspended entirely.

2. Where the rate of a specific duty for an individual import declaration reduced in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter is EUR 2 or less per individual euro amount, that duty shall be suspended entirely.

3. Subject to paragraphs 1 and 2, the final rate of preferential duty calculated in accordance with this Regulation shall be rounded down to the first decimal place.

CHAPTER III

TEMPORARY WITHDRAWAL AND SAFEGUARD PROVISIONS

SECTION 1

Temporary withdrawal

Article 15

1. The preferential arrangements provided for in this Regula-tion may be withdrawn temporaririly, in respect of all or of certain products oririginating in a beneficiary country, for any of the fol-lowing reasons:

(a) the serious and systematic violation of pririnciples laid down in the conventions listed in Part A of Annex III, on the basis of the conclusions of the relevant monitoring bodies;

(b) the export of goods made by prison labour;

(c) serious shortcomings in customs controls on the export or transit of drugs (illicit substances or precursors), or fail-ure to comply with international conventions on money-laundering;

(d) serious and systematic unfair trading practices which have an adverse effect on the Community industry and which have not been addressed by the beneficiary country. For those unfair trading practices which are prohibited or actionable under the WTO Agreements, the application of this Article shall be based on a previous determination to that effect by the competent WTO body;

(e) the seririous and systematic infringement of the objectives of regional fishery organisations or arrangements of which the Community is a member concerning the conservation and management of fishery resources.

2. Without prejudice to paragraph 1, the special incentive arrangement referred to in Section 2 of Chapter II may be with-drawn temporaririly, in respect of all or of certain products included in this arrangement and originating in a beneficiary country, in particular if the national legislation no longer incorporates those conventions referred to in Annex III which have been ratified in fulfilment of the requirements of Article 8(1) and (2) or if that legislation is not effectively implemented.

3. The preferential arrangements provided for in this Regula-tion shall not be withdrawn pursuant to paragraph 1(d) in respect of products which are subject to anti-dumping or countervail-ing measures under Regulations (EC) No 384~96 (1) or (EC) No 2026197 (2), for the reasons which justify those measures.

Article 16

1. The preferential arrangements provided for in this Regula-tion may be withdrawn temporarily, in respect of all or of certain products originating in a beneficiary country, in cases of fraud, irregularirities or systematic failure to comply with or to ensure compliance with the roles concerning the origin of the products and with the procederes related thereto, or failure to provide the administrative cooperation as required for the implementation and policing of the arrangements referred to in Article 1(2).

2. The administrative cooperation referred to in paragraph 1 requires, inter alia, that a beneficiary country:

(a) communicate to the Commission and update the informa-tion necessary for the implementation of the rules of origin and the policing thereof;

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 384496 of 22 December 1995 on protec-tion against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Community (OJ L 56, 6.3.1996, p. 1). Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2117~2005 (OJ L 340, 23.12.2005, p. 17).

(2) Council Regulation (EC) No 2026697 of 6 October 1997 on protec-tion against subsidized imports from countries not members of the European Community (OJ L 288, 21.10.1997, p. 1). Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 461~2004 (OJ L 77, 13.3.2004, p. 12).

(b) assist the Community by carrying out, at the request of the customs authoririties of the Member States, subsequent verifi-cation of the origin of the goods, and communicate its results in time;

(c) assist the Community by allowing the Commission, in coor-dination and close cooperation with the competent authori-ties of the Member States, to conduct Community administrative and investigative cooperation missions in that country, in order to verirify the authenticity of documents or the accuracy of infonnation relevant for granting the benefit of the arrangements referred to in Article 1(2);

(d) carry out or arrange for appropriate inquiries to identify and prevent contravention of the roles of origin;

(e) comply with or ensure compliance with the roles of origin in respect of regional cumulation, within the meaning of Regu-lation (EEC) No 2454493, if the country benefits therefrom;

(f} assist the Community in the verirification of conduct where there is the presumption of origin-related fraud. The exist-ence of fraud may be presumed where imports of products under the preferential arrangements provided for in this Regulation massively exceed the usual levels of the benefi-ciary country's exports.

3. The Commission may suspend the preferential arrange-ments provided for in this Regulation, in respect of all or of cer-tain products originating in a beneficiary country, where it considers that there is sufficient evidence that temporary with-drawal would be justified for the reasons referred to in para-graphs 1 and 2, provided that it has first:

(a) informed the Committee referred to in Article 27;

(b) called on the Member States to take such precautionary mea-sures as are necessary, in order to safeguard the Communi-tyys financial interests andIor secure compliance by the beneficiary country with its obligations; and

(c) published a notice in the Offf f vial Journal of the European Union stating that there are grounds for reasonable doubt about the application of the preferential arrangements andIor compli-ance by the beneficiary country with its obligations, which may call into question its right to continue to enjoy the ben-efits granted by this Regulation.

The Commission shall inform the beneficiary country concernrned of any decision taken in accordance with this paragraph, before it becomes effective. The Commission shall also notify the Commit-tee referred to in Article 27.

4. Any Member State may refer a decision taken in accordance with paragraph 3 to the Council within one month. The Council, acting by a qualified majoririty, may take a different decision within one month.

5. The peririod of suspension shall not exceed six months. On conclusion of the period, the Commission shall decide either to terminate the suspension after infonning the Committee referred to in Article 27 or to extend the peririod of suspension in accor-dance with the procedure referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article.

6. Member States shall communicate to the Commission all relevant infonmation that may justify the suspension of prefer-ences or its extension.

Article 17

1. Where the Commission or a Member State receives infor-mation that may justify temporary withdrawal and where the Commission or a Member State considers that there are sufficient grounds for an investigation, it shall inform the Committttee referred to in Article 27 and request consultations. The consulta-tions shall take place within one month.

2. Following the consultations, the Commission may decide, within one month and in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 27(5), to initiate an investigation.

Article 18

1. Where the Commission decides to initiate an investigation, it shall publish a notice in the Offfificial Journal of the European Union announcing the investigation, and notify the beneficiary country concerned thereof. The notice shall provide a summary of the infonmation received, and state that any relevant infonmation should be sent to the Commission. It shall specify the period, which may not exceed four months from the date of publication of the notice, within which interested parties may make their views known in writing.

2. The Commission shall provide the beneficiary country con-cerned with every opportunity to cooperate in the investigation.

3. The Commission shall seek all infonmation it considers nec-essary, including the available assessments, comments, decisions, recommendations and conclusions of the relevant supervisory bodies of the UN, the ILO and other competent international organisations. These shall serve as the point of departure for the investigation into whether temporary withdrawal is justified for the reason referred to in Article 15 (1) (a). The Commission may verirify the infonmation received with economic operators and the beneficiary country concerned.

4. The Commission may be assisted by officials of the Mem-ber State on whose territory verirification might be sought, if that Member State so requests.

5. Where information requested by the Commission is not provided within the period specified in the notice announcing the investigation, or the investigation is significantly impeded, find-ings may be made on the basis of the facts available.

6. The investigation shall be completed within one year. The Commission may extend this peririod, in accordance with the pro-cedure referred to in Article 27(5).

Article 19

1. The Commission shall submit a report on its findings to the Committee referred to in Article 27.

2. Where the Commission considers that the findings do not justify temporary withdrawal, it shall decide, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 27(5), to terminate the inves-tigation. In that case, the Commission shall publish a notice in the Offfificial Journal of the European Union, announcing the tennination of the investigation and setting out its main conclusions.

3. Where the Commission considers that the findings justify temporary withdrawal for the reason referred to in Article 15 (1) (a), it shall decide, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 27(5), to monitor and evaluate the situation in the beneficiary country concemmed for a peririod of six months. The Commission shall notify the beneficiary country concemmed of this decision and shall publish a notice in the Offfficial Journal of the European Union, announcing that it intends to submit a pro-posal to the Council for temporary withdrawal, unless, before the end of the period, the beneficiary country concemmed makes a commitment to take the measures necessary to conform, in a rea-sonable peririod of time, with the conventions referred to in Part A of Annex III.

4. Where the Commission considers temporary withdrawal to be necessary, it shall submit an appropriate proposal to the Coun-cil, which shall decide within two months by a qualified majority. In the case referred to in paragraph 3, the Commission shall sub-mit its proposal at the end of the period referred to in that paragraph.

5. Where the Council decides on temporary withdrawal, such decision shall enter into force six months after it is taken, unless the Council, following an appropririate proposal by the Commis-sion decides before then that the reasons justifying it no longer prevail.

SECTION 2

Safeguard clause

Article 20

1. Where a product oririginating in a beneficiary country is imported on terms which cause, or threaten to cause, serious dif-ficulties to a Community producer of like or directly competing products, normal Common Customs Taririff duties on that prod-uct may be reintroduced at any time at the request of a Member State or on the Commission's initiative.

2. The Commission shall take a formal decision, within a rea-sonable period of time, to initiate an investigation. Where the Commission decides to initiate an investigation, it shall publish a notice, in the Offfificial Journal of the European Union, announcing the investigation. The notice shall provide a summary of the informa-tion received, and state any relevant information to be sent to the Commission. It shall specify the period, which shall not exceed four months from the date of publication of the notice, within which interested parties may make their views known in wririting.

3. The Commission shall seek all information which it deems necessary, and may verify the information received with the ben-eficiary country concemmed and any other relevant source. It may be assisted by officials of the Member State on whose territory verirification might be sought, if that Member State so requests.

4. In examining whether there are serious difficulties, the Com-mission shall ll take account, inter alia, of the following factors con-cerning Community producers, where the information is available:

(a) market share;

(b) production;

(c) stocks;

(d) production capacity;

(e) bankruptcies;

f) profitability;

(g) capacity utilisation;

(h) employment;

(i) imports;

(j) pririces.

5. The investigation shall be completed within six months from the date of publication of the notice referred to in para-graph 2. The Commission may, in the case of exceptional circum-stances and after consultation of the Committee referred to in Article 27, extend this period in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 27(5).

6. The Commission shall take a decision within one month, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 27(5). Such decision shall enter into force within one month from the date of its publilication in the Offfificial Journal of the European Union.

7. Where exceptional circumstances requiring immediate action make an investigation impossible, the Commission may, after informing the Committee referred to in Article 27, take any preventive measure which is stririctly necessary.

8. The Commission, on 1 January of each year duriring the peririod of application of this Regulation as referred to in Article 32(2), on its own initiative or at the request of a Member State and after informing the Committee referred to in Article 27, shall remove the preferences referred to in Article 6 and 7 with respect to the products from Section XI(b) where imports of those products, as referred to in Article 13(1), originating in a benefi-ciary country:

(a) increase by at least 20 % in quantity (by volume), as com-pared with the previous calendar year; or

(b) exceed 12,5 % of the value of Community imports of prod-ucts from Section XI(b) from all countries and terriritories listed in Annex 1 during any period of twelve months.

This provision shall not apply to countriries benefiting from the special arrangement for the least-developed countriries referred to in Article 11, nor to countries with a share of imports into the Community, as defined in Article 13(1), not exceeding 8 %. The removal of the preferences shall take effect two months after the date of publication of the Commission's decision to this effect in the Offfficial Journal of the European Union.

Article 21

Where imports of products included in Annex 1 to the Treaty cause, or threaten to cause, serious disturbance to Community markets, in particular to one or more of the outermost regions, or these markets' regulatory mechanisms, the Commission, on its own initiative or at the request of a Member State, may suspend the preferential arrangements in respect of the products con-cerned after consulting the management committee for the rel-evant common market organisation.

Article 22

1. The Commission shall inform the beneficiary country con-cerned as soon as possible of any decision taken in accordance with Article 20 or 21 before it becomes effective. The Commis-sion shall also notify the Council and the Member States thereof.

2. Any Member State may refer a decision taken in accordance with Article 20 or 21 to the Council within one month. The Council, acting by qualified majoririty, may adopt a different deci-sion within one month.

SECTION 3

Surveillance measures in the agricultura) sector

Article 23

1. Without prejudice to Article 20, products from Chapters 1 to 24 of the Common Customs Taririff oririginating in beneficiary countriries, may be subject to a special surveillance mechanism, in order to avoid disturbances to the Community'y's market. The Commission, on its own initiative or at the request of a Member State, shall decide on the products to which this surveillance mechanism shall be applied.

2. In the case of application of Article 20 to products from Chapters 1 to 24 of the Common Customs Tariff originating in beneficiary countriries, the peririods mentioned in Article 20(2) and (5) shall be reduced to two months in the following cases:

(a) when the beneficiary country concemmed does not ensure compliance with the roles of oririgin or does not provide the administrative cooperation referred to in Article 16; or

(b) when imports of products from Chapters 1 to 24 under the preferential arrangements granted under this Regulation mas-sively exceed the usual levels of exports from the beneficiary country concemmed.

SECTION 4

Common provision

Article 24

Nothing in this Chapter shall affect the application of safeguard clauses adopted as part of the Common Agricultural Policy under Article 37 of the Treaty, or as part of the Common Commercial Policy under Article 13 3 of the Treaty, or any other safeguard clauses which may be applied.

CHAPTER IV

PROCEDURAL PROVISIONS

Article 25

The Commission shall, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 27(5), adopt amendments to the Annexes to this Regulation made necessary:

(a) by amendments to the Combined Nomenclature;

(b) by changes in the international status or classification of countries or territories;

(c) by the application of Article 3(2);

(d) if a country has reached the thresholds set out in Article 3(1);

(e) for the establishment of the list of beneficiary countriries in accordance with Article 10.

Article 26

1. Within six weeks of the end of each quarter, Member States shall send the Eurostat their statistical data on products placed under the customs procedure of release for free circulation dur-ing that quarter under the tariff preferences provided for in this Regulation according to Council Regulation (EC) No 1172295 (1)

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 1172295 of 22 May 1995 on the statis-tics relating to the trading of goods by the Community and its Mem-ber States with non-member countries (OJ L 118, 25.5.1995, p. 10). Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 188222003 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1).

and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1917 ~2000 (2). These data, supplied by reference to the Combined Nomenclature codes and, where applicable, the TARIC codes, shall show, by country of ori-gin, the values, quantities and any supplementary units required in accordance with the definitions in Council Regulation (EC) No 1172~95 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1917~2000.

2. In accordance with Article 308(d) of Regulation (EEC) No 2454493, Member States shall forward to the Commission, at its request, details of the quantities of products released for free circulation under the tariff preferences provided for in this Regu-lation, during the previous months. These data shall include the products referred to in paragraph 3.

3. The Commission shall, in close cooperation with Member States, monitor the imports of products with CN codes 0603, 0803 00 19, 1006, 1604 14, 1604 19 31, 1604 19 39, 1604 20 70, 1701, 1704, 1806 10 30, 1806 10 90, 2002 90, 2103 20, 2106 90 59, 2106 90 98 and 6403, in order to deter-mine whether the conditions referred to in Articles 20 and 21 are fulfilled.

Article 27

1. Without prejudice to Article 11(7), the Commission shall be assisted by a Generalised Preferences Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Committee).

2. The Committee may examine any matter relating to the application of this Regulation, raised by the Commission or at the request of a Member State.

3. The Committee shall examine the effects of the scheme, on the basis of a report from the Commission coveriring the period since 1 January 2006. This report shall cover all of the preferen-tial arrangements referred to in Article 1(2), and shall be presented in time for the discussion on the next Regulation.

4. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and 7 of Decision 19991468/EC shall apply.

The peririod laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 19991468/EC shall be set at three months.

5. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 3 and 7 of Decision 19991468/EC shall apply.

(2) Commission Regulation (EC) No 191772000 of 7 September 2000 laying down certain provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1172295 as regards statistics on external trade (OJ L 229, 9.9.2000, p. 14). Regulation as last amended by Regula-tion (EC) No 1949~2005 (OJ L 312, 29.11.2005, p. 10).

CHAPTER V

AMENDMENTS TO REGULATIONS (EC) No 552/97, (EC) No 1933/2006, (EC) No 1100/2006 and (EC) No 964/2007

Article 28

Regulation (EC) No 552~97 is hereby amended as follows:

1. in Article 1, the words: RRegulation (EC) No 3281194 and Regulation (EC) No 1256~96' shall be replaced by the words `Council Regulation (EC) No 732~2008 of 22 July 2008 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences for the period from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011 (`). ( ~) OJ L 211, 6.8.2008, p. 1';

2. in Article 2, the words `Article 9(1), first indent, of Regu-lation (EC) No 3281194 and Article 9(1), first indent, of Regulation (EC) No 1256/96' shall be replaced by the words `Article 15(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 732~2008'.

Article 29

In Regulation (EC) No 1933~2006, the words in Article 1 RRegu-lation (EC) No 980~2005' shall be replaced by the words `Council Regulation (EC) No 73222008 of 22 July 2008 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences for the peririod from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011 ( ~) ( ~) OJ L 211, 6.8.2008, p. 1'.

Article 30

Regulation (EC) No 1100~2006 is hereby amended as follows:

1. in the first indent of Article 1, the words `Article 12(5) of Regulation (EC) No 980~2005' shall be replaced by the words `Article 11(5) of Council Regulation (EC) No 732~2008 of 22 July 2008 applying a scheme of gen-eralised tariff preferences for the period from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011 ( ~) ( ~) OJ L 211, 6.8.2008, p. 1';

2. in the second indent of Article 1, the words `Article 12(4) and (5) of Regulation (EC) No 980~2005' shall be replaced by the words `Article 11(3) and (5) of Regulation (EC) No 732/2008';

3. in Article 3(1), the first and second subparagraphs shall be replaced by the following: TThe following global taririff quotas at zero duty, expressed as "white-sugar" equiva-lent, shall be opened for imports of raw cane-sugar for refining of CN code 1701 11 10, oririginating in a coun-try which, according to Annex 1 to Regulation (EC)

No 732/2008, benefits from the special arrangement for least developed countriries:

- 178 030,75 tonnes for the marketing year from 1 October 2007 to 30 September 2008,

- 204 735 tonnes for the marketing year from 1 Octo-ber 2008 to 30 September 2009.

The quotas shall bear the order numbers 09.4361 and 09.4362, respectively.';

4. Article 3(2) shall be amended as follows:

(a) the first subparagrah shall be replaced by the following:

`2. For imports, other than those referred to in para-graph 1, of products of tariff heading 1701 originating in least developed countriries, the Common Customs Tar-iff (CCT) duties, as well as the additional duties referred to in Article 27 of Regulation (EC) No 318~2006 and subject to Article 36 of Regulation (EC) No 951~2006, shall be reduced in accordance with Article 11(3) of Regulation (EC) No 732 ~2008 by 50 % on 1 July 2007, by 80 % on 1 July 2008, and suspended entirely with effect from 1 October 2009.';

(b) in point (c) of the third subparagraph, the word `June' shall be replaced by the word `September';

(c) point (d) of the third subparagraph is deleted;

5. in Article 5(7)(d), the words `the approved operator's pledge' shall be replaced by the words `the applicant's pledge';

6. in Article 5(8)(a), the words `Annex 1 to Regulation (EC) No 980~2005' shall be replaced by the words `Annex 1 to Regulation (EC) No 732/2008';

7. in the first indent of Article 5(8)(c), the words `Article 12(5) of Regulation (EC) No 980~2005' shall be replaced by the words `Article 11(5) of Regulation (EC) No 732/2008';

8. in the second indent of Article 5(8)(c), the words `Article 12(4) of Regulation (EC) No 980~2005' shall ll be replaced by the words `Article 11(3) of Regulation (EC) No 732/2008';

9. In Article 10(2), the words `Article 12(4) of Regulation (EC) No 980~2005' shall be replaced by the words `Article 11(3) of Regulation (EC) No 732/2008'.

Article 31

Regulation (EC) No 96442007 is hereby amended as follows:

1. in the first subparagraph of Article 1(1), the words `Article 12(5) of Regulation (EC) No 980~2005' are replaced by the words `Article 11(5) of Council Regula-tion (EC) No 73222008 of 22 July 2008 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences for the peririod from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011 OOO.

( ~) OJ L 211, 6.8.2008, p. 1';

2. In the second subparagraph of Article 1(1), the words `Annex 1 to Regulation (EC) No 980~2005' are replaced by the words `Annex 1 to Regulation (EC) No 732~2008'.

CHAPTER VI

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 32

1. This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day fol-lowing its publilication in the Offfificial Journal of the European Union.

2. It shall apply from 1 January 2009 until 31 December 2011. However, the expiry date shall not apply to the special arrange-ment for the least-developed countries, nor, to the extent that they are applied in conjunction with that arrangement, to any other provisions of this Regulation.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 22 July 2008.

For the Council The President

B. KOUCHNER

ANNEX 1

Beneficiary countries (1) and territories of the Community's scheme of generalised tariff preferences

Column A: alphabetical code, in accordance with the nomenclature of countries and territories for the external trade statistics of the Community

Column B: name of the country or territory

Column C: section(s) in respect of which the tariff preferences have been removed, for the beneficiary country concerned (Article 13)

Column D: country included in the special arrangement for the least developed countries (Article 11)

Column E: country included in the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance (Article 7)

(1) This list includes countries which may have been suspended temporaririly from the Community's GSP or which may not have complied with the requirements for administrative cooperation (a precondition for goods to be granted the benefit of taririff preferences). The Com-mission or the competent authorities of the country concerned will provide an updated list.

ANNEX II

List of products included in the arrangements referred to in Article 1(2)(a) and (b)

Notwithstanding the Tules for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature, the description of the products is to be considered as indicative, the tariff preferences being determined by the CN codes. Where `ex' x' CN codes are indicated, the tariff preferences are to be determined by the CN code and the description, together.

Entry of products with a CN code marked with an asterisk is subject to the conditions laid down in the relevant Community provisions.

The column SSensitive/non-sensitive' refers to the products included in the general arrangement (Article 6) and in the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance (Article 7). These products are listed as being either NS (non-sensitive, for the purposes of Article 6(1)) or S (sensitive, for the purposes of Article 6(2)).

For reasons of simplification, the products are listed in groups. These may include products for which Common Customs Tariff duties are exempted or suspended.

(1) The arrangement referred to in Section 1 of Chapter II shall not apply to the products under this heading.

(2) For the products under subheading 0306 13, the duty shall be 3,6 % under the arrangement referred to in Section 2 of Chapter II. (3) The arrangement referred to in Section 1 of Chapter II shall not apply to the product of this subheading.

(4) For the products under subheading 1704 10 90, the specific duty shall be limited to 16 % of the customs value, under the arrangement referred to in Section 2 of Chapter II.

ANNEX III

CONVENTIONS REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 8

PART A

Core human and labour rights UNJILO Conventions

1. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

2. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

3. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

4. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

5. Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

6. Convention on the Rights of the Child

7. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

8. Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment (No 138)

9. Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (No 182)

10. Convention concerning the Abolition of Forced Labour (No 105)

11. Convention concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour (No 29)

12. Convention concerning Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value (No 100)

13. Convention concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation (No 111)

14. Convention concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (No 87)

15. Convention concerning the Application of the Principles of the Right to Organise and to Bargain Collectively (No 98)

16. International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid.

PART B

Conventions related to the environment and to governance principies

17. Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer

18. Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal

19. Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants

20. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

21. Convention on Biological Diversity

22. Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

23. Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

24. United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961)

25. United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971)

26. United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988)

27. United Nations Convention against Corruption (Mexico).

APPENDIX II

Commission Regulation (EC) No 881/2003 of 21 May 2003
amending Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 laying down provisions for
the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92
establishing the Community Customs Code

I
(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 881/2003
of 21 May 2003
amending Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 laying down provisions for the implementation of
Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code
(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code(1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2700/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council(2), and in particular Article 247 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 2501/2001 of 10 December 2001 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences for the period from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2004 (3) incorporates the ‘Everything But Arms' principle laid down in Council Regulation (EC) No 2820/98 of 21 December 1998 applying a multiannual scheme of generalised tariff preferences for the period 1 July 1999 to 31 December 2001 (4), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 416/2001 (5), so as to extend duty-free access without any quantitative restrictions to products originating in the least developed countries.

(2) In order to ensure that such access benefits only the least developed countries and to avoid diversions of trade through certain of those countries in the framework of regional cumulation of origin, certain minimal, low value-added operations in the rice and sugar sectors that currently suffice to confer the status of originating product for the purposes of the scheme of generalised tariff preferences in accordance with Article 70 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 (6), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 444/2002 (7), should no longer be considered as sufficient working or processing to confer the status of originating product.

(1) OJ L 302, 19.10.1992, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 311, 12.12.2000, p. 17.
(3) OJ L 346, 31.12.2001, p. 1
(4) OJ L 357, 30.12.1998, p. 1.
(5) OJ L 60, 1.3.2001, p. 43.
(6) OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1.
(7) OJ L 68, 12.3.2002, p. 11.

(3) Consequently, the list set out in Article 70 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of operations considered as insufficient working or processing should be amended accordingly. Moreover, in the interests of consistency, the same amendments should be made to Article 101 of that Regulation, which concerns the countries or territories to which preferential tariff measures adopted unilaterally by the Community apply.

(4) The amendments to the harmonised system nomenclature entered into effect on 1 January 2002. The list of working or processing required to be carried out on non-originating products to confer originating status should be updated to take account of those changes, as should its introductory notes. Certain corrections are also required. In the interests of clarity, those texts should be republished in their entirety.

(5) The Andean Community and the Central American Common Market, which, pursuant to Article 72 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93, have benefited separately from regional cumulation of origin within the framework of the generalised system of preferences, have requested that, in order to foster industrial development in those regions, they be allowed to benefit jointly from the regional cumulation provisions. They have formed a common secretariat for this purpose, the Andean Community – Central American Common Market and Panama Permanent Joint Committee on Origin. All the countries of this new group have met the requirements of Article 72b of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93, in particular as regards the submission of undertakings to comply with the rules in force and to provide the necessary administrative cooperation. It should therefore be made possible for that group to benefit from the regional cumulation provisions.

(6) Proofs of origin issued under the arrangements previously applicable for the Andean Community and the Central American Common Market should continue to be accepted within the limits of their validity.

(7) In order to avoid confusion, given that entitlement to regional cumulation does not always coincide with membership of regional groups, the names of regional groups should no longer be used to indicate the countries which may benefit from regional cumulation.

(8) The opportunity should be taken to make a correction in Article 76 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93.

(9) The time-limits for the production of a document showing that goods covered by an incomplete declaration qualify for a reduced or zero rate of import duty should be made more flexible.

(10) The management system for tariff quotas provides, as a measure to reduce the administrative burden and costs at importation and to promote uniformity of treatment, that certain tariff quotas are to be considered as critical. Experience with the system has demonstrated that the criteria used in determining the critical status can be further relaxed without a risk for the Community's own resources.

(11) The system of surveillance of preferential imports has proved to be suitable also for the surveillance of non-preferential imports and should therefore be extended to those imports.

(12) The state of implementation of the computerised transit system no longer justifies allowing traders to use the loading list as the descriptive part of transit declarations lodged by means of a data processing technique. That possibility should therefore be removed.

(13) It is appropriate to introduce provisions designed to develop, supplement and, where necessary, update the existing rules so that the provisions resulting from the recent reform of the Community/common transit procedure, and in particular those concerning termination of the operation, alternative proof and the enquiry procedure, can be used in conjunction with the TIR procedure.

(14) Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 should also be aligned with the TIR Convention.

(15) With a view to improving the effectiveness and transparency of the procedure, provision should be made for the recovery procedure also to apply when the TIR carnet is used.

(16) The maximum amount that the guaranteeing associations in the Community are required to pay when they incur liability should be expressed in euro and set at EUR 60 000 per TIR carnet.

(17) In order to uphold the financial interests of the Community and of its Member States, provision should be made for a non-discharge notification, issued validly within a year by the competent customs administration to a guaranteeing association established in the Community, to be legally enforceable against other guaranteeing associations established in the Community if it transpires that they are liable under the first or second indent of Article 215(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92, hereinafter ‘the Code'.

(18) Although there is no change inthe rules laid down for the ATA procedure, the relevant provisions should be adapted in consequence of the amendment of the TIR rules.

(19) In accordance with Article 551(3) of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93, for the purposes of determining the customs value of processed products declared for free circulation, the declarant may choose the customs value of the import goods plus the processing costs. In order to ensure that the import duties are levied in a uniform manner, the notion of processing costs should be clarified.

(20) Article 841 of that Regulation should be amended in order to allow the formalities for re-exportation to be carried out at the office of exit where goods are moved by ATA carnet under the temporary importation arrangements.

(21) Pursuant to Article 222(2) of the Code, it is appropriate, in cases where a customs debt is incurred by the removal of goods from customs supervision and there is more than one debtor, to lay down the conditions in which the obligation of certain debtors to pay duty is to be suspended. The duration of the suspension should be limited to one year but it should be possible to extend it in particular where debtors who are not benefiting from the suspension have contested the customs debt before the competent judicial authorities.

(22) Article 890 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 provides that duties are to be repaid or remitted on imports eligible for Community treatment or preferential tariff treatment where a customs debt has been incurred as a result of release for free circulation of the goods and where the importer can produce a post-clearance document showing entitlement to such treatments at the time of the release for free circulation. That possibility should be extended to cases where a document showing entitlement to a favourable tariff treatment by reason of the nature of goods is produced after clearance. Indeed, the obligation to pay duty in such cases, where no deception or obvious negligence is involved, is disproportionate to the need for protection which the Common Customs Tariff is intended to provide.

(23) To avoid problems with interpretation, Article 900(2) and (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 should be re-drafted. The new version should also be adapted to the current economic climate of vigorous competition. Accordingly, Article 900(2) should not automatically require the re-export of goods entitled to repayment or remission under Article 900(1) and should permit the goods to be destroyed or to be placed under the Community external transit procedure or the customs warehousing procedure or in a free zone or free warehouse, instead of being re-exported.

(24) Annex 25 to Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93, laying down the percentages of air transport costs to be included in the customs value, should be simplified and adjusted to take account of the enlarged customs territory of the Community following the accession of the new Member States.

(25) Annex 38 to Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 contains in box 36 of the Single Administrative Document (SAD) the codes for the Tariff arrangements under which products are placed for free circulation.

(26) In the interests of clarity, it is necessary to add a specific code to be used for the temporary suspension on goods destined for civil aircraft and in respect of which an airworthiness certificate has been issued.

(27) Annex 67 to Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 should be adapted to reflect the amendments to Annex 70.

(28) Annex 70 to Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 should be amended in order to allow the use of an existing system for communication of information concerning processed agricultural products. Furthermore, the benefits resulting from the simplification of the ‘Information system – processing procedures (ISPP)' should be extended to those products. Finally, a specific economic reason code should be introduced for applications for inward processing authorisation involving non-sensitive goods.

(29) It is desirable to simplify the use of the customs procedure ‘processing under customs control' in the case of import goods which are processed into products which may benefit from the autonomous suspension of import duties on certain weapons and military equipment.

(30) Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(31) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Customs Code Committee,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 is amended as follows:

(1) In Article 70, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1. Without prejudice to paragraph 2, the following operations shall be considered as insufficient working or processing to confer the status of originating products, whether or not the requirements of Article 69 are satisfied:

(a) preserving operations to ensure that the products remain in good condition during transport and storage;

(b) breaking-up and assembly of packages;

(c) washing, cleaning; removal of dust, oxide, oil, paint or other coverings;

(d) ironing or pressing of textiles;

(e) simple painting and polishing operations;

(f) husking, partial or total milling, polishing and glazing of cereals and rice;

(g) operations to colour sugar or form sugar lumps; partial or total milling of sugar;

(h) peeling, stoning and shelling, of fruits, nuts and vegetables;

(i) sharpening, simple grinding or simple cutting;

(j) sifting, screening, sorting, classifying, grading, matching; (including the making-up of sets of articles);

(k) simple placing in bottles, cans, flasks, bags, cases, boxes, fixing on cards or boards and all other simple packaging operations;

(l) affixing or printing marks, labels, logos and other like distinguishing signs on products or their packaging;

(m) simple mixing of products, whether or not of different kinds, where one or more components of the mixtures do not meet the conditions laid down in this section to enable them to be considered as originating in a beneficiary country or in the Community;

(n) simple assembly of parts of articles to constitute a complete article or disassembly of products into parts;

(o) a combination of two or more of the operations specified in points (a) to (n);

(p) slaughter of animals.'

(2) In Article 72, paragraphs 3 and 4 are replaced by the following:

‘3. Regional cumulation shall apply to three separate regional groups of beneficiary countries benefiting from the generalised system of preferences:

(a) Group I: Brunei-Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam;

(b) Group II: Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Venezuela;

(c) Group III: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.

4. The expression ‘regional group' shall be taken to mean Group I, Group II or Group III, as the case may be.'

(3) In Article 72b(1)(b), the second and third subparagraphs are replaced by the following:

‘This undertaking shall be transmitted to the Commission through the following Secretariats, as the case may be:

(i) Group I: the General Secretariat of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN);

(ii) Group II: the Andean Community — Central American Common Market and Panama Permanent Joint Committee on Origin (Comité Conjunto Permanente de Origen Comunidad Andina – Mercado Común Centroamericano y Panamá);

(iii) Group III: the Secretariat of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).'

(4) In Article 76(4), the second sentence is replaced by the following:

‘It shall be decided on in accordance with the committee procedure.'

(5) In Article 101, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1. Without prejudice to paragraph 2, the following operations shall be considered as insufficient working or processing to confer the status of originating products, whether or not the requirements of Article 100 are satisfied:

(a) preserving operations to ensure that the products remain in good condition during transport and storage;

(b) breaking-up and assembly of packages;

(c) washing, cleaning; removal of dust, oxide, oil, paint or other coverings;

(d) ironing or pressing of textiles;

(e) simple painting and polishing operations;

(f) husking, partial or total milling, polishing and glazing of cereals and rice;

(g) operations to colour sugar or form sugar lumps; partial or total milling of sugar;

(h) peeling, stoning and shelling, of fruits, nuts and vegetables;

(i) sharpening, simple grinding or simple cutting;

(j) sifting, screening, sorting, classifying, grading, matching; (including the making-up of sets of articles);

(k) simple placing in bottles, cans, flasks, bags, cases, boxes, fixing on cards or boards and all other simple packaging operations;

(l) affixing or printing marks, labels, logos and other like distinguishing signs on products or their packaging;

(m) simple mixing of products, whether or not of different kinds, where one or more components of the mixtures do not meet the conditions laid down in this section to enable them to be considered as originating in a beneficiary country or territory or in the Community;

(n) simple assembly of parts of articles to constitute a complete article or disassembly of products into parts;

(o) a combination of two or more of the operations specified in points (a) to (n);

(p) slaughter of animals.'

(6) In Article 256(1), the second subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘In the case of a document required for the application of a reduced or zero rate of import duty, where the customs authorities have good reason to believe that the goods covered by the incomplete declaration may qualify for such reduced or zero rate of duty, a period longer than that provided for in the first subparagraph may, at the declarant's request, be granted for the production of the document, if justified in the circumstances. That period may not exceed four months from the date of acceptance of the declaration. It cannot be extended.'

(7) Article 308c is replaced by the following: ‘Article 308c

1. A tariff quota shall be considered as critical as soon as 75 % of the initial volume has been used, or at the discretion of the competent authorities.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, a tariffquota shall be considered from the date of its opening as critical in any of the following cases: (a) it is opened for less than three months;

(b) tariff quotas having the same product coverage and origin and an equivalent quota period as the tariffquota in question (equivalent tariff quotas) have not been opened in the previous two years;

(c) an equivalent tariff quota opened in the previous two years had been exhausted on or before the last day of the third month of its quota period or had a higher initial volume than the tariff quota in question.

3. A tariff quota whose sole purpose is the application, under the rules of the WTO, of either a safeguard measure or a retaliatory measure shall be considered as critical as soon as 75 % of the initial volume has been used irrespective of whether or not equivalent tariff quotas were opened in the previous two years.'

(8) In Part II, Title I, Chapter 3, the title of Section 2 is replaced by the following:

‘Surveillance of imports'

(9) In Article 308d, paragraphs 1 and 2 are replaced by the following:

‘1. Where Community surveillance of imports is to be made, the Member States shall provide surveillance reports to the Commission at least once each month containing details of the quantities of products put into free circulation. At the Commission's request, Member States shall confine this data to imports with the benefit of preferential tariff arrangements.

2. The surveillance reports of the Member States shall indicate the quantities put into free circulation since the first day of the period concerned.'

(10) In Article 353, paragraph 2 is deleted.

(11) In Article 358, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

‘2. Where appropriate, the transit accompanying document shall be supplemented by a list of items corresponding to the specimen and notes in Annex 45b. This list shall form an integral part of the transit accompanying document.'

(12) In Part II, Title II, the title of Chapter 9 is replaced by the following:

‘Transport under the TIR or ATA procedure'.

(13) In Article 451, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1. Where goods are transported from one point in the customs territory of the Community to another under the procedure for the international transport of goods under cover of TIR carnets (TIR Convention) or under cover of ATA carnets (ATA Convention), the customs territory of the Community shall, for the purposes of the rules governing the use of the TIR or ATA carnets for such transport, be considered to form a single territory.'

(14) In Article 453(2), ‘Articles 314 to 324' is replaced by ‘Articles 314b to 324f'.

(15) After Article 453, the following text is inserted:

‘S e c t i o n 2
The TIR procedure'.

(16) Articles 454 and 455 are replaced by the following: ‘Article 454

The provisions of this section apply to the transport of goods under cover of TIR carnets where import duties or other charges within the Community are involved.

Article 455

1. The customs authorities of the Member State of destination or exit shall return the appropriate part of Voucher No 2 of the TIR carnet to the customs authorities of the Member State of entry or departure without delay and at most within one month of the date when the TIR operation was terminated.

2. If the appropriate part of Voucher No 2 of the TIR carnet is not returned to the customs authorities of the Member State of entry or departure within two months of the date of acceptance of the TIR carnet, those authorities shall inform the guaranteeing association concerned, without prejudice to the notification to be made in accordance with Article 11(1) of the TIR Convention.

They shall also inform the holder of the TIR carnet, and shall invite both the latter and the guaranteeing association concerned to furnish proof that the TIR operation has been terminated.

3. The proof referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 may be furnished to the satisfaction of the customs authorities in the form of a document certified by the customs authorities of the Member State of destination or exit identifying the goods and establishing that they have been presented at the customs office of destination or exit.

4. The TIR operation shall also be considered as having been terminated where the holder of the TIR carnet/guaranteeing association concerned presents, to the satisfaction of the customs authorities, a customs document issued in a third country entering the goods for a customs-approved treatment or use, or a copy or photocopy thereof, identifying the goods. Copies or photocopies must be certified as being true copies by the body which certified the original documents, by the authorities of the third countries concerned or by the authorities of one of the Member States.

Article 455a

1. Where the customs authorities of the Member State of entry or departure have not received proof within four months of the date of the acceptance of the TIR carnet that the TIR operation has been terminated, they shall initiate the enquiry procedure immediately in order to obtain the information needed to discharge the TIR operation or, where this is not possible, to establish whether a customs debt has been incurred, identify the debtor and determine the customs authorities responsible for entry in the accounts.

If the customs authorities receive information earlier that the TIR operation has not been terminated, or suspect that to be the case, they shall initiate the enquiry procedure forthwith.

2. The enquiry procedure shall also be initiated if it transpires subsequently that proof of the termination of the TIR operation was falsified and the enquiry procedure is necessary to achieve the objectives of paragraph 1.

3. To initiate the enquiry procedure, the customs authorities of the Member State of entry or departure

shall send the customs authorities of the Member State of destination or exit a request together with all the necessary information.

4. The customs authorities of the Member State of destination or exit shall respond without delay.

5. Where an enquiry establishes that the TIR operation was terminated correctly, the customs authorities of the Member State of entry or departure shall immediately inform the guaranteeing association and the holder of the TIR carnet and, where appropriate, any customs authorities that may have initiated a recovery procedure in accordance with Articles 217 to 232 of the Code.'

(17) In Part II, Title II, Chapter 9, ‘Section 2' and the title of the section are deleted.

(18) Articles 456 and 457 are replaced by the following: ‘Article 456

1. When an offence or irregularity under the TIR Convention gives rise to a customs debt in the Community, the provisions of this section shall apply mutatis mutandis to the other charges mentioned in Article 91(1)(a) of the Code.

2. Articles 450a, 450b and 450d shall apply mutatis mutandis to the recovery procedure relating to the use of the TIR carnet.

Article 457

1. For the purposes of Article 8(4) of the TIR Convention, when a TIR operation is carried out on the customs territory of the Community, any guaranteeing association established in the Community may become liable for the payment of the secured amount of the customs debt relating to the goods concerned in the TIR operation up to a limit per TIR carnet of EUR 60 000 or the national currency equivalent thereof.

2. The guaranteeing association established in the Member State competent for recovery under Article 215 of the Code shall be liable for payment of the secured amount of the customs debt.

3. A valid notification of non-discharge of a TIR operation made by the customs authorities of one Member State, identified as competent for recovery under the third indent of Article 215(1) of the Code, to the guaranteeing association authorised by those authorities shall also be valid where the customs authorities of another Member State, identified as competent under the first or second indent of Article 215(1) of the Code, later proceed with recovery from the guaranteeing association authorised by those latter authorities.'

(19) In Part II, Title II, Chapter 9, the title of Section 3 is replaced by:

‘The ATA procedure'

(20) The following Articles 457c and 457d are inserted: ‘Article 457c

1. This Article shall apply without prejudice to the specific provisions of the ATA Convention concerning the liability of the guaranteeing associations when an ATA carnet is being used.

2. Where it is found that, in the course of or in connection with a transit operation carried out under cover of an ATA carnet, an offence or irregularity has been committed in a particular Member State, the recovery of duties and other charges which may be payable shall be effected by that Member State in accordance with Community or national provisions, without prejudice to the institution of criminal proceedings.

3. Where it is not possible to determine in which territory the offence or irregularity was committed, such offence or irregularity shall be deemed to have been committed in the Member State where it was detected unless, within the period referred to in Article 457d(2), proof of the regularity of the operation or of the place where the offence or irregularity was actually committed is furnished to the satisfaction of the customs authorities.

Where no such proof is furnished and the said offence or irregularity is thus deemed to have been committed in the Member State in which it was detected, the duties and other charges relating to the goods concerned shall be levied by that Member State in accordance with Community or national provisions.

If the Member State where the said offence or irregularity was actually committed is subsequently determined, the duties and other charges (apart from those levied, pursuant to the second subparagraph, as own resources of the Community) to which the goods are liable in that Member State shall be returned to it by the Member State which had originally recovered them. In that case, any overpayment shall be repaid to the person who had originally paid the charges.

Where the amount of the duties and other charges originally levied and returned by the Member State which had recovered them is smaller than that of the duties and other charges due in the Member State where the offence or irregularity was actually committed, that Member State shall levy the difference in accordance with Community or national provisions.

The customs administrations of the Member States shall take the necessary measures to deal with any offence or irregularity and to impose effective penalties.

Article 457d

1. Where an offence or irregularity is found to have been committed in the course of or in connection with a transit operation carried out under cover of an ATA carnet, the customs authorities shall notify the holder of the ATA carnet and the guaranteeing association within the period prescribed in Article 6(4) of the ATA Convention.

2. Proof of the regularity of the operation carried out under cover of an ATA carnet within the meaning of the first subparagraph of Article 457c(3) shall be furnished within the period prescribed in Article 7(1) and (2) of the ATA Convention.

3. The proof referred to in paragraph 2 shall be furnished to the satisfaction of the customs authorities using one of the following methods:

(a) by production of a customs or commercial document certified by the customs authorities establishing that the goods in question have been presented at the office of destination;

(b) by the production of a customs document showing entry for a customs procedure in a third country, or a copy or photocopy thereof, certified as a true copy either by the body which endorsed the original document, or by the authorities of the third country concerned, or by the authorities of one of the Member States;

(c) by the evidence referred to in Article 8 of the ATA Convention.

The documents referred to in points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph shall include information enabling the goods in question to be identified.'

(21) In Articles 458(2), 461(4) and 462(4), ‘Article 454(3)' is replaced by ‘Article 457c(3)'.

(22) In Article 551(3), the following sentence is added:

‘Processing costs means all costs incurred in making the processed products, including overheads and the value of any Community goods used.'

(23) Article 841 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 841

Where re-exportation is subject to a customs declaration, the provisions of Articles 788 to 796 shall apply mutatis mutandis, without prejudice to particular provisions which may apply when the previous customs procedure with economic impact is discharged.

Where an ATA carnet is used for re-exportation of goods under temporary importation, the customs declaration may be lodged at a customs office other than that referred to in the first sentence of Article 161(5) of the Code.'

(24) In Article 876a, the following paragraph 3 is added:

‘3. Where a customs debt is incurred under Article 203 of the Code, the customs authorities shall suspend the obligation of the person referred to in the fourth indent of paragraph 3 of that Article to pay the duties where at least one other debtor has been identified and the amount of the duties has also been communicated to him in accordance with Article 221 of the Code.

The suspension may be granted only on the condition that the person referred to in the fourth indent of Article 203(3) of the Code is not also covered by one of the other indents of the said paragraph and has not been obviously negligent in fulfilling his obligations.

The duration of the suspension shall be limited to one year. However, this period may be extended by the customs authorities for duly justified reasons.

The suspension shall be conditional on the lodging by the person for whose benefit it is granted of a valid security for the amount of the duties at stake, except where such a security covering the whole amount of duties at stake already exists and the guarantor has not been released from his undertakings. Such security need not be required where such a requirement would be likely, owing to the debtor's circumstances, to cause serious economic or social difficulties.'

(25) In Article 890, the first paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘The decision-making customs authority shall grant repayment or remission when:

(a) the request is accompanied with a certificate of origin, a movement certificate, a certificate of authenticity, an internal Community transit document or with any other appropriate document, indicating that the imported goods were eligible, at the time of acceptance of the declaration for free circulation, for Community treatment, preferential tariff treatment or favourable tariff treatment by reason of the nature of goods;

(b) the document thus produced refers specifically to the goods in question;

(c) all the conditions relating to acceptance of the said document are fulfilled;

(d) all the other conditions for the granting of the Community treatment, a preferential tariff treatment or of a favourable tariff treatment by reason of the nature of goods are fulfilled.'

(26) Article 900 is amended as follows:

(a) Paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

‘2. Repayment or remission of import duties in the cases referred to in paragraph 1(c) and (f) to (n) shall, except where the goods are destroyed by order of a public authority or delivered free of charge to charities carrying out their activities in the Community, be conditional upon their re-export from the customs territory of the Community under the supervision of the customs authorities.

If requested, the decision-making authority shall permit re-export of the goods to be replaced by their destruction or by placing them under the external Community transit procedure, under the customs warehousing arrangements, or in a free zone or free warehouse.

Goods to be assigned one of these treatments shall be considered to be non-Community goods.

In this case, the customs authorities shall take all requisite measures to ensure that the goods placed in a customs warehouse, in a free zone or in a free warehouse may later be recognised as non-Community goods.'

(b) Paragraph 3 is deleted.

(27) Annex 14 is replaced by the text set out in Annex I to this Regulation.

(28) Annex 15 is replaced by the text set out in Annex II to this Regulation.

(29) Annex 25 is replaced by the text set out in Annex III to this Regulation.

(30) Annex 37a is amended in accordance with Annex IV to this Regulation.

(31) Annex 38 is amended in accordance with Annex V to this Regulation.

(32) Annex 44a is amended in accordance with Annex VI to this Regulation.

(33) Annex 45a is amended in accordance with Annex VII to this Regulation.

(34) Annex 67 is amended in accordance with Annex VIII to this Regulation.

(35) Annex 70 is amended in accordance with Annex IX to this Regulation.

(36) Annex 76 is amended in accordance with Annex X to this Regulation.

Article 2

The Commission shall, before 1 July 2004, evaluate the degree of implementation of the computerised transit system by traders. That evaluation shall be based on a report drawn up from information contributed by the Member States.

Article 3

1. This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

2. Points (2) and (3) of Article 1 shall apply from 1 June 2003.

Proofs of origin issued in accordance with the provisions applicable before 1 June 2003 shall continue to be accepted after that date within the limits of their validity.

3. Points (10), (11), (30), (32) and (33) of Article 1 shall apply from 1 January 2005.

However, on the basis of the evaluation provided for in Article 2, that date may be deferred by decision adopted in accordance with the committee procedure.

4. Points (12) to (21) of Article 1 shall apply from 1 September 2003.

5. Point (29) of Article 1 shall apply from 1 May 2004.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. of 21 May 2003

Done at Brussels, 21 May 2003.

For the Commission

Frédérik BOLKESTEIN

Member of the Commission

ANNEX I

‘ANNEX 14

INTRODUCTORY NOTES TO THE LIST IN ANNEX 15

Note 1:

The list sets out the conditions required for all products to be considered as sufficiently worked or processed within the meaning of Articles 69 and 100.

Note 2:

2.1. The first two columns in the list describe the product obtained. The first column gives the heading number or chapter number used in the Harmonised System and the second column gives the description of goods used in that system for that heading or chapter. For each entry in the first two columns, a rule is specified in column 3 or 4. Where, in some cases, the entry in the first column is preceded by an “ex”, this signifies that the rules in column 3 or 4 apply only to the part of that heading as described in column 2.

2.2. Where several heading numbers are grouped together in column 1 or a chapter number is given and the description of products in column 2 is therefore given in general terms, the adjacent rules in column 3 or 4 apply to all products which, under the Harmonised System, are classified in headings of the chapter or in any of the headings grouped together in column 1.

2.3. Where there are different rules in the list applying to different products within a heading, each indent contains the description of that part of the heading covered by the adjacent rules in column 3 or 4.

2.4. Where, for an entry in the first two columns, a rule is specified in both columns 3 and 4, the exporter may opt, as an alternative, to apply either the rule set out in column 3 or that set out in column 4. If no origin rule is given in column 4, the rule set out in column 3 is to be applied.

Note 3:

3.1. The provisions of Articles 69 and 100, concerning products having acquired originating status which are used in the manufacture of other products, shall apply, regardless of whether this status has been acquired inside the factory where these products are used or in another factory in the beneficiary country or republic or in the Community.

Example:

An engine of heading 8407, for which the rule states that the value of the non originating materials which may be incorporated may not exceed 40 % of the ex works price, is made from “other alloy steel roughly shaped by forging” of heading ex 7224.

If this forging has been forged in the beneficiary country or republic from a non originating ingot, it has already acquired originating status by virtue of the rule for heading ex 7224 in the list. The forging can then count as originating in the value-calculation for the engine, regardless of whether it was produced in the same factory or in another factory in the beneficiary country or republic. The value of the non-originating ingot is thus not taken into account when adding up the value of the non-originating materials used.

3.2. The rule in the list represents the minimum amount of working or processing required, and the carrying-out of more working or processing also confers originating status; conversely, the carrying-out of less working or processing cannot confer originating status. Thus, if a rule provides that non-originating material, at a certain level of manufacture, may be used, the use of such material at an earlier stage of manufacture is allowed, and the use of such material at a later stage is not.

3.3. Without prejudice to Note 3.2, where a rule uses the expression “Manufacture from materials of any heading”, then materials of any heading(s) (even materials of the same description and heading as the product) may be used, subject, however, to any specific limitations which may also be contained in the rule.

However, the expression “Manufacture from materials of any heading, including other materials of heading ...” or “Manufacture from materials of any heading, including other materials of the same heading as the product” means that materials of any heading(s) may be used, except those of the same description as the product as given in column 2 of the list.

3.4. When a rule in the list specifies that a product may be manufactured from more than one material, this means that one or more materials may be used. It does not require that all be used.

Example:

The rule for fabrics of headings 5208 to 5212 provides that natural fibres may be used and that chemical materials, among other materials, may also be used. This does not mean that both have to be used; it is possible to use one or the other, or both.

3.5. Where a rule in the list specifies that a product must be manufactured from a particular material, the condition obviously does not prevent the use of other materials which, because of their inherent nature, cannot satisfy the rule. (See also Note 6.2 below in relation to textiles.)

Example:

The rule for prepared foods of heading 1904, which specifically excludes the use of cereals and their derivatives, does not prevent the use of mineral salts, chemicals and other additives which are not products from cereals.

However, this does not apply to products which, although they cannot be manufactured from the particular materials specified in the list, can be produced from a material of the same nature at an earlier stage of manufacture.

Example:

In the case of an article of apparel of ex Chapter 62 made from non-woven materials, if the use of only non-originating yarn is allowed for this class of article, it is not possible to start from non-woven cloth – even if non-woven cloths cannot normally be made from yarn. In such cases, the starting material would normally be at the stage before yarn – that is, the fibre stage.

3.6. Where, in a rule in the list, two percentages are given for the maximum value of non originating materials that can be used, then these percentages may not be added together. In other words, the maximum value of all the non-originating materials used may never exceed the higher of the percentages given. Furthermore, the individual percentages must not be exceeded, in relation to the particular materials to which they apply.

Note 4:

4.1. The term “natural fibres” is used in the list to refer to fibres other than artificial or synthetic fibres. It is restricted to the stages before spinning takes place, including waste, and, unless otherwise specified, includes fibres which have been carded, combed or otherwise processed, but not spun.

4.2. The term “natural fibres” includes horsehair of heading 0503, silk of headings 5002 and 5003, as well as wool-fibres and fine or coarse animal hair of headings 5101 to 5105, cotton fibres of headings 5201 to 5203, and other vegetable fibres of headings 5301 to 5305.

4.3. The terms “textile pulp”, “chemical materials” and “paper-making materials” are used in the list to describe the materials, not classified in Chapters 50 to 63, which can be used to manufacture artificial, synthetic or paper fibres or yarns.

4.4. The term “man-made staple fibres” is used in the list to refer to synthetic or artificial filament tow, staple fibres or waste, of headings 5501 to 5507.

Note 5:

5.1. Where, for a given product in the list, reference is made to this Note, the conditions set out in column 3 shall not be applied to any basic textile materials used in the manufacture of this product and which, taken together, represent 10 % or less of the total weight of all the basic textile materials used. (See also Notes 5.3 and 5.4 below.)

5.2. However, the tolerance mentioned in Note 5.1 may be applied only to mixed products which have been made from two or more basic textile materials.

The following are the basic textile materials:

— silk;

— - wool;

— coarse animal hair;

— fine animal hair;

— horsehair;

— cotton;

— paper-making materials and paper;

— flax;

— true hemp;

— jute and other textile bast fibres;

— sisal and other textile fibres of the genus Agave;

— coconut, abaca , ramie and other vegetable textile fibres;

— - synthetic man-made filaments;

— - artificial man-made filaments;

— current-conducting filaments;

— synthetic man-made staple fibres of polypropylene;

— synthetic man-made staple fibres of polyester;

— - synthetic man-made staple fibres of polyamide;

— synthetic man-made staple fibres of polyacrylonitrile;

— synthetic man-made staple fibres of polyimide;

— synthetic man-made staple fibres of polytetrafluoroethylene;

— synthetic man-made staple fibres of poly(phenylene sulphide);

— synthetic man-made staple fibres of poly(vinyl chloride);

— - other synthetic man-made staple fibres;

— - artificial man-made staple fibres of viscose;

— - other artificial man-made staple fibres;

— yarn made of polyurethane segmented with flexible segments of polyether, whether or not gimped;

— yarn made of polyurethane segmented with flexible segments of polyester, whether or not gimped;

— products of heading 5605 (metallised yarn) incorporating strip consisting of a core of aluminium foil or of a core of plastic film whether or not coated with aluminium powder, of a width not exceeding 5 mm, sandwiched by means of a transparent or coloured adhesive between two layers of plastic film;

— other products of heading 5605. Example:

A yarn, of heading 5205, made from cotton fibres of heading 5203 and synthetic staple fibres of heading 5506, is a mixed yarn. Therefore, non-originating synthetic staple fibres which do not satisfy the origin-rules (which require manufacture from chemical materials or textile pulp) may be used, provided that their total weight does not exceed 10 % of the weight of the yarn.

Example:

A woollen fabric, of heading 5112, made from woollen yarn of heading 5107 and synthetic yarn of staple fibres of heading 5509, is a mixed fabric. Therefore, synthetic yarn which does not satisfy the origin-rules (which require manufacture from chemical materials or textile pulp), or woollen yarn which does not satisfy the origin-rules (which require manufacture from natural fibres, not carded or combed or otherwise prepared for spinning), or a combination of the two, may be used, provided that their total weight does not exceed 10 % of the weight of the fabric.

Example:

Tufted textile fabric, of heading 5802, made from cotton yarn of heading 5205 and cotton fabric of heading 5210, is a only mixed product if the cotton fabric is itself a mixed fabric made from yarns classified in two separate headings, or if the cotton yarns used are themselves mixtures.

Example:

If the tufted textile fabric concerned had been made from cotton yarn of heading 5205 and synthetic fabric of heading 5407, then, obviously, the yarns used are two separate basic textile materials and the tufted textile fabric is, accordingly, a mixed product.

5.3. In the case of products incorporating “yarn made of polyurethane segmented with flexible segments of polyether, whether or not gimped”, this tolerance is 20 % in respect of this yarn.

5.4. In the case of products incorporating “strip consisting of a core of aluminium foil or of a core of plastic film whether or not coated with aluminium powder, of a width not exceeding 5 mm, sandwiched by means of a transparent or coloured adhesive between two layers of plastic film”, this tolerance is 30 % in respect of this strip.

Note 6:

6.1. Where, in the list, reference is made to this Note, textile materials (with the exception of linings and interlinings), which do not satisfy the rule set out in the list in column 3 for the made-up product concerned, may be used, provided that they are classified in a heading other than that of the product and that their value does not exceed 8 % of the ex-works price of the product.

6.2. Without prejudice to Note 6.3, materials, which are not classified within Chapters 50 to 63, may be used freely in the manufacture of textile products, whether or not they contain textiles.

Example:

If a rule in the list provides that, for a particular textile item (such as trousers), yarn must be used, this does not prevent the use of metal items, such as buttons, because buttons are not classified within Chapters 50 to 63. For the same reason, it does not prevent the use of slide-fasteners, even though slide-fasteners normally contain textiles.

6.3. Where a percentage-rule applies, the value of materials which are not classified within Chapters 50 to 63 must be taken into account when calculating the value of the non-originating materials incorporated.

Note 7:

7.1. For the purposes of headings ex 2707, 2713 to 2715, ex 2901, ex 2902 and ex 3403, the “specific processes” are the following:

(a) vacuum-distillation;

(b) redistillation by a very thorough fractionation-process (1);

(c) cracking;

(d) reforming;

(e) extraction by means of selective solvents;

(f) the process comprising all of the following operations: processing with concentrated sulphuric acid, oleum or sulphuric anhydride; neutralisation with alkaline agents; decolourisation and purification with naturally-active earth, activated earth, activated charcoal or bauxite;

(g) polymerisation;

(h) alkylation;

(i) isomerisation.

(1) See additional explanatory Note 4(b) to Chapter 27 of the Combined Nomenclature.

7.2. For the purposes of headings 2710, 2711 and 2712, the “specific processes” are the following: (a) vacuum-distillation;

(b) redistillation by a very thorough fractionation-process (1);

(c) cracking;

(d) reforming;

(e) extraction by means of selective solvents;

(f) the process comprising all of the following operations: processing with concentrated sulphuric acid, oleum or sulphuric anhydride; neutralisation with alkaline agents; decolourisation and purification with naturally-active earth, activated earth, activated charcoal or bauxite;

(g) polymerisation;

(h) alkylation;

(ij) isomerisation;

(k) in respect of heavy oils of heading ex 2710 only, desulphurisation with hydrogen, resulting in a reduction of at least 85 % of the sulphur-content of the products processed (ASTM D 1266-59 T method);

(l) in respect of products of heading 2710 only, deparaffining by a process other than filtering;

(m) in respect of heavy oils of heading ex 2710 only, treatment with hydrogen, at a pressure of more than 20 bar and a temperature of more than 250 °C, with the use of a catalyst, other than to effect desulphurisation, when the hydrogen constitutes an active element in a chemical reaction. The further treatment, with hydrogen, of lubricating oils of heading ex 2710 (e.g. hydrofinishing or decolourisation), in order, more especially, to improve colour or stability shall not, however, be deemed to be a specific process;

(n) in respect of fuel oils of heading ex 2710 only, atmospheric distillation, on condition that less than 30 % of these products distils, by volume, including losses, at 300 °C, by the ASTM D 86 method;

(o) in respect of heavy oils other than gas oils and fuel oils of heading ex 2710 only, treatment by means of a high-frequency electrical brush-discharge.

(p) in respect of crude products (other than petroleum jelly, ozokerite, lignite wax or peat wax, paraffin wax containing by weight less than 0,75 % of oil) of heading ex 2712 only, de-oiling by fractional crystallisation.

7.3. For the purposes of headings ex 2707, 2713 to 2715, ex 2901, ex 2902 and ex 3403, simple operations, such as cleaning, decanting, desalting, water-separation, filtering, colouring, marking, obtaining a sulphur-content as a result of mixing products with different sulphur-contents, or any combination of these operations or like operations, do not confer origin.'

(1) See additional explanatory Note 4(b) to Chapter 27 of the Combined Nomenclature.

ANNEX II

ANNEX 15

LIST OF WORKING OR PROCESSING REQUIRED TO BE CARRIED OUT ON NON-ORIGINATINGMATERIALS IN ORDER THAT THE PRODUCT MANUFACTURED CAN OBTAIN ORIGINATING STATUS

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