Commission Regulation (EU) No 1063/2010 of 18 November 2010 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code

DOUEEN, November 23, 2010 › Serie L

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Extract

23.11.2010 Official Journal of the European Union L 307/1

II (Non-legislative acts)

REGULATIONS

COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 1063/2010

of 18 November 2010

amending Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code

( 1 ), and in particular Article 247 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) By virtue of 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 and amending Regulations (EC) No 552/97, (EC) No 1933/2006 and Commission Regulations (EC) No 1100/2006 and (EC) No 964/2007

( 2 )

the European Union grants trade preferences to developing countries, in the framework of its scheme of generalised tariff preferences (the 'GSP' or 'scheme'). In accordance with Article 5(2) of that Regulation, the rules of origin concerning the definition of the concept of originating products, the procedures and the methods of administrative cooperation related thereto, are to be those laid down in Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93

( 3

(2) Following a wide-ranging debate initiated by its Green Paper of 18 December 2003 on the future of rules of origin in preferential trade arrangements

( 4

), on 16 March 2005 the Commission adopted a Communication entitled 'The rules of origin in preferential trade arrangements: Orientations for the future'

( 5 ) (the

'Communication'). That Communication sets out a new approach to rules of origin in all preferential trade arrangements involving the European Union and in particular in development-orientated arrangements such as the GSP.

(3) In the context of the Doha Development Agenda, the need to ensure a better integration of developing countries into the world economy has been recognised, in particular through improved access to the markets of developed countries.

For that purpose, the rules of preferential origin should be simplified and, where appropriate, made less stringent, so that products originating in beneficiary countries can actually benefit from the preferences granted.

(4) In order to ensure that the preferences actually benefit those who need them and to protect the own resources of the European Union, the changes to the rules of preferential origin should be accompanied by an adaptation of the procedures for their management.

(5) The Commission's impact assessment of this Regulation demonstrates that GSP rules of origin are perceived as too complex and too restrictive. It further shows that the actual use of the preferences granted is low for certain products and, in particular, those products which are of most interest to the least developed countries, and that rules of origin are one reason for this.

(6) The impact assessment indicated that simplification and development-friendliness could be achieved by a single criterion applicable to all products for determining the origin of goods which are not wholly obtained in a beneficiary country, based on the value-added in the beneficiary country concerned and requiring compliance with a sufficient processing threshold. However, it did not demonstrate that a single method is indispensable to simplification or development-friendliness. Moreover, according to feedback from stakeholders there are a number of sectors for which the value-added criterion is either not well suited or should not be used as the sole criterion, such as agricultural and processed agricultural products, fishery products, chemicals, metals,

( 1 ) OJ L 302, 19.10.1992, p. 1.

( 2 ) OJ L 211, 6.8.2008, p. 1.

( 3 ) OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1

( 4 ) COM(2003) 787.

( 5 ) COM(2005) 100.

textiles and clothing and shoes. Consequently other, simple criteria which may be easily understood by operators and easily controlled by administrations should be used in such sectors, either instead of the value-added criterion or as an alternative to it. These other criteria include a maximum permitted content of non-originating materials; change of tariff heading or sub-heading; a specific working and processing operation; and the use of wholly obtained materials. Nevertheless, simplicity requires that the number of different rules should be as few as possible. Therefore, the rules of origin should as far as possible be on a sector-by-sector rather than a product-by-product basis.

(7) The rules of origin should reflect the features of specific sectors but also allow beneficiary countries a real possibility to access the preferential tariff treatment granted. Wher...

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