Cecilia Malmström, EU Trade Commissioner, has promised to deliver on her commitments to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to better navigate the rules of origin criteria in EU free trade agreements.
These rules establish the criteria for determining a product’s country of origin across value chains. Because these criteria sometimes vary substantially between FTAs, SMEs are often at a disadvantage when it comes to complying with these rules and, therefore, using these preferences.
In a letter sent to the European Commission on Wednesday 13 November, MEPs called on the Commission to facilitate the use of these rules for SMEs.
The signatories - 19 intergroup deputies (excluding ID), mainly from the Parliamentary Committee on International Trade (INTA) - considered that the preferential utilisation rate could be improved through the development of tools for SMEs. “It is high time to prioritise the development and delivery of this tool”, they said, deploring the Commission’s inaction, despite its promises.
They therefore call for the creation of a ‘Rules of Origin Calculator’ to help companies determine the preferences applicable to their products, “a more interactive, free of charge, web-based origin self-assessment tool”.
The cost of this tool was estimated at less than one million euros, or “a little more than one euro per exporting SME”, the MEPs stressed in their letter.
Commissioner Malmström reacted immediately: “Yes, we need to make it easier for EU firms of all sizes to benefit from our trade deals!”, she said via Twitter. “Our new online tool for businesses will give them all the information they need. It’s going live next spring”, she promised.
SMEs represent 86% of EU exporters. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)