Brussels, 19/12/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has opened a consultation on the rules of origin applied to preferential trade regimes, publishing a Green Paper. Interested parties have until 1 March 2004 to comment.
The "preferential" regimes relate to some forty countries, representing around two-thirds of annual Community imports. The preferences are, however, effectively only used for 45% of the annual imports from these countries, the Commission points out in a press release. The rules of origin are used to make sure that the products do come from the countries which enjoy preferential customs duties, especially ones made up of contents from several countries.
Various "cumulative" systems between the origins have been set up, under bilateral agreements, stand-alone preferential regimes (generalised system of preferences, measures for the western Balkans, regimes for overseas countries and territories), regimes for the EFTA countries, CEECs and Turkey, etc. The Commission currently believes that these rules are no longer appropriate. They "appear to be uniform without being completely identical for the various regimes", and at the same time, "harmonisation at all costs is often a synonym for rigidity", it states in a press release.
According to the Commission, the rules must also be adapted to the new drop in the level of customs duty, which should result from the Doha negotiations in the WTO, and to the free trade agreements and the policy of market access and support for sustainable development. Fundamentally, the objective is to avoid fraud and other abuses.
The green Paper takes stock on: 1) the definition of the conditions for the acquisition of origin and of their legal framework; 2) controls on their fair application; 3) setting up procedures to ensure optimal share-out of tasks and responsibilities between the operators and the authorities. The Green Paper provides various options on these points, concerning: certification of the origin status for export, the declaration of the origin for import and checks on the origin. (The Green Paper can be seen on the Commission's website: http: //europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/customs/consulations_en.htm).