Brussels, 25/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Union has postponed its decision to tax Community goods re-exported from Switzerland for three months. This was confirmed on Wednesday by Jonathon Todd, spokesperson for the Commissioner in charge of customs, Frits Bolkestein. The EU was to lift the duty-free regime applied to EU goods re-exported from Switzerland without having been processed. This "interpretation of the rules of origin has been suspended until 1 June to allow more detailed" discussions, said the spokesperson.
The Swiss authorities protested against this measure, which it feels violated the EU/Switzerland free trade agreement of 1972. Lifting the duty-free regime would affect the chemical and automotive sectors in particular, which use Switzerland as a logistic platform, said Luzius Wasecha, delegate for commercial agreements of the federal Secretary of State for the Economy on Tuesday, who hoped that the suspension of the European decision would be "the first step towards a definitive solution".
Last week, the Commission said that there was no question of new rules, just a clarification of the existing rules on origin. This duty has, in reality, been applied for thirty years by all Member States with the exception of Germany, said Jonathan Todd.