Brussels, 13/05/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Union and Switzerland have reached an agreement whereby industrial products originating in either the EU or Switzerland will continue to be exempt from customs duties when being re-exported from Switzerland. The agreement, which should be made official by end May, embodies the current status quo: - re-imported industrial goods will not be taxed. Switzerland has agreed to simplify the documents proving the origin of products, for approved Community exporters, the Commission said.
The European Commission had taken the decision to re-establish customs duties on re-imported goods as of 1 March 2004 in application of the European customs code. Switzerland had said that this decision would have broken the free trade agreement of 1972 and had obtained reprieve until 1 June 2004 to pursue discussions. According to Bern, the decision would have threatened the activity of the automobile industry in particular, as it uses Switzerland as a logistic platform, as well as that of the textile and chemicals industries and mail order companies.