Considerations on COM(2015)175 - EU position within the Association Council EU-Tunisia as regards a new protocol concerning ‘originating products’

Please note

This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.

 
dossier COM(2015)175 - EU position within the Association Council EU-Tunisia as regards a new protocol concerning ‘originating products’.
document COM(2015)175 EN
date April 22, 2015
 
(1) Protocol 4 to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Tunisia, of the other part 3 (‘the Agreement’), concerns the definition of the concept of ‘originating products’ and methods of administrative cooperation (‘Protocol 4’).

(2) The Regional Convention on pan-Euro-Mediterranean preferential rules of origin 4 (‘the Convention’) lays down provisions on the origin of goods traded under relevant agreements concluded between the Contracting Parties.

(3) The Union and Tunisia signed the Convention on 15 June 2011 and 16 January 2013 respectively.

(4) The Union and Tunisia deposited their instruments of acceptance with the depositary of the Convention on 26 March 2012 and 21 November 2014 respectively. Consequently, in application of Article 10(3) of the Convention, the Convention entered into force in relation to the Union and Tunisia on 1 May 2012 and on 1 January 2015 respectively.

(5) Article 6 of the Convention provides that each Contracting Party is to take appropriate measures to ensure that the Convention is effectively applied. To that effect, the Association Council established by the Agreement should adopt a decision replacing Protocol 4 by a new protocol which, with regard to the rules of origin, refers to the Convention.

(6) The position of the Union within the Association Council should therefore be based on the attached draft decision.