Considerations on COM(2024)19 - EU position within the Association Council EU-Egypt as regards the amendment of Protocol 4 to that Agreement concerning the definition of the concept of 'originating products' and methods of administrative cooperation - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2024)19 - EU position within the Association Council EU-Egypt as regards the amendment of Protocol 4 to that Agreement concerning the ... |
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| document | COM(2024)19  |
| date | January 23, 2024 |
(2)Pursuant to Article 3 of Protocol 4 concerning the definition of the concept of ‘originating products’ and methods of administrative cooperation 9 , the Association Council established by Article 74(1) of the Agreement (“Association Council”) may decide to amend the provisions of this Protocol. Pursuant paragraph 2 of Article 76 of the Agreement, the decisions taken shall be binding on the Parties, which shall take the measures necessary to implement them.
(3)The Association Council, during its next meeting or by exchange of letters is to adopt a Decision on the proposed amendment of Protocol 4.
(4)It is therefore appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf in the Association Council as the Association Council Decision will be binding on the Union.
(5)The Regional Convention on pan-Euro-Mediterranean preferential rules of origin (‘the Convention’) was concluded by the Union by Council Decision 2013/93/EU 10 and entered into force in relation to the Union on 1 May 2012. It lays down provisions on the origin of goods traded under relevant agreements concluded between the Contracting Parties, which apply without prejudice to the principles laid down in those agreements.
(6)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 should adopt a decision introducing in Protocol 4 to the Agreement a dynamic reference to the Convention, so as to refer always to the latest version of the Convention in force.
(7)The discussions on amending the Convention have resulted in a new set of modernised and more flexible rules of origin to be incorporated into the Convention. The Union and Egypt have signalled their will to apply the new rules as soon as possible bilaterally, on an alternative basis alongside the current rules while awaiting the final outcome of the amending process.
(8)Beginning of 2021, following the Council adoption of a decision 11 establishing the EU position within the Association Council, the EU sent to Egypt the draft decision to be adopted by the Association Council in order to implement the Transitional rules of origin. At the last subcommittee on Customs Cooperation held in Cairo on 18 October 2022, Egypt informed the EU that these rules were accepted with a sole reservation concerning the waiver of the obligation contained in Article 8(4) of Appendix A, exhausting thus the EU Council decision. Therefore a new Council decision should establish the new position of the EU within the EU – Egypt Association Council.
(9) Both parties agreed not to waive the obligation for economic operators to indicate on proofs of origin the name of the common partners in case of diagonal cumulation.
(10)During the first technical meeting on Transitional rules of origin held in Brussels on 5 February 2020, the majority of the Contracting Parties to the Convention including the EU and Egypt agreed to implement the revised rules of the Convention (‘the Transitional rules of origin’) in parallel with the rules of the Convention, on a transitional bilateral basis, pending the adoption of the revised rules of the Convention.
(11) Since 1 September 2021, a network of bilateral protocols on rules of origin among Contracting Parties to the Convention have already entered into force rendering the Transitional rules applicable 12 . The process of implementing the Transitional rules with the remaining Contracting Parties is progressing, subject to the completion by the parties of the adoption procedures.
(12)The objective of the Transitional rules of origin is to introduce more relaxed rules in order to facilitate the qualification of the preferential originating status for goods. As the Transitional rules of origin are in general more relaxed than those of the Convention, goods fulfilling the latter could also qualify as originating under the Transitional rules of origin, with the exception of some agricultural products classified under Chapters 2, 4 to 15, 16 (except for processed fishery products) and 17 to 24.
(13)The Transitional rules of origin are applicable in parallel with the rules of origin of the Convention creating two distinctive zones of cumulation. Therefore, in Article 8 of Appendix A the general application of permeability between the Convention and the Transitional rules of origin has been introduced.
(14)The position of the Union within the Association Council should therefore be based on the draft decision.