Decision 2022/2469 - EU position within the Committee on Customs established under the Free Trade Agreement with Singapore, as regards the amendment of Protocol 1 concerning the definition of ‘originating products’ and methods of administrative cooperation - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 322/91

The Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Singapore (‘the Agreement’) was concluded by the Union by means of Council Decision (EU) 2019/1875 (1), and entered into force on 21 November 2019.

Pursuant to Article 34 of Protocol 1 to the Agreement, the Committee on Customs may adopt Decisions to amend the provisions of that Protocol.

The Committee on Customs, during its first meeting, is to adopt a Decision amending Protocol 1 and its Annexes (‘the Decision’).

It is appropriate to establish the position to be adopted on the Union’s behalf in the Committee on Customs, as the Decision will be binding on the Union.

Amendments to the Protocol were introduced on 1 January 2012, on 1 January 2017 and on 1 January 2022 in relation to the nomenclature governed by the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (‘HS’). The Decision is necessary to update Protocol 1 and its Annexes to reflect the latest version of the HS.

The scope of the annual quotas set out in Annex B(a) to Protocol 1 for canned luncheon meat, curry fish balls and cuttlefish balls should be expanded in order to allow Singaporean exporters to use them.

In order to provide for equal treatment of the economic operators in both Parties as regard the certification of the origin, Protocol 1 should be amended so that each Party may decide, according to its laws and regulations, which exporter may self-certify the origin of its originating goods. In the Union, this will allow the origin of the goods to be certified by registered exporters instead of by approved exporters, similarly to the system applied by Singapore in the context of the Agreement,

Article 34 (Amendments to this Protocol) of Protocol 1 to the Agreement provides that the Parties may, by decision in the Committee on Customs established pursuant to Article 16.2 (Specialised Committees) of the Agreement, amend the provisions of Protocol 1 to the Agreement.

Amendments were introduced on 1 January 2012, on 1 January 2017 and on 1 January 2022 in relation to the nomenclature governed by the Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (‘HS’). The Parties have agreed to update Protocol 1 to reflect the latest version of the HS.

The Parties have agreed to modify the scope of the annual quotas set out in Annex B(a) to Protocol 1 for canned luncheon meat, curry fish balls and cuttlefish balls.

Article 17 (Conditions for Making Out an Origin Declaration) of Protocol 1 establishes that an origin declaration may be made out, in the European Union by, inter alia, an exporter who is an approved exporter, and in Singapore by, inter alia, a registered exporter. To provide for equal treatment of the economic operators in both Parties, Protocol 1 should be amended so that each Party may decide, according to its laws and regulations, which exporter may make out an origin declaration. For that purpose, a definition of ‘exporter’ would therefore be necessary.

Considering the new definition of ‘exporter’, the term ‘exporter’ in the definition of ‘consignment’ in point (d) of Article 1(1), Article 13 (Non Alteration) and Article 14 (Exhibitions) of Protocol 1 needs to be replaced by the term ‘consignor’.

Paragraph 5 of Article 17 (Conditions for Making Out an Origin Declaration) provides that an origin declaration is to bear the original signature of the exporter in manuscript. The Parties have agreed to waive this requirement to facilitate trade and to decrease the administrative burden of benefiting from the tariff preferences of the Agreement.

In the definition of ‘ex-works price’ in point (f) of Article 1(1), it is necessary to clarify how the term ‘manufacturer’ is to be understood when the last working or processing is subcontracted.

Considering that both Parties are to apply a system of registered exporters, the document on origin made out in the Parties should be renamed from ‘origin declaration’ to ‘statement on origin’.

As a transitional measure, it should be provided that for a period of 3 months starting from the date of entry into force of this Decision, Singapore will accept origin declarations made out in accordance with Article 17 (Conditions for Making Out an Origin Declaration) and Article 18 (Approved Exporter) of Protocol 1 to the Agreement in force prior to the date of entry into force of this Decision.

Protocol 1 to the Agreement and several of its Annexes should therefore be modified,

the table of contents of Protocol 1 is replaced by the following:

‘TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION 1

GENERAL PROVISIONS

SECTION 2

DEFINITION OF THE CONCEPT OF “ORIGINATING PRODUCTS”

SECTION 3

TERRITORIAL REQUIREMENTS

SECTION 4

DRAWBACK OR EXEMPTION

SECTION 5

STATEMENT ON ORIGIN

SECTION 6

ARRANGEMENTS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE COOPERATION

SECTION 7

CEUTA AND MELILLA

SECTION 8

FINAL PROVISIONS

List of Appendices

Joint Declarations

JOINT DECLARATION CONCERNING THE PRINCIPALITY OF ANDORRA

JOINT DECLARATION CONCERNING THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO

JOINT DECLARATION CONCERNING THE REVISION OF THE RULES OF ORIGIN CONTAINED IN PROTOCOL 1’;

Article 1 is replaced by the following:

‘ARTICLE 1

Definitions

• 1. 

  For the purposes of this Protocol:

Article 13(3) is replaced by the following:

‘3.   Without prejudice to Section 5, the splitting of consignments may take place where carried out by the consignor or under his responsibility provided they remain under customs supervision in the country(ies) of transit.’;

points (a) and (b) of Article 14(1) are replaced by the following:

Article 17 is replaced by the following:

‘ARTICLE 17

Conditions for Making Out a Statement on Origin

• 1. 

  A statement on origin as referred to in Article 16 (General Requirements) may be made out by the exporter.

• 2. 

  A statement on origin may be made out if the products concerned can be considered as products originating in the Union or in Singapore and fulfil the other requirements of this Protocol.

• 3. 

  The exporter making out a statement on origin shall be prepared to submit at any time, at the request of the customs authorities of the exporting Party, all appropriate documents as referred to under Article 23 (Supporting Documents) proving the originating status of the products concerned as well as the fulfilment of the other requirements of this Protocol.

• 4. 

  A statement on origin shall be made out by the exporter by typing, stamping or printing on the invoice, the delivery note or another commercial document, the declaration, the text of which appears in Annex E to this Protocol, in accordance with the domestic law of the exporting Party. If the statement is hand-written, it shall be written in ink in capital characters. In the case of exports from Singapore, the statement on origin shall be set out using the English version and in the case of exports from Union, the statement on origin may be set out in one of the linguistic versions in Annex E to this Protocol.

• 5. 

  By derogation from paragraph 1, a statement on origin may be made out after exportation (“retrospective statement”) on condition that it is presented in the importing Party no later than two years, in the case of the Union, and one year, in the case of Singapore, after the entry of the goods into the territory.’;

in the Table of Contents, and in Article 3(6), Article 3(13), Article 11(5), Article 14(2), Article 15(1), Article 15(3), the title of Section 5, Article 16(1), Article 16(2), the title of Article 19, Article 19(1), Article 19(2), Article 19(3), the title of Article 20, Article 20, Article 21, the title of Article 22, Article 22(1), Article 23, the title of Article 24, Article 24(1), Article 24(2), Article 25(1), Article 25(2), Article 27(1), Article 27(2), the title of Article 28, Article 28(1), Article 28(2), Article 30(1), Article 33(3), and Article 35, the term ‘origin declaration’ is replaced by the term ‘statement on origin’;

Article 18 is deleted;

Article 26 is replaced by the following:

‘ARTICLE 26

Amounts Expressed in Euro

• 1. 

  For the application of the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 22 (Exemptions from Statement on Origin) in cases where products are invoiced in a currency other than euro, amounts in the national currencies of the Member States of the Union equivalent to the amounts expressed in euro shall be fixed annually by each of the countries concerned.

• 2. 

  A consignment shall benefit from the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 22 (Exemptions from Statement on Origin ) by reference to the currency in which the invoice is drawn up, according to the amount fixed by the Party concerned.

• 3. 

  The amounts to be used in any given national currency shall be the equivalent in that currency of the amounts expressed in euro as at the first working day of October. The amounts shall be communicated to the European Commission by 15 October and shall apply from 1 January the following year. The European Commission shall notify all countries concerned of the relevant amounts.

• 4. 

  A Member State of the Union may round up or down the amount resulting from the conversion into its national currency of an amount expressed in euro. The rounded amount may not differ from the amount resulting from the conversion by more than five percent. A Member State of the Union may retain unchanged its national currency equivalent of an amount expressed in euro if, at the time of the annual adjustment provided for in paragraph 3, the conversion of that amount, prior to any rounding-off, results in an increase of less than fifteen percent in the national currency equivalent. The national currency equivalent may be retained unchanged if the conversion would result in a decrease in that equivalent value.

• 5. 

  The amounts expressed in euro shall be reviewed by the Parties in the Committee on Customs established pursuant to Article 16.2 (Specialised Committees) at the request of the Union or of Singapore. When carrying out this review, the Parties shall consider the desirability of preserving the effects of the limits concerned in real terms. For these purposes, the Parties may, by decision in the Committee on Customs, modify the amounts expressed in euro.’;

Annex B is amended as set out in Annex 1 to this Decision;

Annex B(a) is amended as set out in Annex 2 to this Decision;

Annex D is amended as set out in Annex 3 to this Decision;

Annex E is amended as set out in Annex 4 to this Decision.

in the row related to HS Heading ‘0305’, the text in the column ‘description of product’ is replaced by the following:

‘Fish, dried, salted or in brine; smoked fish, whether or not cooked before or during the smoking process’;

in the row related to HS Heading ‘ex 0306’, the text in the column ‘description of product’ is replaced by the following:

‘Crustaceans, whether in shell or not, dried, salted or in brine; smoked crustaceans, whether in shell or not, whether or not cooked before or during the smoking process; crustaceans, in shell, cooked by steaming or by boiling in water, whether or not chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine’;

in the row related to HS Heading ‘ex 0307’, the text in the column ‘description of product’ is replaced by the following:

‘Molluscs, whether in shell or not, dried, salted or in brine; smoked molluscs, whether in shell or not, whether or not cooked before or during the smoking process’;

between the row related to HS Heading ‘ex 0307’ and the row related to HS Heading ‘Chapter 4’, the following rows are inserted:

in the row related to HS Heading ‘ex Chapter 15’, the text in the column ‘description of product ’ is replaced by the following:

‘Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes; except for:’;

in the row related to HS Heading ‘1509 and 1510’, the text in the column ‘description of product ’ is replaced by the following:

‘Olive oil and its fractions, other oils and their fractions obtained solely from olives’;

in the row related to HS Heading ‘1516 and 1517’, the text in the column ‘description of product ’ is replaced by the following:

‘Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their fractions, partly or wholly hydrogenated, inter-esterified, re-esterified or elaidinised, whether or not refined, but not further prepared;

Margarine; edible mixtures or preparations of animal, vegetable or microbial fats or oils or of fractions of different fats or oils of this Chapter, other than edible fats and oils or their fractions of heading 15.16’;

in the row related to HS Heading ‘Chapter 16’, the text in the column ‘description of product ’ is replaced by the following:

‘Preparations of meat, of fish, of crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, or of insects’;

in the row related to HS Heading ‘ex Chapter 24’, the text in the column ‘description of product ’ is replaced by the following:

‘Tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes; products, whether or not containing nicotine, intended for inhalation without combustion; other nicotine containing products intended for the intake of nicotine into the human body; except for;’;

between the row related to HS Heading ‘ex 2402’ and the row related to HS Heading ‘ex Chapter 25’, the following rows are inserted:

between the row related to HS Heading ‘ex Chapter 38’ and the row related to HS Heading ‘3823’, the following rows are inserted:

in the first row related to HS Heading ‘6306’, the text in the column ‘description of product ’ is replaced by the following:

‘Tarpaulins, awnings and sunblinds; tents (including temporary canopies and similar articles); sails for boats, sailboards or landcraft; camping goods’;

in the row related to HS Heading ‘8522, the text in the column ‘description of product ’ is replaced by the following:

‘Parts and accessories suitable for use solely or principally with the apparatus of heading 8519 or 8521’;

in the row related to HS Heading ‘8529, the text in the column ‘description of product’ is replaced by the following:

‘Parts suitable for use solely or principally with the apparatus of headings 8524 to 8528’;

in the row related to HS Heading ‘8548’, the text in the column ‘description of product ’ is replaced by the following:

‘Electrical parts of machinery or apparatus, not specified or included elsewhere in this Chapter’;

between the row related to HS Heading ‘8548’ and the row related to HS Heading ‘ex Chapter 86’, the following row is inserted:

in the row related to HS Heading ‘ex Chapter 86’, the text in the column ‘HS Heading’ and the text in the column ‘description of product’ are replaced respectively by the following:

‘Chapter 86’ and ‘Railway or tramway locomotives, rolling-stock and parts thereof; railway or tramway track fixtures and fittings and parts thereof; mechanical (including electro-mechanical) traffic signaling equipment of all kinds’;

between the row related to HS Heading ‘ex 8804’ and the row related to HS Heading ‘Chapter 89’, the following row is inserted:

in the row related to HS Heading ‘9013’, the text in the column ‘description of product ’ is replaced by the following:

‘Lasers, other than laser diodes; other optical appliances and instruments, not specified or included elsewhere in this Chapter’;

between the row related to HS Heading ‘9016’ and the row related to HS Heading ‘9025’, the following row is inserted:

in the row related to HS Heading ‘Chapter 94’, the text in the column ‘description of product ’ is replaced by the following:

‘Furniture; bedding, mattresses, mattress supports, cushions and similar stuffed furnishings; lamps and lighting fittings, not elsewhere specified or included; illuminated signs, illuminated name-plates and the like; prefabricated buildings’.

paragraph 3 of the common provisions is deleted;

paragraph 4 of the common provisions is renumbered to paragraph 3;

paragraph 5 of the common provisions is renumbered to paragraph 4;

in the row related to HS Heading

‘ex 1602 32

ex 1602 41

ex 1602 49

ex 1602 50’,

the text ‘Canned luncheon meat of pork, chicken and beef (午餐肉)’ in the column ‘description of product ’ is replaced by the following:

‘Canned luncheon meat or meat loaf of pork (containing more than 40 % by weight of pork meat or meat offal), canned luncheon meat or meat loaf of chicken (containing more than 20 % by weight of chicken meat or meat offal), canned luncheon meat or meat loaf of beef (containing more than 20 % by weight of beef meat or meat offal)’;

in the row related to HS Heading ‘ex 1604 20’ the text ‘Curry fish balls made of fish meat, curry, wheat starch, salt, sugar, and compound condiments’ in the column ‘description of product’ is replaced by the following:

‘fish balls and fish cakes made of fish meat except of tuna and of mackerel, starch, salt, sugar, and compound condiments’;

the row related to HS Heading

‘ex 1605 10

ex 1605 90

ex 1605 20

ex 1605 20

ex 1605 20

ex 1605 30’

is replaced by the following:

in the row related to HS Code ‘2909’, the text in the column ‘description’ is replaced by the following:

‘Ethers, ether-alcohols, ether-phenols, ether-alcohol-phenols, alcohol peroxides, ether peroxides, acetal and hemiacetal peroxides, ketone peroxides (whether or not chemically defined), and their halogenated, sulphonated, nitrated or nitrosated derivatives’;

in the row related to HS Code ‘9013’, the text in the column ‘description’ is replaced by the following:

‘Lasers, other than laser diodes; other optical appliances and instruments, not specified or included elsewhere in this Chapter’.

in the title of Annex E, the term ‘origin declaration’ is replaced by the term ‘statement on origin’;

the first paragraph of Annex E is replaced by the following:

‘The statement on origin, the text of which is given below, must be made out in accordance with the footnotes. However, the footnotes do not have to be reproduced.’;

footnote (1) is replaced by the following:

‘Indicate the reference number by which the exporter is identified. For the Union exporter, this will be the number assigned in accordance with the laws and regulations of the Union. For Singapore, this will be the number assigned in accordance with the laws and regulations of Singapore. Where the exporter has not been assigned a number, this field may be left blank’;

the last sentence before the footnotes is replaced by the following:

‘(Name of the exporter)’;

footnote (4) is deleted.