COMMON DECLARATION WITH REGARD TO PREFERENTIAL RULES OF ORIGIN

The said authorities may require a translation of a proof of origin and may also require the import declaration to be accompanied by a statement from the importer to the effect that the products meet the conditions required for the implementation of the Agreement.

For the purposes of this Common Declaration, preferential rules of origin shall be defined as those laws, regulations and administrative determinations of general application applied by any Member to determine whether goods qualify for preferential treatment under contractual or autonomous trade regimes leading to the granting of tariff preferences going beyond the application of paragraph 1 of Article I of GATT 1994.

Requests for subsequent verification of proof of origin issued under the preferential agreements and arrangements referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 above shall be accepted by the competent customs authorities of the present Member States and of the new Member States for a period of three years after the issue of the proof of origin concerned and may be made by those authorities for a period of three years after acceptance of the proof of origin in support of a declaration of free circulation.

In order to qualify for a reduction in or an exemption from customs duties on import into Switzerland of the cheeses listed in Appendix 2 to Annex III to the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on trade in agricultural products, an export declaration accompanied by proof of origin issued pursuant to Protocol No 3 to the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Swiss Confederation of 22 July 1972 shall be required."

Following the abolition of export refunds for all Community cheeses exported to Switzerland provided for in the Bilateral Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on trade in agricultural products (hereafter referred to as "the Agreement"), signed in Luxembourg on 21 June 1999, and approved by Council Decision of 28 February 2002(5), and in the interests of the simplification of customs formalities, the export of cheeses to Switzerland will be allowed on the basis of a simple export declaration accompanied by proof of origin, in accordance with Protocol No 3, concerning the definition of the concept 'of originating products' and methods of administrative cooperation, to the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Swiss Confederation of 22 July 1972, as last amended by Decision No 1/2001 of the EC-Switzerland Joint Committee of 24 January 2001(6), approved by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2840/72 of 19 December 1972(7).

Supplier declaration for products not having preferential origin status.

The said authorities may require a translation of a proof of origin and may also require the import declaration to be accompanied by a statement from the importer to the effect that the products meet the conditions required for the implementation of this Agreement.

The reduced rate of duty shall be applied only on presentation of the declaration of release for free circulation accompanied by the import licence and the proof of origin issued, respectively, under the following Protocols:

The said authorities may require a translation of a proof of origin and may also require the import declaration to be accompanied by a statement from the importer to the effect that the products meet the conditions required for the implementation of the Decision.

In view of the findings referred to in recitals 23 and 24, a breach of the undertaking had occurred in two aspects, namely by misleading declarations of origin and by issuing undertaking invoices for product types not falling within the scope of the undertaking.

The reduced rate of duty shall be applied only on presentation of the declaration of release for free circulation accompanied by the import licence and, in the case of the imports referred to below, the proof of origin issued, respectively, under the following Protocols:

'The reduced rate of duty shall be applied only on presentation of the declaration of release for free circulation accompanied by the import licence and, in the case of the imports referred to below, the proof of origin issued, respectively, under the following instruments:'

(a) the request is accompanied with a certificate of origin, a movement certificate, a certificate of authenticity, an internal Community transit document or with any other appropriate document, indicating that the imported goods were eligible, at the time of acceptance of the declaration for free circulation, for Community treatment, preferential tariff treatment or favourable tariff treatment by reason of the nature of goods;

In accordance with the internal legislation of the importing country, preferential treatment may also be granted, where applicable by repayment of duties, within a period of at least two years from the date of acceptance of the import declaration, where a proof of origin is produced indicating that the imported goods were at that date eligible for preferential tariff treatment.

This provision shall apply only where the returned-goods system is used in the Member State in which the export declaration covering the original export was accepted or in the Member State of origin in accordance with Article 15 of Council Directive 97/78/EC(*) laying down the principles governing the organisation of veterinary checks on products entering the Community from third countries.

The Community and Switzerland shall admit goods sent as small packages to private persons or forming part of travellers' personal luggage, as originating products benefiting from the Agreement without requiring the production of a movement certificate provided that such goods are not imported by way of trade and have been declared as meeting the conditions required for the application of these provisions, and where there is no doubt as to the veracity of such declaration.

Each Member State shall notify the Commission by 15 March following each quota year ending on 31 December, and by 15 September following each quota year ending on 30 June, separately for each quota and country of origin, except in the case of New Zealand butter, of the definitive total quantity for the quota year for which declarations of release for free circulation have been accepted.

Should a subsequent investigation by the customs authority of a Member State or the Commission of the European Communities reveal that any declaration of origin in the customs declaration for release into free circulation in the Community was incorrect or if a party involved in the determination of origin refuses access to or otherwise does not provide the information or documentation necessary for the determination of the non-preferential origin of the CTV, its origin may be determined by the competent authorities on the basis of the best facts available.

The certificate of origin form A shall be presented to the customs authorities of the Member State of importation in support of the customs declaration.

The declarant should list in this box such documents, e.g. certificates of origin and of sanitary control, goods manifests, which are attached to the declaration.

Where the proof of origin referred to in point (b) is presented as supporting document for only one declaration for release for free circulation, it may contain several order numbers.

They will normally include customs declaration form C 1 or C 2/CP 3, as appropriate, despatch note CP 2 in the case of postal parcels and any necessary certificates of origin, invoices, and so forth.

Whereas, for those textile and clothing products not subject to specific measures under the Community's trade policy and which are released for free circulation, the above Regulation provides both that exemption from the obligation to present a proof of origin may be granted and that the provisions establishing exemption from the obligation to present a certificate of origin should indicate if a declaration of origin is to be presented or not for such products;

either to the fob price of the products in their country of origin plus the costs of insurance and freight up to the borders of the Community customs territory, where that price and those costs are known at the time the declaration of release of the products for free circulation is made.

The main obligations to be fulfilled by the declarant to obtain, the clearance of goods for home use are the lodgment of a goods declaration with supporting documents (import licence, certificates of origin, etc.) and the payment of any import duties and taxes chargeable.

"The reduced rate of duty shall be applied only on presentation of the declaration of release for free circulation accompanied by the import licence and, in the case of the imports referred to below, the proof of origin issued, respectively, under the following instruments:"

In order to benefit from the tariff quotas set out in the Annex and managed in accordance with Article 4, a valid proof of origin issued by the competent authorities of the third country concerned together with a customs declaration for release for free circulation for the goods concerned shall be presented to the Community customs authorities.

the request is accompanied with a certificate of origin, a movement certificate, a certificate of authenticity, an internal Community transit document or with any other appropriate document, indicating that the imported goods were eligible, at the time of acceptance of the declaration for free circulation, for Community treatment, preferential tariff treatment or favourable tariff treatment by reason of the nature of goods;

Entry under the tariff quotas specified in Annex II shall require presentation in support of the declaration of entry for free circulation of a certificate of authenticity in accordance with one of the specimens in Annex IIa, issued by the competent authorities of the country of origin as indicated in Annex IIb, stating that the products possess the specific characteristics indicated in Annex II.

Where a certificate of origin, movement certificate, internal Community transit document or other appropriate document is produced in support of an application for repayment or remission, indicating that the imported goods were eligible, at the time of acceptance of the declaration for free circulation, for Community treatment or preferential tariff treatment, the decision-making customs authority shall grant such application only where it is duly established:

At the request of the exporter, the export licence, the payment declaration and the export declaration covering meat originating in the United Kingdom which has not yet left the custom territory of the Community and for which customs export formalities were completed or which was placed under one of the arrangements referred to in Articles 4 and 5 of Regulation (EEC) No 565/80 in a Member State other than the United Kingdom by 31 March 1996 shall be cancelled.

The last subparagraph of Article 25(3) is replaced by the following: "This provision shall apply only where the returned-goods system is used in the Member State in which the export declaration covering the original export was accepted or in the Member State of origin in accordance with Article 15 of Council Directive 97/78/EC(5) laying down the principles governing the organisation of veterinary checks on products entering the Community from third countries."

Whereas enquiries and further verifications, carried out both in the Community and elsewhere with the assistance of third countries' authorities, in accordance with the procedures established in Annex IV to Regulation (EEC) No 3030/93 have led the Commission to conclude that 5 408 295 pieces of textile products pertaining to category 4 (T-shirts) have been imported into the European Community in circumvention of the provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 3030/93 in the years 1995 and 1996 in that evidence shows that they physically emanated from the territory of the People's Republic of China before having been imported into the European Community without Chinese origin being declared or under false declarations of origin;