ANNEXSupplementary provisions
ANNEX
Appendix concerning the definition of the concept of ‘originating products’ and methods of administrative cooperation
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
Definitions
TITLE II
DEFINITION OF THE CONCEPT OF ‘ORIGINATING PRODUCTS’
Article 2
General conditions
Article 3
Bilateral cumulation of origin
Article 4
Wholly obtained products
Article 5
Sufficiently worked or processed products
Article 6
Insufficient working or processing operations
Article 7
Unit of qualification
Article 8
Sets
Article 9
Neutral elements
TITLE III
TERRITORIAL REQUIREMENTS
Article 10
Principle of territoriality
Article 11
Direct transport
Article 12
Exhibitions
TITLE IV
DRAWBACK OR EXEMPTION
Article 13
Prohibition of drawback of or exemption from customs duties
TITLE V
PROOF OF ORIGIN
Article 14
General conditions
Article 15
Procedure for the issue of a movement certificate EUR.1
Article 16
Movement certificates EUR.1 issued retrospectively
Article 17
Issue of a duplicate movement certificate EUR.1
Article 18
Issue of movement certificates EUR.1 on the basis of a proof of origin issued or made out previously
Article 19
Accounting segregation
Article 20
Conditions for making out an origin declaration
Article 21
Approved exporter
Article 22
Validity of proof of origin
Article 23
Submission of proof of origin
Article 24
Exemptions from proof of origin
Article 25
Supporting documents
Article 26
Preservation of proof of origin and supporting documents
Article 27
Discrepancies and formal errors
Article 28
Amounts expressed in euro
TITLE VI
ARRANGEMENTS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE COOPERATION
Article 29
Administrative cooperation
Article 30
Verification of proofs of origin
Article 31
Dispute settlement
Article 32
Penalties
Article 33
Free zones
TITLE VII
CEUTA AND MELILLA
Article 34
Application of the Appendix
Article 35
Special conditions
TITLE VIII
FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 36
Modifications to the Appendix
List of Annexes
Annex I:
Introductory notes to the list in Annex II
Annex II:
List of working or processing required to be carried out on non-originating materials in order for the product manufactured to obtain originating status
Annex III:
Specimens of movement certificate EUR.1 and application for a movement certificate EUR.1
Annex IV:
Text of the origin declaration
Joint Declarations
Joint Declaration concerning the Republic of San Marino
Joint Declaration concerning the revision of the rules of origin contained in the Appendix concerning the definition of the concept of ‘originating products’ and methods of administrative cooperation
TITLE I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
Definitions
For the purposes of this Appendix:
(a)
‘manufacture’ means any kind of working or processing including assembly or specific operations;
(b)
‘material’ means any ingredient, raw material, component or part, etc., used in the manufacture of the product;
(c)
‘product’ means the product being manufactured, even if it is intended for later use in another manufacturing operation;
(d)
‘goods’ means both materials and products;
(e)
‘customs value’ means the value as determined in accordance with the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994;
(f)
‘ex-works price’ means the price paid for the product ex-works to the manufacturer in the Party in whose undertaking the last working or processing is carried out, provided the price includes the value of all the materials used, minus any internal taxes which are, or may be, repaid when the product obtained is exported;
(g)
‘value of materials’ means the customs value at the time of importation of the non-originating materials used, or, if this is not known and cannot be ascertained, the first ascertainable price paid for the materials in the exporting Party;
(h)
‘value of originating materials’ means the value of such materials as defined in point (g) applied mutatis mutandis ;
(i)
‘value added’ means the ex-works price minus the customs value of each of the materials incorporated which originate in the other Party with which cumulation is applicable or, where the customs value is not known or cannot be ascertained, the first ascertainable price paid for the materials in the exporting Party;
(j)
‘chapters’ and ‘headings’ mean the chapters and the headings (four-digit codes) used in the nomenclature which makes up the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System, referred to in this Appendix as ‘the Harmonised System’ or ‘HS’;
(k)
‘classified’ refers to the classification of a product or material under a particular heading;
(l)
‘consignment’ means products which are either sent simultaneously from one exporter to one consignee or covered by a single transport document covering their shipment from the exporter to the consignee or, in the absence of such a document, by a single invoice;
(m)
‘territories’ includes territorial waters;
(n)
‘Party’ means one, several or all of the Member States of the European Union, the European Union or Andorra;
(o)
‘customs authorities’ means, for the European Union, any of the customs authorities of the Member States of the European Union.
TITLE II
DEFINITION OF THE CONCEPT OF ‘ORIGINATING PRODUCTS’
Article 2
General conditions
For the purposes of implementing Article 11(1) of the Agreement, the following products shall be considered as originating in a Party:
(a)
products wholly obtained in a Party, within the meaning of Article 4;
(b)
products obtained in a Party incorporating materials which have not been wholly obtained there, provided that such materials have undergone sufficient working or processing in the Party concerned within the meaning of Article 5.
Article 3
Bilateral cumulation of origin
Notwithstanding Article 2, materials originating in one of the Parties shall be considered to be materials originating in the other Party when incorporated into a product obtained there. It shall not be necessary for such materials to have undergone sufficient working or processing, provided they have undergone working or processing going beyond the operations referred to in Article 6.
Article 4
Wholly obtained products
1. The following shall be considered wholly obtained in a Party:
(a)
mineral products extracted from its soil or from its seabed;
(b)
vegetable products harvested there;
(c)
live animals born and raised there;
(d)
products from live animals raised there;
(e)
products obtained by hunting or fishing conducted there;
(f)
products of sea fishing and other products taken from the sea outside the territorial waters of the exporting Party by its vessels;
(g)
products made aboard its factory ships exclusively from products referred to in (f);
(h)
used articles collected there fit only for the recovery of raw materials;
(i)
waste and scrap resulting from manufacturing operations conducted there;
(j)
products extracted from marine soil or subsoil outside its territorial waters provided that it has sole rights to work that soil or subsoil;
(k)
goods produced there exclusively from the products specified in (a) to (j).
2. The terms ‘its vessels’ and ‘its factory ships’ in paragraph 1(f) and (g) shall apply only to vessels and factory ships:
(a)
which are registered or recorded in a Member State of the European Union or in Andorra;
(b)
which sail under the flag of a Member State of the European Union or of Andorra;
(c)
which are owned to an extent of at least 50 % by nationals of a Member State of the European Union or of Andorra, or by a company with its head office in a Member State of the European Union or in Andorra, of which the manager or managers, Chair of the Board of Directors or the Supervisory Board, and the majority of the members of such boards are nationals of a Member State of the European Union or of Andorra and, in addition to that, of which, in the case of partnerships or limited companies, at least half the capital belongs to a Member State of the European Union or to Andorra or to public bodies or nationals of the said Parties;
(d)
of which the master and officers are nationals of a Member State of the European Union or of Andorra;
and
(e)
of which at least 75 % of the crew are nationals of a Member State of the European Union or of Andorra.
Article 5
Sufficiently worked or processed products
1. For the purposes of Article 2, products which are not wholly obtained shall be considered to be sufficiently worked or processed when the conditions laid down in the list in Annex II to this Appendix are fulfilled.
Those conditions indicate the working or processing which must be carried out on non-originating materials used in manufacturing and apply only in relation to such materials. It follows that, if a product which has acquired originating status by fulfilling the conditions set out in the list is used in the manufacture of another product, the conditions applicable to the product in which it is incorporated do not apply to it, and no account shall be taken of the non-originating materials which may have been used in its manufacture.
2. Notwithsnding paragraph 1, non-originating materials which, according to the conditions set out in the list in Annex II to this Appendix, should not be used in the manufacture of a product may nevertheless be used, provided that:
(a)
their total value does not exceed 10 % of the ex-works price of the product; and
(b)
none of the percentages given in the list for the maximum value of non-originating materials are exceeded by virtue of this paragraph.
3. Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply subject to the provisions of Article 6.
Article 6
Insufficient working or processing
1. Without prejudice to paragraph 2, the following operations shall be considered to be insufficient working or processing to confer the status of originating products, whether or not the requirements of Article 5 are satisfied:
(a)
preserving operations to ensure that the products remain in good condition during transport and storage;
(b)
breaking-up and assembly of packages;
(c)
washing, cleaning; removal of dust, oxide, oil, paint or other coverings;
(d)
ironing or pressing of textiles;
(e)
simple painting and polishing operations;
(f)
husking, partial or total bleaching, polishing, and glazing of cereals and rice;
(g)
operations to colour sugar or form sugar lumps;
(h)
peeling, stoning and shelling, of fruits, nuts and vegetables;
(i)
sharpening, simple grinding or simple cutting;
(j)
sifting, screening, sorting, classifying, grading, matching (including the making-up of sets of articles);
(k)
simple placing in bottles, cans, flasks, bags, cases, boxes, fixing on cards or boards and all other simple packaging operations;
(l)
affixing or printing marks, labels, logos and other like distinguishing signs on products or their packaging;
(m)
simple mixing of products, whether or not of different kinds;
(n)
mixing of sugar with any material;
(o)
simple assembly of parts of articles to constitute a complete article or disassembly of products into parts;
(p)
a combination of two or more operations specified in points (a) to (o);
(q)
slaughter of animals.
2. All operations carried out in a Party on a given product shall be considered together when determining whether the working or processing undergone by that product is to be regarded as insufficient within the meaning of paragraph 1.
Article 7
Unit of qualification
1. The unit of qualification for the application of the provisions of this Appendix shall be the particular product which is considered the basic unit when determining classification using the nomenclature of the Harmonised System.
It follows that:
(a)
when a product composed of a group or assembly of articles is classified under the terms of the Harmonised System in a single heading, the whole constitutes the unit of qualification;
(b)
when a consignment consists of a number of identical products classified under the same heading of the Harmonised System, each product must be taken individually when applying the provisions of this Appendix.
2. Where, under General Rule 5 of the Harmonised System, packaging is included with the product for classification purposes, it shall be included for the purposes of determining origin.
Article 8
Sets
Sets, as defined in General Rule 3 of the Harmonised System, shall be regarded as originating when all the component products are originating. Nevertheless, when a set is composed of originating and non-originating products, the set as a whole shall be regarded as originating, provided that the value of the non-originating products does not exceed 15 % of the ex-works price of the set.
Article 9
Neutral elements
In order to determine whether a product is an originating product, it shall not be necessary to determine the origin of the following which might be used in its manufacture:
(a)
energy and fuel;
(b)
plant and equipment;
(c)
machines and tools;
(d)
goods which do not enter and which are not intended to enter into the final composition of the product.
TITLE III
TERRITORIAL REQUIREMENTS
Article 10
Principle of territoriality
1. Except as provided for in Article 3 and in paragraph 3 of this Article, the conditions for acquiring originating status set out in Title II shall be fulfilled without interruption in a Party.
2. Except as provided for in Article 3, where originating goods exported from a Party to another country return, they shall be considered non-originating, unless it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the customs authorities that:
(a)
the returning goods are the same as those exported; and
(b)
the returning goods have not undergone any operation beyond that necessary to preserve them in good condition while in that country or while being exported.
3. The acquisition of originating status in accordance with the conditions set out in Title II shall not be affected by working or processing done outside a Party on materials exported from the Party and subsequently reimported there, provided that:
(a)
the exported materials are wholly obtained in the Party or have undergone working or processing beyond the operations referred to in Article 6 prior to being exported; and
(b)
it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the customs authorities that:
(i)
the re-imported goods have been obtained by working or processing the exported materials; and
(ii)
the total added value acquired outside the Party by applying the provisions of this Article does not exceed 10 % of the ex-works price of the end-product for which originating status is claimed.
4. For the purposes of paragraph 3, the conditions for acquiring originating status set out in Title II shall not apply to working or processing done outside a Party. But where, in the list in Annex II to this Appendix, a rule setting a maximum value for all the non-originating materials incorporated is applied in determining the originating status of the end-product, the total value of the non-originating materials incorporated in the territory of the party concerned, taken together with the total added value acquired outside the Party by applying the provisions of this Article, shall not exceed the stated percentage.
5. For the purposes of applying the provisions of paragraphs 3 and 4, ‘total added value’ shall be taken to mean all costs arising outside a Party, including the value of the materials incorporated there.
6. The provisions of paragraphs 3 and 4 shall not apply to products which do not fulfil the conditions set out in the list in Annex II to this Appendix or which can be considered sufficiently worked or processed only if the general tolerance fixed in Article 5(2) is applied.
7. Any working or processing of the kind covered by the provisions of this Article and done outside a Party shall be done under the outward processing arrangements, or similar arrangements.
Article 11
Direct transport
1. The preferential treatment provided for under thе Agreement applies only to products satisfying the requirements of this Appendix and which are transported directly between the Parties. However, products constituting one single consignment may be transported through other territories with, should the occasion arise, trans-shipment or temporary warehousing in such territories, provided that they remain under the surveillance of the customs authorities in the country of transit or warehousing and do not undergo operations other than unloading, reloading or any operation designed to preserve them in good condition.
2. Evidence that the conditions set out in paragraph 1 have been fulfilled shall be supplied to the customs authorities of the importing Party by the production of:
(a)
a single transport document covering the passage from the exporting Party through the country of transit; or
(b)
a certificate issued by the customs authorities of the country of transit:
(i)
giving an exact description of the products;
(ii)
stating the dates of unloading and reloading of the products and, where applicable, the names of the ships, or the other means of transport used;
and
(iii)
certifying the conditions under which the products remained in the transit country; or
(c)
failing those, any substantiating documents.
Article 12
Exhibitions
1. Originating products, sent for exhibition in a country other than one of the Parties and sold after the exhibition for importation in a Party, shall benefit on importation from the provisions of thе Agreement provided it is shown to the satisfaction of the customs authorities that:
(a)
an exporter has consigned those products from one of the Parties to the country in which the exhibition is held and has exhibited them there;
(b)
the products have been sold or otherwise disposed of by that exporter to a person in one of the Parties;
(c)
the products have been consigned during the exhibition or immediately thereafter in the state in which they were sent for exhibition; and
(d)
the products have not, since they were consigned for exhibition, been used for any purpose other than demonstration at the exhibition.
2. A proof of origin shall be issued or made out in accordance with the provisions of Title V and submitted to the customs authorities of the importing Party in the normal manner. The name and address of the exhibition shall be indicated thereon. Where necessary, additional documentary evidence of the conditions under which they have been exhibited may be required.
3. Paragraph 1 shall apply to any trade, industrial, agricultural or crafts exhibition, fair or similar public show or display which is not organised for private purposes in shops or business premises with a view to the sale of foreign products, and during which the products remain under customs control.
TITLE IV
DRAWBACK OR EXEMPTION
Article 13
Prohibition of drawback of or exemption from customs duties
1. Non-originating materials used in the manufacture of products originating in a Party for which a proof of origin is issued or made out in accordance with the provisions of Title V shall not be subject in the Parties to drawback of, or exemption from, customs duties of whatever kind.
2. The prohibition in paragraph 1 shall apply to any arrangement for refund, remission or non-payment, partial or complete, of customs duties or charges having an equivalent effect, applicable in a Party to materials used in the manufacture, where such refund, remission or non-payment applies, expressly or in effect, when products obtained from the said materials are exported and not when they are retained for home use there.
3. The exporter of products covered by a proof of origin shall be prepared to submit at any time, upon request from the customs authorities, all appropriate documents proving that no drawback has been obtained in respect of the non-originating materials used in the manufacture of the products concerned and that all customs duties or charges having equivalent effect applicable to such materials have actually been paid.
4. The provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall also apply in respect of packaging within the meaning of Article 7(2), and products in a set within the meaning of Article 8 when such items are non-originating.
5. The provisions of paragraphs 1 to 4 shall apply only in respect of materials which are of the kind to which this Appendix applies.
TITLE V
PROOF OF ORIGIN
Article 14
General conditions
1. Products originating in one of the Parties shall, on importation into the other Party, benefit from the provisions of this Agreement upon submission of one of the following proofs of origin:
(a)
a movement certificate EUR.1, a specimen of which appears in Annex III to this Appendix;
(b)
in the cases specified in Article 20(1), a declaration (the ‘origin declaration’) given by the exporter on an invoice, a delivery note or any other commercial document which describes the products concerned in sufficient detail to enable them to be identified. The text of the origin declaration appears in Annex IV to this Appendix.
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, originating products within the meaning of this Appendix shall, in the cases specified in Article 24, benefit from the provisions of this Agreement without it being necessary to submit any of the proofs of origin referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.
Article 15
Procedure for the issue of a movement certificate EUR.1
1. A movement certificate EUR.1 shall be issued by the customs authorities of the exporting Party on application having been made in writing by the exporter or, under the exporter's responsibility, by its authorised representative.
2. For this purpose, the exporter or its authorised representative shall complete both the movement certificate EUR.1 and the application form, specimens of which appear in Annex III to this Appendix. Those forms shall be completed in one of the languages in which this Agreement is drawn up and in accordance with the provisions of the national law of the exporting country. If the completion of the forms is done in handwriting, they shall be completed in ink, in printed characters. The description of the products shall be given in the box reserved for this purpose without leaving any blank lines. Where the box is not completely filled, a horizontal line shall be drawn below the last line of the description, the empty space being crossed through.
3. The exporter applying for the issue of a movement certificate EUR.1 shall be prepared to submit at any time, at the request of the customs authorities of the exporting Party where the movement certificate EUR.1 is issued, all appropriate documents proving the originating status of the products concerned as well as the fulfilment of the other requirements of this Appendix.
4. Without prejudice to paragraph 5, a movement certificate EUR.1 shall be issued by the customs authorities of a Member State of the European Union or of Andorra if the products concerned can be considered products originating in the European Union or in Andorra and fulfil the other requirements of this Appendix.
5. The customs authorities issuing movement certificates EUR.1 shall take any steps necessary to verify the originating status of the products and the fulfilment of the other requirements of this Appendix. For this purpose, they shall have the right to call for any evidence and to carry out any inspection of the exporter's accounts or any other check considered appropriate. They shall also ensure that the forms referred to in paragraph 2 are duly completed. In particular, they shall check whether the space reserved for the description of the products has been completed in such a manner as to exclude all possibility of fraudulent additions.
6. The date of issue of the movement certificate EUR.1 shall be indicated in Box 11 of the certificate.
7. A movement certificate EUR.1 shall be issued by the customs authorities and made available to the exporter as soon as actual exportation has been effected or ensured.
Article 16
Movement certificates EUR.1 issued retrospectively
1. Notwithstanding Article 15(7), a movement certificate EUR.1 may exceptionally be issued after exportation of the products to which it relates if:
(a)
it was not issued at the time of exportation because of errors or involuntary omissions or special circumstances; or
(b)
it is demonstrated to the satisfaction of the customs authorities that a movement certificate EUR.1 was issued, but was not accepted at importation for technical reasons.
2. For the implementation of paragraph 1, the exporter shall indicate in its application the place and date of exportation of the products to which the movement certificate EUR.1 relates, and state the reasons for its request.
3. The customs authorities may issue a movement certificate EUR.1 retrospectively only after verifying that the information supplied in the exporter's application complies with that in the corresponding file.
4. Movement certificates EUR.1 issued retrospectively shall be endorsed with the following phrase in English:
‘ISSUED RETROSPECTIVELY’.
5. The endorsement referred to in paragraph 4 shall be inserted in Box 7 of the movement certificate EUR.1.
Article 17
Issue of a duplicate movement certificate EUR.1
1. In the event of theft, loss or destruction of a movement certificate EUR.1, the exporter may apply to the customs authorities which issued it for a duplicate made out on the basis of the export documents in their possession.
2. The duplicate issued in this way shall be endorsed with the following word in English:
‘DUPLICATE’.
3. The endorsement referred to in paragraph 2 shall be inserted in Box 7 of the duplicate movement certificate EUR.1.
4. The duplicate, which shall bear the date of issue of the original movement certificate EUR.1, shall take effect as from that date.
Article 18
Issue of movement certificates EUR.1 on the basis of a proof of origin issued or made out previously
When originating products are placed under the control of a customs office in one of the Parties, it shall be possible to replace the original proof of origin by one or more movement certificates EUR.1 for the purpose of sending all or some of those products elsewhere within one of the Parties. The replacement movement certificate(s) EUR.1 shall be issued by the customs office under whose control the products are placed.
Article 19
Accounting segregation
1. Where considerable cost or material difficulties arise in keeping separate stocks of originating and non-originating materials which are identical and interchangeable, the customs authorities may, at the written request of those concerned, authorise the so-called ‘accounting segregation’ method (‘the method’) to be used for managing such stocks.
2. The method must be able to ensure that, for a specific reference period, the number of products obtained which could be considered ‘originating’ is the same as that which would have been obtained had there been physical segregation of the stocks.
3. The customs authorities may make the grant of authorisation referred to in paragraph 1 subject to any conditions deemed appropriate.
4. The method shall be applied and the application thereof shall be recorded on the basis of the general accounting principles applicable in the country where the product was manufactured.
5. The beneficiary of the method may make out or apply for proofs of origin, as the case may be, for the quantity of products which may be considered originating. At the request of the customs authorities, the beneficiary shall provide a statement of how the quantities have been managed.
6. The customs authorities shall monitor the use made of the authorisation and may withdraw it whenever the beneficiary makes improper use of the authorisation in any manner whatsoever or fails to fulfil any of the other conditions laid down in this Appendix.
Article 20
Conditions for making out an origin declaration
1. An origin declaration as referred to in Article 14(1)(b) may be made out:
(a)
by an approved exporter within the meaning of Article 21; or
(b)
by any exporter for any consignment consisting of one or more packages containing originating products the total value of which does not exceed EUR 6 000.
2. Without prejudice to paragraph 3, an origin declaration may be made out if the products concerned can be considered products originating in the European Union or in Andorra and fulfil the other requirements of this Appendix.
3. The exporter making out an origin declaration shall be prepared to submit at any time, at the request of the customs authorities of the exporting Party, all appropriate documents proving the originating status of the products concerned as well as the fulfilment of the other requirements of this Appendix.
4. An origin declaration 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 IV to this Appendix, using one of the linguistic versions set out in that Annex and in accordance with the provisions of the national law of the exporting country. If the declaration is handwritten, it shall be written in ink in printed characters.
5. Origin declarations shall bear the original signature of the exporter in manuscript. However, an approved exporter within the meaning of Article 21 shall not be required to sign such declarations provided that it gives the customs authorities of the exporting Party a written undertaking that it accepts full responsibility for any origin declaration which identifies it as if the declaration had been signed in manuscript by it.
6. An origin declaration may be made out by the exporter when the products to which it relates are exported, or after exportation on condition that it is presented in the importing country no later than two years after the importation of the products to which it relates.
Article 21
Approved exporter
1. The customs authorities of the exporting Party may authorise any exporter (‘approved exporter’), who makes frequent shipments of products in accordance with the provisions of this Appendix, to make out origin declarations irrespective of the value of the products concerned. An exporter seeking such authorisation shall offer to the satisfaction of the customs authorities all guarantees necessary to verify the originating status of the products as well as the fulfilment of the other requirements of this Appendix.
2. The customs authorities may grant the status of approved exporter subject to any conditions which they consider appropriate.
3. The customs authorities shall grant to the approved exporter a customs authorisation number which shall appear on the origin declaration.
4. The customs authorities shall monitor the use of the authorisation by the approved exporter.
5. The customs authorities may withdraw the authorisation at any time. They shall do so where the approved exporter no longer offers the guarantees referred to in paragraph 1, does not fulfil the conditions referred to in paragraph 2 or otherwise makes incorrect use of the authorisation.
Article 22
Validity of proof of origin
1. A proof of origin shall be valid for four months from the date of issue in the exporting Party, and shall be submitted within that period to the customs authorities of the importing Party.
2. Proofs of origin which are submitted to the customs authorities of the importing Party after the final date for presentation specified in paragraph 1 may be accepted for the purpose of applying preferential treatment where the failure to submit those documents by the final date set is due to exceptional circumstances.
3. In other cases of belated presentation, the customs authorities of the importing Party may accept the proofs of origin where the products have been submitted before the said final date.
Article 23
Submission of proof of origin
Proofs of origin shall be submitted to the customs authorities of the importing Party in accordance with the procedures applicable in that country. 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.
Article 24
Exemptions from proof of origin
1. Products sent as small packages from private persons to private persons or forming part of travellers' personal luggage shall be admitted as originating products without requiring the submission of a proof of origin, provided that such products are not imported by way of trade and have been declared as meeting the requirements of this Appendix, and where there is no doubt as to the veracity of such a declaration. In the case of products sent by post, that declaration may be made on the customs declaration CN22/CN23 or on a sheet of paper annexed to that document.
2. Imports which are occasional and consist solely of products for the personal use of the recipients or travellers or their families shall not be considered imports by way of trade if it is evident from the nature and quantity of the products that no commercial purpose is in view.
3. Furthermore, the total value of those products shall not exceed EUR 500 in the case of small packages or EUR 1 200 in the case of products forming part of travellers' personal luggage.
Article 25
Supporting documents
The documents referred to in Articles 15(3) and 20(3) used for the purpose of proving that products covered by a movement certificate EUR.1 or an origin declaration may be considered products originating in one of the Parties and fulfil the other requirements of this Appendix may consist, inter alia, of the following:
(a)
direct evidence of the processes carried out by the exporter or supplier to obtain the goods concerned, contained for example in its accounts or internal bookkeeping;
(b)
documents proving the originating status of materials used, issued or made out in one of the Parties concerned where those documents are used in accordance with national law;
(c)
documents proving the working or processing of materials in one of the Parties concerned, issued or made out in one of the Parties concerned, where those documents are used in accordance with national law;
(d)
movement certificates EUR.1 or origin declarations proving the originating status of materials used, issued or made out in one of the Parties concerned in accordance with this Appendix;
(e)
appropriate evidence concerning working or processing undergone outside the relevant Party by application of Article 11, proving that the requirements of that Article have been satisfied.
Article 26
Preservation of proof of origin and supporting documents
1. The exporter applying for the issue of a movement certificate EUR.1 shall keep for at least three years the documents referred to in Article 15(3).
2. The exporter making out an origin declaration shall keep for at least three years a copy of this origin declaration as well as the documents referred to in Article 20(3).
3. The customs authorities of the exporting Party issuing a movement certificate EUR.1 shall keep for at least three years the application form referred to in Article 15(2).
4. The customs authorities of the importing Party shall keep for at least three years the movement certificates EUR.1 and the origin declarations submitted to them.
Article 27
Discrepancies and formal errors
1. The discovery of slight discrepancies between the statements made in the proof of origin and those made in the document submitted to the customs office for the purpose of carrying out the formalities for importing the products shall not, ipso facto , render the proof of origin null and void if it is duly established that that document does correspond to the products submitted.
2. Obvious formal errors such as typing errors on a proof of origin should not cause that document to be rejected if those errors are not such as to create doubts concerning the correctness of the statements made in that document.
Article 28
Amounts expressed in euro
1. For the application of the provisions of Article 20(1)(b) and Article 24(3) in cases where products are invoiced in a currency other than euro, amounts in the national currencies of the Parties 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 Article 20(1)(b) or Article 24(3) by reference to the currency in which the invoice is drawn up, according to the amount fixed by the country 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 country may round up or down the amount resulting from the conversion into its national currency of an amount expressed in euro. The rounded-off amount may not differ from the amount resulting from the conversion by more than 5 %. A country 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, before any rounding-off, results in an increase of less than 15 % in the national currency equivalent. The national currency equivalent may be retained unchanged if the conversion were to result in a decrease in that equivalent value.
5. The amounts expressed in euro shall be reviewed by the Joint Committee at the request of any Party. When carrying out this review, the Joint Committee shall consider the desirability of preserving the effects of the limits concerned in real terms. For this purpose, it may decide to modify the amounts expressed in euro.
TITLE VI
ARRANGEMENTS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE COOPERATION
Article 29
Administrative cooperation
1. The customs authorities of the Parties shall provide each other, through the European Commission, with specimen impressions of stamps used in their customs offices for the issue of movement certificates EUR.1, and with the addresses of the customs authorities responsible for verifying those certificates and origin declarations.
2. In order to ensure the proper application of this Appendix, the Parties shall assist each other, through the competent customs administrations, in checking the authenticity of the movement certificates EUR.1 and origin declarations, and the correctness of the information given in those documents.
Article 30
Verification of proofs of origin
1. Subsequent verifications of proofs of origin shall be carried out at random or whenever the customs authorities of the importing Party have reasonable doubts as to the authenticity of such documents, the originating status of the products concerned or the fulfilment of the other requirements of this Appendix.
2. For the purposes of implementing the provisions of paragraph 1, the customs authorities of the importing Party shall return the movement certificate EUR.1 and the invoice, if it has been submitted, the origin declaration, or a copy of those documents, to the customs authorities of the exporting Party giving, where appropriate, the reasons for the request for verification. Any documents and information obtained suggesting that the information given on the proof of origin is incorrect shall be forwarded in support of the request for verification.
3. The verification shall be carried out by the customs authorities of the exporting Party. For that purpose, they shall have the right to call for any evidence and to carry out any inspection of the exporter's accounts or any other check considered appropriate.
4. If the customs authorities of the importing Party decide to suspend the granting of preferential treatment to the products concerned while awaiting the results of the verification, release of the products shall be offered to the importer subject to any precautionary measures judged necessary.
5. The customs authorities requesting the verification shall be informed of the results thereof as soon as possible. Those results shall indicate clearly whether the documents are authentic and whether the products concerned may be considered products originating in a Party and fulfil the other requirements of this Appendix.
6. If, in cases of reasonable doubt, there is no reply within 10 months of the date of the verification request or if the reply does not contain sufficient information to determine the authenticity of the document in question or the real origin of the products, the requesting customs authorities shall, except in exceptional circumstances, refuse entitlement to the preferences.
Article 31
Dispute settlement
Where disputes arise in relation to the verification procedures of Article 30 which cannot be settled between the customs authorities requesting a verification and the customs authorities responsible for carrying out this verification, they shall be submitted to the Joint Committee. Where disputes other than those related to the verification procedures of Article 30 arise in relation to the interpretation of this Appendix, they shall be submitted to the Joint Committee.
In all cases the settlement of disputes between the importer and the customs authorities of the importing Party shall take place under the legislation of that country.
Article 32
Penalties
Penalties shall be imposed on any person who draws up, or causes to be drawn up, a document which contains incorrect information for the purpose of obtaining a preferential treatment for products.
Article 33
Free zones
1. The Parties shall take all necessary steps to ensure that products traded under cover of a proof of origin, which in the course of transport use a free zone situated in their territory, are not substituted by other goods and do not undergo handling other than normal operations designed to prevent their deterioration.
2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, when products originating in one of the Parties are imported into a free zone under cover of a proof of origin and undergo treatment or processing, the authorities concerned shall issue a new movement certificate EUR.1 at the exporter's request, if the treatment or processing undergone complies with this Appendix.
TITLE VII
CEUTA AND MELILLA
Article 34
Application of the Appendix
1. The term ‘European Union’ does not cover Ceuta and Melilla.
2. Products originating in Andorra, when imported into Ceuta or Melilla, shall enjoy in all respects the same customs regime as that which is applied to products originating in the customs territory of the European Union under Protocol 2 to the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal to the European Communities. Andorra shall grant to imports of products covered by the Agreement and originating in Ceuta and Melilla the same customs regime as that which is granted to products imported from and originating in the European Union.
3. For the purpose of the application of paragraph 2 of this Article with regard to products originating in Ceuta and Melilla, this Appendix shall apply mutatis mutandis subject to the special conditions set out in Article 35.
Article 35
Special conditions
1. Provided that they have been transported directly in accordance with the provisions of Article 11, the following shall be considered:
(1)
products originating in Ceuta and Melilla:
(a)
products wholly obtained in Ceuta and Melilla;
(b)
products obtained in Ceuta and Melilla in the manufacture of which products other than those referred to in (a) are used, provided that:
(i)
the said products have undergone sufficient working or processing within the meaning of Article 5; or that
(ii)
those products originated in one of the Parties, provided that they have been submitted to working or processing which goes beyond the operations referred to in Article 6;
(2)
products originating in Andorra:
(a)
products wholly obtained in Andorra;
(b)
products obtained in Andorra, in the manufacture of which products other than those referred to in (a) are used, provided that:
(i)
those products have undergone sufficient working or processing within the meaning of Article 5; or
(ii)
those products originated in Ceuta and Melilla or in the European Union, provided that they have been submitted to working or processing which goes beyond the operations referred to in Article 6.
2. Ceuta and Melilla shall be considered a single territory.
3. The exporter or its authorised representative shall enter ‘Andorra’ and ‘Ceuta and Melilla’ in Box 2 of movement certificates EUR.1 or on invoice declarations. In addition, in the case of products originating in Ceuta and Melilla, this shall be indicated in Box 4 of movement certificates EUR.1 or on origin declarations.
4. The Spanish customs authorities shall be responsible for the application of this Appendix in Ceuta and Melilla.
TITLE VIII
FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 36
Modifications to the Appendix
The Joint Committee may decide to amend the provisions of this Appendix.
