# Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1015/2014Show full title

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1015/2014 of 22 July 2014 amending Annexes II and III to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012            of the European Parliament and of the Council applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences, and repealing Commission            Delegated Regulation (EU) No 154/2013         

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# Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1015/2014                     

# of 22 July 2014

# amending Annexes II and III to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council applying a scheme                        of generalised tariff preferences, and repealing Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 154/2013                     

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 applying a scheme                           of generalised tariff preferences and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 732/2008(1), and in particular Articles 5(3) and 10(5) thereof,                        

Whereas:

(1)Article 4 of the Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 (‘the GSP Regulation’) establishes the criteria for granting tariff preferences                              under the general arrangement of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (‘GSP’).

(2)Article 4(1)(a) of the GSP Regulation provides that a country that has been classified by the World Bank as a high-income                              or an upper-middle income country for three consecutive years should not benefit from GSP preferences.

(3)Article 4(1)(b) of the GSP Regulation provides that a country that benefits from a preferential market access arrangement                              which provides the same tariff preferences as the GSP, or better, for substantially all trade, should not enjoy GSP preferences.

(4)The list of beneficiary countries of the general GSP is established by Annex II to the GSP Regulation. Article 5 of the GSP                              Regulation lays down that Annex II is to be reviewed by 1 January of each year to reflect changes in relation to the criteria                              laid down in Article 4. Furthermore, it provides for a GSP beneficiary country and economic operators to be given sufficient                              time for an orderly adaptation to the country's GSP status revision. Accordingly, the GSP arrangement is to continue for one                              year after the date of entry into force of a change in a country's status on the basis of Article 4(1)(a) and for two years                              from the date of application of a preferential market access arrangement, as provided by Article 4(1)(b).

(5)Turkmenistan has been classified by the World Bank as an upper-middle income country in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Accordingly,                              Turkmenistan no longer qualifies for GSP beneficiary status under Article 4(1)(a) and should be removed from Annex II of the                              GSP Regulation. The decision to remove a beneficiary country from the list of GSP beneficiary countries should apply as from                              one year after the date of entry into force of that decision. In the interests of a uniform application, Turkmenistan should                              be removed from Annex II with effect from 1 January 2016.

(6)Preferential market access arrangements with the following countries started to apply at various dates in 2013: Peru on 1                              March 2013, Colombia, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama on 1 August 2013, Costa Rica and El Salvador on 1 October 2013 and Guatemala                              on 1 December 2013. In order to ensure a uniform application of the change to their GSP status and in line with the GSP Regulation,                              Peru, Colombia, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala should be removed from Annex II with effect                              from 1 January 2016.

(7)Article 9(1) of the GSP Regulation establishes specific eligibility criteria for granting tariff preferences under the special                              incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance (‘GSP+’). One key condition is that the country must                              be a GSP beneficiary. The list of GSP+ beneficiaries is established in Annex III to the GSP Regulation.

(8)As a consequence of their ceasing to be GSP beneficiaries, Costa-Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama and Peru also cease                              to be GSP+ beneficiaries under Article 9(1) of the GSP Regulation. Those countries should therefore be removed from Annex                              III to the GSP Regulation with effect from 1 January 2016.

(9)Pursuant to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1421/2013(2), Ecuador ceases to be a GSP beneficiary as from 1 January 2015. Consequently, in line with Article 9 of the GSP Regulation,                              Ecuador will cease to be GSP+ beneficiary and should be removed from Annex III to the GSP Regulation with effect from the                              same date.

(10)Following the entry into force of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1421/2013 on 1 January 2014, Commission Delegated Regulation                              (EU) No 154/2013(3) which provided a consolidated version of Annex II and also for the removal of Iran and Azerbaijan from the list of GSP beneficiary                              countries no longer applies. Therefore, for the sake of legal clarity, Delegated Regulation (EU) No 154/2013 should be repealed.                              However, in derogation from Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1421/2013, Delegated Regulation (EU) No 154/2013 should still apply                              until 22 February 2014 as regards Azerbaijan and Iran. Consequently, it needs to be clarified that Iran and Azerbaijan maintained                              GSP beneficiary status from 1 January 2014 to 22 February 2014,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

## Article 1U.K.Amendments toRegulation (EU) No 978/2012

Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 is amended as follows:

In Annex II, the following countries and the corresponding alphabetical codes are removed from columns A and B, respectively:

Annex III is amended as follows:

the following country and the corresponding alphabetical code is removed from columns A and B, respectively:

the following countries and the corresponding alphabetical codes are removed from columns A and B, respectively:

## Article 2U.K.Repeal

Delegated Regulation (EU) No 154/2013 is repealed with effect from 1 January 2014.

In derogation from Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1421/2013, the repeal shall take effect on 23 February 2014 as regards Azerbaijan                     and Iran.                  

## Article 3U.K.Entry into force and application

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the *Official Journal of the European Union*.                  

Article 1(1) shall apply from 1 January 2016.

Article 1(2)(a) shall apply from 1 January 2015.

Article 1(2)(b) shall apply from 1 January 2016.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 22 July 2014.

*For the Commission*                            

*The President*                            

José Manuel Barroso                            

1

OJ L 303, 31.10.2012, p. 1.                           

2

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1421/2013 of 30 October 2013 amending Annexes I, II and IV to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012                              of the European Parliament and of the Council applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences (OJ L 355, 31.12.2013, p. 1).                           

3

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 154/2013 of 18 December 2012 amending Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the                              European Parliament and of the Council applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences (OJ L 48, 21.2.2013, p. 1).