COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 46/1999 of 8 January 1999 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 82/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2), and in particular Article 249 thereof,
Whereas, in accordance with the conclusions of the European Council in Essen on 9 and 10 December 1994, the Community has taken measures to unify the preferential rules of origin in order to facilitate trade; whereas, under those measures, a single list of working or processing, accompanied by introductory notes, should be gradually substituted for the lists of working or processing and their corresponding introductory notes which are currently annexed to the Protocols on rules of origin provided for each of the preferential agreements signed by the Community; whereas, accordingly, it is essential that that single list, accompanied by its introductory notes, should be used also for the generalised system of preferences as established in Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 (3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1677/98 (4);
Whereas it is necessary to ensure that the definition of related persons in Article 143 of Regulation (EC) No 2454/93 embraces all the provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 which refer to that term;
Whereas it is for the decision-making customs authority within the meaning of Article 877(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 2454/93 to decide on an application for repayment or remission; whereas Article 890 of that Regulation should be reworded to make this clear;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Customs Code Committee,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 is hereby amended as follows:
1. The following subparagraph is inserted after the second subparagraph of Article 67(4):
'The provisions of the first subparagraph shall not apply to products falling within Chapters 1 to 24 of the Harmonised System.`;
2. Article 69 is replaced by the following:
'Article 69
For the purposes of Article 67, products which are not wholly obtained in a beneficiary country or in the Community are considered to be sufficiently worked or processed when the conditions set out in the list in Annex 15 are fulfilled.
Those conditions indicate, for all products covered by this Section, the working or processing which must be carried out on non-originating materials used in manufacturing and apply only in relation to such materials.
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.`;
3. in the introductory part of Article 70, 'Article 69(1)` is replaced by 'Article 69`;
4. the following Article 70a is inserted:
'Article 70a
1. The unit of qualification for the application of the provisions of this Section shall be the particular product which is considered as the basic unit when determining classification using the nomenclature of the Harmonised System.
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.
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 Section.
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.`;
5. Article 71(1) is replaced by the following:
'1. By way of derogation from the provisions of Article 69, non-originating materials may be used in the manufacture of a given product, provided that their total value does not exceed 5 % of the ex-works price of the product.
Where, in the list, one or several percentages are given for the maximum value of non-originating materials, such percentages must not be exceeded through the application of the first subparagraph.`;
6. Article 72(3)(a) is replaced by the following:
'(a) the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam);`
7. in Article 102(1), 'to Annex 14` is replaced by 'of Part B of Annex 14`;
8. the introductory clause of Article 143(1) is replaced by the following:
'For the purposes of Title II, Chapter 3 of the Code and of this Title, persons shall be deemed to be related only if:`;
9. the second paragraph of Article 890 is replaced by the following:
'Repayment or remission shall take place upon presentation of the goods. Where the goods cannot be presented to the implementing customs office, the decision-making customs authority shall grant repayment or remission only where it has information showing unequivocally that the certificate or document produced post-clearance applies to the said goods.`;
10. Annex 14 is amended in accordance with Annex I to this Regulation;
11. Annex 15 is replaced by the text in Annex II to this Regulation.
Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 8 January 1999.