COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2021/576

of 30 November 2020

amending Annex III to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 to include the Republic of Uzbekistan among the countries benefiting from tariff preferences under the GSP+

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 Article 10(4) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 establishes specific eligibility criteria for the granting of tariff preferences under the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance (‘GSP+’) to a requesting country. For that purpose, the country should be considered vulnerable. It should have ratified all the conventions listed in Annex VIII to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 and the most recent available conclusions of the relevant monitoring bodies should not identify a serious failure to effectively implement any of those conventions. In relation to any of the relevant conventions, the country should not have formulated a reservation which is prohibited by the convention or which, for the exclusive purposes of Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012, is considered to be incompatible with the object and purpose of that convention. It should accept without reservation the reporting requirements imposed by each convention and give the binding undertakings referred to in points (d), (e) and (f) of Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012.

(2) A GSP beneficiary country wishing to benefit from GSP+ has to submit a request accompanied by comprehensive information concerning ratification of the relevant conventions, its reservations and the objections to those reservations made by other parties to the convention, and its binding undertakings.

(3) On 9 June 2020, the Commission received a GSP+ request from the Republic of Uzbekistan.

(4) The Commission has examined the request and has established that the Republic of Uzbekistan meets the eligibility criteria laid down in Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012. The Republic of Uzbekistan should therefore be granted GSP+ and Annex III to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 should be amended accordingly.

(5) The Commission will keep under review the status of ratification of the relevant conventions and their effective implementation by the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as the Republic of Uzbekistan’s cooperation with the relevant monitoring bodies, in accordance with Article 13 of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1 In Annex III to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012, the following country and the corresponding alphabetical code are added in columns A and B, respectively: ‘UZ Republic of Uzbekistan’

Article 2 This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 30 November 2020. For the Commission The President Ursula VON DER LEYEN

(1) OJ L 303, 31.10.2012, p. 1.