Notice from the Commission pursuant to point (b) of Article 7(3) of the Protocol 1 to the stepping stone Economic Partnership Agreement between Ghana, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part

Cumulation between the European Union and other West African countries, other ACP States and the overseas countries and territories of the European Union, as provided for under Article 7(1) and (2) of Protocol 1 to the Ghana-EU stepping stone EPA

(2022/C 35/02)

Article 7(1) of Protocol 1 to the stepping-stone Economic Partnership Agreement (the ‘EPA’) between Ghana and the European Union (the ‘Union’) (1), allows exporters in the Union to consider materials originating in:

— other West African countries (2) that benefit from duty-free and quota-free access to the market of the Union;

— other African, Caribbean and Pacific (the ‘ACP’) States which have applied an EPA at least on a provisional basis; or

— the overseas countries and territories of the Union (the ’OCTs’);

as materials originating in the Union when incorporated into a product produced in the Union and exported to Ghana within the framework of the EPA, subject to other conditions established in Article 7.

Article 7(2) of Protocol 1 allows exporters in the Union to consider working or processing carried out in other ACP States that have applied an EPA at least on a provisional basis or in OCTs, as having been carried out in the Union on a product produced in the Union and exported to Ghana within the framework of the EPA, subject to other conditions established in Article 7.

The Union has agreements or arrangements providing for administrative cooperation with ACP States applying EPAs, the OCTs, and West African countries beneficiary of the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences countries, which fulfil the necessary requirements. The European Commission has provided details of such agreements or arrangements to Ghana. Therefore, the Union has fulfilled the administrative requirements indicated in Article 7(3) of Protocol 1.

The cumulation provided for in Article 7 of Protocol 1 may therefore be applied in the Union from 1 February 2022, as follows:

The cumulation provided for under Article 7(2) of Protocol 1 may be applied with the following countries:

— ACP EPA States applying an EPA: — Cariforum: Antigua and Barbuda; the Commonwealth of the Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; the Commonwealth of Dominica; the Dominican Republic; Grenada; the Republic of Guyana; Jamaica; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; the Republic of Suriname, and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago; — Central Africa Region: the Republic of Cameroon; — Eastern and Southern Africa Region: the Union of the Comoros, the Republic of Madagascar; the Republic of Mauritius; the Republic of Seychelles and the Republic of Zimbabwe; — Southern African Development Community: the Republic of Botswana, the Kingdom of Eswatini, the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Republic of Mozambique, the Republic of Namibia, and the Republic of South Africa. — Pacific Region: the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, the Republic of the Fiji Islands, Samoa and the Solomon Islands. — West Africa Region: Côte d’Ivoire;

— OCTs: — Greenland, New Caledonia and Dependencies, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Territories, Wallis and Futuna Islands, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustasius, and Sint Maarten.

The cumulation of origin provided for under Article 7(1) of Protocol 1 may be applied with the following countries, in addition to those listed above:

— West Africa Region (GSP beneficiary countries): Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, the Republic of Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.

The present notice is published in accordance with point (b) of Article 7(3) of Protocol 1 to the Ghana-EU stepping-stone EPA.

(1) Decision No1/2020 of the EPA Committee established under the stepping stone Economic Partnership Agreement between Ghana, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, of 20 August 2020 on the adoption of Protocol No 1 concerning the definition of the concept of ‘originating products’ and methods of administrative cooperation (OJ L 350, 21.10.2020, p. 1).

(2) Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.