Proposal for a Council Regulation on common rules for imports of footwear products originating in Vietnam
Date: 2003-06-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Viet Nam, agreement (EU), footwear industry, import, originating product, surveillance concerning imports

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 10.6.2003
COM(2003) 339 final

2003/0121 (ACC)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

on common rules for imports of footwear products originating in Vietnam

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

The purpose of the annexed draft Council Regulation is to  incorporate  into Community law
the  exchange  of  letters  between  the  Community  and  Vietnam  on  prolongation  of  the
surveillance  of  imports  of  footwear  from  Vietnam,  initialled  on  28  November  last  year  and
approved by the Council on 17 March 2003.

This surveillance will be continued for a further period of two years, i.e. until the end of 2004,
to monitor imports from Vietnam due to the risk of fraud of origin compounded by the risk of
deflection  of  trade,  notably  because  of  the  existence  of  restrictions  on  imports  of  footwear
from China.

Consequently,  the  previously  applicable  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  1/2000  which  has
expired has served as a model for this Regulation reflecting the exchange of letters, in order to
give  legal  security  and  basis  for  continued  surveillance  by  Member  States  until  the  end  of
2004. At the practical level  no problems  exist and  the  Vietnamese  continue  granting  export
licences as usual in conformity with the exchange of letters prolonging the arrangement, but
obviously the corresponding legal basis must be formally secured by way of Regulation.

2

2003/0121 (ACC)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

on common rules for imports of footwear products originating in Vietnam

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article
Article 133 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

The common commercial policy must be based on uniform principles.

The  Commission  anti-fraud  services  have  found  evidence  that  consignments  of
footwear  products  were  imported  into  the  Community  on  the  basis  of  fraudulent
declarations of Vietnamese origin.

The Community and the Government of Vietnam have negotiated a Memorandum of
Understanding  on  the  Prevention  of  Fraud  in  Trade  in  Footwear  Products  (the
"Memorandum")  which  sets  out  a  double-checking  system  on  the  exports  to  the
Community  of  footwear  products  falling  within  Chapter  64  of  the  Harmonised
System/Combined Nomenclature 1

The  validity  of  the  Memorandum  of  Understanding  was  originally  limited  until  31
December 2002 but since the risk of fraudulent declarations of origin is still prevalent,
the application of the Memorandum of  Understanding has  been extended  through  an
exchange  of  letters  between  the  Government  of  Vietnam  and  the  Community  for  a
further period of two  years until 31 December 2004. This exchange of letters, which
further provides for the possibility of electronic export licensing, was initialled on 28
November 2002 and adopted by the Council on 17 March 2003,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

This  Regulation  shall  apply  to  all  products  falling  within  Chapter  64  of  the  Harmonised
System/Combined Nomenclature originating in Vietnam and imported into the Community.

Article 1

1

OJ L 1, 4.1.2000, p.13

3

                                                
Article 2

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

(a)

(b)

"Originating products" shall be as defined by the relevant Community rules in force;
the  methods  for  verifying  the  origin  of  those  products  shall  be  understood
accordingly;

“Competent authorities” of the Member States shall mean those designated pursuant
to  Article  2(7)  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  520/942  and  as  listed  in  Annex  I  to
Commission Regulation (EC) No 738/943.

The list of the competent authorities referred to in the first paragraph has been last published
in Annex III to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1369/994.

Article 3

The release for free circulation in the Community of the products referred to in Article 1 shall
be subject to the presentation of an import certificate issued by the Member States' authorities
referred to in Article 11 in accordance with the procedure set out in this Regulation.

Article 4

1.

2.

3.

The competent Vietnamese authorities shall issue an export certificate  in  respect of
the products referred to in Article 1.

The export certificate shall conform to the specimen set out in the Annex.

The  original  of  the  export  certificate  shall  be  presented  by  the  importer  for  the
purposes of issuing the import certificate referred to in Article 6.

The  competent  authorities  of  a  Member  State  shall  refuse  to  issue  an  import  certificate  for
products which are not covered by export certificates issued in accordance with the provisions
of this Regulation.

Exports  shall  be  recorded  under  the  year  in  which  the  products  covered  by  the  export
certificate were shipped.

Article 5

2

3

4

OJ L 66, 10.03.1994, p.1.
OJ L 87, 31.03.1994, p 47.
OJ L 162, 26.06.1999, p. 35.

4

                                                
1.

2.

3.

4.

1.

2.

3.

Article 6

The forms to be used by the competent authorities of the Member States for issuing
the  import  certificates  shall  conform  to  the  specimen  of  the  surveillance  document
set out in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 3285/945.

The authorities of the Member States shall notify the Commission of the requests for
import certificates which they have received.

The Commission shall notify to the authorities of the Member States its confirmation
that the data contained in the requests for import certificates are in conformity with
the data received from the competent Vietnamese authorities.

The  notifications  referred  to  in  paragraphs  2  and  3  shall  be  communicated
electronically within the integrated network set-up for the SIGL management of the
textile  licences,  unless  for  imperative  technical  reasons  it  is  necessary  to  use  other
means of communication temporarily.

Article 7

The  competent  authorities  of  the  Member  States  shall  issue  an  import  certificate
within a maximum of five working days from the presentation by the importer of the
original of the corresponding export certificate. This presentation shall take place not
later  than  30  June  of  the  year  following  that  in  which  the  goods  covered  by  the
certificate were shipped.

Import certificates shall be valid throughout the customs territory of the Community.
Where  the  Vietnamese  authorities  have  transmitted  the  data  to  the  Community  by
electronic  means  this  shall  be  regarded  as  substituting  the  requirement  for
presentation of the original export certificate.

The import certificates shall be valid for six months from the date of their issue, with
the possibility of a further extension of three months by the competent authorities of
the Member State concerned.

The request made by the importer to the competent authorities of the Member States
for the purpose of obtaining the import certificate shall contain:

(a)

the  names  of  the  importer  and  full  address  (including  any  telephone  and  fax
numbers),  the  identification  number  registered  with  the  competent  national
authorities, and the VAT registration number, if it is liable to pay VAT;

(b)

name and full address of declarant;

(c)

name and full address of exporter;

(d)

country of origin of the products and the country of consignment;

5

OJ L 349, 31.12.1994, p. 53.

5

                                                
(e)

description of the products as contained in the export certificate;

(f)

quantity of each shipment;

(g)

date and issue number of the export certificate;

(h)

signature of importer, and date.

The competent authorities may, subject to the conditions  laid down  by  them,  allow
requests to be submitted, transmitted or printed by electronic means.

However,  all  documents  and  evidence  shall  be  made  available  to  the  competent
authorities of the Member States.

4.

Importers  shall  not  be  obliged  to  import  the  total  quantity  covered  by  an  import
certificate in a single consignment.

Article 8

The  validity  of  import  certificates  issued  by  the  authorities  of  the  Member  States  shall  be
subject  to  the  validity  of  the  export  certificates  issued  by  the  competent  Vietnamese
authorities on the basis of which the import certificates have been issued.

Import certificates shall be issued without discrimination to any importer in the Community
wherever the place of his establishment may be in the Community.

Article 9

Article 10

1.

2.

3.

Import  certificate  forms  and  extracts  thereof  shall  be  drawn  up  in  duplicate,  one
copy, marked "Holder's copy" and bearing the number 1 to be issued to the applicant,
and the other, marked "Copy for the competent authority" and bearing the number 2,
to  be  kept  by  the  authority  issuing  the  certificate.  For  administrative  purposes  the
competent authorities may add additional copies to form 2.

Forms shall  be printed on  white paper  free of mechanical pulp, dressed  for  writing
and weighing between 55 and 65 grams per square metre. Their size shall be 210 x
297 mm; the type space between the lines shall be 4,24 mm (one sixth of an inch);
the layout of the forms shall be followed precisely. Both sides of copy No 1, which is
the  certificate  itself,  shall  in  addition  have  a  yellow  printed  guilloche-pattern
background so as to reveal any falsification by mechanical or chemical means.

Member States shall be responsible for having the forms printed. The forms may also
be printed by printers appointed by the Member State in which they are established.
In the latter case, reference to the appointment by the Member State must appear on
each form. Each form shall bear an indication of the printer's name and address or a
mark enabling the printer to be identified.

6

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

At  the  time  of  their  issue  the  import  certificates  or  extracts  shall  be  given  an  issue
number  determined  by  the  competent  authorities  of  the  Member  State.  The  import
certificate  number  shall  be  notified  to  the  Commission  electronically  within  the
integrated network set up under Article 14 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3030/93
of  12  October  1993  on  common  rules  for  imports  of  certain  textile  products  from
third countries6.

Certificates  and  extracts  shall  be  completed  in  the  official  language,  or  one  of  the
official languages, of the Member State of issue.

The marks of the issuing agencies and debiting authorities shall be applied by means
of a stamp. However, an embossing press combined with letters or figures obtained
by  means  of  perforation,  or  printing  on  the  certificate,  may  be  substituted  for  the
issuing authority's stamp. The issuing authorities shall use any tamper-proof method
to  record  the  quantity  allocated  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  it  impossible  to  insert
figures  or  references;  in  particular,  asterisks  or  similar  marks  may  be  used  to  fill
blank character-spaces (for example: *EUR*1,000*).

If the space set aside for debits on a certificate or extract thereof is insufficient, the
competent  authorities  may  attach  one  or  more  extension  pages  bearing  boxes
matching  those  on  the  reverse  of  copy  No  1  and  copy  No  2  of  the  certificate  or
extract.  The  debiting  authorities  shall  so  place  their  stamp  that  one  half  is  on  the
certificate  or  extract  thereof  and  the  other  half  is  on  the  extension  page.  If  there  is
more than one extension page, a further stamp shall be placed in like manner across
each page and the preceding page.

Import  certificates  and  extracts  issued,  and  entries  and  endorsements  made,  by  the
authorities of one Member State shall, in each of the other Member States, have the
same  legal  effect  as  documents  issued,  and  entries  and  endorsements  made,  by  the
authorities of such Member States.

The  competent  authorities  of 
the  Member  States  concerned  may,  where
indispensable, require the content of certificates or extracts to be translated into the
official language or one of the official languages of that Member State.

10.

The  import  certificate  may  be  issued  by  electronic  means  as  long  as  the  customs
offices involved have access to this certificate via a computer network.

Article 11

In  the  event  of  theft,  loss  or  destruction  of  an  export  certificate,  import  certificate  or  a
certificate  of  origin,  the  exporter  may  apply  to  the  competent  authority  which  issued  the
document  for  a  duplicate  to  be  made  out  on  the  basis  of  the  export  documents  in  his
possession. The duplicate certificate issued in this way shall bear the endorsement "duplicata"
or "duplicate" or "duplicado".

The duplicate shall bear the date of the original certificate.

6

OJ L 275, 8.11.1993, p. 1.

7

                                                
Article 12

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

It shall cease to apply on 31 December 2004.

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

Done at Brussels,

For the Council
The President

8