CELEX: 31977R2968
Language: en
Date: 1977-12-23 00:00:00
Title: Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2968/77 of 23 December 1977 derogating in respect of the countries of the Central American Common Market from Articles 1, 6 and 13 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2966/77 of 23 December 1977 on the definition of the concept of originating products for purposes of the application of tariff preferences granted by the European Economic Community in respect of certain products from developing countries

30 . 12 . 77                            Official Journal of the European Communities                            No L 350/59
                                      COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 2968 /77
                                                      of 23 December 1977
               derogating in respect of the countries of the Central American Common Market from
               Articles 1 , 6 and 13 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2966/77 of 23 December 1977 on
               the definition of the concept of originating products for purposes of the application of tariff
               preferences granted by the European Economic Community in respect of certain products
                                                   from developing countries
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,                       products originating in Costa Rica, El Salvador,
                                                                   Guatemala, Honduras or Nicaragua (hereinafter refer­
                                                                   red to as CACM countries) those products which have
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European              in accordance with those provisions acquired in one of
Economic Community,                                                those countries the status of originating products and
                                                                   which after being exported from that country have
Whereas, for the purposes of implementation of the                 undergone no working or processing in any other
provisions concerning the tariff preferences granted by            CACM country or have not undergone sufficient work­
the Community for certain products originating in de­              ing or processing in any such other country to confer on
veloping countries, rules of origin are by Commission              them by virtue of the said provisions the status of pro­
Regulation (EEC) No 2966/77 of 23 December                         ducts originating in that other country, provided that:
1977 (*), hereinafter called the 'Basic Regulation', laid
down concerning the conditions under which these
products acquire the status of originating products and            (a ) only products originating in a CACM country have
the mode of proof and verification of their status ;                    been used in the course of such working or pro­
                                                                        cessing;
Whereas the Central American Common Market has                     (b ) where a percentage rule limits, in Lists A and B re­
established close economic cooperation between Costa                    ferred to in Article 3 of the Regulation referred to
Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua                    above, the proportion in value of non-originating
(hereinafter referred to as CACM countries); whereas                    products that can be incorporated under certain
the provisions relative to the acquisition of the status of             circumstances, the added value has been acquired in
originating products laid down in Article 1 of the basic                each of the countries in accordance with the said
Regulation may, with the necessary adaptations, help                    percentage rule and with the other rules contained in
facilitate this cooperation and encourage the use in one                the said lists without any possibility of cumulation
CACM country of products originating in other CACM                      from one country to another.
countries; whereas the said provisions should be
amended accordingly and special rules as to the mode of
proof and verification of the status of originating pro­           2. For the purposes of paragraph 1 (a), the fact that
ducts should be laid down ; whereas to this end it is              products other than those referred to therein have been
necessary to provide for requests for verification to be           used in a proportion not exceeding in total value 5% of
centralized with a joint administrative body of the                the value of the products obtained and imported into
aforesaid common market;                                           the Community shall not affect the determination of
                                                                   origin of the latter products, provided that the products
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation               so used would not have caused such latter products to
are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on             lose the status of products originating in the CACM
Origin,                                                            country from which they were first exported, had the
                                                                   products used been incorporated in that first country.
                                                                   3 . In the cases referred to in paragraph 1 (b) no non­
 HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :                                     originating product may be incorporated if it undergoes
                                                                   only working or processing as specified in Article 3 (2 )
                                                                   of the basic Regulation.
                            Article 1
 1 . Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 1 of the            4 . Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 and
 basic Regulation, there shall also be considered as               provided that all the conditions laid down in that
                                                                   paragraph are nevertheless fulfilled, the products ob­
                                                                   tained shall not continue to be considered as products
                                                                   originating in the first CACM country of exportation
H See page 1 of this Official Journal.                             unless the value of the products worked or processed in
 ---pagebreak---   No L 350 /60                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                 30 . 12 . 77
   that country represents the highest percentage of the                                         Article 5
  value of the products obtained. If this is not so, the lat­
   ter products shall be considered as originating in the               The certificates referred to in Articles 3 and 4 must
   CACM country where the added value acquired repre­                   contain :
   sents the highest percentage of their value.
                                                                         — in box 4 'For official use' the name of the CACM
                                                                            country in which the goods originate together with
                             Article 2                                      one of the following phrases :
                                                                                            ' CUMUL MCAC '
  1 . For the purposes of implementation of the provi­
  sions of Article 1 , the provisions of Article 4 of the basic                         ' CUMULATION CACM'
  Regulation shall apply.
                                                                        — in box 12 'Declaration by the exporter' a statement
                                                                            to the effect that the products satisfy the conditions
  2 . In Article 1 ( 1 ) (b) and (4 ), ' added value' means the             of origin required by the generalized system of pre­
  difference between the ex-works price of the goods                        ferences in order to be exported to the European
  obtained, less internal taxes refunded or refundable on                   Economic Community.
  exportation from the country concerned, and the cus­
  toms value of all the products imported into and
  worked or processed in that country.
                                                                                                 Article 6
                             Article 3
                                                                        1 . The provisions of Articles 1 to 5 above shall apply
                                                                       only in so far as the rules regulating trade in the context
                                                                       of this Regulation between each of the countries
 1 . For the purposes of Article 1 , proof of status as                hereinbefore specified are identical to the provisions laid
 originating products within the meaning of Article 1 of               down in the basic Regulation and in this Regulation .
 the basic Regulation shall, in the case of products ob­
 tained in one CACM country and exported to another
 CACM country, be established by production of a cer­                  2 . In addition, each CACM country undertakes to the
 tificate of origin Form A, a specimen of which is given               Commission of the European Communities that it will,
 in the Annex to the basic Regulation. This certificate                through the Permanent Secretariat of the Central
 shall be issued by the governmental authorities of the                American Common Market (hereinafter referred to as
 country of export competent to issue certificates of ori­             SIECA), comply or ensure compliance with the rules
gin for the purposes of the basic Regulation.                          concerning the preparation and issue of certificates of
                                                                       origin Form A and with those relative to administrative
                                                                       cooperation contained in Articles 7 and 8 below.
 2 . For the purposes of Article 1 , proof of status as
 originating products within the meaning of that Article
 shall, in the case of products that have merely remained
 in one of the CACM countries or have undergone there
 no processing other than as specified in that Article and                                      Article 7
 have been exported from that country to another
 CACM country, be established by production of a cer­                  1 . Retrospective verifications of the certificates Form A
 tificate as referred to in paragraph 1 issued as provided            mentioned in Article 3 shall be carried out at random or
 in that paragraph on the basis of the certificates of ori­           whenever the authorities as referred to in that Article of
 gin Form A issued previously.                                        any CACM country where the products have either
                                                                      remained before their re-exportation in the same state
                                                                      or have undergone working or processing as specified in
                                                                      Article 1 have reasonable doubt as to the authenticity of
                            Article 4                                 the document or as to the accuracy of the information
                                                                      regarding the true origin of the products in question.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 6 of the basic
Regulation, the products mentioned in Article 1 shall on
importation into the Community benefit from the pro­                  2. For the purpose of applying the provisions of para­
visions on tariff preferences referred to in that Article             graph 1 , the authorities mentioned in that paragraph
upon production of a certificate of origin Form A                     shall send the certificate of origin Form A to SIECA,
issued, on the basis of the certificates of origin Form A             indicating where appropriate the reasons of form or
issued previously, by the authority in the CACM                       substance for an enquiry. They shall foward any avail­
country from which the products are exported to the                   able information which tends to show that the particu­
Community.                                                            lars on the said certificate are inaccurate .
 ---pagebreak--- 30 . 12 . 77                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                   No L 350/61
                           Article 8                                     shall communicate this information to the customs
                                                                          authorities of the Member States.
1 . Retrospective verification of the certificates Form A
mentioned in Article 4 shall be carried out in the cir­
                                                                                                     Article 9
cumstances specified in Article 13 of the basic Regula­
tion. However, by way of derogation from the provi­
sions of paragraph 2 of that Article, the relevant cus­                  The Explanatory Note annexed to this Regulation
toms authorities in the Community shall return the cer­                  forms an integral part thereof.
tificate of origin Form A to SIECA.
                                                                                                    Article 10
2 . The CACM countries shall communicate to the                          This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January
Commission the address of SIECA. The Commission                           1978 .
               This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
               Done at Brussels, 23 December 1977.
                                                                                           For the Commission
                                                                                            fitienne DAVIGNON
                                                                                      Member of the Commission
                                                                 ANNEX
                                                      Explanatory Note to Article 1
               For the purposes of Article 1 ( 1 ) (b), the percentage rule must be observed by referring as regards the
               added value acquired to the provisions contained in Lists A and B referred to in Article 3 of the basic
               Regulation. Where the products obtained appear in List A, the percentage rule therefore constitutes a
               criterion additional to that of change of tariff heading for any non-originating product used.