European Council approves conclusion of Euro-Mediterranean convention on preferential rules of origin

BRUSSELS, Kingdom of Belgium, March 26, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Council today1 authorised the conclusion, on behalf of the EU, of the regional Convention on pan-Euro-Mediterranean preferential rules of origin (9429/10).

The decision aims at replacing the current pan-Euro-Mediterranean system of cumulation

of origin based on individual protocols applicable between two partner countries, with a

single legal instrument in the form of a regional convention on preferential rules of origin.

The main objective of establishing a single regional convention is to facilitate the

application of identical rules of origin for the purpose of diagonal cumulation of origin for

goods traded in the pan-Euro-Mediterranean cumulation zone.

The Convention is intended to overcome the difficulties in the management of the current

network of some 60 bilateral protocols on rules of origin among the countries or territories

of the Euro-Mediterranean zone.

The contracting parties to the Convention are:

– the European Union;

– the Faroe Islands2;

– the EFTA States: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland;

1 The decision was taken without discussion at a meeting of the General Affairs

Council.

2 Denmark in respect of the Faroe Islands.

– the participants in the "Barcelona Process": Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon,

Morocco, the Palestine Liberation Organisation for the benefit of the Palestinian

Authority of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey; and

– the participants in the EU's stabilisation and association process: Albania, Bosnia

and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,

Montenegro and Serbia.

The EU signed the Convention on 15 June 2011.

On 24/25 March 2011, the European Council called for the development of a new

partnership with the region, founded on deeper economic integration, broader market

access and closer political cooperation. It called, in particular, for rapid progress to be

made on pan-Euro-Mediterranean rules of origin.

For more information on the system of pan-Euro-Mediterranean cumulation see:

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/customs/customs_duties/rules_origin/preferential/art

icle_783_en.htm