Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be taken by the European Union within the Association Council established by the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Arab Republic of Egypt, of the other part, as regards the amendment of Article 15(7) of Protocol No 4 to that Agreement, concerning the definition of the concept of ‘originating products’ and methods of administrative cooperation

The prohibition of drawback of customs duties is stipulated in Article 15 of Protocol No 4 annexed to the EC-Egypt Association Agreement, as amended by Decision No 1/2010 of the EU-Egypt Association Council of 3 August 2010. Paragraph 7 of that article provides for a transitional period prior to the full application of the prohibition of drawback of duties by Egypt and allows the country to grant duty drawback to its exporters or economic operators during this period. The transitional period expired on 31 December 2012. However, Article 15(7) provides for the possibility of re-examining this provision by mutual agreement.

On 28 August 2012 Egypt requested in writing that the period in which the provision applies be extended. In accordance with Article 39 of Protocol No 4, the provisions of the Protocol may be amended by decision of the Association Council. The text of the decision will amend the existing provision laid down in Article 15(7).

The parties have agreed to extend by three years the application period of Article 15(7), with effect from 1 January 2013 in order to provide clarity, long-term economic predictability and legal certainty for economic operators. Pending formal adoption of the present decision, it was agreed, in the Pan-Euro-Med working group, that this decision will apply from 1 January 2013.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)724: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:724:FIN

---