The European Commission has approved a package of proposals aimed at intensifying trade between the European Union and countries that use the Pan-Euro-Med Convention, including Ukraine, to help recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Ukrinform, this is mentioned in a press release from the European agency.

«Today's proposals modernize the EU’s preferential trade agreements with 20 Pan-Euro-Med trading partners, making the relevant rules of origin «in these agreements more flexible and convenient for business» the press release said.

The approved proposals amend the EU’s bilateral agreements with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, the Faroe Islands, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo.

It is mentioned that these "Rules of Origin" are necessary in any trade agreement, as they determine which goods may benefit from the preferential regime. Moreover, they allow customs officers to verify the origin of goods and allow businesses to prove the origin of their goods. If all the necessary requirements are met, goods with preferential origin can be imported at lower duty rates or even at a zero rate, depending on the preferential tariff regime.

As you know, in bilateral trade between Ukraine and the European Union starting from January 1, 2019 the provisions of the Regional Convention on Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Preferential Rules of Origin were used.

For today there are 25 participant parties of the Convention, namely: the EU, the EFTA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland), Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Kosovo, Macedonia, Morocco, Moldova, Palestine, Serbia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, the Faroe Islands and Montenegro.

In practice, the application of the provisions of the Pan-Euro-Med Convention means that a Ukrainian producer will be able to purchase raw materials or components in one of the parties of the Convention, and export the ready  products to another Party without paying customs duty or at a reduced rate. This will contribute to the opening of new production facilities, better use of production capacity, involvement in regional and international value chains.

Reference source: UKRINFORM