The Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part2 (‘the Agreement’) was signed on 30 of December 20203 and applies provisionally as from 1 January 2021.

Under Article 64(1) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, in order to benefit from the preferential tariff measures referred to in its Article 56(2)(d) (preferential tariff measures under the Union’s agreements with certain countries or territories outside its customs territory or groups of such countries or territories), goods must comply with the rules on preferential origin laid down in those agreements, as referred to in its Article 64(2).

Article ORIG. 19 of the Agreement requires the exporter of a product to make out a statement on origin on the basis of information demonstrating the origin of the product, including information on the originating status of materials used in its production. Under that article, the exporter is responsible for the correctness of the statement on origin and the information provided therein.

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/24474 lays down, among other things, procedural rules to facilitate the establishment in the Union of the preferential origin of goods. Article 61 of that Implementing Regulation establishes that where a supplier provides the exporter with the information necessary to determine the originating status of goods for the purposes of the provisions governing preferential trade between the Union and certain countries or territories (preferential originating status), the supplier must do so by means of a supplier’s declaration. Under Article 62 of that Implementing Regulation, where a supplier regularly supplies an exporter with consignments of goods, and the originating status of the goods of all those consignments is expected to be the same, that supplier may provide a single declaration covering subsequent consignments of such goods (long-term supplier’s declaration).

Given the short period of time between the publication of the Agreement and the date on which it will become applicable, it would be difficult for some suppliers to provide all relevant declarations in time for exporters to make out the statements on origin based on them from the date on which the Agreement becomes applicable.

In order to facilitate the making out of statements on origin from the date on which the Agreement becomes applicable, it is appropriate during a transitory period to allow exporters to make out statements on origin based on supplier’s declarations even if they do not have all the relevant supplier’s declarations at the time of making out the statement on origin, provided that at the end of such transitional period, the supplier’s declarations have been provided to the exporter. This does not affect the exporter’s obligation to make out statements on origin on the basis of information demonstrating the origin of the product, including information on the originating status of materials used in the production of the product.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Customs Code Committee,