Legal provisions of COM(2022)195 - Temporary trade liberalisation supplementing trade concessions applicable to Ukrainian products under the Association Agreement with Ukraine

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dossier COM(2022)195 - Temporary trade liberalisation supplementing trade concessions applicable to Ukrainian products under the Association ...
document COM(2022)195 EN
date May 30, 2022


Article 1

Trade-liberalisation measures

1. The following preferential arrangements are introduced:

(a)the preferential customs duties on importation into the Union of certain industrial products originating in Ukraine that are subject to a seven-year phase-out in accordance with Annex I-A to the Association Agreement shall be set to zero;

(b)the application of the entry price system shall be suspended for those products to which it applies as specified in Annex I-A to the Association Agreement. No customs duties shall apply to imports of those products;

(c)all the tariff-rate quotas established under Annex I-A to the Association Agreement shall be suspended and the products covered by those quotas shall be admitted for importation into the Union from Ukraine without any customs duties.

2. By way of derogation from Article 14(1), first subparagraph, of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036, anti-dumping duties on imports originating in Ukraine made during the application of this Regulation shall not be collected at any point in time, including after the expiry of this Regulation.

3. The application of Regulation (EU) 2015/478 shall be temporarily suspended with regard to imports originating in Ukraine.

Article 2

Conditions for entitlement to the preferential arrangements

The preferential arrangements provided for in Article 1(1), points (a), (b) and (c), shall be subject to the following conditions:

(a)compliance with the rules of origin of products and the procedures related thereto as provided for in the Association Agreement;

(b)Ukraine’s abstention from introducing new duties or charges having equivalent effect and new quantitative restrictions or measures having equivalent effect for imports originating in the Union, from increasing existing levels of duties or charges or from introducing any other restrictions, including discriminatory internal administrative measures, unless clearly justified in the war context; and

(c)Ukraine’s respect for democratic principles, human rights and fundamental freedoms and respect for the principle of the rule of law as well as continued and sustained efforts with regard to the fight against corruption and illegal activities provided for in Articles 2, 3 and 22 of the Association Agreement.

Article 3

Temporary suspension

1. Where the Commission finds that there is sufficient evidence of Ukraine’s failure to comply with the conditions set out in Article 2, it may, by means of an implementing act, suspend in whole or in part the preferential arrangements provided for in Article 1(1), points (a), (b) and (c). That implementing act shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 5(2).

2. Where a Member State requests that the Commission suspends any of the preferential arrangements on the basis of Ukraine’s failure to comply with the conditions set out in Article 2, point (b), the Commission shall provide a reasoned opinion within four months of the request on whether the claim of Ukraine’s failure to comply is substantiated. If the Commission concludes that the claim is substantiated, it shall initiate the procedure referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.

Article 4

Safeguard clause

1. Where a product originating in Ukraine is imported on terms which cause, or threaten to cause, serious difficulties to Union producers of like or directly competing products, the customs duties otherwise applicable under the Association Agreement on imports of that product may be reintroduced at any time.

2. The Commission shall closely monitor the impact of this Regulation, including with regard to the prices on the Union market, taking into account the information on exports, imports and Union production of the products subject to the trade-liberalisation measures established by this Regulation.

3. The Commission shall take a decision to initiate an investigation within a reasonable period of time:

(a)at the request of a Member State;

(b)at the request of a legal person or an association that does not have legal personality, acting on behalf of the Union industry, meaning all or a major proportion of Union producers of like or directly competing products; or

(c)on its own initiative if it is apparent to the Commission that there is sufficient prima facie evidence of serious difficulties to Union producers of like or directly competing products as referred to in paragraph 1.

For the purposes of this paragraph, ‘major proportion of Union producers of like or directly competing products’ means Union producers whose collective output constitutes more than 50 % of the total Union production of the like or directly competing products produced by that portion of the Union industry which have expressed either support for or opposition to the request and which represent no less than 25 % of total production of the like or directly competing products produced by the Union industry.

4. Where the Commission decides to initiate an investigation, it shall publish a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union announcing the initiation of the investigation. The notice shall provide a summary of the information received and state that any relevant information should be sent to the Commission. It shall specify the period within which interested parties may submit their views in writing. Such period shall not exceed four months from the date of publication of the notice.

5. The Commission shall seek all information it deems necessary and may verify the information received with Ukraine or any other relevant source. It may be assisted by officials of the Member State on whose territory verification might be sought, if that Member State requests such assistance by those officials.

6. In examining whether serious difficulties to Union producers of like or directly competing products as referred to in paragraph 1 exist, the Commission shall take account, among other things, of the following factors concerning Union producers, where relevant information is available:

—market share,

—production,

—stocks,

—production capacity,

—capacity utilisation,

—employment,

—imports,

—prices.

7. The investigation shall be completed within six months of the publication of the notice referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article. In exceptional circumstances, the Commission may extend that period by means of an implementing act adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 5(2).

8. Within three months of the completion of the investigation, the Commission shall decide whether to reintroduce the customs duties otherwise applicable under the Association Agreement by means of an implementing act adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 5(2) of this Regulation. That implementing act shall enter into force within one month of its publication.

The customs duties otherwise applicable under the Association Agreement may be reintroduced for as long as necessary to counteract the deterioration in the economic or financial situation of Union producers, or for as long as the threat of such deterioration persists. Where the facts as finally established show that the conditions set out in paragraph 1 of this Article are not met, the Commission shall adopt an implementing act terminating the investigation and proceedings. That implementing act shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 5(2) of this Regulation.

9. Where exceptional circumstances requiring immediate action make an investigation impossible, the Commission may, after informing the Customs Code Committee referred to in Article 5(1), take any preventive measure which is necessary.

Article 5

Committee procedure

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Customs Code Committee established by Article 285 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7). That Committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

Article 6

Assessment of the implementation of the trade-liberalisation measures

The Commission’s annual report on the implementation of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area shall include a detailed assessment of the implementation of the trade-liberalisation measures provided for in this Regulation and shall include, insofar as appropriate, an assessment of the social impact of those measures in Ukraine and in the Union. Information on imports of products under Article 1(1), point (c), shall be made available via the website of the Commission.

Article 7

Transitory provision

The preferential arrangements referred to in Article 1(1), points (a), (b) and (c), shall apply to products which, on 4 June 2022, are either in transit from Ukraine to the Union or under customs control in the Union, subject to the making of a claim to that effect to the responsible customs authorities of the Union within six months of that date.

Article 8

Entry into force and application

1. This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

2. This Regulation shall apply until 5 June 2023.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.