The member countries of the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean (PEM) Convention recently adopted the new and modernised rules of origin.
The PEM Convention on preferential rules of origin aims at establishing common rules of origin and cumulation among the PEM Contracting parties and the EU to facilitate trade and integrate the supply chains within the zone.
The new rules of origin take effect on 1 January 2025 and will modernise all preferential trade agreements between the PEM’s 24 trading partners by making the relevant rules in those agreements more flexible and business friendly. The new rules are the result of 10 years of negotiations and will affect the 24 contracting parties of the PEM. These are: the European Union (EU), Iceland,Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, Faroe Islands, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine,
Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Kosovo.
The PEM Joint Committee also agreed to develop the use of electronic certification of origin to further simplify customs formalities. The new rules of
origin will make it easier to use trade preferences for a variety of products. The most important changes are:
1. Simpler product-specific rules, such as removal of cumulative requirements, thresholds for local value-added, more adapted to EU production needs and new dual transformation for textiles;
2. Increased tolerance thresholds for nonoriginating materials, from 10 per cent to 15 per cent;
3. Introducing ‘full’ cumulation, where the production processes needed to obtain the origin of most products can be spread across different countries;
4. The possibility of claiming back duties (refund of duties on ingefed components) for most products to help EU exporters compete.
Source: evofenedex