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Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 732/2008
17 versions
· 2012-10-25
2025-01-01
Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Counc
2023-11-28
Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Counc
2023-01-01
Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Counc
2022-01-01
Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Counc
2021-04-10
Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Counc
2021-01-01
Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Counc
2020-08-12
Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Counc
2019-01-01
Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Counc
2018-03-07
Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Counc
2018-01-01
Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Counc
2017-05-19
Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Counc
2017-01-01
Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Counc
Changes on 2017-01-01
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
(f)‘EBA beneficiary countries’ means beneficiary countries of the special arrangement for least developed countries as listed in Annex IV;
(g)‘Common Customs Tariff duties’ means the duties specified in Part Two of Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff (<sup>8</sup>), except those duties established as part of tariff quotas;
(g)‘Common Customs Tariff duties’ means the duties specified in Part Two of Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff (<sup>1</sup>), except those duties established as part of tariff quotas;
(h)‘section’ means any of the sections of the Common Customs Tariff as laid down by Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87;
@@ -135,9 +135,12 @@
(b)it has ratified all the conventions listed in Annex VIII (the ‘relevant conventions’) and the most recent available conclusions of the monitoring bodies under those conventions (the ‘relevant monitoring bodies’) do not identify a serious failure to effectively implement any of those conventions;
(c)in relation to any of the relevant conventions, it has not formulated a reservation which is prohibited by any of those conventions or which is for the purposes of this Article considered to be incompatible with the object and purpose of that convention.
For the purposes of this Article, reservations shall not be considered to be incompatible with the object and purpose of a convention unless:
(i)a process explicitly set out for that purpose under the convention has so determined; or
(ii)in the absence of such a process, the Union where a party to the convention, and/or a qualified majority of Member States party to the convention, in accordance with their respective competences as established in the Treaties, objected to the reservation on the grounds that it is incompatible with the object and purpose of the convention and opposed the entry into force of the convention as between them and the reserving state in accordance with the provisions of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties;
For the purposes of this Article, reservations shall not be considered to be incompatible with the object and purpose of a convention unless:
(i)a process explicitly set out for that purpose under the convention has so determined; or
(ii)in the absence of such a process, the Union where a party to the convention, and/or a qualified majority of Member States party to the convention, in accordance with their respective competences as established in the Treaties, objected to the reservation on the grounds that it is incompatible with the object and purpose of the convention and opposed the entry into force of the convention as between them and the reserving state in accordance with the provisions of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties;
(d)it gives a binding undertaking to maintain ratification of the relevant conventions and to ensure the effective implementation thereof;
@@ -259,7 +262,7 @@
2. From 1 January 2014 until 30 September 2015, imports of products under tariff heading 1701 of the Common Customs Tariff shall require an import licence.
3. The Commission shall, in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 39(3), adopt detailed rules for implementing the provisions referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 195 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of 22 October 2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products (Single CMO Regulation) (<sup>9</sup>).
3. The Commission shall, in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 39(3), adopt detailed rules for implementing the provisions referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 195 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of 22 October 2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products (Single CMO Regulation) (<sup>2</sup>).
## CHAPTER V
@@ -279,7 +282,7 @@
(e)serious and systematic infringement of the objectives adopted by Regional Fishery Organisations or any international arrangements to which the Union is a party concerning the conservation and management of fishery resources.
2. The preferential arrangements provided for in this Regulation shall not be withdrawn under point (d) of paragraph 1 in respect of products that are subject to anti-dumping or countervailing measures under Council Regulation (EC) No 597/2009 of 11 June 2009 on protection against subsidised imports from countries not members of the European Community (<sup>10</sup>) or Council Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009 of 30 November 2009 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Community (<sup>11</sup>), for the reasons justifying those measures.
2. The preferential arrangements provided for in this Regulation shall not be withdrawn under point (d) of paragraph 1 in respect of products that are subject to anti-dumping or countervailing measures under Council Regulation (EC) No 597/2009 of 11 June 2009 on protection against subsidised imports from countries not members of the European Community (<sup>3</sup>) or Council Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009 of 30 November 2009 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Community (<sup>4</sup>), for the reasons justifying those measures.
3. Where the Commission considers that there are sufficient grounds justifying temporary withdrawal of the tariff preferences provided under any preferential arrangement referred to in Article 1(2) on the basis of the reasons referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article it shall adopt an implementing act to initiate the procedure for temporary withdrawal in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 39(2). The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Council of that implementing act.
@@ -473,7 +476,7 @@
1. The statistical source to be used for the purpose of this Regulation shall be the external trade statistics of the Commission (Eurostat).
2. Member States shall send the Commission (Eurostat) their statistical data on products placed under the customs procedure for release for free circulation under the tariff preferences according to Regulation (EC) No 471/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 May 2009 on Community statistics relating to external trade with non-member countries (<sup>12</sup>). Those data, supplied by reference to the Combined Nomenclature codes and, where applicable, the TARIC codes, shall show, by country of origin, the values, quantities and any supplementary units required in accordance with the definitions in that Regulation. In accordance with Article 8(1) of that Regulation, Member States shall transmit those statistical data no later than 40 days after the end of each monthly reference period. In order to facilitate information and increase transparency, the Commission shall also ensure that the relevant statistical data for the GSP sections are regularly available in a public database.
2. Member States shall send the Commission (Eurostat) their statistical data on products placed under the customs procedure for release for free circulation under the tariff preferences according to Regulation (EC) No 471/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 May 2009 on Community statistics relating to external trade with non-member countries (<sup>5</sup>). Those data, supplied by reference to the Combined Nomenclature codes and, where applicable, the TARIC codes, shall show, by country of origin, the values, quantities and any supplementary units required in accordance with the definitions in that Regulation. In accordance with Article 8(1) of that Regulation, Member States shall transmit those statistical data no later than 40 days after the end of each monthly reference period. In order to facilitate information and increase transparency, the Commission shall also ensure that the relevant statistical data for the GSP sections are regularly available in a public database.
3. In accordance with Article 308d of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93, Member States shall forward to the Commission, at its request, details of the quantities and values of products released for free circulation under the tariff preferences, during the previous months. Those data shall include the products referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article.
@@ -557,7 +560,7 @@
## ANNEX I
### **Eligible countries** (<sup>13</sup>)**of the scheme referred to in Article 3**
### **Eligible countries** (<sup>6</sup>)**of the scheme referred to in Article 3**
| A | B |
| --- | --- |
@@ -724,7 +727,7 @@
## ANNEX II
### **Beneficiary countries** (<sup>14</sup>)**of the general arrangement referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2)**
### **Beneficiary countries** (<sup>7</sup>)**of the general arrangement referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2)**
| A | B |
| --- | --- |
@@ -746,8 +749,7 @@
| CI | Côte d'Ivoire |
| | |
| CK | Cook Islands |
| | |
| CM | Cameroon |
| ————— | |
| | |
| CN | China, People's Republic of (<sup>1</sup>) |
| ————— | |
@@ -757,11 +759,10 @@
| EC | Ecuador (<sup>1</sup>) |
| ER | Eritrea |
| ET | Ethiopia |
| | |
| FJ | Fiji |
| ————— | |
| | |
| FM | Micronesia, Federated States of |
| GE | Georgia |
| ————— | |
| | |
| GH | Ghana |
| | |
@@ -776,7 +777,7 @@
| HT | Haiti |
| ID | Indonesia |
| IN | India |
| IQ | Iraq |
| ————— | |
| | |
| KE | Kenya |
| | |
@@ -789,7 +790,8 @@
| LR | Liberia |
| LS | Lesotho |
| MG | Madagascar |
| MH | Marshall Islands |
| ————— | |
| | |
| ML | Mali |
| MM | Myanmar/Burma |
| MN | Mongolia |
@@ -831,8 +833,10 @@
| TJ | Tajikistan |
| TL | Timor-Leste |
| ————— | |
| ————— | |
| | |
| TO | Tonga |
| | |
| TV | Tuvalu |
| TZ | Tanzania |
| UA | Ukraine |
@@ -843,7 +847,7 @@
| WS | Samoa |
| YE | Yemen |
| ZM | Zambia |
| (<sup>1</sup>)This beneficiary country shall be removed from the list of GSP beneficiary countries one year after the date of entry into force of this Regulation. | |
| (<sup>*1</sup>)This beneficiary country shall be removed from the list of GSP beneficiary countries one year after the date of entry into force of this Regulation. | |
### **Beneficiary countries of the general arrangement referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2) which have been temporarily withdrawn from that arrangement, in respect of all or of certain products originating in these countries**
@@ -853,7 +857,7 @@
## ANNEX III
### **Beneficiary countries** (<sup>15</sup>)**of the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance referred to in point (b) of Article 1(2)**
### **Beneficiary countries** (<sup>8</sup>)**of the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance referred to in point (b) of Article 1(2)**
| A | B |
| --- | --- |
@@ -863,8 +867,7 @@
| | |
| CV | Cape Verde |
| ————— | |
| | |
| GE | Georgia |
| ————— | |
| ————— | |
| | |
| KG | Kyrgyz Republic |
@@ -887,7 +890,7 @@
## ANNEX IV
### **Beneficiary countries** (<sup>16</sup>)**of the special arrangement for the least-developed countries referred to in point (c) of Article 1(2)**
### **Beneficiary countries** (<sup>9</sup>)**of the special arrangement for the least-developed countries referred to in point (c) of Article 1(2)**
| A | B |
| --- | --- |
@@ -1510,9 +1513,12 @@
### **Modalities for the application of Chapter III of this Regulation**
1.For the purposes of Chapter III a vulnerable country means a country:
(a)of which, in terms of value, the seven largest GSP sections of its imports into the Union of products listed in Annex IX represent more than the threshold of 75 % in value of its total imports of products listed in that Annex, as an average during the last three consecutive years;
and
(b)of which the imports of products listed in Annex IX into the Union represent less than the threshold of 6,5 % in value of the total imports into the Union of products listed in that Annex originating in countries listed in Annex II, as an average during the last three consecutive years.
(a)of which, in terms of value, the seven largest GSP sections of its imports into the Union of products listed in Annex IX represent more than the threshold of 75 % in value of its total imports of products listed in that Annex, as an average during the last three consecutive years;
and
(b)of which the imports of products listed in Annex IX into the Union represent less than the threshold of 6,5 % in value of the total imports into the Union of products listed in that Annex originating in countries listed in Annex II, as an average during the last three consecutive years.
2.For the purposes of point (a) of Article 9(1), the data to be used in application of point 1 of this Annex are those available on 1 September of the year preceding the year of the request referred to in Article 10(1).
@@ -2080,34 +2086,20 @@
| Annex III, Part B | Annex VIII, Part B |
| — | Annex X |
(<sup>1</sup>) Position of the European Parliament of 13 June 2012 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and decision of the Council of 4 October 2012.
(<sup>2</sup>) OJ L 211, 6.8.2008, p. 1.
(<sup>3</sup>) OJ L 145, 31.5.2011, p. 28.
(<sup>4</sup>) OJ L 20, 24.1.2008, p. 1.
(<sup>5</sup>) OJ L 240, 23.9.2000, p. 1.
(<sup>6</sup>) OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1.
(<sup>7</sup>) OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13.
(<sup>8</sup>) OJ L 256, 7.9.1987, p. 1.
(<sup>9</sup>) OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1.
(<sup>10</sup>) OJ L 188, 18.7.2009, p. 93.
(<sup>11</sup>) OJ L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 51.
(<sup>12</sup>) OJ L 152, 16.6.2009, p. 23.
(<sup>13</sup>) This list includes countries for which preferences may have been temporarily withdrawn or suspended. The Commission or the competent authorities of the country concerned will be able to provide an updated list.
(<sup>14</sup>) This list includes countries for which preferences may have been temporarily withdrawn or suspended. The Commission or the competent authorities of the country concerned will be able to provide an updated list.
(<sup>15</sup>) This list includes countries for which preferences may have been temporarily withdrawn or suspended. The Commission or the competent authorities of the country concerned will be able to provide an updated list.
(<sup>16</sup>) This list includes countries for which preferences may have been temporarily withdrawn or suspended. The Commission or the competent authorities of the country concerned will be able to provide an updated list.
(<sup>1</sup>) OJ L 256, 7.9.1987, p. 1.
(<sup>2</sup>) OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1.
(<sup>3</sup>) OJ L 188, 18.7.2009, p. 93.
(<sup>4</sup>) OJ L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 51.
(<sup>5</sup>) OJ L 152, 16.6.2009, p. 23.
(<sup>6</sup>) This list includes countries for which preferences may have been temporarily withdrawn or suspended. The Commission or the competent authorities of the country concerned will be able to provide an updated list.
(<sup>7</sup>) This list includes countries for which preferences may have been temporarily withdrawn or suspended. The Commission or the competent authorities of the country concerned will be able to provide an updated list.
(<sup>8</sup>) This list includes countries for which preferences may have been temporarily withdrawn or suspended. The Commission or the competent authorities of the country concerned will be able to provide an updated list.
(<sup>9</sup>) This list includes countries for which preferences may have been temporarily withdrawn or suspended. The Commission or the competent authorities of the country concerned will be able to provide an updated list.
2016-01-27
Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Counc
2016-01-01
Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Counc
2015-01-01
Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Counc
2014-10-01
Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Counc
2014-02-28
Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Co
original version
Text at this date