Regulation (EU) 2024/823 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 February 2024 on exceptional trade measures for countries and territories participating in or linked to the Stabilisation and Association process (codification)

Article 1

Preferential arrangements

Article 2

Conditions for entitlement to, and related suspension of, the preferential arrangements

Entitlement to benefit from the preferential arrangements referred to in Article 1 shall be subject to the following conditions:

(a) compliance with the definition of ‘originating products’ provided for in Title II, Chapter 1, Section 2, Subsections 4 and 5, of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446, and Title II, Chapter 2, Section 2, Subsections 10 and 11, of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447;

(b) abstention of the beneficiary parties from introducing new duties and charges having equivalent effect and new quantitative restrictions or measures having equivalent effect in respect of imports originating in the Union, from increasing existing levels of duties or charges or from introducing any other restrictions;

(c) the involvement of beneficiary parties in effective administrative cooperation with the Union, including as required for the verification of evidence of origin, in order to prevent any risk of fraud; and

(d) abstention of the beneficiary parties from engaging in serious and systematic violations of human rights, including core labour rights, of fundamental principles of democracy and of the rule of law.

Article 3

Agricultural products – tariff quotas

Article 4

Management of tariff quotas

The tariff quotas referred to in Article 3(1) of this Regulation shall be managed by the Commission in accordance with Title II, Chapter 1, Section 1, of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447.

Communication for that purpose between the Member States and the Commission shall be effected, as far as possible, by telematic link.

Article 5

Access to tariff quotas

Each Member State shall ensure that importers have equal and uninterrupted access to the tariff quotas for as long as the balance of the relevant quota volume so permits.

Article 6

Delegation of powers

The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 7 concerning:

(a) necessary amendments and technical adjustments to Annex I following amendments to the Combined Nomenclature codes and to the integrated tariff of the European Union (TARIC) subdivisions;

(b) necessary adjustments following the granting of trade preferences under other arrangements between the Union and the beneficiary parties;

(c) suspension, in whole or in part, of the entitlement of a beneficiary party concerned to benefits under this Regulation, in the event of non-compliance by that beneficiary party with Article 2(1), point (d).

Article 7

Exercise of the delegation

Article 8

Committee procedure

Article 9

Cooperation

Member States and the Commission shall cooperate closely to ensure that this Regulation, in particular Article 10(1), is complied with.

Article 10

Other temporary suspension measures

Where the Commission finds that there is sufficient evidence of fraud or that there is a massive increase in imports into the Union above the level of normal production and export capacity, it may take measures to suspend in whole or in part the arrangements provided for in this Regulation for a period of three months, provided that it has first:

(a) informed the Western Balkans Implementation Committee;

(b) called on the Member States to take such precautionary measures as are necessary in order to safeguard the Union’s financial interests or to secure compliance by the beneficiary parties with Article 2(1);

(c) published a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union stating that there are grounds for reasonable doubts about the application of the preferential arrangements or compliance with Article 2(1) by the beneficiary party concerned which may call into question its right to continue enjoying the benefits granted by this Regulation.

The measures referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall be adopted by means of implementing acts. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 8(3).

Article 11

Repeal

Regulation (EC) No 1215/2009 is repealed.

References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation and shall be read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex III.

Article 12

Entry into force and application

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

It shall apply until 31 December 2030.

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

ANNEX I

Notwithstanding the rules for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature, the wording for the description of the products shall be considered as having no more than an indicative value, the preferential scheme being determined, within the context of this Annex, by the coverage of the CN codes. Where ex CN codes are indicated, the preferential scheme shall be determined by the application of the CN code and the corresponding description, taken together.

ANNEX II

ANNEX III