Council Decision 2013/755/EUShow full title

Council Decision 2013/755/EU of 25 November 2013 on the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Union (‘Overseas Association Decision’)

TITLE II ARRANGEMENTS FOR TRADE IN GOODS AND SERVICES AND ESTABLISHMENT

Chapter 1 Arrangements for trade in goods

Article 43Free access for originating goods

1.Products originating in the OCTs shall be imported into the Union free of import duty.

2.The definition of originating products and the methods of administrative cooperation relating thereto are laid down in Annex VI.

Article 44Quantitative restrictions and measures having equivalent effect

1.The Union shall not apply to imports of products originating in the OCTs any quantitative restrictions or measures having equivalent effect.

2.Paragraph 1 shall not preclude prohibitions or restrictions on imports, exports or goods in transit justified on grounds of public morality or public policy, the protection of health and life of humans, animals and plants, the protection of national treasures possessing artistic, historic or archaeological value, the conservation of exhaustible natural resources or the protection of industrial and commercial property.

Prohibitions or restrictions referred to in the first subparagraph shall in no case constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction of trade generally.

Article 45Measures adopted by the OCTs

1.The authorities of the OCTs may retain or introduce, in respect of imports of products originating in the Union, such customs duties or quantitative restrictions as they consider necessary in view of their respective development needs.

2.For the fields covered by this chapter, the OCTs shall grant to the Union a treatment no less favourable than the most favourable treatment applicable to any major trading economy as defined in paragraph 4.

3.Paragraph 2 shall not preclude an OCTs from granting certain other OCTs or other developing countries more favourable treatment than that accorded to the Union.

4.For the purposes of this Title, a ‘major trading economy’ means any developed country, or any country accounting for a share of world merchandise exports above one per cent, or, without prejudice to paragraph 3, any group of countries acting individually, collectively or through an economic integration agreement accounting collectively for a share of world merchandise exports above 1,5 %. For this calculation the latest available official data by the WTO on leading exporters in world merchandise trade (excluding intra-Union trade) shall be used.

5.The authorities of the OCTs shall communicate to the Commission by 2 April 2014, the customs tariffs and lists of quantitative restrictions which they apply in compliance with this Decision.

The authorities of the OCTs shall also communicate to the Commission any subsequent amendments to such measures as and when they are adopted.

Article 46Non-discrimination

1.The Union shall not discriminate between OCTs and the OCTs shall not discriminate between Member States.

2.In compliance with Article 65, the implementation of the specific provisions in this Decision and in particular its Articles 44(2), 45 and 48, 49, 51 and 59(3) shall not be deemed to constitute a discrimination.

Article 47Conditions for movements of waste

1.Movements of waste between the Member States and the OCTs shall be controlled in accordance with international and Union law. The Union shall support the establishment and development of effective international cooperation in this area with a view to protecting the environment and public health.

2.The Union shall prohibit all direct or indirect export of waste to the OCTs, with the exception of exports of non-hazardous waste destined for recovery operations while at the same time the OCTs authorities shall prohibit the direct or indirect import into their territory of such waste from the Union or any third country, without prejudice to specific international undertakings concerning these areas that have been made, or may be made in future, in the competent international fora.

3.As regards those OCTs, which, due to their constitutional status, are not Party to the Basel Convention, their relevant authorities shall expedite adoption of the necessary internal legislation and administrative regulations to implement the provisions of the Basel Convention in those OCTs.

4.In addition, the Member States to which OCTs are linked shall promote the adoption by the OCTs of the necessary internal legislation and administrative regulations to implement the following acts:

(a)Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council(1), as follows:

  • (a)Article 40 as regards exports of waste to overseas countries or territories;

  • Article 46 as regards imports of waste from overseas countries or territories;

(b)Commission Regulation (EC) No 1418/2007(2); and

(c)Directive 2000/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(3) subject to the time limits for transposition laid down in Article 16 thereof.

5.One or more OCTs and the Member States to which they are linked may apply their own procedures to export of waste from the OCTs to that Member State.

6.In this case, the Member State to which the OCTs is linked shall notify to the Commission the applicable legislation by 2 July 2014, as well as any future relevant national legislation, and any subsequent amendments to such legislation.

Article 48Temporary withdrawal of preferences

Where the Commission considers that there are sufficient grounds to question whether this Decision is being correctly implemented, the Commission shall enter into consultations with the OCTs and the Member State with which the OCTs has special relations, in order to ensure the proper implementation of this Decision. In case the consultations do not lead to a mutually acceptable way of implementing this Decision, the Union may temporarily withdraw preferences from the OCTs concerned in accordance with Annex VII.

Article 49Safeguard and surveillance measures

In order to ensure the proper implementation of this Decision, the Union may take safeguard and surveillance measures set out in Annex VIII.

Chapter 2 Arrangements for trade in services and for establishment

Article 50Definitions

For the purposes of this Chapter:

(a)

‘natural person from an OCTs’ means a person ordinarily resident in an OCTs who is a national of a Member State or who enjoys a legal status specific to an OCTs. This definition is without prejudice to the rights conferred by citizenship of the Union within the meaning of the TFEU;

(b)

‘legal person of an OCTs’ means a legal person of the OCTs set up in accordance with the laws applicable in a given OCTs, and having its registered office, its central administration, or its principal place of business in the territory in this OCTs; should the legal person have only its registered office or central administration in the OCTs, it shall not be considered as a legal person of the OCTs, unless it engages in an activity which has a real and continuous link with the economy of that country or territory;

(c)

the respective definitions laid down in the economic integration agreements referred to in Article 51(1) shall apply to the treatment accorded between the Union and the OCTs.

Article 51Most favourable treatment

1.With respect to any measures affecting trade in services and establishment in economic activities:

(a)the Union shall accord to natural and legal persons of the OCTs a treatment no less favourable than the most favourable treatment applicable to like natural and legal persons of any third country with whom the Union concludes or has concluded an economic integration agreement;

(b)an OCTs shall accord to the natural and legal persons of the Union a treatment no less favourable than the most favourable treatment applicable to like natural and legal persons of any major trading economy with whom it has concluded an economic integration agreement after 1 January 2014.

2.The obligations provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article shall not apply to treatment granted:

(a)in the framework of an internal market requiring the parties thereto to significantly approximate their legislation with a view to removing non-discriminatory obstacles to establishment and to trade in services;

(b)under measures providing for recognition of qualifications, licences or prudential measures in accordance with Article VII of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) or the GATS Annex on Financial Services. This is without prejudice to OCTs specific measures under this Article;

(c)under any international agreement or arrangement relating wholly or mainly to taxation;

(d)under measures benefiting from the coverage of a most-favoured nation exemption listed in accordance with Article II.2 of the GATS.

3.The authorities of an OCTs may with a view to promoting or supporting local employment, adopt regulations to aid their natural persons and local activities. In this event, the OCTs authorities shall notify the Commission of the regulations they adopt so that it may inform the Member States thereof.

Article 52Professional qualifications

With regard to the professions of doctor, dentist, midwife, general nurse, pharmacist and veterinary surgeon, the Council shall adopt in accordance with Article 203 TFEU the list of professional qualifications specific to the OCTs which are to be recognised in the Member States.

(1)

Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 on shipments of waste (OJ L 190, 12.7.2006, p. 1).

(2)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1418/2007 of 29 November 2007 concerning the export for recovery of certain waste listed in Annex III or IIIA to Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council to certain countries to which the OECD Decision on the control of transboundary movements of wastes does not apply (OJ L 316, 4.12.2007, p. 6).

(3)

Directive 2000/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2000 on port reception facilities for ship-generated waste and cargo residues (OJ L 332, 28.12.2000, p. 81).