The Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter called the Parties),
Having regard to the Free Trade Agreement between the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Lithuania, signed in Vilnius on 4 October 1996 and Protocol 3 to this Agreement concerning the rules of origin of goods and the definition of the concept of “originating products” and methods of administrative co-operation;
Whereas within the Protocol 3 the definition of the term “originating products” needs to be amended to ensure the proper operation of the extended system of cumulation which permits the use of materials originating in the European Community, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, the Republic of Bulgaria, Romania, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Slovenia, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland (including Liechtenstein);
Whereas it would seem advisable to maintain in operation by 31 December 2000 the system of flat rate charges provided for in Article 15 of Protocol 3 in connection with the prohibition of drawback and exemption from customs duty;
Whereas it would also be appropriate to extend the cumulation system to such products originating in the Republic of Turkey;
Whereas to facilitate and simplify administrative tasks it would be desirable to amend the wording of Articles 3, 4 and 12 of Protocol 3;
Whereas taking into account of changes in processing techniques and shortages of certain raw materials, some corrections must be made to the list of working and processing requirements which non-originating materials have to fulfil to qualify for originating status;
HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1
Protocol 3 concerning the definition of the concept of “originating products” and methods of administrative cooperation is hereby amended as follows:
1. Article 1(i) shall be replaced by:
“ (i) “added value” shall be taken to be the ex-works price minus the customs value of each of the materials incorporated which originate in the other countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4 or, where the customs value is not known or cannot be ascertained, the first price verifiably paid for the products in Slovenia or Lithuania.”
2. Articles 3 and 4 shall be replaced by the following:
“Article 3
Cumulation in Slovenia
1. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 2(1), products shall be considered as originating in Slovenia if such products are obtained there, incorporating materials originating in the European Community, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Romania, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Slovenia, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland (including Liechtenstein)1 or the Republic of Turkey, in accordance with the provisions of the Protocol on rules of origin annexed to the Agreements between Slovenia and each of these countries, provided that the working or processing carried out in Slovenia goes beyond that referred to in Article 7 of this Protocol. It shall not be necessary that such materials have undergone sufficient working or processing.
2. Where the working or processing carried out in Slovenia does not go beyond the operations referred to in Article 7, the product obtained shall be considered as originating in Slovenia only where the value added there is greater than the value of the materials used originating in any one of the other countries referred to in paragraph 1. If this is not so, the product obtained shall be considered as originating in the country which accounts for the highest value of originating materials used in the manufacture in Slovenia.
3. Products, originating in one of the countries referred to in paragraph 1, which do not undergo any working or processing in Slovenia, retain their origin if exported into one of these countries.
4. The cumulation provided for in this Article may only be applied to materials and products which have acquired originating status by an application of rules of origin identical to those given in this Protocol.
Article 4
Cumulation in Lithuania
1. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 2(2), products shall be considered as originating in Lithuania if such products are obtained there, incorporating materials originating in the European Community, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Romania, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Slovenia, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland (including Liechtenstein)2 or the Republic of Turkey in accordance with the provisions of the Protocol on rules of origin annexed to the Agreements between Lithuania and each of these countries, provided that the working or processing carried out in Lithuania goes beyond that referred to in Article 7 of this Protocol. It shall not be necessary that such materials have undergone sufficient working or processing.
2. Where the working or processing carried out in Lithuania does not go beyond the operations referred to in Article 7, the product obtained shall be considered as originating in Lithuania only where the value added there is greater than the value of the materials used originating in any one of the other countries referred to in paragraph 1. If this is not so, the product obtained shall be considered as originating in the country which accounts for the highest value of originating materials used in the manufacture in Lithuania.
3. Products, originating in one of the countries referred to in paragraph 1, which do not undergo any working or processing in Lithuania, retain their origin if exported into one of these countries.
4. The cumulation provided for in this Article may only be applied to materials and products which have acquired originating status by an application of rules of origin identical to those given in this Protocol.”
3. Article 12 shall be replaced by the following:
“1. Except as provided for in Articles 3 and 4 and paragraph 3 of this Article, the conditions for acquiring originating status set out in Title II must continue to be fulfilled at all times in Slovenia or Lithuania.
2. Except as provided for in Articles 3 and 4, where originating goods exported from Slovenia or Lithuania to another country return, they must be considered as non-originating, unless it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the customs authorities that:
(a) the returning goods are the same as those that were exported; and
(b) they have not undergone any operation beyond that necessary to preserve them in good condition while in that country or while being exported.
3. The acquisition of originating status in accordance with the conditions set out in Title II shall not be affected by working or processing done outside Slovenia or Lithuania on materials exported from Slovenia or Lithuania and subsequently reimported there, provided:
(a) the said materials are wholly obtained in Slovenia or Lithuania or have undergone working or processing beyond the insufficient operations listed in Article 7 prior to being exported; and
(b) it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the customs authorities that:
i) the reimported goods have been obtained by working or processing the exported materials; and
ii) the total added value acquired outside Slovenia or Lithuania by applying the provisions of this Article does not exceed 10% of the ex-works price of the end product for which originating status is claimed.
4. For the purposes of paragraph 3, the conditions for acquiring originating status set out in Title II shall not apply to working or processing done outside Slovenia or Lithuania. But where, in the list in Annex II, a rule setting a maximum value for all the non-originating materials incorporated is applied in determining the originating status of the end product, the total value of the non-originating materials incorporated in the territory of the Party concerned, taken together with the total added value acquired outside Slovenia or Lithuania by applying the provisions of this Article, shall not exceed the stated percentage.
5. For the purposes of applying the provisions of paragraphs 3 and 4, “total added value” shall be taken to mean all costs arising outside Slovenia or Lithuania, including the value of the materials incorporated there.
6. The provisions of paragraphs 3 and 4 shall not apply to products which do not fulfil the conditions set out in the list in Annex II or which can be considered sufficiently worked or processed only if the general values fixed in Article 6(2) are applied.
7. The provisions of paragraphs 3 and 4 shall not apply to products coming under Chapters 50 to 63 of the Harmonised System.
8. Any working or processing of the kind covered by the provisions of this Article and done outside Slovenia or Lithuania shall be done under the outward processing arrangements, or similar arrangements.”
4. In Articles 13, 14, 15, 17, 21, 27, 30 and 32 the phrase “referred to in Article 4” shall be replaced by “referred to in Articles 3 and 4”.
5. In the last paragraph of Article 15(6) the date “31 December 1998” shall be replaced by “31 December 2000”.
6. In Article 26(1) the reference “C2/CP3” shall be replaced by “CN22/CN23”.
7. In Annex I, Note 5.2:
(a) between the indents “- artificial man-made filaments” and “- synthetic man-made staple fibres of polypropylene” the following shall be inserted:
“– current conducting filaments”;
(b) the fifth example (“A carpet with tufts. .. are met.”) shall be deleted;
8. Annex II shall be amended as follows:
(a) the following shall be inserted between the entries for HS heading Nos 2202 and 2208:
(b) the entry for Chapter 57 shall be replaced by:
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1 For special conditions relating to products made of a mixture f textile materials, see Introductory Note 5.
(a) The use of jute yarn is authorised from 1.7.2000
(c) the entry for HS heading No 7006 shall be replaced by:
&fbco;binary entityId="a88a95330-e315-4c1e-bf80-951c7b89d0b1" type="jpg"&fbcc;2 SEMII- Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Institute Incorporated.
(c) the rule for HS heading No 7601 shall be replaced by:
&fbco;binary entityId="a812cbe69-c135-4af7-82ef-28e9cc628dd6" type="jpg"&fbcc;&fbco;binary entityId="a9a33379f-7e3d-4e64-bfb9-9fa672d64caf" type="jpg"&fbcc;9. In Annex IV, the Slovenian version of the invoice declaration shall be replaced by the following text:
“Izvoznik blaga, zajetega s tem dokumentom (pooblastilo carinskih organov št….(1b)) izjavlja, da, če ni drugače jasno navedeno, ima to blago preferencialno…(2b) poreklo.”
Article 2
This Additional Protocol No. 1 shall enter into force fifteen days after the last notification of the Party that its internal legal procedures related to entering into force of the Additional Protocol have been completed.
This Additional Protocol No.1 shall be applied provisionally as of 1 April 1999.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned plenipotentiaries, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this Additional Protocol.
DONE at Vilnius, this 18 day of February one thousand nine hundred and ninety nine in duplicate copies in the Slovenian, Lithuanian and English languages, all texts being equally authentic. In case of divergences the English text shall prevail.
On behalf of
the Republic of Slovenia
Metod Dragonja, (s)
On behalf of
the Republic of Lithuania
Algirdas Saudargas, (s)
1 The Principality of Liechtenstein has a customs union with Switzerland, and is a Contracting Party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.
2 The Principality of Liechtenstein has a customs union with Switzerland and is a Contracting Party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.