The current regime of double checking surveillance system of imports for the product categories originating in China listed in Annex V to the Council Regulation (EEC) No 3030/93 of 12 October 1993 on common rules of imports of certain textile products from third countries will expire on 31 December 2008.

From 1 January 2009, the release into free circulation of textile and clothing products originating in China will no longer require any import licence or surveillance document regardless of their date of shipment.

Source: 11.12.2008 Official Journal of the European Union C 316/17

An amendment to the Customs Code is set to come into effect on 1 July 2009, establishing a prior notification requirement for the transfer of goods across the EU’s external borders. Switzerland and the EU have been in talks since 19 July 2007 on the amendment of the Agreement on the Carriage of Goods. Switzerland is seeking to prevent the introductio of additional controls in Swiss-EU bilateral trade.

Following the terror attacks of 11 September 2001 and subsequent efforts by the US and the World Customs Organization to enhance the security of the supply chain, the EU has also decided for security reasons to require prior notification of goods crossing its external borders as of 1 July 2009. This applies to both imports and exports. The prior notification period is 24 hours for goods crossing by sea, two hours for rail transport, and one hour for road transport, provided that the relevant data is in electronic format. If the summary declaration is not lodged in electronic format, the prior notification period is at least four hours. Exceptions may be made within the context of international  agreements.

Goods traffic between Switzerland and the EU was worth CHF 245 bn in 2006, of which CHF 110 bn was exports and CHF 135 bn in imports. Switzerland is thus the second-largest importer of EU goods. The envisaged prior notification requirement could severely impede the intense exchange of goods between Switzerland and the EU. There are also fears of traffic problems in the border areas.

Since 19  July 2007, the Federal Council has been holding talks with the EU within the context of the agreement of 21 November 1990 on the simplification of controls and formalities for the transport of goods (Agreement on the Carriage of Goods; SR 0.631.242.05). Switzerland is seeking to ensure mutual recognition of risk analysis and further security measures in order to prevent the introduction of additional goods controls in Swiss-EU bilateral trade. A number of solutions are currently under discussion with the EU. 

Source: Swiss Federal Customs Administration

The EU’s Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) is a trade arrangement through which the EU provides preferential access to the EU market to 176 developing countries and territories, in the form of reduced tariffs for their goods when entering the EU market.

GSP covers three separate preference regimes:

• the standard GSP, which provides preferences to 176 developing countries and territories on around 6400 tariff lines;
• the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance, known as GSP+, which offers additional tariff reductions to support vulnerable developing countries in their ratification and implementation of international conventions;
• the Everything But Arms (EBA) arrangement, which provides Duty-free, Quota-Free access for all products for the 50 Least-Developed Countries on 7200 tariff lines.

The 16 beneficiary countries from 1 January 2009 until the end of 2011 will be: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Sri Lanka and Venezuela.  These countries will have duty-free access to the EU market for around 6400 tariff lines in addition to the standard GSP.

GSP+ preferences are of real economic value to the beneficiary countries: in 2007 there was 4.7 billion € worth of trade under this scheme, with a nominal duty loss (compared to standard GSP rates) for the EU of over 357 million €. The duty-free access means a considerable tariff reduction over the rates applied under the regular GSP scheme. Tariff cuts include tobacco (cut by up to 52%), various fruit juices (up to 30%), fruits (up to 20%), vegetables (up to 14%), fish (up to 20%) and honey (up to 17%).

Source: Weekly Trade News of the European Commission, 11 december 2008.

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