DTI outlines regulations for trade with new EU members

ALAN PEAT FOR THOSE doing business with the European Union (EU), or aspirants in this field, customs and international trade advisers PricewaterhouseCoopers have issued some valuable information. With its 10 new member states - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia - the number of EU citizens now stands at 379-million to 455-m. The now 25-member EU also accounts for 20.1% of world trade and for 25% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP). But it’s now time for exporters who will have preferential access to the markets in this expanded union to give some serious thought to the implications of this expansion. For a summary of the dos-and-don’ts in this trade scenario, PWC suggests a look at what the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has to say about the conditions to which business needs to adhere. l In order to ensure that export consignments benefit from the export preferences and the rule of origin requirements, Form EUR.1 “Movement Certificate” should accompany the consignment; l The present Generalised System of Preference (GSP) of the Czech Republic and Hungary will be replaced by the GSP system of the EU. The consignment has to be accompanied by a Form A “Certificate of Origin”; l In respect of the exports to the other eight new members, in order to qualify for the GSP preferences, a Form A has to accompany an export consignment; l It is important for an SA exporter to be certain whether a Form EUR.1 or a Form A should accompany its export consignment; l For SA importers to benefit from the import preferences it is important that the EU exporters ensure that a Form EUR.1 or an Invoice Declaration accompanies a consignment.