(1)

The European Union does not have harmonised provisions or uniform practices on origin marking in the Union, except for some specific cases in the agricultural sector.

(2)

This Regulation should apply to imported industrial products, excluding fishery and aquaculture products as defined in Article 1 of Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 of 17 December 1999 on the common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products (2), and also excluding foodstuff as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety (3).

(3)

Today many companies in the Union already voluntarily use origin marking.

(4)

The absence of Union rules and the disparities between the systems in force in the Member States, as regards the indication on certain products of their country of origin, has given rise to a situation where in a number of sectors a major share of products imported from third countries and distributed within the Union market are found to carry no or misleading information concerning their country of origin. These disparities are also leading to a situation where import traffic from third countries is shifting towards particular Union points of entry which suit the exporting country most.

(5)

The results of the Commission’s general stakeholder consultation (which included industry, importers, consumers associations, trade unions) on the possible development of an EU Regulation on origin marking indicate that Union consumers’ perception of the relevance of origin marking for informing them in relation to safety and social and environmental concerns is generally high.

(6)

Union regulation of origin marking is perceived by EU citizens to be closely linked with protection of their health and safety.

(7)

In the Lisbon Agenda, the EU set itself the objective of strengthening the Union economy by, inter alia, improving the competitiveness of the Union industry in the world economy and the EU 2020 strategy is committed to building on this need for improving competitiveness; for certain categories of consumer goods, competitiveness may lie in the fact that their production in the EU is associated with a reputation for quality and high production standards.

(8)

Union rules on origin marking would strengthen the competitiveness of Union firms and of the Union economy as a whole by enabling citizens and consumers to make informed choices.

(9)

The economic significance of origin marking to consumer decision and trade is recognised by the practice of other major trading partners which have enacted mandatory origin marking requirements. Exporters in the Union have to comply with those requirements and have to mark the origin on products they wish to export to these markets.

(10)

There have been several cases of health and safety incidents arising from products imported into the EU from third countries. A clear indication of origin will give EU citizens more information and more control over their choices, thus offering them protection from unknowingly purchasing products of potentially dubious quality.

(11)

The Member States’ customs authorities should perform border checks and controls on the implementation of this Regulation via a single harmonised procedure so as to reduce the administrative burden.

(12)

In order to ensure that this Regulation is effective and only imposes light administrative burdens whilst granting the maximum flexibility for Union companies, it should be in compliance with existing ‘made-in’ schemes worldwide.

(13)

The Union should be put on equal terms with trade partners by putting in place equivalent legislation which will also contribute to prevent false or misleading claims of origin of certain imported goods.

(14)

According to Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market (4), consumers may attach commercial value to information on the geographical origin of a good. According to that Directive, where false or misleading information about the geographical origin leads a consumer to buy a product which he would not have bought otherwise, this may constitute an unfair commercial practice. That Directive does not mandate that information on the geographical origin of goods be provided, nor does it define the concept of origin.

(15)

An origin marking scheme would enable consumers to identify products with the social, environmental and safety standards generally associated with the country of origin.

(16)

The creation of a common definition of origin for marking purposes, of marking rules, and of common rules on controls would thus create a level playing field, facilitate consumer choice in the sectors covered, and contribute to reducing the level of misleading claims of origin.

(17)

The introduction of a mark of origin can contribute to make demanding Union standards work in favour of the Union industry, especially small and medium enterprises, which often put a genuine effort into the quality of their products and which also preserve traditional and artisanal jobs and methods of production, but which are also greatly exposed to global competition which lacks rules that distinguish between production methods . It will also help to prevent the reputation of the Union industry being tainted by inaccurate claims of origin. Improved transparency and consumer information about the origin of goods will thus contribute to the objectives of the Lisbon agenda and those of the EU 2020 Strategy .

(18)

Article IX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 provides that WTO members may adopt and enforce laws and regulations relating to marks of origin on imports, notably to protect consumers against fraudulent or misleading indications.

(19)

Rules on origin marking also provide effective protection against counterfeiting and unfair competition, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of Council Regulation (EC) No 1383/2003 of 22 July 2003 concerning customs action against goods suspected of infringing certain intellectual property rights and the measures to be taken against goods found to have infringed such rights (5) providing a further important instrument to protect and enhance Union production.

(20)

Under the Agreements between the European Community and ▐ Turkey, and the Contracting Parties to the EEA Agreement, it is necessary to exclude products originating in these countries from the scope of the present Regulation.

(21)

The Union’s non-preferential rules of origin are laid down in Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (6) and its implementing provisions in Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code (7). It is preferable to rely on these rules of origin to determine the origin of imported goods for the purpose of this Regulation. Using a concept with which trade operators and administrations are well acquainted should ease its introduction and implementation. Non-preferential rules of origin should be applied for all non-preferential commercial policy purposes. The duplication of declarations and documentation should be avoided.

(22)

In order to limit the burden on industry, trade and administration, origin marking should be made mandatory for those sectors for which the Commission, based on prior consultation, found that there was value added. ▐ Provision should ▐ be made for the exemption of specific products for technical ▐ reasons or where origin marking is otherwise unnecessary for the purposes of this Regulation. This may be the case, in particular, where origin marking would damage the goods concerned, or with regard to certain raw materials.

(23)

Provision should be made so that data on the origin of goods generated and/or verified during controls by the competent authorities can be exchanged, including with authorities and other persons and organisations, for which Member States envisage an enforcement role pursuant to Directive 2005/29/EC. Account should be taken of the protection of personal data, commercial and industrial secrecy, and professional and administrative confidentiality.

(24)

In accordance with Article 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for the control by Member States of the Commission's exercise of its implementing powers shall be laid down in advance by a regulation adopted in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure. Pending the adoption of that new regulation, the provisions of Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (8) continues to apply, with the exception of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny which is not applicable .

(25)

The Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU in order to determine the cases in which the marking on the packaging may be accepted in lieu of marking on the goods themselves, or when the goods cannot or need not be marked for technical reasons, as well as measures to determine other rules that may be required when goods are found not to be in compliance with this Regulation or to update the Annex thereto where the assessment has changed as to whether origin marking is necessary for a specific sector.

(26)

Goods in travellers’ personal luggage for personal use should be exempted from the application of this Regulation within the limits laid down in respect of relief from customs duty, and if there are no indications to suggest that the goods are part of commercial traffic. Provision should be made that the other situations covered by Council Regulation (EC) No. 1186/2009 of 16 November 2009 setting up a Community system of reliefs from customs duty (codified version) (9) may also be excluded from the scope of this Regulation by means of the implementing provisions,

—

determine the detailed form and modalities of origin marking;

—

establish a list of terms in all official languages of the European Union languages which clearly express the idea that goods originate in the country indicated in the marking;

—

determine the cases where commonly used abbreviations unmistakably indicate the country of origin and can be used for the purposes of this Regulation.

—

determine the cases in which goods cannot or need not be marked for technical ▐ reasons;

—

determine other rules that may be required when goods are found not to be in compliance with this Regulation;

—

update of the Annex to this Regulation where the assessment has changed as to whether origin marking is necessary for a specific sector.

—

they do not bear an origin marking;

—

the origin marking does not correspond to the origin of the goods;

—

the origin marking has being changed or removed, or has otherwise been tampered with, except where correction has been required pursuant to paragraph 3 of this Article.