Notice to importers

Imports of products into the Union from the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts of Ukraine

(2022/C 458/02)

By notice to the importers on imports of products into the Union under the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement from the non-government controlled areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk oblasts of Ukraine of 23 February 2022 (2022/C 87 I/01), the European Commission informed importers that the necessary conditions for the customs authorities of Ukraine to effectively manage and control the preferential tariff treatment provided under the Association Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part were not in place for goods produced in or exported from the non-government controlled areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk oblasts of Ukraine.

Considering that Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1903 (1) of 6 October amended the title of Regulation (EU) 2022/263 (2) of 23 February 2022 and extended the geographical scope of the restrictions contained therein to cover all the non-government controlled areas of Ukraine in the oblasts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia, the notice to the importers mentioned above needs to be updated.

The import into the European Union of goods originating in these specified territories is prohibited. In accordance with Article 2.2.(b) of Regulation (EU) 2022/263, this prohibition shall not apply to goods originating in these territories which have been made available to the Ukrainian authorities for examination, for which compliance with the conditions conferring entitlement to preferential origin has been verified and for which a certificate of origin has been issued in accordance with the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. In the absence of the possibility by the customs authorities of Ukraine to apply the relevant provisions of the Agreement to guarantee that goods from those areas are entitled to preferential tariff treatment and to verify that they comply with all the necessary requirements, as provided for notably under Article 33 of Protocol 1 of the Association Agreement, the conditions for such goods to benefit from the preferential tariff treatment are not met. Therefore, operators of the European Union are advised not to claim preferential treatment for the import into the Union of all goods produced in or exported from the non-government controlled areas of Ukraine in the oblasts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.

Goods whose import into the Union are not restricted under the Regulation (EU) 2022/263 are entitled to preferential tariff treatment granted by the Association Agreement if they originate in Ukraine and are accompanied by the necessary proofs of origin, either in the form of a movement certificate EUR1 issued by the Ukrainian authorities, or of an invoice declaration made out by an approved exporter in Ukraine. The updated list of the Ukrainian customs offices and of approved exporters entitled to issue or make out proofs of origin are available to Member States’ customs authorities. Such goods can therefore be imported, and should benefit from preferential tariff treatment, under the same conditions as imports from any other government controlled parts of Ukraine.

(1)  OJ L 259I, 6.10.2022, p. 1.

(2)  OJ L 42I, 23.2.2022, p. 77.