STOCKHOLM CONVENTION ON PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS

THE PARTIES TO THIS CONVENTION,

RECOGNISING that persistent organic pollutants possess toxic properties, resist degradation, bioaccumulate and are transported, through air, water and migratory species, across international boundaries and deposited far from their place of release, where they accumulate in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems,

AWARE of the health concerns, especially in developing countries, resulting from local exposure to persistent organic pollutants, in particular impacts upon women and, through them, upon future generations,

ACKNOWLEDGING that the Arctic ecosystems and indigenous communities are particularly at risk because of the biomagnification of persistent organic pollutants and that contamination of their traditional foods is a public health issue,

CONSCIOUS of the need for global action on persistent organic pollutants,

MINDFUL of Decision 19/13 C of 7 February 1997 of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme to initiate international action to protect human health and the environment through measures which will reduce and/or eliminate emissions and discharges of persistent organic pollutants,

RECALLING the pertinent provisions of the relevant international environmental conventions, especially the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, and the Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal including the regional agreements developed within the framework of its Article 11,

RECALLING also the pertinent provisions of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and Agenda 21,

ACKNOWLEDGING that precaution underlies the concerns of all the Parties and is embedded within this Convention,

RECOGNISING that this Convention and other international agreements in the field of trade and the environment are mutually supportive,

REAFFIRMING that States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental and developmental policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction,

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the circumstances and particular requirements of developing countries, in particular the least developed among them, and countries with economies in transition, especially the need to strengthen their national capabilities for the management of chemicals, including through the transfer of technology, the provision of financial and technical assistance and the promotion of cooperation among the Parties,

TAKING FULL ACCOUNT OF the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, adopted in Barbados on 6 May 1994,

NOTING the respective capabilities of developed and developing countries, as well as the common but differentiated responsibilities of States as set forth in Principle 7 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development,

RECOGNISING the important contribution that the private sector and non‐governmental organisations can make to achieving the reduction and/or elimination of emissions and discharges of persistent organic pollutants,

UNDERLINING the importance of manufacturers of persistent organic pollutants taking responsibility for reducing adverse effects caused by their products and for providing information to users, Governments and the public on the hazardous properties of those chemicals,

CONSCIOUS OF the need to take measures to prevent adverse effects caused by persistent organic pollutants at all stages of their life cycle,

REAFFIRMING Principle 16 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development which states that national authorities should endeavour to promote the internalisation of environmental costs and the use of economic instruments, taking into account the approach that the polluter should, in principle, bear the cost of pollution, with due regard to the public interest and without distorting international trade and investment,

ENCOURAGING Parties not having regulatory and assessment schemes for pesticides and industrial chemicals to develop such schemes,

RECOGNISING the importance of developing and using environmentally sound alternative processes and chemicals,

DETERMINED to protect human health and the environment from the harmful impacts of persistent organic pollutants,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Objective

Mindful of the precautionary approach as set forth in Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, the objective of this Convention is to protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Convention:

(a)	‘Party’ means a State or regional economic integration organisation that has consented to be bound by this Convention and for which the Convention is in force;

(b)

‘Regional economic integration organisation’ means an organisation constituted by sovereign States of a given region to which its Member States have transferred competence in respect of matters governed by this Convention and which has been duly authorised, in accordance with its internal procedures, to sign, ratify, accept, approve or accede to this Convention;

(c)	‘Parties present and voting’ means Parties present and casting an affirmative or negative vote.

Article 3

Measures to reduce or eliminate releases from intentional production and use

1.   Each Party shall:

(a)

prohibit and/or take the legal and administrative measures necessary to eliminate: (i) its production and use of the chemicals listed in Annex A subject to the provisions of that Annex; and (ii) its import and export of the chemicals listed in Annex A in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2; and

(b)	restrict its production and use of the chemicals listed in Annex B in accordance with the provisions of that Annex.

2.   Each Party shall take measures to ensure:

(a)	that a chemical listed in Annex A or Annex B is imported only: (i) for the purpose of environmentally sound disposal as set forth in paragraph 1(d) of Article 6; or (ii) for a use or purpose which is permitted for that Party under Annex A or Annex B;

(b)

that a chemical listed in Annex A for which any production or use specific exemption is in effect or a chemical listed in Annex B for which any production or use specific exemption or acceptable purpose is in effect, taking into account any relevant provisions in existing international prior informed consent instruments, is exported only: (i) for the purpose of environmentally sound disposal as set forth in paragraph 1(d) of Article 6; (ii) to a Party which is permitted to use that chemical under Annex A or Annex B; or (iii) to a State not Party to this Convention which has provided an annual certification to the exporting Party. Such certification shall specify the intended use of the chemical and include a statement that, with respect to that chemical, the importing State is committed to: (a) protect human health and the environment by taking the necessary measures to minimise or prevent releases; (b) comply with the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 6; and (c) comply, where appropriate, with the provisions of paragraph 2 of Part II of Annex B. The certification shall also include any appropriate supporting documentation, such as legislation, regulatory instruments, or administrative or policy guidelines. The exporting Party shall transmit the certification to the Secretariat within 60 days of receipt;

(c)	that a chemical listed in Annex A, for which production and use specific exemptions are no longer in effect for any Party, is not exported from it except for the purpose of environmentally sound disposal as set forth in paragraph 1(d) of Article 6;

(d)	for the purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘State not Party to this Convention’ shall include, with respect to a particular chemical, a State or regional economic integration organisation that has not agreed to be bound by the Convention with respect to that chemical.

3.   Each Party that has one or more regulatory and assessment schemes for new pesticides or new industrial chemicals shall take measures to regulate with the aim of preventing the production and use of new pesticides or new industrial chemicals which, taking into consideration the criteria in paragraph 1 of Annex D, exhibit the characteristics of persistent organic pollutants.

4.   Each Party that has one or more regulatory and assessment schemes for pesticides or industrial chemicals shall, where appropriate, take into consideration within these schemes the criteria in paragraph 1 of Annex D when conducting assessments of pesticides or industrial chemicals currently in use.

5.   Except as otherwise provided in this Convention, paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to quantities of a chemical to be used for laboratory-scale research or as a reference standard.

6.   Any Party that has a specific exemption in accordance with Annex A or a specific exemption or an acceptable purpose in accordance with Annex B shall take appropriate measures to ensure that any production or use under such exemption or purpose is carried out in a manner that prevents or minimises human exposure and release into the environment. For exempted uses or acceptable purposes that involve intentional release into the environment under conditions of normal use, such release shall be to the minimum extent necessary, taking into account any applicable standards and guidelines.

Article 4

Register of specific exemptions

1.   A Register is hereby established for the purpose of identifying the Parties that have specific exemptions listed in Annex A or Annex B. It shall not identify Parties that make use of the provisions in Annex A or Annex B that may be exercised by all Parties. The Register shall be maintained by the Secretariat and shall be available to the public.

2.   The Register shall include:

(a)	a list of the types of specific exemptions reproduced from Annex A and Annex B;

(b)	a list of the Parties that have a specific exemption listed under Annex A or Annex B; and

(c)	a list of the expiry dates for each registered specific exemption.

3.   Any State may, on becoming a Party, by means of a notification in writing to the Secretariat, register for one or more types of specific exemptions listed in Annex A or Annex B.

4.   Unless an earlier date is indicated in the Register by a Party, or an extension is granted pursuant to paragraph 7, all registrations of specific exemptions shall expire five years after the date of entry into force of this Convention with respect to a particular chemical.

5.   At its first meeting, the Conference of the Parties shall decide upon its review process for the entries in the Register.

6.   Prior to a review of an entry in the Register, the Party concerned shall submit a report to the Secretariat justifying its continuing need for registration of that exemption. The report shall be circulated by the Secretariat to all Parties. The review of a registration shall be carried out on the basis of all available information. Thereupon, the Conference of the Parties may make such recommendations to the Party concerned as it deems appropriate.

7.   The Conference of the Parties may, upon request from the Party concerned, decide to extend the expiry date of a specific exemption for a period of up to five years. In making its decision, the Conference of the Parties shall take due account of the special circumstances of the developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition.

8.   A Party may, at any time, withdraw an entry from the Register for a specific exemption upon written notification to the Secretariat. The withdrawal shall take effect on the date specified in the notification.

9.   When there are no longer any Parties registered for a particular type of specific exemption, no new registrations may be made with respect to it.

Article 5

Measures to reduce or eliminate releases from unintentional production

Each Party shall at a minimum take the following measures to reduce the total releases derived from anthropogenic sources of each of the chemicals listed in Annex C, with the goal of their continuing minimisation and, where feasible, ultimate elimination:

(a)

develop an action plan or, where appropriate, a regional or subregional action plan within two years of the date of entry into force of this Convention for it, and subsequently implement it as part of its implementation plan specified in Article 7, designed to identify, characterise and address the release of the chemicals listed in Annex C and to facilitate implementation of subparagraphs (b) to (e). The action plan shall include the following elements: (i) an evaluation of current and projected releases, including the development and maintenance of source inventories and release estimates, taking into consideration the source categories identified in Annex C; (ii) an evaluation of the efficacy of the laws and policies of the Party relating to the management of such releases; (iii) strategies to meet the obligations of this paragraph, taking into account the evaluations in (i) and (ii); (iv) steps to promote education and training with regard to, and awareness of, those strategies; (v) a review every five years of those strategies and of their success in meeting the obligations of this paragraph; such reviews shall be included in reports submitted pursuant to Article 15; (vi) a schedule for implementation of the action plan, including for the strategies and measures identified therein;

(b)	promote the application of available, feasible and practical measures that can expeditiously achieve a realistic and meaningful level of release reduction or source elimination;

(c)

promote the development and, where it deems appropriate, require the use of substitute or modified materials, products and processes to prevent the formation and release of the chemicals listed in Annex C, taking into consideration the general guidance on prevention and release reduction measures in Annex C and guidelines to be adopted by decision of the Conference of the Parties;

(d)

promote and, in accordance with the implementation schedule of its action plan, require the use of best available techniques for new sources within source categories which a Party has identified as warranting such action in its action plan, with a particular initial focus on source categories identified in Part II of Annex C. In any case, the requirement to use best available techniques for new sources in the categories listed in Part II of that Annex shall be phased in as soon as practicable but no later than four years after the entry into force of the Convention for that Party. For the identified categories, Parties shall promote the use of best environmental practices. When applying best available techniques and best environmental practices, Parties should take into consideration the general guidance on prevention and release reduction measures in that Annex and guidelines on best available techniques and best environmental practices to be adopted by decision of the Conference of the Parties;

(e)

promote, in accordance with its action plan, the use of best available techniques and best environmental practices: (i) for existing sources, within the source categories listed in Part II of Annex C and within source categories such as those in Part III of that Annex; and (ii) for new sources, within source categories such as those listed in Part III of Annex C which a Party has not addressed under subparagraph (d).

When applying best available techniques and best environmental practices, Parties should take into consideration the general guidance on prevention and release reduction measures in Annex C and guidelines on best available techniques and best environmental practices to be adopted by decision of the Conference of the Parties;

(f)

for the purposes of this paragraph and Annex C: (i) ‘best available techniques’ means the most effective and advanced stage in the development of activities and their methods of operation which indicate the practical suitability of particular techniques for providing in principle the basis for release limitations designed to prevent and, where that is not practicable, generally to reduce releases of chemicals listed in Part I of Annex C and their impact on the environment as a whole. In this regard: (ii) ‘techniques’ includes both the technology used and the way in which the installation is designed, built, maintained, operated and decommissioned; (iii) ‘available’ techniques means those techniques that are accessible to the operator and that are developed on a scale that allows implementation in the relevant industrial sector, under economically and technically viable conditions, taking into consideration the costs and advantages; and (iv) ‘best’ means most effective in achieving a high general level of protection of the environment as a whole; (v) ‘best environmental practices’ means the application of the most appropriate combination of environmental control measures and strategies; (vi) ‘new source’ means any source of which the construction or substantial modification is commenced at least one year after the date of: (a) entry into force of this Convention for the Party concerned; or (b) entry into force for the Party concerned of an amendment to Annex C where the source becomes subject to the provisions of this Convention only by virtue of that amendment;

(g)	release limit values or performance standards may be used by a Party to fulfill its commitments for best available techniques under this paragraph.

Article 6

Measures to reduce or eliminate releases from stockpiles and wastes

1.   In order to ensure that stockpiles consisting of or containing chemicals listed either in Annex A or Annex B and wastes, including products and articles upon becoming wastes, consisting of, containing or contaminated with a chemical listed in Annex A, B or C, are managed in a manner protective of human health and the environment, each Party shall:

(a)	develop appropriate strategies for identifying: (i) stockpiles consisting of or containing chemicals listed either in Annex A or Annex B; and (ii) products and articles in use and wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with a chemical listed in Annex A, B or C;

(b)	identify, to the extent practicable, stockpiles consisting of or containing chemicals listed either in Annex A or Annex B on the basis of the strategies referred to in subparagraph (a);

(c)

manage stockpiles, as appropriate, in a safe, efficient and environmentally sound manner. Stockpiles of chemicals listed either in Annex A or Annex B, after they are no longer allowed to be used according to any specific exemption specified in Annex A or any specific exemption or acceptable purpose specified in Annex B, except stockpiles which are allowed to be exported according to paragraph 2 of Article 3, shall be deemed to be waste and shall be managed in accordance with subparagraph (d);

(d)

take appropriate measures so that such wastes, including products and articles upon becoming wastes, are: (i) handled, collected, transported and stored in an environmentally sound manner; (ii) disposed of in such a way that the persistent organic pollutant content is destroyed or irreversibly transformed so that they do not exhibit the characteristics of persistent organic pollutants or otherwise disposed of in an environmentally sound manner when destruction or irreversible transformation does not represent the environmentally preferable option or the persistent organic pollutant content is low, taking into account international rules, standards, and guidelines, including those that may be developed pursuant to paragraph 2, and relevant global and regional regimes governing the management of hazardous wastes; (iii) not permitted to be subjected to disposal operations that may lead to recovery, recycling, reclamation, direct reuse or alternative uses of persistent organic pollutants; and (iv) not transported across international boundaries without taking into account relevant international rules, standards and guidelines;

(e)	endeavour to develop appropriate strategies for identifying sites contaminated by chemicals listed in Annex A, B or C; if remediation of those sites is undertaken it shall be performed in an environmentally sound manner.

2.   The Conference of the Parties shall cooperate closely with the appropriate bodies of the Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal to, inter alia:

(a)	establish levels of destruction and irreversible transformation necessary to ensure that the characteristics of persistent organic pollutants as specified in paragraph 1 of Annex D are not exhibited;

(b)	determine what they consider to be the methods that constitute environmentally sound disposal referred to above; and

(c)	work to establish, as appropriate, the concentration levels of the chemicals listed in Annexes A, B and C in order to define the low persistent organic pollutant content referred to in paragraph 1 (d)(ii).

Article 7

Implementation plans

1.   Each Party shall:

(a)	develop and endeavour to implement a plan for the implementation of its obligations under this Convention;

(b)	transmit its implementation plan to the Conference of the Parties within two years of the date on which this Convention enters into force for it; and

(c)	review and update, as appropriate, its implementation plan on a periodic basis and in a manner to be specified by a decision of the Conference of the Parties.

2.   The Parties shall, where appropriate, cooperate directly or through global, regional and sub-regional organisations, and consult their national stakeholders, including women's groups and groups involved in the health of children, in order to facilitate the development, implementation and updating of their implementation plans.

3.   The Parties shall endeavour to utilise and, where necessary, establish the means to integrate national implementation plans for persistent organic pollutants in their sustainable development strategies where appropriate.

Article 8

Listing of chemicals in Annexes A, B and C

1.   A Party may submit a proposal to the Secretariat for listing a chemical in Annexes A, B and/or C. The proposal shall contain the information specified in Annex D. In developing a proposal, a Party may be assisted by other Parties and/or by the Secretariat.

2.   The Secretariat shall verify whether the proposal contains the information specified in Annex D. If the Secretariat is satisfied that the proposal contains the information so specified, it shall forward the proposal to the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee.

3.   The Committee shall examine the proposal and apply the screening criteria specified in Annex D in a flexible and transparent way, taking all information provided into account in an integrative and balanced manner.

4.   If the Committee decides that:

(a)	it is satisfied that the screening criteria have been fulfilled, it shall, through the Secretariat, make the proposal and the evaluation of the Committee available to all Parties and observers and invite them to submit the information specified in Annex E; or

(b)	it is not satisfied that the screening criteria have been fulfilled, it shall, through the Secretariat, inform all Parties and observers and make the proposal and the evaluation of the Committee available to all Parties and the proposal shall be set aside.

5.   Any Party may resubmit a proposal to the Committee that has been set aside by the Committee pursuant to paragraph 4. The resubmission may include any concerns of the Party as well as a justification for additional consideration by the Committee. If, following this procedure, the Committee again sets the proposal aside, the Party may challenge the decision of the Committee and the Conference of the Parties shall consider the matter at its next session. The Conference of the Parties may decide, based on the screening criteria in Annex D and taking into account the evaluation of the Committee and any additional information provided by any Party or observer, that the proposal should proceed.

6.   Where the Committee has decided that the screening criteria have been fulfilled, or the Conference of the Parties has decided that the proposal should proceed, the Committee shall further review the proposal, taking into account any relevant additional information received, and shall prepare a draft risk profile in accordance with Annex E. It shall, through the Secretariat, make that draft available to all Parties and observers, collect technical comments from them and, taking those comments into account, complete the risk profile.

7.   If, on the basis of the risk profile conducted in accordance with Annex E, the Committee decides:

(a)

that the chemical is likely as a result of its long-range environmental transport to lead to significant adverse human health and/or environmental effects such that global action is warranted, the proposal shall proceed. Lack of full scientific certainty shall not prevent the proposal from proceeding. The Committee shall, through the Secretariat, invite information from all Parties and observers relating to the considerations specified in Annex F. It shall then prepare a risk management evaluation that includes an analysis of possible control measures for the chemical in accordance with that Annex; or

(b)	that the proposal should not proceed, it shall, through the Secretariat, make the risk profile available to all Parties and observers and set the proposal aside.

8.   For any proposal set aside pursuant to paragraph 7(b), a Party may request the Conference of the Parties to consider instructing the Committee to invite additional information from the proposing Party and other Parties during a period not to exceed one year. After that period and on the basis of any information received, the Committee shall reconsider the proposal pursuant to paragraph 6 with a priority to be decided by the Conference of the Parties. If, following this procedure, the Committee again sets the proposal aside, the Party may challenge the decision of the Committee and the Conference of the Parties shall consider the matter at its next session. The Conference of the Parties may decide, based on the risk profile prepared in accordance with Annex E and taking into account the evaluation of the Committee and any additional information provided by any Party or observer, that the proposal should proceed. If the Conference of the Parties decides that the proposal shall proceed, the Committee shall then prepare the risk management evaluation.

9.   The Committee shall, based on the risk profile referred to in paragraph 6 and the risk management evaluation referred to in paragraph 7(a) or 8, recommend whether the chemical should be considered by the Conference of the Parties for listing in Annexes A, B and/or C. The Conference of the Parties, taking due account of the recommendations of the Committee, including any scientific uncertainty, shall decide, in a precautionary manner, whether to list the chemical, and specify its related control measures, in Annexes A, B and/or C.

Article 9

Information exchange

1.   Each Party shall facilitate or undertake the exchange of information relevant to:

(a)	the reduction or elimination of the production, use and release of persistent organic pollutants; and

(b)	alternatives to persistent organic pollutants, including information relating to their risks as well as to their economic and social costs.

2.   The Parties shall exchange the information referred to in paragraph 1 directly or through the Secretariat.

3.   Each Party shall designate a national focal point for the exchange of such information.

4.   The Secretariat shall serve as a clearing-house mechanism for information on persistent organic pollutants, including information provided by Parties, intergovernmental organisations and non-governmental organisations.

5.   For the purposes of this Convention, information on health and safety of humans and the environment shall not be regarded as confidential. Parties that exchange other information pursuant to this Convention shall protect any confidential information as mutually agreed.

Article 10

Public information, awareness and education

1.   Each Party shall, within its capabilities, promote and facilitate:

(a)	awareness among its policy and decision makers with regard to persistent organic pollutants;

(b)	provision to the public of all available information on persistent organic pollutants, taking into account paragraph 5 of Article 9;

(c)	development and implementation, especially for women, children and the least educated, of educational and public awareness programmes on persistent organic pollutants, as well as on their health and environmental effects and on their alternatives;

(d)	public participation in addressing persistent organic pollutants and their health and environmental effects and in developing adequate responses, including opportunities for providing input at the national level regarding implementation of this Convention;

(e)	training of workers, scientists, educators and technical and managerial personnel;

(f)	development and exchange of educational and public awareness materials at the national and international levels; and

(g)	development and implementation of education and training programmes at the national and international levels.

2.   Each Party shall, within its capabilities, ensure that the public has access to the public information referred to in paragraph 1 and that the information is kept up to date.

3.   Each Party shall, within its capabilities, encourage industry and professional users to promote and facilitate the provision of the information referred to in paragraph 1 at the national level and, as appropriate, sub-regional, regional and global levels.

4.   In providing information on persistent organic pollutants and their alternatives, Parties may use safety data sheets, reports, mass media and other means of communication, and may establish information centres at national and regional levels.

5.   Each Party shall give sympathetic consideration to developing mechanisms, such as pollutant release and transfer registers, for the collection and dissemination of information on estimates of the annual quantities of the chemicals listed in Annex A, B or C that are released or disposed of.

Article 11

Research, development and monitoring

1.   The Parties shall, within their capabilities, at the national and international levels, encourage and/or undertake appropriate research, development, monitoring and cooperation pertaining to persistent organic pollutants and, where relevant, to their alternatives and to candidate persistent organic pollutants, including on their:

(a)	sources and releases into the environment;

(b)	presence, levels and trends in humans and the environment;

(c)	environmental transport, fate and transformation;

(d)	effects on human health and the environment;

(e)	socio-economic and cultural impacts;

(f)	release reduction and/or elimination; and

(g)	harmonised methodologies for making inventories of generating sources and analytical techniques for the measurement of releases.

2.   In undertaking action under paragraph 1, the Parties shall, within their capabilities:

(a)	support and further develop, as appropriate, international programmes, networks and organisations aimed at defining, conducting, assessing and financing research, data collection and monitoring, taking into account the need to minimise duplication of effort;

(b)	support national and international efforts to strengthen national scientific and technical research capabilities, particularly in developing countries and countries with economies in transition, and to promote access to, and the exchange of, data and analyses;

(c)	take into account the concerns and needs, particularly in the field of financial and technical resources, of developing countries and countries with economies in transition and cooperate in improving their capability to participate in the efforts referred to in subparagraphs (a) and (b);

(d)	undertake research work geared towards alleviating the effects of persistent organic pollutants on reproductive health;

(e)	make the results of their research, development and monitoring activities referred to in this paragraph accessible to the public on a timely and regular basis; and

(f)	encourage and/or undertake cooperation with regard to storage and maintenance of information generated from research, development and monitoring.

Article 12

Technical assistance

1.   The Parties recognise that rendering of timely and appropriate technical assistance in response to requests from developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition is essential to the successful implementation of this Convention.

2.   The Parties shall cooperate to provide timely and appropriate technical assistance to developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition, to assist them, taking into account their particular needs, to develop and strengthen their capacity to implement their obligations under this Convention.

3.   In this regard, technical assistance to be provided by developed country Parties, and other Parties in accordance with their capabilities, shall include, as appropriate and as mutually agreed, technical assistance for capacity‐building relating to implementation of the obligations under this Convention. Further guidance in this regard shall be provided by the Conference of the Parties.

4.   The Parties shall establish, as appropriate, arrangements for the purpose of providing technical assistance and promoting the transfer of technology to developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition relating to the implementation of this Convention. These arrangements shall include regional and sub-regional centres for capacity-building and transfer of technology to assist developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition to fulfil their obligations under this Convention. Further guidance in this regard shall be provided by the Conference of the Parties.

5.   The Parties shall, in the context of this Article, take full account of the specific needs and special situation of least developed countries and small island developing states in their actions with regard to technical assistance.

Article 13

Financial resources and mechanisms

1.   Each Party undertakes to provide, within its capabilities, financial support and incentives in respect of those national activities that are intended to achieve the objective of this Convention in accordance with its national plans, priorities and programmes.

2.   The developed country Parties shall provide new and additional financial resources to enable developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition to meet the agreed full incremental costs of implementing measures which fulfil their obligations under this Convention as agreed between a recipient Party and an entity participating in the mechanism described in paragraph 6. Other Parties may also on a voluntary basis and in accordance with their capabilities provide such financial resources. Contributions from other sources should also be encouraged. The implementation of these commitments shall take into account the need for adequacy, predictability, the timely flow of funds and the importance of burden sharing among the contributing Parties.

3.   Developed country Parties, and other Parties in accordance with their capabilities and in accordance with their national plans, priorities and programmes, may also provide and developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition avail themselves of financial resources to assist in their implementation of this Convention through other bilateral, regional and multilateral sources or channels.

4.   The extent to which the developing country Parties will effectively implement their commitments under this Convention will depend on the effective implementation by developed country Parties of their commitments under this Convention relating to financial resources, technical assistance and technology transfer. The fact that sustainable economic and social development and eradication of poverty are the first and overriding priorities of the developing country Parties will be taken fully into account, giving due consideration to the need for the protection of human health and the environment.

5.   The Parties shall take full account of the specific needs and special situation of the least developed countries and the small island developing states in their actions with regard to funding.

6.   A mechanism for the provision of adequate and sustainable financial resources to developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition on a grant or concessional basis to assist in their implementation of the Convention is hereby defined. The mechanism shall function under the authority, as appropriate, and guidance of, and be accountable to the Conference of the Parties for the purposes of this Convention. Its operation shall be entrusted to one or more entities, including existing international entities, as may be decided upon by the Conference of the Parties. The mechanism may also include other entities providing multilateral, regional and bilateral financial and technical assistance. Contributions to the mechanism shall be additional to other financial transfers to developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition as reflected in, and in accordance with, paragraph 2.

7.   Pursuant to the objectives of this Convention and paragraph 6, the Conference of the Parties shall at its first meeting adopt appropriate guidance to be provided to the mechanism and shall agree with the entity or entities participating in the financial mechanism upon arrangements to give effect thereto. The guidance shall address, inter alia:

(a)	the determination of the policy, strategy and programme priorities, as well as clear and detailed criteria and guidelines regarding eligibility for access to and utilisation of financial resources including monitoring and evaluation on a regular basis of such utilisation;

(b)	the provision by the entity or entities of regular reports to the Conference of the Parties on adequacy and sustainability of funding for activities relevant to the implementation of this Convention;

(c)	the promotion of multiple-source funding approaches, mechanisms and arrangements;

(d)

the modalities for the determination in a predictable and identifiable manner of the amount of funding necessary and available for the implementation of this Convention, keeping in mind that the phasing out of persistent organic pollutants might require sustained funding, and the conditions under which that amount shall be periodically reviewed; and

(e)	the modalities for the provision to interested Parties of assistance with needs assessment, information on available sources of funds and on funding patterns in order to facilitate co-ordination among them.

8.   The Conference of the Parties shall review, not later than its second meeting and thereafter on a regular basis, the effectiveness of the mechanism established under this Article, its ability to address the changing needs of the developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition, the criteria and guidance referred to in paragraph 7, the level of funding as well as the effectiveness of the performance of the institutional entities entrusted to operate the financial mechanism. It shall, based on such review, take appropriate action, if necessary, to improve the effectiveness of the mechanism, including by means of recommendations and guidance on measures to ensure adequate and sustainable funding to meet the needs of the Parties.

Article 14

Interim financial arrangements

The institutional structure of the Global Environment Facility, operated in accordance with the Instrument for the Establishment of the Restructured Global Environment Facility, shall, on an interim basis, be the principal entity entrusted with the operations of the financial mechanism referred to in Article 13, for the period between the date of entry into force of this Convention and the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties, or until such time as the Conference of the Parties decides which institutional structure will be designated in accordance with Article 13. The institutional structure of the Global Environment Facility should fulfill this function through operational measures related specifically to persistent organic pollutants taking into account that new arrangements for this area may be needed.

Article 15

Reporting

1.   Each Party shall report to the Conference of the Parties on the measures it has taken to implement the provisions of this Convention and on the effectiveness of such measures in meeting the objectives of the Convention.

2.   Each Party shall provide to the Secretariat:

(a)	statistical data on its total quantities of production, import and export of each of the chemicals listed in Annex A and Annex B or a reasonable estimate of such data; and

(b)	to the extent practicable, a list of the States from which it has imported each such substance and the States to which it has exported each such substance.

3.   Such reporting shall be at periodic intervals and in a format to be decided by the Conference of the Parties at its first meeting.

Article 16

Effectiveness evaluation

1.   Commencing four years after the date of entry into force of this Convention, and periodically thereafter at intervals to be decided by the Conference of the Parties, the Conference shall evaluate the effectiveness of this Convention.

2.   In order to facilitate such evaluation, the Conference of the Parties shall, at its first meeting, initiate the establishment of arrangements to provide itself with comparable monitoring data on the presence of the chemicals listed in Annexes A, B and C as well as their regional and global environmental transport. These arrangements:

(a)	should be implemented by the Parties on a regional basis when appropriate, in accordance with their technical and financial capabilities, using existing monitoring programmes and mechanisms to the extent possible and promoting harmonisation of approaches;

(b)	may be supplemented where necessary, taking into account the differences between regions and their capabilities to implement monitoring activities; and

(c)	shall include reports to the Conference of the Parties on the results of the monitoring activities on a regional and global basis at intervals to be specified by the Conference of the Parties.

3.   The evaluation described in paragraph 1 shall be conducted on the basis of available scientific, environmental, technical and economic information, including:

(a)	reports and other monitoring information provided pursuant to paragraph 2;

(b)	national reports submitted pursuant to Article 15; and

(c)	non-compliance information provided pursuant to the procedures established under Article 17.

Article 17

Non-compliance

The Conference of the Parties shall, as soon as practicable, develop and approve procedures and institutional mechanisms for determining non-compliance with the provisions of this Convention and for the treatment of Parties found to be in non-compliance.

Article 18

Settlement of disputes

1.   Parties shall settle any dispute between them concerning the interpretation or application of this Convention through negotiation or other peaceful means of their own choice.

2.   When ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to the Convention, or at any time thereafter, a Party that is not a regional economic integration organisation may declare in a written instrument submitted to the depository that, with respect to any dispute concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention, it recognises one or both of the following means of dispute settlement as compulsory in relation to any Party accepting the same obligation:

(a)	arbitration in accordance with procedures to be adopted by the Conference of the Parties in an Annex as soon as practicable;

(b)	submission of the dispute to the International Court of Justice.

3.   A Party that is a regional economic integration organisation may make a declaration with like effect in relation to arbitration in accordance with the procedure referred to in paragraph 2(a).

4.   A declaration made pursuant to paragraph 2 or paragraph 3 shall remain in force until it expires in accordance with its terms or until three months after written notice of its revocation has been deposited with the depository.

5.   The expiry of a declaration, a notice of revocation or a new declaration shall not in any way affect proceedings pending before an arbitral tribunal or the International Court of Justice unless the parties to the dispute otherwise agree.

6.   If the parties to a dispute have not accepted the same or any procedure pursuant to paragraph 2, and if they have not been able to settle their dispute within 12 months following notification by one party to another that a dispute exists between them, the dispute shall be submitted to a conciliation commission at the request of any party to the dispute. The conciliation commission shall render a report with recommendations. Additional procedures relating to the conciliation commission shall be included in an Annex to be adopted by the Conference of the Parties no later than at its second meeting.

Article 19

Conference of the Parties

1.   A Conference of the Parties is hereby established.

2.   The first meeting of the Conference of the Parties shall be convened by the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme no later than one year after the entry into force of this Convention. Thereafter, ordinary meetings of the Conference of the Parties shall be held at regular intervals to be decided by the Conference.

3.   Extraordinary meetings of the Conference of the Parties shall be held at such other times as may be deemed necessary by the Conference, or at the written request of any Party provided that it is supported by at least one third of the Parties.

4.   The Conference of the Parties shall by consensus agree upon and adopt at its first meeting, rules of procedure and financial rules for itself and any subsidiary bodies, as well as financial provisions governing the functioning of the Secretariat.

5.   The Conference of the Parties shall keep under continuous review and evaluation the implementation of this Convention. It shall perform the functions assigned to it by the Convention and, to this end, shall:

(a)	establish, further to the requirements of paragraph 6, such subsidiary bodies as it considers necessary for the implementation of the Convention;

(b)	cooperate, where appropriate, with competent international organisations and intergovernmental and non-governmental bodies; and

(c)	regularly review all information made available to the Parties pursuant to Article 15, including consideration of the effectiveness of paragraph 2(b)(iii) of Article 3;

(d)	consider and undertake any additional action that may be required for the achievement of the objectives of the Convention.

6.   The Conference of the Parties shall, at its first meeting, establish a subsidiary body to be called the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee for the purposes of performing the functions assigned to that Committee by this Convention. In this regard:

(a)

the members of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee shall be appointed by the Conference of the Parties. Membership of the Committee shall consist of government-designated experts in chemical assessment or management. The members of the Committee shall be appointed on the basis of equitable geographical distribution;

(b)	the Conference of the Parties shall decide on the terms of reference, organisation and operation of the Committee; and

(c)	the Committee shall make every effort to adopt its recommendations by consensus. If all efforts at consensus have been exhausted, and no consensus reached, such recommendation shall as a last resort be adopted by a two-thirds majority vote of the members present and voting.

7.   The Conference of the Parties shall, at its third meeting, evaluate the continued need for the procedure contained in paragraph 2(b) of Article 3, including consideration of its effectiveness.

8.   The United Nations, its specialised agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as any State not Party to this Convention, may be represented at meetings of the Conference of the Parties as observers. Any body or agency, whether national or international, governmental or non-governmental, qualified in matters covered by the Convention, and which has informed the Secretariat of its wish to be represented at a meeting of the Conference of the Parties as an observer may be admitted unless at least one third of the Parties present object. The admission and participation of observers shall be subject to the rules of procedure adopted by the Conference of the Parties.

Article 20

Secretariat

1.   A Secretariat is hereby established.

2.   The functions of the Secretariat shall be:

(a)	to make arrangements for meetings of the Conference of the Parties and its subsidiary bodies and to provide them with services as required;

(b)	to facilitate assistance to the Parties, particularly developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition, on request, in the implementation of this Convention;

(c)	to ensure the necessary coordination with the secretariats of other relevant international bodies;

(d)	to prepare and make available to the Parties periodic reports based on information received pursuant to Article 15 and other available information;

(e)	to enter, under the overall guidance of the Conference of the Parties, into such administrative and contractual arrangements as may be required for the effective discharge of its functions; and

(f)	to perform the other secretariat functions specified in this Convention and such other functions as may be determined by the Conference of the Parties.

3.   The secretariat functions for this Convention shall be performed by the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, unless the Conference of the Parties decides, by a three-fourths majority of the Parties present and voting, to entrust the secretariat functions to one or more other international organisations.

Article 21

Amendments to the Convention

1.   Amendments to this Convention may be proposed by any Party.

2.   Amendments to this Convention shall be adopted at a meeting of the Conference of the Parties. The text of any proposed amendment shall be communicated to the Parties by the Secretariat at least six months before the meeting at which it is proposed for adoption. The Secretariat shall also communicate proposed amendments to the signatories to this Convention and, for information, to the depository.

3.   The Parties shall make every effort to reach agreement on any proposed amendment to this Convention by consensus. If all efforts at consensus have been exhausted, and no agreement reached, the amendment shall as a last resort be adopted by a three‐fourths majority vote of the Parties present and voting.

4.   The amendment shall be communicated by the depository to all Parties for ratification, acceptance or approval.

5.   Ratification, acceptance or approval of an amendment shall be notified to the depository in writing. An amendment adopted in accordance with paragraph 3 shall enter into force for the Parties having accepted it on the 90th day after the date of deposit of instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval by at least three-fourths of the Parties. Thereafter, the amendment shall enter into force for any other Party on the 90th day after the date on which that Party deposits its instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval of the amendment.

Article 22

Adoption and amendment of Annexes

1.   Annexes to this Convention shall form an integral part thereof and, unless expressly provided otherwise, a reference to this Convention constitutes at the same time a reference to any Annexes thereto.

2.   Any additional Annexes shall be restricted to procedural, scientific, technical or administrative matters.

3.   The following procedure shall apply to the proposal, adoption and entry into force of additional Annexes to this Convention:

(a)	additional Annexes shall be proposed and adopted according to the procedure laid down in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Article 21;

(b)

any Party that is unable to accept an additional Annex shall so notify the depository, in writing, within one year from the date of communication by the depository of the adoption of the additional Annex. The depository shall without delay notify all Parties of any such notification received. A Party may at any time withdraw a previous notification of non‐acceptance in respect of any additional Annex, and the Annex shall thereupon enter into force for that Party subject to subparagraph (c); and

(c)	on the expiry of one year from the date of the communication by the depository of the adoption of an additional Annex, the Annex shall enter into force for all Parties that have not submitted a notification in accordance with the provisions of subparagraph (b).

4.   The proposal, adoption and entry into force of amendments to Annex A, B or C shall be subject to the same procedures as for the proposal, adoption and entry into force of additional Annexes to this Convention, except that an amendment to Annex A, B or C shall not enter into force with respect to any Party that has made a declaration with respect to amendment to those Annexes in accordance with paragraph 4 of Article 25, in which case any such amendment shall enter into force for such a Party on the 90th day after the date of deposit with the depository of its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession with respect to such amendment.

5.   The following procedure shall apply to the proposal, adoption and entry into force of an amendment to Annex D, E or F:

(a)	amendments shall be proposed according to the procedure in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 21;

(b)	the Parties shall take decisions on an amendment to Annex D, E or F by consensus; and

(c)	a decision to amend Annex D, E or F shall forthwith be communicated to the Parties by the depository. The amendment shall enter into force for all Parties on a date to be specified in the decision.

6.   If an additional Annex or an amendment to an Annex is related to an amendment to this Convention, the additional Annex or amendment shall not enter into force until such time as the amendment to the Convention enters into force.

Article 23

Right to vote

1.   Each Party to this Convention shall have one vote, except as provided for in paragraph 2.

2.   A regional economic integration organisation, on matters within its competence, shall exercise its right to vote with a number of votes equal to the number of its Member States that are Parties to this Convention. Such an organisation shall not exercise its right to vote if any of its member States exercises its right to vote, and vice versa.

Article 24

Signature

This Convention shall be open for signature at Stockholm by all States and regional economic integration organisations on 23 May 2001, and at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 24 May 2001 to 22 May 2002.

Article 25

Ratification, acceptance, approval or accession

1.   This Convention shall be subject to ratification, acceptance or approval by States and by regional economic integration organisations. It shall be open for accession by States and by regional economic integration organisations from the day after the date on which the Convention is closed for signature. Instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession shall be deposited with the depository.

2.   Any regional economic integration organisation that becomes a Party to this Convention without any of its member States being a Party shall be bound by all the obligations under the Convention. In the case of such organisations, one or more of whose Member States is a Party to this Convention, the organisation and its Member States shall decide on their respective responsibilities for the performance of their obligations under the Convention. In such cases, the organisation and the Member States shall not be entitled to exercise rights under the Convention concurrently.

3.   In its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, a regional economic integration organisation shall declare the extent of its competence in respect of the matters governed by this Convention. Any such organisation shall also inform the depository, who shall in turn inform the Parties, of any relevant modification in the extent of its competence.

4.   In its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, any Party may declare that, with respect to it, any amendment to Annex A, B or C shall enter into force only upon the deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession with respect thereto.

Article 26

Entry into force

1.   This Convention shall enter into force on the 90th day after the date of deposit of the 50th instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.

2.   For each State or regional economic integration organisation that ratifies, accepts or approves this Convention or accedes thereto after the deposit of the 50th instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, the Convention shall enter into force on the 90th day after the date of deposit by such State or regional economic integration organisation of its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.

3.   For the purpose of paragraphs 1 and 2, any instrument deposited by a regional economic integration organisation shall not be counted as additional to those deposited by member States of that organisation.

Article 27

Reservations

No reservations may be made to this Convention.

Article 28

Withdrawal

1.   At any time after three years from the date on which this Convention has entered into force for a Party, that Party may withdraw from the Convention by giving written notification to the depository.

2.   Any such withdrawal shall take effect upon the expiry of one year from the date of receipt by the depository of the notification of withdrawal, or on such later date as may be specified in the notification of withdrawal.

Article 29

Depository

The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall be the depository of this Convention.

Article 30

Authentic texts

The original of this Convention, of which the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the Secretary‐General of the United Nations.

PROTOCOL 3

concerning the definition of the concept of ‘originating products’ and methods of administrative cooperation

CONTENTS

TITLE I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

Definitions

TITLE II

DEFINITION OF THE CONCEPT OF ’ORIGINATING PRODUCTS’

Article 2

General requirements

Article 3

Cumulation in the Community

Article 4

Cumulation in Jordan

Article 5

Wholly obtained products

Article 6

Sufficiently worked or processed products

Article 7

Insufficient working or processing

Article 8

Unit of qualification

Article 9

Accessories, spare parts and tools

Article 10

Sets

Article 11

Neutral elements

TITLE III

TERRITORIAL REQUIREMENTS

Article 12

Principle of territoriality

Article 13

Direct transport

Article 14

Exhibitions

TITLE IV

DRAWBACK OR EXEMPTION

Article 15

Prohibition of drawback of, or exemption from, customs duties

TITLE V

PROOF OF ORIGIN

Article 16

General requirements

Article 17

Procedure for the issue of a movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED

Article 18

Movement certificates EUR.1 or EUR-MED issued retrospectively

Article 19

Issue of a duplicate movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED

Article 20

Issue of movement certificates EUR.1 or EUR-MED on the basis of a proof of origin issued or made out previously

Article 21

Accounting segregation

Article 22

Conditions for making out an invoice declaration or an invoice declaration EUR-MED

Article 23

Approved exporter

Article 24

Validity of proof of origin

Article 25

Submission of proof of origin

Article 26

Importation by instalments

Article 27

Exemptions from proof of origin

Article 28

Supporting documents

Article 29

Preservation of proof of origin and supporting documents

Article 30

Discrepancies and formal errors

Article 31

Amounts expressed in euro

TITEL VI

ARRANGEMENTS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE COOPERATION

Article 32

Mutual assistance

Article 33

Verification of proofs of origin

Article 34

Dispute settlement

Article 35

Penalties

Article 36

Free zones

TITLE VII

CEUTA AND MELILLA

Article 37

Application of the Protocol

Article 38

Special conditions

TITLE VIII

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 39

Amendments to the Protocol

Article 40

Transitional provisions for goods in transit or storage

List of Annexes

Annex I:

Introductory notes to the list in Annex II

Annex II:

List of working or processing required to be carried out on non-originating materials in order for the product manufactured to obtain originating status

Annex IIIa:

Specimens of movement certificate EUR.1 and application for a movement certificate EUR.1

Annex IIIb:

Specimens of movement certificate EUR-MED and application for a movement certificate EUR-MED

Annex IVa:

Text of the invoice declaration

Annex IVb:

Text of the invoice declaration EUR-MED

Joint declarations

Joint declaration concerning the Principality of Andorra

Joint declaration concerning the Republic of San Marino

TITLE I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

Definitions

For the purposes of this Protocol:

(a)	‘manufacture’ means any kind of working or processing including assembly or specific operations;

(b)	‘material’ means any ingredient, raw material, component or part, etc., used in the manufacture of the product;

(c)	‘product’ means the product being manufactured, even if it is intended for later use in another manufacturing operation;

(d)	‘goods’ means both materials and products;

(e)	‘customs value’ means the value as determined in accordance with the 1994 Agreement on implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (WTO Agreement on customs valuation);

(f)

‘ex-works price’ means the price paid for the product ex works to the manufacturer in the Community or in Jordan in whose undertaking the last working or processing is carried out, provided the price includes the value of all the materials used, minus any internal taxes which are, or may be, repaid when the product obtained is exported;

(g)	‘value of materials’ means the customs value at the time of importation of the non-originating materials used, or, if this is not known and cannot be ascertained, the first ascertainable price paid for the materials in the Community or in Jordan;

(h)	‘value of originating materials’ means the value of such materials as defined in (g) applied mutatis mutandis;

(i)

‘value added’ 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 with which cumulation is applicable or, where the customs value is not known or cannot be ascertained, the first ascertainable price paid for the materials in the Community or in Jordan;

(j)	‘chapters’ and ‘headings’ mean the chapters and the headings (four-digit codes) used in the nomenclature which makes up the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System, referred to in this Protocol as ‘the Harmonised System’ or ‘HS’;

(k)	‘classified’ refers to the classification of a product or material under a particular heading;

(l)	‘consignment’ means products which are either sent simultaneously from one exporter to one consignee or covered by a single transport document covering their shipment from the exporter to the consignee or, in the absence of such a document, by a single invoice;

(m)	‘territories’ includes territorial waters.

TITLE II

DEFINITION OF THE CONCEPT OF ‘ORIGINATING PRODUCTS’

Article 2

General requirements

1.   For the purpose of implementing the Agreement, the following products shall be considered as originating in the Community:

(a)	products wholly obtained in the Community within the meaning of Article 5;

(b)	products obtained in the Community incorporating materials which have not been wholly obtained there, provided that such materials have undergone sufficient working or processing in the Community within the meaning of Article 6;

(c)	goods originating in the European Economic Area (EEA) within the meaning of Protocol 4 to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.

2.   For the purpose of implementing the Agreement, the following products shall be considered as originating in Jordan:

(a)	products wholly obtained in Jordan within the meaning of Article 5;

(b)	products obtained in Jordan incorporating materials which have not been wholly obtained there, provided that such materials have undergone sufficient working or processing in Jordan within the meaning of Article 6.

3.   The provisions of paragraph 1(c) shall apply only provided a free trade agreement is applicable between, on the one hand, Jordan and, on the other hand, the EEA EFTA States (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway).

Article 3

Cumulation in the Community

1.   Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 2(1), products shall be considered as originating in the Community if they are obtained there, incorporating materials originating in Bulgaria, Switzerland (including Liechtenstein) (1), Iceland, Norway, Romania, Turkey or in the Community, provided that the working or processing carried out in the Community goes beyond the operations referred to in Article 7. It shall not be necessary for such materials to have undergone sufficient working or processing.

2.   Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 2(1), products shall be considered as originating in the Community if such products are obtained there, incorporating materials originating in the Faroe Islands or in any country which is a participant in the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, based on the Barcelona Declaration adopted at the Euro-Mediterranean Conference held on 27 and 28 November 1995, other than Turkey, provided that the working or processing carried out in the Community goes beyond the operations referred to in Article 7. It shall not be necessary for such materials to have undergone sufficient working or processing.

3.   Where the working or processing carried out in the Community does not go beyond the operations referred to in Article 7, the product obtained shall be considered as originating in the Community 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 paragraphs 1 and 2. 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 the Community.

4.   Products originating in one of the countries referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 which do not undergo any working or processing in the Community, retain their origin if exported into one of these countries.

5.   The cumulation provided for in this Article may be applied only provided that:

(a)	a preferential trade agreement in accordance with Article XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is applicable between the countries involved in the acquisition of the originating status and the country of destination;

(b)	materials and products have acquired originating status by the application of rules of origin identical to those given in this Protocol; and

(c)	notices indicating the fulfilment of the necessary requirements to apply cumulation have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union (C series) and in Jordan according to its own procedures.

The cumulation provided for in this Article shall apply from the date indicated in the notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union (C series).

The Community shall provide Jordan, through the Commission of the European Communities with details of the Agreements, including their dates of entry into force, and their corresponding rules of origin, which are applied with the other countries referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2.

Article 4

Cumulation in Jordan

1.   Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 2(2), products shall be considered as originating in Jordan if they are obtained there, incorporating materials originating in Bulgaria, Switzerland (including Liechtenstein) (2), Iceland, Norway, Romania, Turkey or in the Community, provided that the working or processing carried out in Jordan goes beyond the operations referred to in Article 7. It shall not be necessary for such materials to have undergone sufficient working or processing.

2.   Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 2(2), products shall be considered as originating in Jordan if they are obtained there, incorporating materials originating in the Faroe Islands or in any country which is a participant in the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, based on the Barcelona Declaration adopted at the Euro-Mediterranean Conference held on 27 and 28 November 1995, other than Turkey, provided that the working or processing carried out in Jordan goes beyond the operations referred to in Article 7. It shall not be necessary for such materials to have undergone sufficient working or processing.

3.   Where the working or processing carried out in Jordan does not go beyond the operations referred to in Article 7, the product obtained shall be considered as originating in Jordan 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 paragraphs 1 and 2. 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 Jordan.

4.   Products originating in one of the countries referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 which do not undergo any working or processing in Jordan shall retain their origin if exported into one of these countries.

5.   The cumulation provided for in this Article may be applied only provided that:

(a)	a preferential trade agreement in accordance with Article XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is applicable between the countries involved in the acquisition of the originating status and the country of destination;

(b)	materials and products have acquired originating status by the application of rules of origin identical to those given in this Protocol; and

(c)	notices indicating the fulfilment of the necessary requirements to apply cumulation have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union (C series) and in Jordan according to its own procedures.

The cumulation provided for in this Article shall apply from the date indicated in the notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union (C series).

Jordan shall provide the Community through the Commission of the European Communities with details of the Agreements, including their dates of entry into force, and their corresponding rules of origin, which are applied with the other countries referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2.

Article 5

Wholly obtained products

1.   The following shall be considered as wholly obtained in the Community or in Jordan:

(a)	mineral products extracted from their soil or from their seabed;

(b)	vegetable products harvested there;

(c)	live animals born and raised there;

(d)	products from live animals raised there;

(e)	products obtained by hunting or fishing conducted there;

(f)	products of sea fishing and other products taken from the sea outside the territorial waters of the Community or of Jordan by their vessels;

(g)	products made aboard their factory ships exclusively from products referred to in (f);

(h)	used articles collected there fit only for the recovery of raw materials, including used tyres fit only for rethreading or for use as waste;

(i)	waste and scrap resulting from manufacturing operations conducted there;

(j)	products extracted from marine soil or subsoil outside their territorial waters provided that they have sole rights to work that soil or subsoil;

(k)	goods produced there exclusively from the products specified in (a) to (j).

2.   The terms ‘their vessels’ and ‘their factory ships’ in paragraph 1(f) and (g) shall apply only to vessels and factory ships:

(a)	which are registered or recorded in a Member State of the Community or in Jordan;

(b)	which sail under the flag of a Member State of the Community or of Jordan;

(c)

which are owned to an extent of at least 50 % by nationals of a Member State of the Community or of Jordan, or by a company with its head office in one of these States, of which the manager or managers, Chairman of the Board of Directors or the Supervisory Board, and the majority of the members of such boards are nationals of a Member State of the Community or of Jordan and of which, in addition, in the case of partnerships or limited companies, at least half the capital belongs to those States or to public bodies or nationals of the said States;

(d)	of which the master and officers are nationals of a Member State of the Community or of Jordan; and

(e)	of which at least 75 % of the crew are nationals of a Member State of the Community or of Jordan.

Article 6

Sufficiently worked or processed products

1.   For the purposes of Article 2, products which are not wholly obtained shall be considered to be sufficiently worked or processed when the conditions set out in the list in Annex II are fulfilled.

The conditions referred to above indicate, for all products covered by the Agreement, the working or processing which must be carried out on non-originating materials used in manufacturing and apply only in relation to such materials. It follows that if a product which has acquired originating status by fulfilling the conditions set out in the list is used in the manufacture of another product, the conditions applicable to the product in which it is incorporated do not apply to it, and no account shall be taken of the non-originating materials which may have been used in its manufacture.

2.   Notwithstanding paragraph 1, non-originating materials which, according to the conditions set out in the list in Annex II, shall not be used in the manufacture of a product may nevertheless be used, provided that:

(a)	their total value does not exceed 10 % of the ex-works price of the product;

(b)	any of the percentages given in the list for the maximum value of non-originating materials are not exceeded by virtue of this paragraph.

This paragraph shall not apply to products falling within Chapters 50 to 63 of the Harmonised System.

3.   Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply subject to the provisions of Article 7.

Article 7

Insufficient working or processing

1.   Without prejudice to paragraph 2, the following operations shall be considered as insufficient working or processing to confer the status of originating products, whether or not the requirements of Article 6 are satisfied:

(a)	preserving operations to ensure that the products remain in good condition during transport and storage;

(b)	breaking-up and assembly of packages;

(c)	washing, cleaning; removal of dust, oxide, oil, paint or other coverings;

(d)	ironing or pressing of textiles;

(e)	simple painting and polishing operations;

(f)	husking, partial or total bleaching, polishing, and glazing of cereals and rice;

(g)	operations to colour sugar or form sugar lumps;

(h)	peeling, stoning and shelling, of fruits, nuts and vegetables;

(i)	sharpening, simple grinding or simple cutting;

(j)	sifting, screening, sorting, classifying, grading, matching; (including the making-up of sets of articles);

(k)	simple placing in bottles, cans, flasks, bags, cases, boxes, fixing on cards or boards and all other simple packaging operations;

(l)	affixing or printing marks, labels, logos and other like distinguishing signs on products or their packaging;

(m)	simple mixing of products, whether or not of different kinds;

(n)	simple assembly of parts of articles to constitute a complete article or disassembly of products into parts;

(o)	a combination of two or more operations specified in (a) to (n);

(p)	slaughter of animals.

2.   All operations carried out either in the Community or in Jordan on a given product shall be considered together when determining whether the working or processing undergone by that product is to be regarded as insufficient within the meaning of paragraph 1.

Article 8

Unit of qualification

1.   The unit of qualification for the application of the provisions of this Protocol shall be the particular product which is considered as the basic unit when determining classification using the nomenclature of the Harmonised System.

It follows that:

(a)	when a product composed of a group or assembly of articles is classified under the terms of the Harmonised System in a single heading, the whole constitutes the unit of qualification;

(b)	when a consignment consists of a number of identical products classified under the same heading of the Harmonised System, each product must be taken individually when applying the provisions of this Protocol.

2.   Where, under General Rule 5 of the Harmonised System, packaging is included with the product for classification purposes, it shall be included for the purposes of determining origin.

Article 9

Accessories, spare parts and tools

Accessories, spare parts and tools dispatched with a piece of equipment, machine, apparatus or vehicle, which are part of the normal equipment and included in the price thereof or which are not separately invoiced, shall be regarded as one with the piece of equipment, machine, apparatus or vehicle in question.

Article 10

Sets

Sets, as defined in General Rule 3 of the Harmonised System, shall be regarded as originating when all component products are originating. Nevertheless, when a set is composed of originating and non-originating products, the set as a whole shall be regarded as originating, provided that the value of the non-originating products does not exceed 15 % of the ex-works price of the set.

Article 11

Neutral elements

In order to determine whether a product is an originating product, it shall not be necessary to determine the origin of the following which might be used in its manufacture:

(a)	energy and fuel;

(b)	plant and equipment;

(c)	machines and tools;

(d)	goods which neither enter into the final composition of the product nor are intended to do so.

TITLE III

TERRITORIAL REQUIREMENTS

Article 12

Principle of territoriality

1.   Except as provided for in Article 2(1)(c), Articles 3 and 4 and paragraph 3 of this Article, the conditions for acquiring originating status set out in Title II must be fulfilled without interruption in the Community or in Jordan.

2.   Except as provided for in Articles 3 and 4, where originating goods exported from the Community or from Jordan 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 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 the Community or Jordan on materials exported from the Community or from Jordan and subsequently re-imported there, provided:

(a)	the said materials are wholly obtained in the Community or in Jordan or have undergone working or processing beyond the operations referred to in Article 7 prior to being exported; and

(b)

it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the customs authorities that: (i) the re-imported goods have been obtained by working or processing the exported materials; and (ii) the total added value acquired outside the Community or Jordan 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 the Community or Jordan. However, 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 the Community or Jordan 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 the Community or Jordan, 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 tolerance fixed in Article 6(2) is applied.

7.   The provisions of paragraphs 3 and 4 shall not apply to products of Chapters 50 to 63 of the Harmonised System.

8.   Any working or processing of the kind covered by this Article and done outside the Community or Jordan shall be done under the outward processing arrangements, or similar arrangements.

Article 13

Direct transport

1.   The preferential treatment provided for under the Agreement applies only to products, satisfying the requirements of this Protocol, which are transported directly between the Community and Jordan or through the territories of the other countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4 with which cumulation is applicable. However, products constituting one single consignment may be transported through other territories with, should the occasion arise, trans-shipment or temporary warehousing in such territories, provided that they remain under the surveillance of the customs authorities in the country of transit or warehousing and do not undergo operations other than unloading, reloading or any operation designed to preserve them in good condition.

Originating products may be transported by pipeline across territory other than that of the Community or Jordan.

2.   Evidence that the conditions set out in paragraph 1 have been fulfilled shall be supplied to the customs authorities of the importing country by the production of:

(a)	a single transport document covering the passage from the exporting country through the country of transit; or

(b)

a certificate issued by the customs authorities of the country of transit: (i) giving an exact description of the products; (ii) stating the dates of unloading and reloading of the products and, where applicable, the names of the ships, or the other means of transport used; and (iii) certifying the conditions under which the products remained in the transit country; or

(c)	failing these, any substantiating documents.

Article 14

Exhibitions

1.   Originating products, sent for exhibition in a country other than those referred to in Articles 3 and 4 with which cumulation is applicable and sold after the exhibition for importation in the Community or in Jordan shall benefit on importation from the provisions of the Agreement provided it is shown to the satisfaction of the customs authorities that:

(a)	an exporter has consigned these products from the Community or from Jordan to the country in which the exhibition is held and has exhibited them there;

(b)	the products have been sold or otherwise disposed of by that exporter to a person in the Community or in Jordan;

(c)	the products have been consigned during the exhibition or immediately thereafter in the state in which they were sent for exhibition; and

(d)	the products have not, since they were consigned for exhibition, been used for any purpose other than demonstration at the exhibition.

2.   A proof of origin shall be issued or made out in accordance with the provisions of Title V and submitted to the customs authorities of the importing country in the normal manner. The name and address of the exhibition shall be indicated thereon. Where necessary, additional documentary evidence of the conditions under which the products have been exhibited may be required.

3.   Paragraph 1 shall apply to any trade, industrial, agricultural or crafts exhibition, fair or similar public show or display which is not organised for private purposes in shops or business premises with a view to the sale of foreign products, and during which the products remain under customs control.

TITEL IV

DRAWBACK OR EXEMPTION

Article 15

Prohibition of drawback of, or exemption from, customs duties

1.

(a) Non-originating materials used in the manufacture of products originating in the Community, in Jordan or in one of the other countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4 for which a proof of origin is issued or made out in accordance with Title V shall not be subject in the Community or in Jordan to drawback of, or exemption from, customs duties of whatever kind. (b) Products falling within Chapter 3 and headings 1604 and 1605 of the Harmonised System and originating in the Community as provided for in Article 2(1)(c), for which a proof of origin is issued or made out in accordance with the provisions of Title V shall not be subject in the Community to drawback of, or exemption from, customs duties of whatever kind.

2.   The prohibition in paragraph 1 shall apply to any arrangement for refund, remission or non-payment, partial or complete, of customs duties or charges having an equivalent effect, applicable in the Community or in Jordan to materials used in the manufacture and to products covered by paragraph 1(b), where such refund, remission or non-payment applies, expressly or in effect, when products obtained from the said materials are exported and not when they are retained for home use there.

3.   The exporter of products covered by a proof of origin shall be prepared to submit at any time, upon request from the customs authorities, all appropriate documents proving that no drawback has been obtained in respect of the non-originating materials used in the manufacture of the products concerned and that all customs duties or charges having equivalent effect applicable to such materials have actually been paid.

4.   The provisions of paragraphs 1 to 3 shall also apply in respect of packaging within the meaning of Article 8(2), accessories, spare parts and tools within the meaning of Article 9 and products in a set within the meaning of Article 10 when such items are non-originating.

5.   The provisions of paragraphs 1 to 4 shall apply only in respect of materials which are of the kind to which the Agreement applies. Furthermore, they shall not preclude the application of an export refund system for agricultural products, applicable upon export in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement.

6.   The prohibition in paragraph 1 shall not apply if the products are considered as originating in the Community or Jordan without application of cumulation with materials originating in one of the other countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4.

7.   Notwithstanding paragraph 1, Jordan may, except for products falling within Chapters 1 to 24 of the Harmonised System, apply arrangements for drawback of, or exemption from, customs duties or charges having an equivalent effect, applicable to non-originating materials used in the manufacture of originating products, subject to the following provisions:

(a)	a 5 % rate of customs charge shall be retained in respect of products falling within Chapters 25 to 49 and 64 to 97 of the Harmonised System, or such lower rate as is in force in Jordan;

(b)	a 10 % rate of customs charge shall be retained in respect of products falling within Chapters 50 to 63 of the Harmonised System, or such lower rate as is in force in Jordan.

The provisions of this paragraph shall apply until 31 December 2009 and may be reviewed by common accord.

TITLE V

PROOF OF ORIGIN

Article 16

General requirements

1.   Products originating in the Community shall, on importation into Jordan, and products originating in Jordan shall, on importation into the Community benefit from the provisions of the Agreement upon submission of one of the following proofs of origin:

(a)	a movement certificate EUR.1, a specimen of which appears in Annex IIIa;

(b)	a movement certificate EUR-MED, a specimen of which appears in Annex IIIb;

(c)

in the cases specified in Article 22(1), a declaration, subsequently referred to as the ‘invoice declaration’ or the ‘invoice declaration EUR-MED’, given by the exporter on an invoice, a delivery note or any other commercial document which describes the products concerned in sufficient detail to enable them to be identified; the texts of the invoice declarations appear in Annexes IVa and b.

2.   Notwithstanding paragraph 1, originating products within the meaning of this Protocol shall, in the cases specified in Article 27, benefit from the provisions of the Agreement without it being necessary to submit any of the proofs of origin referred to in paragraph 1.

Article 17

Procedure for the issue of a movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED

1.   A movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED shall be issued by the customs authorities of the exporting country on application having been made in writing by the exporter or, under the exporter's responsibility, by his authorised representative.

2.   For this purpose, the exporter or his authorised representative shall fill in both the movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED and the application form, specimens of which appear in the Annexes IIIa and b. These forms shall be completed in one of the languages in which the Agreement is drawn up and in accordance with the provisions of the national law of the exporting country. If the forms are handwritten, they shall be completed in ink in printed characters. The description of the products shall be given in the box reserved for this purpose without leaving any blank lines. Where the box is not completely filled, a horizontal line shall be drawn below the last line of the description, the empty space being crossed through.

3.   The exporter applying for the issue of a movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED shall be prepared to submit at any time, at the request of the customs authorities of the exporting country where the movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED is issued, all appropriate documents proving the originating status of the products concerned as well as the fulfilment of the other requirements of this Protocol.

4.   Without prejudice to paragraph 5, a movement certificate EUR.1 shall be issued by the customs authorities of a Member State of the Community or of Jordan in the following cases:

—	if the products concerned can be considered as products originating in the Community or in Jordan without application of cumulation with materials originating in one of the other countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4, and fulfil the other requirements of this Protocol,

—

if the products concerned can be considered as products originating in one of the other countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4 with which cumulation is applicable, without application of cumulation with materials originating in one of the countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4, and fulfil the other requirements of this Protocol, provided a certificate EUR-MED or an invoice declaration EUR-MED has been issued in the country of origin.

5.   A movement certificate EUR-MED shall be issued by the customs authorities of a Member State of the Community or of Jordan, if the products concerned can be considered as products originating in the Community, in Jordan or in one of the other countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4 with which cumulation is applicable, fulfil the requirements of this Protocol and:

—	cumulation was applied with materials originating in one of the other countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4, or

—	the products may be used as materials in the context of cumulation for the manufacture of products for export to one of the other countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4, or

—	the products may be re-exported from the country of destination to one of the other countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4.

6.   A movement certificate EUR-MED shall contain one of the following statements in English in box 7:

—	if origin has been obtained by application of cumulation with materials originating in one or more of the countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4: ‘CUMULATION APPLIED WITH ……….’ (name of the country/countries)

—	if origin has been obtained without the application of cumulation with materials originating in one or more of the countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4: ‘NO CUMULATION APPLIED’.

7.   The customs authorities issuing movement certificates EUR.1 or EUR-MED shall take any steps necessary to verify the originating status of the products and the fulfilment of the other requirements of this Protocol. For this purpose, they shall have the right to call for any evidence and to carry out any inspection of the exporter's accounts or any other check considered appropriate. They shall also ensure that the forms referred to in paragraph 2 are duly completed. In particular, they shall check whether the space reserved for the description of the products has been completed in such a manner as to exclude all possibility of fraudulent additions.

8.   The date of issue of the movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED shall be indicated in Box 11 of the certificate.

9.   A movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED shall be issued by the customs authorities and made available to the exporter as soon as actual exportation has been effected or ensured.

Article 18

Movement certificates EUR.1 or EUR-MED issued retrospectively

1.   Notwithstanding Article 17(9), a movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED may exceptionally be issued after exportation of the products to which it relates if:

(a)	it was not issued at the time of exportation because of errors or involuntary omissions or special circumstances; or

(b)	it is demonstrated to the satisfaction of the customs authorities that a movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED was issued but was not accepted at importation for technical reasons.

2.   Notwithstanding Article 17(9), a movement certificate EUR-MED may be issued after exportation of the products to which it relates and for which a movement certificate EUR.1 was issued at the time of exportation, provided that it is demonstrated to the satisfaction of the customs authorities that the conditions referred to in Article 17(5) are satisfied.

3.   For the implementation of paragraphs 1 and 2, the exporter shall indicate in his application the place and date of exportation of the products to which the movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED relates, and state the reasons for his request.

4.   The customs authorities may issue a movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED retrospectively only after verifying that the information supplied in the exporter's application complies with that in the corresponding file.

5.   Movement certificates EUR.1 or EUR-MED issued retrospectively shall be endorsed with the following phrase in English:

‘ISSUED RETROSPECTIVELY’

Movement certificates EUR-MED issued retrospectively by application of paragraph 2 shall be endorsed with the following phrase in English:

‘ISSUED RETROSPECTIVELY (Original EUR.1 No ………. (date and place of issue))’

6.   The endorsement referred to in paragraph 5 shall be inserted in Box 7 of the movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED.

Article 19

Issue of a duplicate movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED

1.   In the event of theft, loss or destruction of a movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED, the exporter may apply to the customs authorities which issued it for a duplicate made out on the basis of the export documents in their possession.

2.   The duplicate issued in this way shall be endorsed with the following word in English:

‘DUPLICATE’

3.   The endorsement referred to in paragraph 2 shall be inserted in Box 7 of the duplicate movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED.

4.   The duplicate, which shall bear the date of issue of the original movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED, shall take effect as from that date.

Article 20

Issue of movement certificates EUR.1 or EUR-MED on the basis of a proof of origin issued or made out previously

When originating products are placed under the control of a customs office in the Community or in Jordan, it shall be possible to replace the original proof of origin by one or more movement certificates EUR.1 or EUR-MED for the purpose of sending all or some of these products elsewhere within the Community or Jordan. The replacement movement certificate(s) EUR.1 or EUR-MED shall be issued by the customs office under whose control the products are placed.

Article 21

Accounting segregation

1.   Where considerable cost or material difficulties arise in keeping separate stocks of originating and non-originating materials which are identical and interchangeable, the customs authorities may, at the written request of those concerned, authorise the so-called ‘accounting segregation’ method (hereinafter referred to as the method) to be used for managing such stocks.

2.   The method must be able to ensure that, for a specific reference period, the number of products obtained which could be considered as ‘originating’ is the same as that which would have been obtained had there been physical segregation of the stocks.

3.   The customs authorities may make the grant of authorisation referred to in paragraph 1, subject to any conditions deemed appropriate.

4.   The method shall be applied and the application thereof shall be recorded on the basis of the general accounting principles applicable in the country where the product was manufactured.

5.   The beneficiary of the method may make out or apply for proofs of origin, as the case may be, for the quantity of products which may be considered as originating. At the request of the customs authorities, the beneficiary shall provide a statement of how the quantities have been managed.

6.   The customs authorities shall monitor the use made of the authorisation and may withdraw it whenever the beneficiary makes improper use of the authorisation in any manner whatsoever or fails to fulfil any of the other conditions laid down in this Protocol.

Article 22

Conditions for making out an invoice declaration or an invoice declaration EUR-MED

1.   An invoice declaration or an invoice declaration EUR-MED as referred to in Article 16(1)(c) may be made out:

(a)	by an approved exporter within the meaning of Article 23, or

(b)	by any exporter for any consignment consisting of one or more packages containing originating products whose total value does not exceed EUR 6 000.

2.   Without prejudice to paragraph 3, an invoice declaration may be made out in the following cases:

—	if the products concerned may be considered as products originating in the Community or in Jordan without application of cumulation with materials originating in one of the other countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4, and fulfil the other requirements of this Protocol,

—

if the products concerned may be considered as products originating in one of the other countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4 with which cumulation is applicable, without application of cumulation with materials originating in one of the countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4, and fulfil the other requirements of this Protocol, provided a certificate EUR-MED or an invoice declaration EUR-MED has been issued in the country of origin.

3.   An invoice declaration EUR-MED may be made out if the products concerned may be considered as products originating in the Community, in Jordan or in one of the other countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4 with which cumulation is applicable, fulfil the requirements of this Protocol and:

—	cumulation was applied with materials originating in one of the other countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4, or

—	the products may be used as materials in the context of cumulation for the manufacture of products for export to one of the other countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4, or

—	the products may be re-exported from the country of destination to one of the other countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4.

4.   An invoice declaration EUR-MED shall contain one of the following statements in English:

—	if origin has been obtained by application of cumulation with materials originating in one or more of the countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4: ‘CUMULATION APPLIED WITH ……….’ (name of the country/countries),

—	if origin has been obtained without application of cumulation with materials originating in one or more of the countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4: ‘NO CUMULATION APPLIED’.

5.   The exporter making out an invoice declaration or an invoice declaration EUR-MED shall be prepared to submit at any time, at the request of the customs authorities of the exporting country, all appropriate documents proving the originating status of the products concerned as well as the fulfilment of the other requirements of this Protocol.

6.   An invoice declaration or an invoice declaration EUR-MED shall be made out by the exporter by typing, stamping or printing on the invoice, the delivery note or another commercial document, the declaration, the texts of which appear in Annexes IVa and b, using one of the linguistic versions set out in these Annexes and in accordance with the provisions of the national law of the exporting country. If the declaration is handwritten, it shall be written in ink in printed characters.

7.   Invoice declarations and invoice declarations EUR-MED shall bear the original signature of the exporter in manuscript. However, an approved exporter within the meaning of Article 23 shall not be required to sign such declarations provided that he gives the customs authorities of the exporting country a written undertaking that he accepts full responsibility for any invoice declaration which identifies him as if it had been signed in manuscript by him.

8.   An invoice declaration or an invoice declaration EUR-MED may be made out by the exporter when the products to which it relates are exported, or after exportation on condition that it is presented in the importing country at the latest two years after the importation of the products to which it relates.

Article 23

Approved exporter

1.   The customs authorities of the exporting country may authorise any exporter (hereinafter referred to as approved exporter) who makes frequent shipments of products under the Agreement to make out invoice declarations or invoice declarations EUR-MED irrespective of the value of the products concerned. An exporter seeking such authorisation shall offer to the satisfaction of the customs authorities all guarantees necessary to verify the originating status of the products as well as the fulfilment of the other requirements of this Protocol.

2.   The customs authorities may grant the status of approved exporter subject to any conditions which they consider appropriate.

3.   The customs authorities shall grant to the approved exporter a customs authorisation number which shall appear on the invoice declaration or on the invoice declaration EUR-MED.

4.   The customs authorities shall monitor the use of the authorisation by the approved exporter.

5.   The customs authorities may withdraw the authorisation at any time. They shall do so where the approved exporter no longer offers the guarantees referred to in paragraph 1, no longer fulfils the conditions referred to in paragraph 2 or otherwise makes an incorrect use of the authorisation.

Article 24

Validity of proof of origin

1.   A proof of origin shall be valid for four months from the date of issue in the exporting country and shall be submitted within the said period to the customs authorities of the importing country.

2.   Proofs of origin which are submitted to the customs authorities of the importing country after the final date for presentation specified in paragraph 1 may be accepted for the purpose of applying preferential treatment, where the failure to submit these documents by the final date set is due to exceptional circumstances.

3.   In other cases of belated presentation, the customs authorities of the importing country may accept the proofs of origin where the products have been submitted before the said final date.

Article 25

Submission of proof of origin

Proofs of origin shall be submitted to the customs authorities of the importing country in accordance with the procedures applicable in that country. The said authorities may require a translation of a proof of origin and may also require the import declaration to be accompanied by a statement from the importer to the effect that the products meet the conditions required for the implementation of the Agreement.

Article 26

Importation by instalments

Where, at the request of the importer and on the conditions laid down by the customs authorities of the importing country, dismantled or non-assembled products within the meaning of General Rule 2(a) of the Harmonised System falling within Sections XVIand XVII or headings 7308 and 9406 of the Harmonised System are imported by instalments, a single proof of origin for such products shall be submitted to the customs authorities upon importation of the first instalment.

Article 27

Exemptions from proof of origin

1.   Products sent as small packages from private persons to private persons or forming part of travellers' personal luggage shall be admitted as originating products without requiring the submission of a proof of origin, provided that such products are not imported by way of trade and have been declared as meeting the requirements of this Protocol and where there is no doubt as to the veracity of such a declaration. In the case of products sent by post, this declaration can be made on customs declaration CN22/CN23 or on a sheet of paper annexed to that document.

2.   Imports which are occasional and consist solely of products for the personal use of the recipients or travellers or their families shall not be considered as imports by way of trade if it is evident from the nature and quantity of the products that no commercial purpose is in view.

3.   Furthermore, the total value of these products shall not exceed EUR 500 in the case of small packages or EUR 1 200 in the case of products forming part of travellers' personal luggage.

Article 28

Supporting documents

The documents referred to in Articles 17(3) and 22(5) used for the purpose of proving that products covered by a movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED or an invoice declaration or invoice declaration EUR-MED may be considered as products originating in the Community, in Jordan or in one of the other countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4 and fulfil the other requirements of this Protocol may consist inter alia of the following:

(a)	direct evidence of the processes carried out by the exporter or supplier to obtain the goods concerned, contained for example in his accounts or internal bookkeeping;

(b)	documents proving the originating status of materials used, issued or made out in the Community or in Jordan where these documents are used in accordance with national law;

(c)	documents proving the working or processing of materials in the Community or in Jordan, issued or made out in the Community or in Jordan, where these documents are used in accordance with national law;

(d)

movement certificates EUR.1 or EUR-MED or invoice declarations or invoice declarations EUR-MED proving the originating status of materials used, issued or made out in the Community or in Jordan in accordance with this Protocol, or in one of the other countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4, in accordance with rules of origin which are identical to the rules in this Protocol;

(e)	appropriate evidence concerning working or processing undergone outside the Community or Jordan by application of Article 12, proving that the requirements of that Article have been satisfied.

Article 29

Preservation of proof of origin and supporting documents

1.   The exporter applying for the issue of a movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED shall keep for at least three years the documents referred to in Article 17(3).

2.   The exporter making out an invoice declaration or invoice declaration EUR-MED shall keep for at least three years a copy of this invoice declaration as well as the documents referred to in Article 22(5).

3.   The customs authorities of the exporting country issuing a movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED shall keep for at least three years the application form referred to in Article 17(2).

4.   The customs authorities of the importing country shall keep for at least three years the movement certificates EUR.1 and EUR-MED and the invoice declarations and invoice declarations EUR-MED submitted to them.

Article 30

Discrepancies and formal errors

1.   The discovery of slight discrepancies between the statements made in the proof of origin and those made in the documents submitted to the customs office for the purpose of carrying out the formalities for importing the products shall not ipso facto render the proof of origin null and void if it is duly established that this document does correspond to the products submitted.

2.   Obvious formal errors such as typing errors on a proof of origin should not cause this document to be rejected if these errors are not such as to create doubts concerning the correctness of the statements made in this document.

Article 31

Amounts expressed in euro

1.   For the application of the provisions of Article 22(1)(b) and Article 27(3) in cases where products are invoiced in a currency other than in euro, amounts in the national currencies of the Member States of the Community, of Jordan and of the other countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4 equivalent to the amounts expressed in euro shall be fixed annually by each of the countries concerned.

2.   A consignment shall benefit from the provisions of Article 22(1)(b) or Article 27(3) by reference to the currency in which the invoice is drawn up, according to the amount fixed by the country concerned.

3.   The amounts to be used in any given national currency shall be the equivalent in that currency of the amounts expressed in euro as at the first working day of October each year. The amounts shall be communicated to the Commission of the European Communities by 15 October and shall apply from 1 January the following year. The Commission of the European Communities shall notify all countries concerned of the relevant amounts.

4.   A country may round up or down the amount resulting from the conversion into its national currency of an amount expressed in euro. The rounded-off amount may not differ from the amount resulting from the conversion by more than 5 %. A country may retain unchanged its national currency equivalent of an amount expressed in euro if, at the time of the annual adjustment provided for in paragraph 3, the conversion of that amount, prior to any rounding-off, results in an increase of less than 15 % in the national currency equivalent. The national currency equivalent may be retained unchanged if the conversion were to result in a decrease in that equivalent value.

5.   The amounts expressed in euro shall be reviewed by the Association Committee at the request of the Community or of Jordan. When carrying out this review, the Association Committee shall consider the desirability of preserving the effects of the limits concerned in real terms. For this purpose, it may decide to modify the amounts expressed in euro.

TITLE VI

ARRANGEMENTS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE COOPERATION

Article 32

Mutual assistance

1.   The customs authorities of the Member States of the Community and of Jordan shall provide each other, through the Commission of the European Communities, with specimen impressions of stamps used in their customs offices for the issue of movement certificates EUR.1 and EUR-MED, and with the addresses of the customs authorities responsible for verifying those certificates, invoice declarations and invoice declarations EUR-MED.

2.   In order to ensure the proper application of this Protocol, the Community and Jordan shall assist each other, through the competent customs administrations, in checking the authenticity of the movement certificates EUR.1 and EUR-MED, the invoice declarations and the invoice declarations EUR-MED and the correctness of the information given in these documents.

Article 33

Verification of proofs of origin

1.   Subsequent verifications of proofs of origin shall be carried out at random or whenever the customs authorities of the importing country have reasonable doubts as to the authenticity of such documents, the originating status of the products concerned or the fulfilment of the other requirements of this Protocol.

2.   For the purposes of implementing paragraph 1, the customs authorities of the importing country shall return the movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED and the invoice, if it has been submitted, the invoice declaration or the invoice declaration EUR-MED, or a copy of these documents, to the customs authorities of the exporting country giving, where appropriate, the reasons for the request for verification. Any documents and information obtained suggesting that the information given on the proof of origin is incorrect shall be forwarded in support of the request for verification.

3.   The verification shall be carried out by the customs authorities of the exporting country. For this purpose, they shall have the right to call for any evidence and to carry out any inspection of the exporter's accounts or any other check considered appropriate.

4.   If the customs authorities of the importing country decide to suspend the granting of preferential treatment to the products concerned while awaiting the results of the verification, release of the products shall be offered to the importer subject to any precautionary measures judged necessary.

5.   The customs authorities requesting the verification shall be informed of the results thereof as soon as possible. These results shall indicate clearly whether the documents are authentic and whether the products concerned may be considered as products originating in the Community, in Jordan or in one of the other countries referred to in Articles 3 and 4 and fulfil the other requirements of this Protocol.

6.   If in cases of reasonable doubt there is no reply within ten months of the date of the verification request or if the reply does not contain sufficient information to determine the authenticity of the document in question or the real origin of the products, the requesting customs authorities shall, except in exceptional circumstances, refuse entitlement to the preferences.

Article 34

Dispute settlement

Where disputes arise in relation to the verification procedures of Article 33 which cannot be settled between the customs authorities requesting a verification and the customs authorities responsible for carrying out this verification or where they raise a question as to the interpretation of this Protocol, they shall be submitted to the Association Committee.

In all cases, the settlement of disputes between the importer and the customs authorities of the importing country shall take place under the legislation of that country.

Article 35

Penalties

Penalties shall be imposed on any person who draws up, or causes to be drawn up, a document which contains incorrect information for the purpose of obtaining a preferential treatment for products.

Article 36

Free zones

1.   The Community and Jordan shall take all necessary steps to ensure that products traded under cover of a proof of origin which in the course of transport use a free zone situated in their territory, are not substituted by other goods and do not undergo handling other than normal operations designed to prevent their deterioration.

2.   By way of derogation from paragraph 1, when products originating in the Community or in Jordan are imported into a free zone under cover of a proof of origin and undergo treatment or processing, the authorities concerned shall issue a new movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED at the exporter's request, if the treatment or processing undergone complies with the provisions of this Protocol.

TITLE VII

CEUTA AND MELILLA

Article 37

Application of the Protocol

1.   The term ‘Community’ used in Article 2 does not cover Ceuta and Melilla.

2.   Products originating in Jordan, when imported into Ceuta or Melilla, shall enjoy in all respects the same customs regime as that which is applied to products originating in the customs territory of the Community under Protocol 2 of the Act of Accession of the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic to the European Communities. Jordan shall grant to imports of products covered by the Agreement and originating in Ceuta and Melilla the same customs regime as that which is granted to products imported from and originating in the Community.

3.   For the purpose of applying paragraph 2 concerning products originating in Ceuta and Melilla, this Protocol shall apply mutatis mutandis subject to the special conditions set out in Article 38.

Article 38

Special conditions

1.   Providing they have been transported directly in accordance with Article 13, the following shall be considered as:

(1)

products originating in Ceuta and Melilla: (a) products wholly obtained in Ceuta and Melilla; (b) products obtained in Ceuta and Melilla in the manufacture of which products other than those referred to in (a) are used, provided that: (i) the said products have undergone sufficient working or processing within the meaning of Article 6; or that (ii) those products originate in Jordan or in the Community, provided that they have been submitted to working or processing which goes beyond the operations referred to in Article 7;

(2)

products originating in Jordan: (a) products wholly obtained in Jordan; (b) products obtained in Jordan, in the manufacture of which products other than those referred to in (a) are used, provided that: (i) the said products have undergone sufficient working or processing within the meaning of Article 6; or that (ii) those products originate in Ceuta and Melilla or in the Community, provided that they have been submitted to working or processing which goes beyond the operations referred to in Article 7.

2.   Ceuta and Melilla shall be considered as a single territory.

3.   The exporter or his authorised representative shall enter ‘Jordan’ and ‘Ceuta and Melilla’ in Box 2 of movement certificates EUR.1 or EUR-MED or on invoice declarations or on invoice declarations EUR-MED. In addition, in the case of products originating in Ceuta and Melilla, this shall be indicated in Box 4 of movement certificates EUR.1 or EUR-MED or on invoice declarations or on invoice declarations EUR-MED.

4.   The Spanish customs authorities shall be responsible for the application of this Protocol in Ceuta and Melilla.

TITLE VIII

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 39

Amendments to the Protocol

The Association Council may decide to amend the provisions of this Protocol.

Article 40

Transitional provision for goods in transit or storage

The provisions of the Agreement may be applied to goods which comply with the provisions of this Protocol and which on the date of entry into force of this Protocol are either in transit or are in the Community or in Jordan in temporary storage in customs warehouses or in free zones, subject to the submission to the customs authorities of the importing country, within four months of the said date, of a movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED issued retrospectively by the customs authorities of the exporting country together with the documents showing that the goods have been transported directly in accordance with Article 13.

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(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.