(1)

Cabo Verde is a country benefiting from the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance provided under Article 1(2), point (b), of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2),referred to as the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP+). The rules on preferential origin for the purposes of the GSP, other than procedural rules, are laid down in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 (3).

(2)

By letter dated 14 July 2023, Cabo Verde submitted a request for a prolongation of the temporary derogations from the rules on preferential origin laid down in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446, which had been granted by Commission Implementing Regulations (EU) 2019/561 (4), (EU) 2019/620 (5) and (EU) 2021/966 (6). The request concerned an annual volume of 5 000 tonnes of prepared or preserved fillets of tuna and tuna loins (raw, cooked and frozen), 3 000 tonnes of prepared or preserved mackerel fillets and 1 000 tonnes of prepared or preserved frigate tuna or frigate mackerel fillets. Under the requested derogation, those products would be considered as originating in Cabo Verde even if they were produced from non-originating fish.

(3)

Cabo Verde supported its request for a prolongation of those derogations by relying on the arguments put forward in previous requests, which are still relevant, namely low quantities of tuna and mackerel caught in its territorial waters, scarse fishing opportunities outside its territorial waters and a limited duration of the fishing season, which reduces the opportunities to catch originating fish. Another important element is that Cabo Verde has developed its port infrastructure. As a result, larger quantities of fish can be handled and the fishing industry therefore has the opportunity to grow now. Unfortunately, Cabo Verde does not have industrial fleet that would be able to serve the its fishing industry, nor is it making sufficient investments in the fleet. The current limited catching capacities of originating fish would not allow the fishing industry to produce up to its maximum capacity. Lastly, the request emphasised the difficulties that Cabo Verde faces as a result of delays in the entry into force of the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and West Africa. Cabo Verde develops an argumentation to emphasize its need for a derogation from the GSP rules on preferential origin in order to compensate for the fact that it is not yet possible to rely on the origin quotas or cumulation rules under the Economic Partnership Agreement which is not yet provisionnally applied.

(4)

The derogation provided for in Article 64(6) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 (the ‘Union Customs Code’), is of temporary nature and subject to improved compliance with the rules concerning the origin of the products concerned and with the requirement regarding the adminitsrative cooperation. In order to be able to manage such a derogation from the rules on preferential origin, the requesting country should comply with requirements with respect to the information on the use of the derogation and the management of the quantities for which the derogation is granted

(5)

However, the monitoring actions performed by the Commission over the past few years regarding Cabo Verde’s compliance with the rules on preferential origin, related procedures and the administrative cooperation with the Union have revealed certain shortcomings, in particular with the requirement regarding its administrative cooperation with the customs authorities of the Member States in the verification of proofs of origin in the fishing sector.

(6)

It is the duty of the European Commission to take care that granting temporary derogations will nevertheless lead Cabo Verde to fulfil the conditions for complying with the verification of proofs of origin and remedy the shortcomings in the administrative cooperation. A derogation is not the most justified instrument to provide a long-term solution to the structural problems of Cabo Verde’s fishing industry.

(7)

Due to its recurrent economic difficulties and the absence of alternative solutions, Cabo Verde should nevertheless be granted, on strict conditions, a temporary derogation from the requirement under the rules on preferential origin that the products are considered as originating in the beneficiary country only where incorporating materials are wholly obtained in that country. According to the volumes fully used during the previous derogation of 2020-2023, the derogation should be granted for an annual volume of 3 000 tonnes of prepared or preserved fillets of tuna and tuna loins (raw, cooked and frozen), 2 700 tonnes of prepared or preserved mackerel fillets and 600 tonnes of prepared or preserved frigate tuna or frigate mackerel fillets. The duration of the derogation should be limited to a period of two years, which would enable Cabo Verde to endeavour to complete necessary structural adjustments in the fishery sector to comply with the rules of origin for the products concerned. However, the derogation should be granted on the condition that the customs authorities of Cabo Verde take the necessary steps to carry out quantitative checks on exports of the products subject to derogation and that they communicate to the Commission a statement of the quantities in respect of which statements on origin have been issued pursuant to this Regulation and the serial numbers of those statements.

(8)

Moreover, Cabo Verde should benefit from a derogation from the rules of origin for tuna and mackerel on the condition that it reports regularly to the competent services of the Commission on the measures it has taken to ensure compliance with the rules of origin for the products concerned and with the related procedures and that it provides administrative cooperation as required for the implementation of the preferential arrangements under the GSP referred to in Article 1(2) of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 (GSP Regulation). Those reports should be submitted following a precise time schedule. Any delays in meeting the set deadline should lead to the suspension of the derogation to be notified to the competent authorities of Cabo Verde following a reminder and an invitation to submit the reports within ten working days. The elements to be included in those reports should be listed in an Annex to this Regulation. Application of the derogation is subject to the compliance with the conditions laid down in Article 43 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446.

(9)

The quantities set out in the Annexes to this Regulation should be managed in accordance with Articles 49 to 54 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 (7) which govern the management of tariff quotas.

(10)

The measures provided for in this Regulation should enter into force on the day following that of its publication and be applied retroatively as from 1 January 2024, in order to take into account the difficult situation of Cabo Verde and to allow that country to apply the derogation since that date.

(11)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Customs Code Committee,

(1)

The customs authorities of Cabo Verde shall take the necessary steps to carry out quantitative checks on exports of the products referred to in Article 1.

(2)

The following mention shall be entered on the statements on origin made out by the registered exporters: ‘Derogation – Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1288’.

(3)

The competent authorities of Cabo Verde shall communicate to the Commission a statement of the quantities in respect of which statements on origin have been made out pursuant to Article 92 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 and the copies of those proofs. Those reports shall be communicated to the Commission for three periods, namely 6 months, 12 months and 20 months after the entry into force of this Regulation and within two months after the end of each period.

Therefore, the first report shall be communicated between 1 July and 1 September 2024. The second report shall be communicated between 1 January and 1 March 2025. The third report shall be communicated between 1 August and 1 October 2025. The remaining period of 1 August–31 December 2025 shall be subject to an additional report to be sent within two months after the end of the application period set out in Article 2(1).

(4)

The competent authorities of Cabo Verde shall communicate to the Commission, at the same time as the reports referred to in paragraph 3, a report containing detailed information on the measures taken by them in order to:

The required information to be reported by the competent authorities of Cabo Verde is listed in Annex III.