The Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB) urged all Philippine exporters to the European Union to register to the EU Registered Exporter System (EU REX) before the 30 June 2020 deadline to avail themselves of preferential tariffs under the European Union’s Generalised System of Preferences Plus or EU GSP+.
The EU REX is a system of self-certification, with a Statement on Origin replacing the Certificates of Origin (CO) Form A. After the set deadline has passed, the EU will no longer accept the CO Form A.
“Our exporters to Europe should now register with the EU REX so that they can avail themselves of the preferential tariffs under the EU GSP+. This one-time registration simplifies the process of exporting to the EU because exporters no longer need to get a Certificate of Origin (CO) Form A from the Bureau of Customs every time they ship to the EU,” said DTI-Trade Promotions Group (TPG) Undersecretary Abdulgani M. Macatoman.
The Philippines is one of the beneficiary countries of the EU GSP+ that grants zero tariffs to 6,274 product lines. These products include particular items of fish, dairy, fruits, vegetables, coconut oils, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, chemicals, fertilizers, essential oils, soaps, articles of plastics and rubber. Also included are articles of wood and leather, apparels, footwear and headgears, ceramic products, glass and glassware, pearls, fine and costume jewelry, furniture, auto and aero parts, ships and boats, electronics and semi-conductors, watches, and other manufactured articles.
The procedure for registration is outlined in the Philippine Bureau of Customs (BOC) Memorandum Order (CMO) 50 – 2019: Guidelines on the Implementation of the Registered Exporter System (REX) for Exporters under European Union-Generalised System of Preferences (EU GSP).
Producers, manufacturers, or traders may apply by filling out the application available at https://customs.ec.europa.eu/rex-pa-ui/#/create-preapplication.
Once application has been filled out and submitted electronically, the producer, manufacturer or trader shall submit the application form to the concerned Export Division/Unit with the Unique Reference Number (URN) as PEZA locators, Client Profile Registration System (CPRS) for non-PEZA locators or other equivalent document; and a Product Evaluation Report, if applicable.
During this time of the expanded community quarantine (ECQ), applicants can now submit their applications together with the other required documents online directly to gina.german@customs.gov.ph and ecd@customs.gov.ph or through the BOC portal client.customs.gov.ph.
Applications evaluated by Export Division/Unit of the port shall be endorsed to ECD (Export Coordination Division) for its registration to the REX system. Registered exporters shall be assigned with a REX Number within seven (7) working days from receipt of the complete set of documents endorsed by the port to ECD.
Exporters and the endorsing port shall be notified by the ECD on the results of the application with the assigned REX number. Denial of application shall likewise be communicated stating the reason therein.
The Statement on Origin must be completed in legible and permanent form, and issued by typing, printing or stamping the text stated below on the invoice, pro-forma invoice, packing list or any other commercial document identifying clearly the originating products:
“The exporter (Registered Exporter Number) of the products covered by this document declares that, except where otherwise clearly indicated, these products are of Philippine preferential origin according to rules of origin of the Generalised System of Preferences of the European Union and the origin criterion met is _______.”
The Registered Exporter Number must be indicated in the Statement on Origin if the value of the originating goods for consignment is above the value threshold of 6,000 EUR. If the value of the originating goods is below the value threshold, then any exporter, even though not registered with BOC, may accomplish a Statement on Origin.
Representative/s of an exporter shall be allowed to make origin declaration upon submission of the exporter’s written authorization.
For further inquiries on EU REX, contact the export officers in the local ports, Ms. Gina C. German of the BOC at gina.german@customs.gov.ph, or Ms. Maria Jaena Go-Aco of the DTI-EMB at MariaJaenaGoaco@dti.gov.ph.
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