Philippine exporters have until June 30, 2020 to register with the European Union’s (EU) Registered Exporters (REX) system-the system that certifies the origin of goods and that the EU is progressively introducing in its preferential trade arrangements-after the EU agreed to a request for extension.

The extension of the registration period for Philippine exporters was disclosed by Bureau of Customs (BOC) Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group deputy commissioner Atty. Edward James Dy Buco in a memorandum dated November 17.

The deadline for registration was supposedly December 31, 2019, but BOC earlier said an extension to June 2020 could be requested to allow all exporters to register.

With the extension, Dy Buco said BOC “is given sufficient time to register all Philippine exporters to the system.”

He noted that by July 1, 2020 the EU will no longer accept Form A, or certificate of origin (CO), as the basis for origin certification.

Earlier, Dy Buco said the REX system would gradually replace the current system of basing the origin certification on the COs issued by BOC, which is the country’s competent authority in implementing the new system.

BOC is set to issue a customs memorandum order (CMO) providing guidelines on the implementation of the REX system. But even without the CMO, BOC last August said exporters may already apply online at https://customs.ec.europa.eu/rex-pa-ui/#/create-preapplication/.

BOC, in a session hosted by the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Export Marketing Bureau on August 20, disclosed that some exporters have already applied for REX registration.

The customs bureau said application is free of charge.

REX is the new system of certifying origin of goods that the EU is progressively introducing in its preferential trade arrangements. First applied to the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) program on January 1, 2017, REX will eventually completely replace the current system of origin certification that is based on the COs issued by government authorities and on invoice declarations made out under certain conditions by economic operators.

The global transition period from the current system to the REX system is from January 1, 2017 to June 30, 2020.

(For the full article, please visit https://www.portcalls.com/registration-with-eu-exporters-system-extended-until-june/)