The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is reminding exporters that by July 1, 2020, the European Union (EU) will no longer accept the certificate of origin Form A as basis for origin certification under the EU Generalised System of Preferences + (EU GSP+).

Agnes R. Legaspi, assistant director of the Department of Trade and Industry’s Export Marketing Bureau (EMB), in a presentation January 24 said that to avail of the preferential tariff under the GSP+, an exporter needs to issue a Statement on Origin bearing his or her unique Registered Exporter System (REX) number.

The EU REX is a system of self-certification of origin by exporters, with the statement on origin replacing certificate of origin Form A. Under REX, exporters, to be entitled to apply to the system, must be registered in a database by their competent authorities. There is no change to the rules for determining origin, said Legaspi.

To become a registered exporter, the exporter should provide the following documentary requirements:
Latest income tax return
Unique Reference Number (URN) as Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) locators, and Client Profile Registration System for non-PEZA locators
Business permit
List of products applied for authorization to make the invoice declaration
Product evaluation report

The registration procedure calls for the exporter to fill in an application and submit it to his or her competent authorities. If the application is complete, the competent authorities encode it in the REX system, and assign a REX number, a registration date, and a validity date. The competent authorities will inform the exporter of his or her registration or non-registration.

Exporters who have been informed of their registration shall be assigned a REX number within seven working days of receipt of the complete set of documentary requirements.

For traders, Legaspi said: “Those applying in REX who are not manufacturers or producers must have knowledge on how the goods were manufactured or produced and how these comply with the origin rules…”

The website on the REX system can be found at https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/calculation-customs-duties/rules-origin/general-aspects-preferential-origin/arrangements-list/generalised-system-preferences/the_register_exporter_system_en.

Further, the Bureau of Customs recently released the guidelines on the implementation of the REX system for exporters under the EU GSP. Customs Memorandum Order 50-2019 can be accessed at http://customs.gov.ph/customs-memorandum-order-cmo/.

The EU GSP+ is granted to low and lower-middle income countries including the Philippines on a unilateral basis as a special incentive arrangement in the form of zero duties, with the aim of promoting sustainable development and good governance in the beneficiary countries.

It seeks to assist in the export-led growth and development of developing and least developed countries through export revenue increase, export diversification, and job generation.

For the Philippines, the GSP+ means that over 6,000 categories of goods are eligible for export to the EU without tariffs.