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EAC, Kenya and EU: Economic Partnership Agreement with a specific focus on sustainable development
On 8 December 2023, Eu Commission published the draft of the “Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union, of the one part, and the Republic of Kenya, Member of the East African Community, of the other part” by means of the interinstitutional Files 2023/0337 (NLE) and 2023/0338 (NLE). This agreement will cover the following topics: (a) general provisions; (b) trade in goods; (c) fisheries; (d) agriculture; (e) economic and development cooperation; (f) institutional provisions; (g) dispute avoidance and settlement; (h) general exceptions; (i) general and final provisions; and (j) Annexes, Protocols and Joint Statements. Before going deeper with the short check of the available documents, it is useful to recall…
- accise e imposte di consumo, circular economy, compliance e AEO, energie rinnovabili, free trade agreement
EU-Chile modernized free trade agreement
On 4 December 2023, the European Council adopted: Advanced Framework Agreement (AFA) about: health, the environment, climate change, ocean governance, energy, tax, education and culture, labour, employment and social affairs, science and technology and transport; interim Trade Agreement (iTA) on raw materials and clean fuel such as lithium, copper and hydrogen, which are crucial for the transition to the green economy. Both the agreements with Chile constitute an updated version of the EU-Chile Association Agreement currently in place. Nadia Calviño declared: “…The EU-Chile Trade Agreement will reinforce the EU’s open strategic autonomy and economic security, strengthening the resilience of supply chains and diversifying imports of key inputs for the green…
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EU, New Zealand, Trade and climate change
EU and New Zealand recognise, in their free trade agreement which has to enter into force, the importance of taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts, and the role of trade in pursuing this objective, consistent with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change done at New York on 9 May 1992 “UNFCCC”), the purpose and goals of the Paris Agreement, and with other MEAs and multilateral instruments in the area of climate change (called also climate crisis). From a practical point o view the EU and New Zealand are committed to: promote the mutual supportiveness of trade and climate policies and measures,; facilitate the removal…
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The customs aspects of the batteries/waste of batteries regulation
The new regulation (batteries and waste of batteries) should be a good basis for the a new approach to customs; the key stones are: circular economy, trade compliance and sustainable development against environment destruction, deforestaion, climate crisis and pollution. Indeed, from a customs/customs compliance perspective, it is interesting to take into account that the protocol of origin of the free trade agreements (FTA) inked by the European Union usually lays down rules of origin which classify the waste/scramps (generated in the EU) as “originating material” of the European Union. Futhermore, the obligation to develop a reliable system of recycling of some materials contained by the batteries (cobaltum, lithium, nickel )…
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New GSP framework, sustainable development and good governance: a check of the principles.
The ProposalCOM(2021)579 will set up a new framework of the European generalized system of preference which is: part of EU common commercial policy (unilateral preferential origin treatment for goods originating from the eligibile countries): sustainable development and good goverance; consistent with with the analysis and perspective of the Commission Communication Trade Policy Review: An Open, Sustainable and Assertive Trade Policy of 18 February 2021; consistent with EU green agenda and UN suistainable goals; The key stone of GSP is the “conditionality”: a country should not benefit from preferential trade arrangements if it is acting in a way that is contrary to international standards and principles and thereby also to its…
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New EU GSP: proposal for postponement to 2027
The current European generalized system of preferences (GSP) should be extended to 2027 according to proposal of regulation of EU Parliament and Council. In particular, this proposal ( 4 July 2023- COM 426 2023/0252 COD ) lays down that: “…the period of application of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 should be extended until 31 December 2027…”; “…If the publication takes place after 31 December 2023, this Regulation shall apply retroactively from 1 January 2024…”; “…in case the Regulation based on Commission Proposal COM(2021)579 becomes applicable before that date, the extension of the period of application of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 should be correspondingly shortened…”. For sake of completness, the Commission Proposal COM(2021)579 provides…
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Due diligence, import deforestation free goods and blockchain
The EU Regulation 2023/1115 on the making available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation and repealing Regulation (EU) No 995/2010” has the following goals: minimising the Union’s contribution to deforestation and forest degradation worldwide, and thereby contributing to a reduction in global deforestation; reducing the Union’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and global biodiversity loss The due diligence statement requires companies to collect information, identify risks and mitigate them, organise and keep the information and evidence relating to each relevant product for a period of five years from the date of placing, making available or…
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Customs classification, relevant goods and trade compliance
The EU Regulation 2023/1115 on the making available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation and repealing Regulation (EU) No 995/2010” has the following goals: minimising the Union’s contribution to deforestation and forest degradation worldwide, and thereby contributing to a reduction in global deforestation; reducing the Union’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and global biodiversity loss Relevant commodities and relevant products will not be placed or made available on the market or exported, unless all the following conditions are fulfilled: (a) they are deforestation-free; (b) they have been produced in accordance with the relevant legislation of…
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New EU regulation on deforestation and forest degradation products free: a short introduction
On 9 June 2023 the EU regulation 2023/1115 “on the making available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation and repealing Regulation (EU) No 995/2010” has been published in the EU official journal. Some of the key-concepts of this legal source are: according to FAO (food and agricolture organization) the deforestation and forest degradation are taking place at an alarming rate; Deforestation and forest degradation contribute to the global climate crisis in multiple ways; Climate breakdown induces the loss of biodiversity globally and biodiversity loss aggravates climate change; Biodiversity is essential for the resilience of ecosystems…
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Idrogeno, obiettivi ambientali ed energetici per il 2030, UE
L’idrogeno secondo la Commissione europea giocherà un ruolo centrale per il raggiungimento degli obiettivi da raggiungere entro il 2030 in materia di: a) lotta al cambiamento climatico e crisi ambientale (climate crisis); b) politica europea per l’energia. In altre parole, deve avere un ruolo chiave nel raggiungimento degli obiettivi relativi al European Green Deal. Gli obiettivi 2030 legati all’idrogeno sono: L’installazione di elettrolizzatori per una potenza pari a 40GW di idrogeno verde (rinnovabile); Capacità produttiva di 10 milioni di tonnellate di idrogeno verde. Questi obiettivi sono favoriti dal nuovo quadro europeo delle energie rinnovabili che tra le altre cose si basa sulle seguenti pilastri: -direttiva sulla tassazione dell’energia; –…