European Union: Common import rules

Here is a piece of EU legislation of interest to ’the whole world’.

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:084:0001:0017:EN:PDF

Council Regulation (EC) No 260/2009 of 26 February 2009 on the common rules for imports (Codified version), published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 31.3.2009 L 84/1.

The recast Regulation 260/2009 applies to most imports from the rest of the world (third countries) into the European Community (European Union), and it is based on Article 133 of the EC Treaty, on the common commercial policy.



The more exact scope of the Regulation is laid down in Article 1 Imports under Regulations 517/94 and 519/94 are excluded from the scope. The bulk of the recast Regulation concerns European Community surveillance of imports and safeguard measures:

Article 1

1. This Regulation applies to imports of products originating in third countries, except for:

(a) textile products subject to specific import rules under Regulation (EC) No 517/94;

(b) the products originating in certain third countries listed in Council Regulation (EC) No 519/94 of 7 March 1994 on common rules for imports from certain third countries.

2. The products referred to in paragraph 1 shall be freely imported into the Community and accordingly, without prejudice to the safeguard measures which may be taken under Chapter V, shall not be subject to any quantitative restrictions.


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Certain textile imports


Council Regulation (EC) No 517/94 of 7 March 1994 on common rules for imports of textile products from certain third countries not covered by bilateral agreements, protocols or other arrangements, or by other specific Community import rules (originally published in the Official Journal 10.3.1994 L 67/1) has been amended many times. The latest consolidated version is dated 1 January 2008.


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Excluded countries

Council Regulation (EC) No 519/94 of 7 March 1994 on common rules for imports from certain third countries and repealing Regulations (EEC) Nos 1765/82, 1766/82 and 3420/83 (originally published in the Official Journal 10.3.1994 L 67/89), has been amended many times.

The latest consolidated version of Regulation 519/94 is from 9 March 2003, but the all-important country list in Annex I has last been amended by Commission Regulation No 110/2009.

The shrinking country list now contains only:

Armenia
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Kazakhstan
North Korea
Russia
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Vietnam



Ralf Grahn