List of terms in glossary:
Provision of trade agreements that allows cumulation to be applied between any number of countries to goods not originating in the FTA member country and processed in the FTA territory. Full cumulation allows cumulating origin-counting processing added across the FTA territory even when the initial input is not originating. Full cumulation is the most flexible type of cumulation.
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Materials that are of the same kind and commercial quality, with the same technical and physical characteristics, and which cannot be distinguished from one another once they are incorporated into the final product.
Treaty that was precursor to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). It served as a framework for negotiations aiming to liberalise world trade and helped structure the multilateral trading system.
GATT 1947 refers to the old version of the GATT, whereas GATT 1994 is the new version of the General Agreement, incorporated into the WTO, which governs trade in goods.
Import tariffs applicable to all goods not originating in countries falling under the MFN treatment or to goods of unknown or doubtful origin.
Provision that allows manufacturers to use non-originating materials up to a specific percentage value of the ex-works price. However, if the specific working or processing rule already allows the use of a percentage of non-originating materials, the tolerance cannot be used to exceed that amount.
The maximum percentage is always that allowed by the specific rule. The percentage of the tolerance allowed varies from one preferential scheme to another.
A trading system that grants unilaterally preferential tariffs to certain countries on a non-reciprocal basis. It was approved by GATT in 1971, allowing industrialised members to adopt one-way tariff preferences in favour of developing countries.
The waiver was made more general and permanent in 1979 with adoption of the "enabling clause" allowing industrialised countries to implement measures extending "differential and more favourable treatment" to developing countries.
The EU launched this preferential system in 1971 to help developing countries sell more of their products in industrialised countries and build up their own industry. GSP preferences are granted to exports of specific products from particular countries.
Special EU scheme to encourage sustainable development and government. It grants additional preferences to help vulnerable developing countries ratify and implement the international conventions on human rights, workers' rights, environmental protection and good government.
Organism whose genome has been engineered in the laboratory in order to favour the expression of desired physiological traits or the generation of desired biological products.
Means both a material and a product.
Term used to exclude from the generalised system of preferences (GSP) products originating in a beneficiary country, when they reach a level of competitiveness on the EU market at which they no longer need the GSP to compete. Unlike the previous GSP which had GSP-specific "sectors", graduation is now based on the "sections" of the Common Customs Tariff (CCT). A section (i.e., a large group of products in a particular sector – the CCT has 21) from individual countries are “graduated” (excluded) from GSP when those products exceed the relevant threshold (57%, 17.5% or 47.2%, according to the type of product) of EU imports under the GSP of the same products as an annual average over the last three years.