EU – More time for countries to comply with REX system (COVID-19)

The European Commission today announced that certain countries are allowed more time to comply with the “registered export” (REX) system because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

As noted in the EC release, some beneficiary countries in a group of countries (2019) faced “serious difficulties” to respect the 30 June 2020 time-limit for the application of the REX system. According, for certain countries (identified as Haiti, Madagascar, Senegal, and Vietnam) in which the REX system could not be deployed or used due to the pandemic are allowed another extension of the transition period to 31 December 2020.

The Rex System

The REX system allows for certification of origin of goods based on a principle of self-certification. The origin of goods is declared by economic operators themselves by means of statements on origin. To be entitled to make out a statement on origin, an economic operator must be registered in a database by the applicable competent authorities. The REX system is used to designate the system of certification of origin as a whole, and not only the underlying IT system which is used for the registration of exporters.

For the time being, the REX system is used by EU exporters in the context of some free trade agreements. The REX IT system has been developed by the European Commission and is made available to EU Member States and certain other countries.

Source – KPMG