Attachment

THE EUROPEAN UNION,

ICELAND,

THE PRINCIPALITY OF LIECHTENSTEIN,

THE KINGDOM OF NORWAY,

THE SWISS CONFEDERATION,

hereinafter referred to as ‘the EFTA States’,

THE PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA,

THE ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT,

THE STATE OF ISRAEL,

THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN,

THE REPUBLIC OF LEBANON,

THE KINGDOM OF MOROCCO,

THE PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANISATION FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY OF THE WEST BANK AND THE GAZA STRIP,

THE SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC,

THE REPUBLIC OF TUNISIA,

THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY,

hereinafter referred to as ‘the participants in the Barcelona Process’,

THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA,

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA,

THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA,

THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA,

MONTENEGRO,

THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

AS WELL AS KOSOVO (UNDER RESOLUTION 1244(1999) OF THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL),

hereinafter referred to as ‘the participants in the European Union’s Stabilisation and Association Process’,

THE KINGDOM OF DENMARK IN RESPECT OF THE FAROE ISLANDS,

hereinafter referred to as ‘the Faroe Islands’,

hereinafter referred to together as the ‘Contracting Parties’,

CONSIDERING the pan-Euro-Mediterranean system of cumulation of origin, which is made up of a network of Free Trade Agreements and provides for identical rules of origin allowing for diagonal cumulation,

CONSIDERING the possible future extension of the geographical scope of diagonal cumulation to neighbouring countries and territories,

CONSIDERING the difficulties in the management of the current network of bilateral protocols on rules of origin among the countries or territories of the pan-Euro-Mediterranean zone, it is desirable to transpose the existing bilateral systems on rules of origin into a multilateral framework, without prejudice to the principles laid down in the relevant agreements or any other related bilateral agreements,

CONSIDERING that any amendment to a protocol on rules of origin applicable between two partner countries of the pan-Euro-Mediterranean zone implies identical amendments to each and every protocol applicable within the zone,

CONSIDERING that the rules of origin will need to be amended in order to better respond to the economic reality,

CONSIDERING the idea to base cumulation of origin on a single legal instrument in the form of a regional convention on preferential rules of origin, to which the individual free trade agreements applicable between the countries of the zone would refer,

CONSIDERING that the following regional Convention does not lead overall to a less favourable situation than in the previous relation between the free trade partners which apply the pan-euro or pan-euro-med cumulation,

CONSIDERING that the idea of a regional convention on preferential rules of origin for the pan-Euro-Mediterranean zone received the support of the Euro-Med Trade Ministers during their meeting in Lisbon on 21 October 2007,

CONSIDERING that a main objective of a single regional convention is to move towards the application of identical rules of origin for the purpose of cumulation of origin for goods traded between all Contracting Parties,

HAVE DECIDED to conclude the following Convention: