Rule 3: Application of the criterion of substantial transformation

  1. Where materials containing any element imported from outside the Community meet the conditions specified in Article 84, those materials shall be regarded as containing no such element.
  1. For the purpose of Article 84 –

(a)        the value of any materials imported from outside the Community shall be the customs value determined for them by the Customs Authority in the Member State where they were used in a process of production, less the amount of any transport costs incurred in transit through other Member States;

(b)        if the origin of any materials cannot be determined, such materials shall be deemed to have been imported from outside the Community;

(c)        the export price of the goods shall be the value accepted for this purpose by the Customs Authority in the Member State in which they were produced. It shall be based, mutatis mutandis, on the provision set out in sub-paragraph (a), but shall not include the amounts of transport and insurance costs incurred after the exportation of the goods.

  1. In the application of the List the conditions to be complied with other than a percentage value-added condition applicable to any goods shall be fulfilled in respect of the whole of the goods, excluding any packing.
  1. The expressions appearing in the columns headed “conditions to be complied with” in the List and set out below shall be applied in the following manner:

(a)        “produced from regional materials of” – the materials falling within the tariff headings or Chapters named may be used only if they qualify to be treated as of Community origin within the meaning of Article 84. This does not preclude the use of regional materials in an earlier stage of production;

(b)        “produced from materials of” and “produced from” – the materials named or designated as the case may be must be used in the condition in which they are described. This does not preclude the use of the materials in an earlier stage of production;

(c)        “produced from materials not included in” – the materials which fall in the tariff headings named may not be used if  they are imported from outside the Community or are of undetermined origin;

(d)        “extraregional  materials”  shall  mean  materials  imported  from  outside  the Community or of undetermined origin;

(e)        “chemical transformation” shall mean the forming of the molecule of the finished product by –

(i)         the combination of two or more elements; or

(ii)        any modification of the structure of the molecule of a compound with the exception of ionisation and the addition or removal of water of crystallisation.