Article 16

1. Upon the Commission’s initiative or in response to a request from a Member State or an OCTs, an OCTs may be granted a temporary derogation from the provisions of this Annex in any of the following cases: internal or external factors temporarily deprive it of the ability to comply with the rules for the acquisition of origin provided for in Article 2 of this Annex, where it could have done so previously; it requires time to prepare itself to comply with the rules for the acquisition of origin provided for in Article 2; the development of existing industries or the creation of new industries justifies it. 2. The request referred to in paragraph 1 shall be addressed to the Commission in writing, by means of the form set out in Appendix X. It shall state the reasons for the request and shall contain appropriate supporting documents. 3. The examination of requests shall in particular take into account: the level of development or the geographical situation of the OCTs concerned, having particular regard to the economic and social impact of the decision to be taken especially in respect of employment; cases where the application of the existing rules of origin would significantly affect the ability of an existing industry in the OCTs concerned to continue its exports to the Union, with particular reference to cases where this could lead to cessation of its activities; specific cases where it can be clearly demonstrated that significant investment in an industry could be deterred by the rules of origin and where a derogation favouring the realisation of the investment programme would enable these rules to be satisfied in stages. 4. The Commission shall respond positively to all the requests which are duly justified in conformity with this Article and which cannot cause serious injury to an established Union industry. 5. The Commission shall take steps necessary to ensure that a decision is reached as quickly as possible and shall adopt its position 95 working days from the date of receipt of a complete application. 6. The temporary derogation shall be limited to the duration of the effects of the internal or external factors giving rise to it or to the length of time needed for the OCTs to achieve compliance with the rules or to fulfil the targets which have been set by the derogation, taking into account the particular situation of the OCTs concerned and its difficulties. 7. When a derogation is granted, it is subject to compliance with any requirements laid down as to information to be provided to the Commission concerning the use of the derogation and the management of the quantities for which the derogation was granted. 8. The Commission shall adopt a measure granting a temporary derogation referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article by means of implementing acts. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 64(2) of this Annex.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-02 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.