Importation of clothing: derogations from PANEUROMED rules of origin for Tunisia
The European Union and Tunisia have agreed on a special derogation concerning rules of origin in the framework of the PANEUROMED relationship. This derogation will allow ready-to-wear importers made in Tunisia to reduce their customs invoice.
During the summer, the European Commission and the French customs confirmed the opening of the tariff quota granted to Tunisia under a specific derogation aimed at supporting textile exports from Tunisia to the EU.
You will find the details of the publication in our News of July 31st:Import Tunisia textile : PANEUROMED exemptions & customs duties.
As a reminder, it is a question here of authorizing in a limited quantity and for a period of 5 years, preferential origin for clothing made in Tunisia with third-party fabrics; cutting and making confer preferential origin.
At the time, we asked ourselves the question of the ex post application of these quotas. The Regulation implementation (EU) 2025/1459 was published in the Official Journal of the 25 July 2025 but it has been applicable since 22 January 2025, or sixmonths before the actual opening of quotas in European customs systems.
To date, it has been confirmed that if the conditions are met, then it is quite possible to apply ex post for a tariff preference on clothing imported since 22 January 2025 and to request the refund of customs duties collected at the time of importation into the EU. The conditions to be met are:
- The presentation of a EUR1 certificate bearing the entries "Derogation — Appendix B to Protocol 4" and « Issued retrospectively«
- The availability of the quota at the time of the request for rectification of the import declaration: the balances of the number of pieces are available in almost real time on the website of the Administration of contingents or on the customs RITA reference (seeexpert bubble, tariff quotas as and when) : it is sufficient to indicate the number of the quota sought and the country of origin to verify the balance of the number of parts which may be imported with the benefit of the derogation.
Note that, to date, troop levels are still high but have started to be charged since mid-August; the EUR1 with the mention of the derogation circulates well between Tunisia and the EU.
DGDDI