JEFTA Economic Partnership Agreement – chances and how to avoid risks
The Economic partnership agreement or colloquially JEFTA (Japan-EU Free Trade Agreement) is a free trade and investment protection agreement between Japan and European Union which went live Feb 1st 2019.
The main goals are:
- Removing trade barriers
- To design rules and standards that ensure fair trade
- Lower import duties
- Simplify processes and approvals
Which will consequently:
- open markets
- create jobs
- grow the economies of both sides
Overall JEFTA is the 1st trade agreement where both parties explicitly commit to the Paris climate agreement.
Customers responsibility
Very important for Importers and Exporters is now to follow the rules and guidelines to make sure possible preferences can be enjoyed accordingly and to avoid possible risks consequently when not adhering same.
The following link will guide you through the complete agreement
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/DE/TXT/?uri=OJ:L:2018:330:TOC
(Follow “Agreement between European Union and Japan for Economic Partnership” page 3)
The main content dealing with preferential rules is captured in the following chapters.
- Chapter 3 / Rules of Origin and origin procedures
- Annex 3-A / Introductory notes to product specific rules of origin
- Annex 3-B / Product specific rules of origin
- Annex 3-C / others
Additionally the European commission has published the following guidelines for further explanation
DE 
EN