WIREDGOV

An amendment to the EU Council’s Regulation on the Tariff and Statistical Nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff has been passed today in the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER I). In conformity with the new Council Regulation, more types of flat panel displays will receive a duty free treatment. This adjustment will eliminate the classification process which is no longer relevant due to the convergence of digital technologies.

Deputy Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the EU Ambassador Arūnas Vinčiūnas said that a duty free treatment will simplify the legal procedures in favor of European consumers and enterprises. He added that the adjustment will promote both internal and external EU trade.

Most of the flat panel displays imported to the EU are able to display signals from both automatic data-processing (ADP) systems as well as other sources. These displays are usually utilized in scientific research and receive a duty free treatment. Before the adoption of the new regulation a duty rate was applied to those flat panel displays which were not used exclusively for ADP.

The adjusted customs tariff will allow all the flat panel displays that display signals from ADP machines to receive a duty free treatment on an autonomous basis.

This amendment will eliminate mistakes made in the extremely complicated flat panel display classification process. Ensuring the uniform classification of flat panel displays which can display signals from both ADP systems and other sources (such as DVD players, video cameras, satellite receivers) has become technically impossible.