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A new self-certification system called the Registered Exporter System (REX) will go live in Seychelles on July 1 for goods originating from Seychelles to the European Union countries.
A new self-certification system called the Registered Exporter System (REX) will go live in Seychelles on July 1 for goods originating from Seychelles to the European Union countries.
This is a system that will replace the EUR.1 which is currently being used. All exporters who send their products to European countries such as Belgium and France and were using the EUR.1 certificate to benefit from the reduced taxations, except for those sending products to the UK. It will also use this certification as proof that its products originate from Seychelles. Each time that an exporter will have a consignment to export to EU countries, they will use the REX number on the invoice as a statement of export.
In order to be able to issue such declarations, exporters will have to directly register in the REX system, an online database developed by the EU. Upon registration, the classification, valuation, and origin section of the Customs Division will assign a REX number to the applicant. The number has to be mentioned on the statement of origin. Registration under REX is done by the exporter once and the REX number can be used for exports to all EU countries.
Currently, each time when a consignment leaves Seychelles for an EU country, exporters have to provide the EUR.1 certificate and pay SCR100 [US$7] for each consignment. With the REX system, the exporters will do their own self-certification, so the SCR100 will fade out and exporters will not need to go to the Customs Division for endorsement. The Customs Division of the Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC) has developed specific guidelines for the use of such a system that will soon be publicly available on its website.
Although local exporters will be doing their own self-certification, Customs will still be monitoring exportation to EU countries. The exporter will need to fill in an information sheet which will need to include all the products being exported and the HS code, and from there the EU customs officials will be able to monitor all exports. Customs approves all products for exportation after the division has conducted site visits to ensure that they meet the criteria as per the EU protocol. Seychelles mainly exports tuna, canned tuna, and cinnamon bark to EU countries.
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Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Zimbabwe, signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU in 2009, which entered into force on a provisional basis in May 2012. In July 2017, Comoros joined the EPA and started its provisional application in February 2019. The agreement allows products originating from the four Indian Ocean islands and Zimbabwe to be imported into the EU duty-free, quota-free, provided they meet specific rules of origin that are set out in the agreement.
