§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will make a statement on outward processing practised by a number of EEC countries, particularly Germany.
§ Mr. DeakinsOutward processing concerns the exportation of goods and products with a view to their subsequent reimportation after processing, working or repair and is usually accompanied by a system of reliefs from import duties on the processed products to avoid taxation on the temporarily exported goods. The relief of duty is designed to encourage the use of domestic materials rather than those of third countries.
In the United Kingdom, outward processing relief is permitted in very limited circumstances by Section 8 of the Import Duties Act 1958. The original member States of the Community operate national outward processing systems based on the 651W principles set out in the Recommendation of the Commission of 29th November 1961.
An EEC Council regulation published in the Official Journal on 29th December 1975(OJ No. L332) giving details of quotas established for imports from Eastern Europe includes separate quotas for material of the Federal Republic of Germany subject to outward processing. Another regulation published in the Official Journal on 17th July 1975 (OJ No. LI86) provides for a duty-free tariff quota for certain textile products subject to outward processing in Switzerland, most of which is allocated to the Federal Republic of Germany.
A recent Council directive, adopted on 18th December 1975 and published in the Official Journal on 30th January 1976(OJ L24, page 58) provides for the harmonisation of provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in respect of outward processing. This directive is due to be implemented by the middle of 1976. My Department is considering, in consultation with the Customs and Excise Department, what arrangements should be made to implement the directive, and I expect to lay Regulations on this subject before the House in the near future.