Green Line Regulation Comes Into Force

LEFKOSA - The Green Line Regulation concerning goods arriving from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) to the Greek Cypriot side, came into force on Monday after it was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (EU) on August 20th.
Under the regulation, the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce, authorized by the EU, will start giving necessary certificates of origin as of August 23rd.
In accordance with the regulation, goods to be sent to the Greek Cypriot side or to the other countries via the Greek Cypriot side should have completely been produced in the TRNC.
Exports of livestock, animal products and animal feed are forbidden.
Those who will export goods to the Greek Cypriot side or to a third country via the Greek Cypriot side should get certificates of origin from the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce.
For some agricultural products, health certificate are also required besides the certificate of origin.
An application form will be obtained from the Chamber of Commerce as of August 23rd in order to get a certificate of origin, and necessary information like the name of the producer, seller of the good, the name and address of the purchaser, the definition of the good, its weight, and number of packages will be filled in this form.
Officials of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce will visit the producer companies after they applied to get a certificate of origin for the exports to see whether or not the good was produced in the Turkish Cypriot side, and whether or not the good complied with certain criteria, the statement said.
The regulation envisages several rules for exports of potatoes. Under the regulation, Turkish Cypriots can export only the potatoes cultivated by seeds brought from EU countries or Switzerland. Therefore, the Turkish Cypriot side will be able to start exporting potatoes in 2005 the soonest.
(UK-MS) 23.08.2004