L 373/18 Official Journal of the European Union 21.12.2004 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2188/2004 of 20 December 2004 amending Regulation (EC) No 1615/2000 derogating from Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 in respect of the definition of the concept of originating products used for the purposes of the scheme of generalised preferences to take account of the special situation of Nepal regarding certain exports of textiles to the Community THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (), and in particular Article 247 thereof, Having regard to Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code (), and in particular Article 76 thereof, Whereas: By Council Regulation (EC) No 2501/2001 of 10 December 2001 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences for the period 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2004 (%), the Community granted generalised tariff preferences to Nepal. Regulation (EEC) No 245493 of 2 July 1993 establishes the definition of the concept of originating products to be used for the purposes of the scheme of generalised tariff preferences (GSP). However, Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 provides for derogations in favour of least- developed GSP-beneficiary countries which submit an appropriate request to that effect to the Community. () O L 302, 19.10.1992, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by the 2003 Act of accession. (®» OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regu- lation (EC) No 2286/2003 (O] L 343, 31.12.2003, p. 1). () OJ L 346, 31.12.2001, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regu- lation (EC) No 1828/2004 (O] L 321, 22.10.2004, p. 23). () Nepal has benefited from such a derogation for certain textiles since 1997, in the last instance by virtue of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1615/2000 of 24 July 2000 derogating from Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 in respect of the definition of the concept of originating products used for the purposes of the scheme of gener- alised preferences to take account of the special situation of Nepal regarding certain exports of textiles to the Community (*), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 293/2002 (>), which extended its wvalidity untl 31 December 2004. By letter dated 14 June 2004, Nepal has submitted a request for the renewal of this dero- gation. The request submitted by Nepal has been considered by the Commission and has been found to be duly substan- tiated. When the validity of Regulation (EC) No 1615/2000 was extended, it was considered that its expiry should coincide with the ending of the current GSP scheme, which was due to end on that date. However, Council Regulation (EC) No 2211/2003 (6 extended the validity of the GSP scheme for a further year, until 31 December 2005. On 18 December 2003, the Commission published a Green Paper on the future of rules of origin in prefer- ential trade arrangements(’) which opened a wide- ranging debate on the subject. On 7 July 2004, it published a Communication to the Council, the European parliament and the Economic and Social Committee entitled ‘Developing countries, international trade and sustainable development: the function of the Community’s generalised system of preferences (GSP) for the 10-year period from 2006 to 2015’ (), which also acknowledged the need for change in rules of origin. However, no decisions have yet been taken and no new rules will be in place before 31 December 2004. OJ L 185, 25.7.2000, p. 54. o L 46, 16.2.2002, p. 16. OJ L 332, 19.12.2003, p. 1. C C ] J ] 0 0 (2003) 787 final. M M(2004) 461 final.