L 249/6 Official Journal of the European Union 19.9.2013 COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION of 17 September 2013 refusing to grant a derogation from Council Decision 2001/822/EC, as regards the rules of origin for sugar from Curagao (notified under document C(2013) 5826) (2013/460/EU) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Council Decision 2001/822/EC of 27 November 2001 on the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Community (‘Overseas Association Decision’) (1), and in particular Article 37 of Annex III thereto, Whereas: THE RULES OF ORIGIN SET OUT IN ANNEX III TO DECISION 2001/822/EC (1)  Annex IIl to Decision 2001/822/EC concerns the defi- nition of the concept of ‘originating products’ and methods of administrative cooperation. Article 37 thereto provides that derogations from those rules of origin may be adopted where justified by the devel- opment of existing industries or the creation of new industries in a country or territory. (2)  Points (g), (j), (k) and (o) of paragraph 1 of Article 5 of Annex III to Decision 2001/822/EC provide that partial or total milling of sugar, sifting and placing in bags are considered to be operations that are insufficient to confer the status of originating products. (3)  Paragraph 4 of Article 6 of Annex III to Decision 2001/822[EC provides that ACP/EC-OCTs cumulation for all sugar products classified within HS Chapter 17 is phased out over time and reduces the quantities for which such cumulation is allowed progressively. By setting the quantity at zero tonnes, the phasing out finally led to the prohibition of such cumulation as of 1 January 2011. PREVIOUS DEROGATIONS GRANTED TO THE NETHERLANDS ANTILLES FOR SUGAR PRODUCTS (4 In 2002 the Netherlands requested a derogation from the rule of origin in respect of sugar products falling within CN codes 17011190, 17019910 and 1701 91 00 processed in the Netherlands Antilles for an annual quantity of 3 000 tonnes. That request was granted and the derogation ended on 31 December 2007. () O] L 314, 30.11.2001, p. 1. ©) ) ) ) In 2009 the Netherlands submitted a request for extension of the derogation granted in 2002, which request was rejected by Commission Decision 2009/699/EC (). That Decision however granted a new request for derogation included in the request for extension, within the limits of the quantities for which import licences for sugar were allocated to the Netherlands Antilles in 2009 and in 2010. In 2010, the Netherlands requested a new derogation in respect of sugar products processed in the Netherlands Antilles for the period from 2011 to 2013. By Commission Decision 2011/47[EU (°) the derogation was granted in accordance with paragraphs 1, 3 and 7 of Article 37 of Annex III to Decision 2001/822/EC and under certain conditions which aimed to balance the legitimate interests of the Overseas Countries and Terri- tories (OCTs) operators with the objectives of the Union’s common market organisation for sugar. The products for which derogation was granted were subject to actual processing activities in the Netherlands Antilles and the value added to the raw sugar in the Netherlands Antilles was considered to be at least 45 % of the value of the finished product. Decision 2011/47/EU explained that the phasing out of the ACP/EC-OCTs cumulation of origin with regard to sugar, as provided for in paragraph 4 of Article 6 of Annex Il to Decision 2001/822[EC, showed that it was the Union’s intention to focus trade preferences on economic activity that contributes sustainably to OCTs development while taking due account of the Union’s sugar sector. That principle was applied for the purpose of determining the quantities for which the derogation was granted by Decision 2011/47/EU. The request submitted in 2010 also indicated that the company in Curagao benefiting from the previous derogations aimed to diversify away from sugar production requiring further derogation. Therefore the amounts for derogation were phased out over time (5000 tonnes for 2011, 3 000 tonnes for 2012 and 1 500 tonnes for 2013). In the request submitted in 2010, the Netherlands high- lighted that the company in Curacao, benefiting from the previous derogations, aimed to diversify into producing mixtures and ‘bio-sugar’ which both address distinctly different markets than the sugar products covered by the request submitted in 2010. The derogation requested in 2010 was needed to earn the necessary 239, 10.9.2009, p. 55. 0J L 0J L 21, 25.1.2011, p. 3.