The product is CN 2710 petroleum product produced by a refinery in Bulgaria

The crude/feedstock used by the Bulgarian refinery is imported into Bulgaria from outside the EU. The sanctions checks on this feedstock therefore take place when the crude enters the EU, in Bulgaria, including where the crude is placed under a special customs procedure such as inward processing or end-use.

Once refined in Bulgaria, the resulting CN 2710 product is an EU-produced product. The product is subsequently exported from the EU to Gibraltar against a customer order. Gibraltar is outside the EU.

If the product is not processed or substantially changed in Gibraltar and is subsequently returned to the EU, it is re-imported into the Netherlands using the re-import procedure (61 10), supported by an INF 3.

For sanctions purposes, the return from Gibraltar does not turn the product into a CN 2710 product obtained in a third country from Russian crude. The product was produced in Bulgaria, within the EU, before it was exported to Gibraltar. The fact that it temporarily leaves the EU and is subsequently returned from Gibraltar does not change its origin or the fact that no refining took place in Gibraltar.

The sanctions assessment therefore focuses on the crude/feedstock entering Bulgaria and the circumstances under which it was imported into the EU. Provided that the feedstock was lawfully imported and the applicable sanctions requirements were met, the subsequent export to Gibraltar and return to the EU under the re-import procedure do not, in themselves, create a new sanctions restriction under Article 3ma.

In this case, the use of Y889 in the re-import declaration relates to the applicable sanctions declaration for the returned goods, saying the Sanctions do not apply as per above explanation.