Contents
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 207(4) in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,Whereas:
(1)On 22 December 1994, the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (the ‘WTO Agreement’) was concluded by the Union by Council Decision 94/800/ECnote and entered into force on 1 January 1995.
(2)Pursuant to paragraph 1 of Article IV of the WTO Agreement, the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (‘WTO’) has the authority to take decisions on all matters under any of the Multilateral Trade Agreements.
(3)Pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article IV of the WTO Agreement, in the intervals between meetings of the Ministerial Conference the functions of the Ministerial Conference are to be conducted by the General Council of the WTO.
(4)Pursuant to paragraph 1 of Article IX of the WTO Agreement, WTO bodies usually take decisions by consensus.
(5)In December 2013, the Ninth Session of the WTO Ministerial Conference adopted a Ministerial Decision on Understanding on Tariff Rate Quota Administration Provisions of Agricultural Products, as defined in Article 2 of the Agreement on Agriculture (WT/MIN(13)/39) (the ‘TRQ Understanding’) that governs the management of tariff rate quotas of agricultural products.
(6)Pursuant to paragraph 13 of the TRQ Understanding, a review of the operation of the TRQ Understanding is to commence no later than four years following its adoption, taking into account experience gained up to that time. The objective of this review is to promote a continuing process of improvement in the utilisation of tariff rate quotas.
(7)In accordance with paragraph 13 of the TRQ Understanding, the Committee on Agriculture proceeded with the review of that Understanding in 2018. The review findings will be presented to the December 2019 meeting of the General Council of the WTO in the form of a report issued by the Committee on Agriculture (Report No G/AG/29 ‘Review of the Operation of the Bali Decision on TRQ Administration’ of 31 October 2019).
(8)Given the lack of consensus among WTO members on the substantive amendments to the TRQ Understanding, the report recommends prolonging the review period until the end of 2021, so that a consensus on substantive amendments may be reached. The report further includes recommendations intended to increase the transparency of TRQ administration.
(9)In its December 2019 meeting, the General Council of the WTO should be invited to consider the adoption of the recommendations laid down in Annex 2 of Report No G/AG/29 in the form of a decision on the review of the TRQ Understanding.
(10)It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf in the General Council of the WTO, as the decision to be adopted will be binding on the Union.
(11)In the General Council of the WTO, the Union is to be represented by the Commission, in accordance with Article 17(1) of the Treaty on European Union,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1#
The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf within the General Council of the World Trade Organization (the ‘General Council of the WTO’) in its December 2019 meeting shall be based on the draft decision by the General Council of the WTO adopting the recommendations made to the General Council of the WTO by the Committee on Agriculture in Annex 2 of its Report No G/AG/29 of 31 October 2019 attached to this Decision.Minor changes to that draft decision may be agreed to by the representatives of the Union in the General Council of the WTO without further decision of the Council.
Annex 1
| List of documents | |
| G/AG/W/16910 October 2017 | Monitoring and review of Members’ obligations established under the Bali Decision on TRQ administration.Note by the Secretariat |
| G/AG/W/1719 February 2018 | Proposed process for the Review of the Operation of the Bali Decision on TRQ Administration.Note by the Secretariat |
| G/AG/W/17518 May 2018andG/AG/W/175/Add.17 May 2019 | European Union submission to Committee on Agriculture on the Process for the Review of the Operation of the Bali Decision on Tariff Rate Quota Administration.Communications from the European Union |
| G/AG/W/1796 June 2018 | Review of the Operation of the Bali Ministerial Decision on Understanding on Tariff Rate Quota Administration provisions of Agricultural Products ….Submission from the Cairns Group |
| G/AG/W/18331 July 2018 | Tariff quota administration methods and fill rates 2007-2016.Background Paper by the Secretariat |
| G/AG/W/18619 September 2018 | Review of Bali Decision on TRQ administration.Submission from Australia |
| G/AG/W/19724 May 2019 | The Underfill Mechanism of the Bali TRQ Administration DecisionSubmission on behalf of the Cairns Group |
Annex 2
1.The timeframe specified in Paragraph 14 and footnote 2 of the Bali TRQ Decision for a decision on Paragraph 4 of Annex A shall be extended to the end of 2021. All references to ‘12th Ministerial Conference’ and ‘31 December 2019’ in paragraphs 13-14 and footnote 2 of the Bali TRQ Decision shall be understood to read ‘13th Ministerial Conference’ and ‘31 December 2021’ respectively. In all other respects, the terms of the Bali TRQ Decision remain unchanged. For greater certainty, Members listed in Annex B of the Bali TRQ Decision retain the right to discontinue application of paragraph 4 of Annex A on or after 31 December 2021 if neither a Ministerial Conference nor the General Council has decided to extend paragraph 4 of Annex A by that date.
2.Recognizing the importance of enhanced transparency of TRQ administration and fill rates as well as a timely submission of notifications by Members, and acknowledging that the on-line agriculture notification system should lead to improved harmonization, the Committee agrees on the following:
a)The Secretariat will prepare a list of the existing TRQ notification practices of Members including in cases where a scheduled TRQ was not opened.
b)The Committee will initiate discussions on harmonization of Members’ TRQ notification practices, including for the TRQ fill rates.
c)The Committee encourages Members to include an explanation in their Table MA:2 notifications in cases where scheduled TRQs are not opened.
d)The Secretariat will regularly update the information on TRQ administration and fill rates as included in G/AG/W/183note as well the updated information on which Members have notified fill rates and on questions raised in the Committee concerning fill rates.
3.The Committee agrees to undertake regular reviews of the operation of the Bali TRQ Decision every three years after the conclusion of this review. These regular reviews will include, inter alia, an examination of the utilization of the Underfill Mechanism based on submissions by Members.
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