WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
G/AG/W/100 
18 September 2012 
 (12-5047) 
Committee on Agriculture Original:   English 
  
CHINA’S CONCERN ABOUT EU’S INTENTION TO MODIFY 
ITS CONCESSION ON POULTRY PRODUCTS 
 
Communication from China  
Under Agenda item I.A.(ii) on 20th September 2012 
 
 
I. BACKGROUND  
1. In the communication G/SECRET/32 submitted to the World Trade Organization, the 
European Union notified that it intended to m odify the concessions on ite ms 16022010, 16023211, 
16023230, 16023290, 16023921, 16023929, 16023940 and 16023980, covering prepared poultry meat 
products. Thereafter the EU entered into bila teral consultations with some Members.  
2. It is reported that the consultations have been  concluded and a tariff rate quota system will be 
established accordingly by the EU for certain notif ied products. In this new system, imports within 
quotas shall enjoy low tariff while those without quot as will be charged 2.67 euro per kilo which will 
prevent trade in fact. Among those quotas, 96% sh all be country specific quotas for the two Members 
who have had bilateral c onsultations with the EU while only 4% shall be global quotas to be shared 
by other Members. 
3. This is not the first time the EU modified its concessions on poultry pro ducts. In 2006, the EU 
introduced country specific tariff quotas on certain salted and cooked poultry products and shut out imports from China. Chinese enterpri ses then had to shift production to prepared poultry meat, with 
considerable investments in new equipment, staf f training and technology development. During the 
past years, China successfully incr eased the export of prepared poultry products to the EU market and 
became the largest supplier of certain products whic h were among the tariff lines the EU intended to 
modify this time. It is estimated that 440 million US dollar of investment and 50,000 jobs will be 
affected when the EU’s new policy comes into force.  
4. As a major supplier of these products to the EU, China has substantial interests in the 
concessions the EU intends to modify. The detailed import data and China’s market shares in the EU 
could be found in the attachment. China has rais ed its concerns bilaterally on many occasions and 
through various channels to the EU with a view to find appropriate solutions. On May 9, 2012 China 
requested in writing of entering into consultations with the EU but the request was refused by the 
latter. 
II. CHINA’S CONCERNS 
5. The EU would please explain the reason and purpose of the concession modification.  The 
coming modification will convert the existing tariffs into tariff quotas which raise new trade barriers. 
It is clearly a deviation from the principle and direction of trade liberalization advocated by the 
Agreement on Agriculture. Would the EU please explai n how this coming policy could be in line with 
Article 4.2 of the Agreement on Agriculture where it says Members shall not maintain, resort to, or 
revert to any measures of the kind which have been  required to be converted into ordinary customs 
duties? G/AG/W/100 
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  6. The EU plans to establish country specific quotas for two Members which have consulted 
with the EU. These country specific quotas account for 96% of the total. China, as the top or major 
supplier in the EU market would only be able to go recourse to the 4% global quotas. This 
discriminatory policy would cause serious damages to the interests of the Ch inese enterprises. Would 
the EU please explain how this coming policy could be consistent with Para graph 1 and 2 of Article 
XIII of the GATT 1994, or with Paragraph 6 of th e Understanding on the In terpretation of Article 
XXVIII of GATT 1994 (herein referred as the Understanding)? 
7. In the bilateral communications, the EU denied China’s rights to enter into consultations by 
arguing that “China did not correspond to 10 per ce nt or more of total imports” during 2006 to 2008 
period. However, China believes that 2006 to 200 8 period does not constitute the “representative 
three-year period” as specified in Paragraph 6 of  the Understanding since EU prohibited imports from 
China for SPS reasons before 2008. China’s fast gr owing export and shares in the EU market since 
the release of the SPS measures in 2008 further proves that 2006-2008 is not the reasonable 
representative period. Would the EU please explain how it could ensure that its coming policy would 
not prevent the existing trade and harm the export interests of China? 
III. CHINA’S REQUEST 
8. Based on the above facts and arguments, China re quests that the EU enter into consultations 
with China as soon as possible and address the con cerns in an appropriate manner. China will 
continue to hold our high concern over this matter. 
 
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  G/AG/W/100 
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ANNEX 
EU 27 IMPORTS OF CERTAIN PRODUCTS FROM CHINA 
 
16022010 
Year Value, in USD Quantity, in kgs 
China total share China total share 
2009 0  41,618 0.00% 0 1,000 0.00% 
2010 0  67,695 0.00% 0 1,100 0.00% 
2011 23,834  85,093 28.01% 3000 3,500 85.71% 
16023929 
Year Value, in USD Quantity, in kgs 
China total share China total share 
2009 25,110,818  102,591,327 24.48%  3,384,100 12,480,900 27.11% 
2010 36,779,205  98,609,340 37.30%  5,379,300 13,206,900 40.73% 
2011 46,888,532  103,043,347 45.50%  7,446,500 14,145,900 52.64% 
16023940 
Year Value, in USD Quantity, in kgs 
China total share China total share 
2009 0  1,847,087 0.00% 0 302,900 0.00% 
2010 0  1,786,717 0.00% 0 286,700 0.00% 
2011 270,142  940,628 28.72% 36,700 145,000 25.31% 
16023980 
Year Value, in USD Quantity, in kgs 
China total share China total share 
2009 192,393  2,138,608 9.00% 21,900 251,900 8.69% 
2010 193,543  1,844,369 10.49% 44,700 255,400 17.50% 
2011 1,795,271  3,574,072 50.23% 293,500 480,200 61.12% 
Source：Global Trade Atlas 
 
 
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