G/L/1386/Add.2  
 
31 May 2022 
(22-4127) Page: 1/1 
Council for Trade in Goods  Original: English  
 
 
ARTICLE  XXVIII:5 NEGOTIATIONS  
UNITED KINGDOM'S WITHDRAWAL FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION  
Communication from the United Kingdom  
Addendum  
The following communication, dated 30 May 2022, is being circulated at the request of the  
Delegation of the United Kingdom.  
 
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As Members will recall, on 24  July 2018 the United Kingdom's (UK) draft schedule of concessions 
and commitments on goods was circulated for certification in document  G/MA/TAR/RS/570 under 
the Procedures  for Modification and Rectification of Schedules of Tariff Concessions. Subsequent 
addenda to that schedule were circulated in document  G/MA/TAR/RS/570/Add.1, 
G/MA/TAR/RS/570/Add.2 and document  G/MA/TAR/RS/570/Add.3 (together Schedule  XIX). In 
document  G/SECRET/44, the UK notified WTO  Members that it would enter into negotiations and 
consultations with the appropriate WTO  Members pursuant to Article  XXVIII of the GATT  1994 
("Modification of Schedules") with respect to its obligations concerning tariff rate quotas (TRQs).  
 
In connection with these ongoing negotiations and consultations under Article  XXVIII of GATT  1994, 
the UK refers to WTO  document  WT/GC/226. That communication highlighted that the UK remained 
fully committed to successfully conducting negot iations and consultations. Furthermore, that 
communication recogni zed the practical mechanisms available to WTO  Members to extend the 
timelines envisaged under Article  XXVIII:3 of GATT  1994, should that prove necessary. Members 
will be aware that pursuant to those mechanisms, and as set out in communication  G/L/1386 /Add.1 , 
the timelines envisaged under Article  XXVIII:3 have already been extended on two  different 
occasions, the most recent of which extending negotiations until 1  July 2022.  
 
The UK would like to inform Members that it will extend the time -period set forth in Article  XXVIII:3 
by a further six  months, i.e. until 1  January  2023, without prejudice to the question of whether there 
are any rights to withdraw concessions pursuant to Article  XXVII I:3(a) and (b). The UK therefore 
wishes to inform the Membership that the UK will not assert that the WTO  Members who submitted 
a valid claim in this process are precluded from withdrawing substantially equivalent concessions 
under Article  XXVIII:3 of GATT  1994 because this withdrawal occurs later than six  months after the 
UK's modification of its concessions, which occurred on 1  January  2021, provided that the 
WTO Member in question withdraws concessions no later than 24  months after the UK's modification 
of concessions. On this basis, the UK and other Members currently engaged in these 
Article  XXVIII  procedures can continue to conduct these negotiations and consultations, with the 
aim of reaching a successful conclusion in the coming months.  
 
The United Ki ngdom will further update Members following the conclusion of negotiations under 
Article  XXVIII of GATT  1994. The United Kingdom proposes that the Council for Trade in Goods at 
its next meeting takes note of this communication and of the extension of the d eadline as indicated 
in this communication, until 1  January  2023.  
 
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