WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/REG95/R/B/3 
G/L/688 8 September 2004 
 
(04-3765) 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements Original:   English 
  
 
AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND ICELAND  
 
  The following communication, dated 3 September 2004, is being circulated at the request of the Permanent Delegation of the European Commission. 
 
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Biennial Report on the Operation of the Agreement 
 
 
Communication from the Parties 
 
 This report covers the period 2001-2003.  Th e previous biennial report submitted by the 
parties on the operation of the trade agreements be tween the EC and Iceland was circulated as WTO 
document WT/REG95/R/B/2, G/L/542 of 13 May 2002.  The general situation remains as described 
in the last regular report.  
  
I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE AGREEMENT 
1. Trade Data 
 Statistical information concerning bilateral tr ade between the EU and Iceland is provided in 
the annex.   
II. TRADE PROVISIONS 
1. Sector-Specific Provisions 
 The top priority in EU-Iceland relations be tween 2002 and 2004 was to reach an agreement 
on the enlargement of the EEA simultaneously with the enlargement of the EU. An “EEA 
Enlargement Agreement” was negotiated to this e ffect, and entered into force on 1 May 2004. The 
amendments to the EEA Agreement are mainly tech nical, taking over the relevant provisions of the 
EU Act of Accession, but considerable new fina ncial contributions from the EEA EFTA States were 
also agreed to contribute to social and econom ic cohesion in the enlarged internal market. 
  
  
 EU15-Iceland Imports/Exports, 1999-2002
 
EU15 trade 1999 - 2002 with Iceland (million Euro)  
imports exports balance total trade
1999 2000 2001 2002 1999 2000 2001 2002 1999 2000 2001 2002 1999 2000 2001 2002
1011 Extra-EU1527-Jul-04
Total 1,313 1,620 1,678 1,714 1,322 1,655 1,459 1,302 9 35 -219 -412 2,634 3,276 3,138 3,016
of which:
01 Animals & animal products 6 6 8 7 1 1 7 5 9 7 3 2 5655 - 6 6 2 - 7 0 5 - 7 5 4 - 7 2 8 6 7 3 7 1 8 7 6 3 7 3 7
02 Vegetable products 2 2 2 2 2 02 42 72 9 1 82 32 52 7 2 22 62 93 2
03 Animal or vegetable fats 1 2 1 2 2 4 2 7 2233 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 2 2 - 2 4 1 4 1 4 2 7 2 9
04 Prepared foodstuffs 232 236 253 306 75 76 79 81 -157 -160 -174 -225 307 311 333 388
05 Mineral products 9 10 7 9 47 128 74 44 38 118 67 35 55 138 82 53
06 Chemical products 14 24 53 82 144 155 168 170 129 130 115 88 158 179 221 252
07 Plastics & rubber 4 5 5 6 6 57 47 36 9 6 16 96 96 4 6 97 87 87 5
08 Hides & skins 1 0 1 2 1 4 1 4 4654 - 5 - 6 - 9 - 1 0 1 4 1 8 1 9 1 8
09 Wood & wood products 1 1 1 0 2 82 82 62 2 2 72 62 52 2 2 92 92 72 3
10 Wood pulp products 1 2 1 2 4 55 55 65 2 4 45 35 45 1 4 65 75 75 4
11 Textiles & textile articles 7 7 8 6 8 38 97 97 2 7 68 27 16 6 8 99 78 77 8
12 Footwear, headgear 0 1 1 0 1 31 31 31 3 1 21 21 21 3 1 31 41 31 3
13 Articles of stone, plaster, cement, asbestos 2 2 2 2 2 22 52 52 3 2 02 32 32 1 2 42 72 72 5
14 Pearls, (semi-)precious stones, metals 0012 4974 3971 4 1 086
15 Base metals & articles thereof 279 388 388 446 101 119 112 99 -178 -269 -277 -347 381 507 500 544
16 Machinery & mechanical applicances 23 27 30 29 387 453 406 361 365 426 376 332 410 481 437 390
17 Transportation equipment 30 148 21 15 150 249 148 96 121 101 128 80 180 397 169 111
18 Instruments - measuring, musical 12 16 15 16 34 46 51 62 22 30 35 46 45 62 66 78
19 Arms & ammunition 0000 1110 1110 1110
20 Miscellaneous 1 1 1 1 6 67 27 76 7 6 57 17 66 6 6 77 37 86 9
21 Works of art 1213 7222 700 - 2 8335
Other 61 39 01 3 1 92 52 32 4 1 31 2 - 6 71 1 2 63 8 1 1 43 7
Source : Eurostat COMEXT 10 September 2003 (Statistical regime 1) TRADE/F/1  José ÁlvarezIceland
 WT/REG95/R/B/3 
G/L/688 
Page 2  
  WT/REG95/R/B/3
 G/L/688
 Page 3EU15-Iceland Imports/Exports, 2002 and comparison with extra-EU15
balance balance
M Euro % Total M Euro % Total M Euro M Euro % Total M Euro % Total M Euro imports exports
27-Jul-04
Total 1,714 100.0% 1,302 100.0% -412 918,798 100.0% 868,524 100.0% -50,274 0.2% 0.1% 0.76
of which:
01 Animals & animal products 732 42.7% 5 0.4% -728 15,949 1.7% 11,195 1.3% -4,754 4.6% 0.0% 0.01
02 Vegetable products 2 0.1% 29 2.2% 27 26,010 2.8% 11,625 1.3% -14,385 0.0% 0.3% 11.78
03 Animal or vegetable fats 27 1.5% 3 0.2% -24 2,317 0.3% 2,339 0.3% 22 1.1% 0.1% 0.10
04 Prepared foodstuffs 306 17.9% 81 6.3% -225 23,791 2.6% 27,732 3.2% 3,941 1.3% 0.3% 0.27
05 Mineral products 9 0.5% 44 3.4% 35 147,537 16.1% 29,272 3.4% -118,266 0.0% 0.2% 4.82
06 Chemical products 82 4.8% 170 13.0% 88 67,920 7.4% 126,606 14.6% 58,685 0.1% 0.1% 2.07
07 Plastics & rubber 6 0.3% 69 5.3% 64 25,724 2.8% 36,740 4.2% 11,016 0.0% 0.2% 11.82
08 Hides & skins 14 0.8% 4 0.3% -10 10,253 1.1% 9,177 1.1% -1,076 0.1% 0.0% 0.31
09 Wood & wood products 0 0.0% 22 1.7% 22 13,546 1.5% 7,637 0.9% -5,908 0.0% 0.3% 74.49
10 Wood pulp products 2 0.1% 52 4.0% 51 15,485 1.7% 25,167 2.9% 9,682 0.0% 0.2% 29.29
11 Textiles & textile articles 6 0.4% 72 5.5% 66 66,360 7.2% 38,688 4.5% -27,671 0.0% 0.2% 11.88
12 Footwear, headgear 0 0.0% 13 1.0% 13 11,422 1.2% 6,862 0.8% -4,560 0.0% 0.2% 174.04
13 Articles of stone, plaster, cement, asbestos 2 0.1% 23 1.7% 21 7,809 0.8% 15,368 1.8% 7,559 0.0% 0.1% 12.27
14 Pearls, (semi-)precious stones, metals 2 0.1% 4 0.3% 1 33,805 3.7% 26,743 3.1% -7,062 0.0% 0.0% 1.65
15 Base metals & articles thereof 446 26.0% 99 7.6% -347 49,836 5.4% 52,420 6.0% 2,584 0.9% 0.2% 0.22
16 Machinery & mechanical applicances 29 1.7% 361 27.7% 332 235,463 25.6% 270,216 31.1% 34,754 0.0% 0.1% 12.39
17 Transportation equipment 15 0.9% 96 7.3% 80 76,013 8.3% 92,269 10.6% 16,257 0.0% 0.1% 6.19
18 Instruments - measuring, musical 16 0.9% 62 4.8% 46 38,860 4.2% 41,363 4.8% 2,504 0.0% 0.1% 3.91
19 Arms & ammunition 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 955 0.1% 1,197 0.1% 242 0.0% 0.0% 63.79
20 Miscellaneous 1 0.1% 67 5.2% 66 28,770 3.1% 18,637 2.1% -10,132 0.0% 0.4% 47.76
21 Works of art 3 0.2% 2 0.1% -2 2,949 0.3% 4,098 0.5% 1,150 0.1% 0.0% 0.49
Other 13 0.8% 24 1.8% 11 18,025 2.0% 13,172 1.5% -4,853 0.1% 0.2% 1.85
Source : Eurostat COMEXT 10 September 2003 (Statistical regime 1) TRADE/F/1  José Álvarez1011 Extra-EURIceland / TotalEU15 trade 2002 with Iceland EU15 trade 2002 with Extra-EUR Iceland
imports exports imports exports market shares Exp-Imp 
ratio
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