SUPPLEMENTARY PROTOCOL to the Agreement establishing an Association between the European Economic Community and Malta

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

of the one part,

and THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MALTA,

of the other part,

HAVING REGARD to the Agreement establishing an Association between the European Economic Community and Malta signed at Valletta on 5 December 1970, hereinafter referred to as the "Agreement";

CONSIDERING THAT trade arrangements between the Community and Malta have been governed by a system of autonomous arrangements since 1 January 1981;

CONSIDERING THAT the Community and Malta wish to strengthen still further their relations in order to take account of the new dimension created by the accession to the European Communities of Spain and Portugal on 1 January 1986, and that Article 17 of the Protocol to the Agreement signed on 4 March 1976 provides for the possibility of improvements in its rules applying to agricultural products;

CONSIDERING THAT there is also room for improvement of other provisions of the Agreement;

CONSIDERING THAT certain measures should be taken to allow Malta's traditional export trade with the Community to be maintained;

HAVE DECIDED to conclude a Protocol extending the first stage of the Agreement and adapting certain provisions thereof, and to this end have designated as their Plenipotentiaries:

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES:

Constantinos LYBEROPOULOS,

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary,

Permanent Representative of the Hellenic Republic,

Chairman of the Permanent Representatives Committee;

Jean DURIEUX.

Special Adviser in the Directorate-General for External Relations of the Commission of the European Communities;

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MALTA:

Joseph LICARI,

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary,

Permanent Delegate of the Republic of Malta to the European Economic Community,

WHO, having exchanged their full powers, found in good and due form,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

1. The first stage of the Agreement is hereby extended until 31 December 1990.

2. 12 months before the end of the first stage, as extended under paragraph 1, negotiations shall take place to define the content of the second stage in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement.

3. Notwithstanding the expiry of the first stage on 31 December 1990, the provisions of Article 2 shall continue to apply.

Article 2

1. Customs duties applicable under the Agreement to imports into the Community of products originating in Malta and listed in Annex I to this Protocol shall be phased out over the same periods and at the same rates as provided in the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal in respect of imports into the Community, as constituted on 31 December 1985, of the same products from Spain and Portugal. This provision shall be applied in accordance with the rules set out in this Article.

When the level of customs duty in force for imports into the Community, as constituted on 31 December 1985, from Spain differs from that for Portugal, products originating in Malta shall be subject to the higher of the two rates.

2. Where the customs duty on a product is lower for Malta than for Spain, Portugal, or both, phasing out of the duty shall commence once the duty on the product from both Spain and Portugal has fallen below that applying to imports originating in Malta.

3. For the purpose of eliminating customs duties, reference quantities are established in Annex I for certain products originating in Malta.

Should imports of these products exceed the reference quantity, the Community, having regard to the annual review of trade flows which it shall carry out, may make the products in question subject to a Community tariff quota, the volume of which shall be equal to the reference quantity.

4. For products listed in Annex I, other than those referred to in paragraph 3, the Community may establish a reference quantity as provided for in paragraph 3 if it discovers, in the light of the annual review of trade flows which it shall carry out, that the volume of imports threatens to cause difficulties on the Community market.

Article 3

1. The goods mentioned below, which result from the processing of agricultural products, originating in Malta, are admitted with exemption from the fixed component which is otherwise imposed on the import of such products into the Community: >PIC FILE= "T0046429">

2. The goods referred to in paragraph 1 are deleted from List A of Annex I to the Agreement.

Article 4

1. A Trade and Economic Cooperation Committee shall be set up for the purpose of improving the operation of the institutional mechanisms of the Agreement.

The Committee shall, at the technical level, facilitate: - the regular exchange of information on trade and production data and forecasts,

- the regular exchange of information on the scope for cooperation in areas covered by the Agreement.

The chairmanship of this Committee is exercised in turn by a representative of the Commission of the European Communities and a representative of Malta.

2. The Association Council shall lay down as soon as possible the composition and procedure of the Committee referred to in paragraph 1 pursuant to Article 14 (3) of the Agreement.

Article 5

1. This Protocol and its Annexes shall form an integral part of the Agreement.

2. This Protocol shall require ratification, acceptance or approval in accordance with the procedure in force for each of the Contracting Parties, who shall notify each other of the completion of the procedure necessary to that end.

3. This Protocol shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date on which the notification referred to in paragraph 2 has been effected.

Article 6

This Protocol is drawn up in two copies in the Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish languages, each of these texts being equally authentic.

En fe de lo cual, los plenipotenciarios abajo firmantes suscriben el presente Protocolo.

Til bekræftelse heraf har undertegnede befuldmægtigede underskrevet denne protokol.

Zu Urkund dessen haben die unterzeichneten Bevollmächtigten ihre Unterschriften unter dieses Protokoll gesetzt. >PIC FILE= "T0046430">

In witness whereof the undersigned Plenipotentiaries have signed this Protocol.

En foi de quoi, les plénipotentiaires soussignés ont apposé leurs signatures au bas du présent protocole.

In fede di che, i plenipotenziari sottoscritti hanno apposto le loro firme in calce al presente protocollo.

Ten blijke waarvan de ondergetekende gevolmachtigden hun handtekening onder dit Protocol hebben gesteld.

Em fé do que os plenipotenciários abaixo assinados apuseram as suas assinaturas no final do presente Protocolo.

Hecho en Bruselas, el catorce de diciembre de mil novecientos ochenta y ocho.

Udfærdiget i Bruxelles, den fjortende december nitten hundrede og otteogfirs.

Geschehen zu Brüssel am vierzehnten Dezember neunzehnhundertachtundachtzig. >PIC FILE= "T0046431">

Done at Brussels on the fourteenth day of December in the year one thousand nine hundred and eighty-eight.

Fait à Bruxelles, le quatorze décembre mil neuf cent quatre-vingt-huit.

Fatto a Bruxelles, addì quattordici dicembre millenovecentottantotto.

Gedaan te Brussel, de veertiende december negentienhonderd achtentachtig.

Feito em Bruxelas, em catorze de Dezembro de mil novecentos e oitenta e oito.

>PIC FILE= "T0046432">

ANNEX I

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ANNEX II Joint Declaration by the Contracting Parties on Article 2 of the Protocol

The Contracting Parties are agreed that, should the entry into force of the Protocol not coincide with the start of the calendar year, the quantitative limits referred to in Article 2 of the said Protocol shall be applied on a pro rata basis.

The Contracting Parties are further agreed that the charging against quantitative limits of Community imports of products originating in Malta and subject to such limits under the Protocol shall begin on 1 January of each year.

ANNEX III Joint Declaration by the Contracting Parties concerning new potatoes falling under CN codes 0701 90 51 and ex 0701 90 59

To avoid disturbance on the Community market, the Contracting Parties agree to meet within an advisory working party to examine the situation on the potato markets (state of harvests and supply situation) both in the Community importing countries and in the Mediterranean exporting countries. The members of this working party will be designated by the governments of the main exporting and importing countries.

The working party, chaired by the Commission, would meet at least three times a year and in particular before sowing takes place in the exporting countries, and at the time of deliveries.

These meetings would enable the main potato-exporting countries to be informed about the receiving markets and about competing markets, and their purposes would be to draw up indicative export timetables designed to prevent deliveries being concentrated around sensitive periods for the Community market.

ANNEX IV Declaration by the representative of the Federal Republic of Germany on the definition of German nationality

Every German person, within the meaning of the basic constitutional law applying in the Federal Republic of Germany, is considered as a national of the Federal Republic of Germany.

ANNEX V Declaration by the representative of the Federal Republic of Germany on the application of the Protocol to Berlin

The Protocol shall also apply to Land Berlin provided that no statement to the contrary by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany is addressed to the other Contracting Parties within three months of the entry into force of the Protocol.