Additional Protocol,

laying down the trade arrangements for certain fish and fishery products, to the Europe Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and Romania, of the other part

THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY, hereinafter referred to as "the Community",

of the one part,

and

ROMANIA,

of the other part,

Whereas:

(1) The Europe Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and Romania, of the other part, hereinafter referred to as "the Europe Agreement", was signed in Brussels on 1 February 1993 and entered into force on 1 February 1995.

(2) Chapter III of the Europe Agreement provides for negotiations to conclude reciprocal tariff concessions in the fisheries sector.

(3) To this effect technical negotiations based on Article 24 of the Europe Agreement were carried out and successfully concluded between the Community and Romania to agree on reciprocal tariff concessions in the fisheries sector.

(4) The negotiated concessions in the fisheries sector modify the bilateral concessions granted under the Agreement, which should, therefore, be amended by means of a Protocol adjusting the trade aspects of the Europe Agreement.

(5) The Community and Romania also agreed on implementing the negotiated tariff concessions as soon as possible on a gradual basis, having decided to apply the agreed tariff concessions with a view to establishing fully liberalised trade in fish and fishery products,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The customs duties applied respectively by the Community and Romania for fish and fishery products as defined in Article 1 of Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000(1), originating in Romania or the Community with the exception of products mentioned in Article 2 of this Protocol, shall be progressively reduced according to the following timetable:

(a) from the date of entry into force of this Protocol, to 75 % of the basic customs duties;

(b) from 1 January 2005, to 50 % of the basic customs duties;

(c) from 1 January 2006, to 25 % of the basic customs duties;

(d) from 1 January 2007, to 0 % of the basic customs duties.

The basic customs duties to which the successive reductions referred to in this Article will be applied will be the MFN duties applicable at the time of entry into force of this Protocol.

Any agreement on earlier application of full free trade in fish and fishery products, with the exception of those mentioned in Article 2, shall be implemented, if commonly agreed, in accordance with Article 6 of this Protocol.

Article 2

The customs duties applied by the Community and Romania to products originating in Romania and the Community respectively falling under CN codes(2) 0301 93 00, 0302 11 10, 0302 11 20, 0302 11 80, 0302 23 00, 0302 61 80, 0302 69 11, 0302 69 55, 0303 21 10, 0303 21 20, 0303 21 80, 0303 33 00, 0303 71 80, 0303 79 11, 0303 79 65, 0304 10 15, 0304 10 17, 0304 10 19, 0304 20 15, 0304 20 17, 0304 20 19, 0305 49 45, 0305 59 50, 0305 63 00, 0305 69 90, 1604 12, 1604 13, 1604 15 11, 1604 15 19, 1604 16 00, shall be progressively reduced according to the following timetable:

(a) from 1 January 2007, to 75 % of the basic customs duties;

(b) from 1 January 2008, to 50 % of the basic customs duties;

(c) from 1 January 2009, to 25 % of the basic customs duties;

(d) from 1 January 2010, to 0 % of the basic customs duties.

The basic customs duties to which the successive reductions referred to in this Article will be applied will be the MFN duties applicable at the time of entry into force of this Protocol.

Article 3

The reductions referred to in Articles 1 and 2 shall be calculated using common mathematics principles taking into account that:

(a) all the figures which have less than 50 (included) after the decimal point shall be rounded down to the nearest whole number;

(b) all the figures which have more than 50 after the decimal point shall be rounded up to the nearest whole number;

(c) all the tariffs below 2 % shall automatically be fixed at 0 %.

Article 4

This Protocol shall form an integral part of the Europe Agreement.

Article 5

This Protocol shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the date on which the Parties have notified each other of the accomplishment of their internal procedures for acceptance.

Article 6

This Protocol may be amended by decision of the Association Council.

Hecho en Bruselas, el quince de enero de dos mil cuatro./Udfærdiget i Bruxelles den femtende januar to tusind og fire./Geschehen zu Brüssel am fünfzehnten Januar zweitausendundvier./Έγινε στις Βρυξέλλες, στις δεκαπέντε Ιανουαρίου δύο χιλιάδες τέσσερα./Done at Brussels on the fifteenth day of January in the year two thousand and four./Fait à Bruxelles, le quinze janvier deux mille quatre./Fatto a Bruxelles, addì quindici gennaio duemilaquattro./Gedaan te Brussel, de vijftiende januari tweeduizendvier./Feito em Bruxelas, em quinze de Janeiro de dois mil e quatro./Tehty Brysselissä viidentenätoista päivänä tammikuuta vuonna kaksituhattaneljä./Som skedde i Bryssel den femtonde januari tjugohundrafyra./Încheiat la Bruxelles, în ziua de cincisprezece ianuarie, anul doua mii patru.

Por la Comunidad Europea/På Det Europæiske Fællesskabs vegne/Für die Europäiche Gemeinschaft/Για την Ευρωπαϊκή Κοινότητα/For the European Community/Pour la Communauté européenne/Per la Comunità europea/Voor de Europese Gemeenschap/Pela Comunidade Europeia/Euroopan yhteisön puolesta/På Europeiska gemenskapens vägnar/Pentru Comunitatea europeana

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Por Rumania/På Rumæniens vegne/Für Rumänien/Για τη Ρουμανία/For Romania/Pour la Roumanie/Per la Romania/Voor Roemenië/Pela Roménia/Romanian puolesta/På Rumäniens vägnar/Pentru România

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(1) OJ L 17, 21.1.2000, p. 22.

(2) As defined in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1832/2002 of 1 August 2002 amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff (OJ L 290, 28.10.2002, p. 1).