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 the Republic of Slovenia, of the other part

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

of the one part, and

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA,

of the other part,

WHEREAS the Europe Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, acting within the framework of the European Union, of the one part, and the Republic of Slovenia, of the other part, hereinafter referred to as "the Europe Agreement", was signed in Brussels in June 1996 and entered into force on 1 February 1999,

WHEREAS technical negotiations based on Articles 21(5) and 24 of the Europe Agreement have been carried out and successfully concluded between the Community and the Republic of Slovenia to agree on reciprocal tariff concessions in the fisheries sector,

WHEREAS the negotiated concessions in the fisheries sector shall affect the bilateral concessions granted under the Europe Agreement, which should, therefore, be amended by means of a Protocol adjusting the trade aspects of that Agreement,

WHEREAS the Community and the Republic of Slovenia also agreed on an administratively simple procedure for implementing the negotiated tariff concessions as soon as possible on a gradual basis,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

From the date of entry into force of this Protocol, the Community shall apply full free trade for all products covered by Annex VIII(a) of the Europe Agreement and the Republic of Slovenia shall apply full free trade for all products covered by Annex VIII(b) of the Europe Agreement.

For prepared or preserved sardines falling under CN codes 1604 13 11 and 1604 13 19, reciprocal tariff quotas of 100 tonnes, at 4 %, shall be established, covering the first 12 months of this Protocol. For the quantity above the quota a one third reduction of the applicable tariffs shall be applied. After the 12-month period, the 4 % duty rate shall remain applicable for a further 24 months without any quantitative limitation.

The Community and Slovenia also agree to apply, from the date of entry into force of this Protocol, a one third reduction of the tariff duties applied to all other fish and fishery products as defined in Article 1 of Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000. The following year a further reduction of one third shall be applied. Three years after the date of entry into force of this Protocol, or if commonly agreed earlier, full free trade in all fish and fishery products shall be applied. Any such agreement on earlier application of full free trade in all fish and fishery products shall be implemented in accordance with Article 4 of this Protocol.

Article 2

The reductions referred to in Article 1 of this Protocol shall be calculated using common mathematical principles taking into account that:

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

(b) all the figures 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 % level by both parties.

The Parties shall exchange information on those cases where the above principles apply.

Article 3

This Protocol shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date on which the Parties have notified each other of the completion of the internal procedures necessary for that purpose.

Article 4

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

Hecho en Bruselas, el siete de febrero del dos mil dos./Udfærdiget i Bruxelles den syvende februar to tusind og to./Geschehen zu Brüssel am siebten Februar zweitausendundzwei./Έγινε στις Βρυξέλλες, στις εφτά Φεβρουαρίου δύο χιλιάδες δύο./Done at Brussels on the seventh day of February in the year two thousand and two./Fait à Bruxelles, le sept février deux mille deux./Fatto a Bruxelles, addì sette febbraio duemiladue./Gedaan te Brussel, de zevende februari tweeduizendtwee./Feito em Bruxelas, em sete de Fevereiro de dois mil e dois./Tehty Brysselissä seitsemäntenä päivänä helmikuuta vuonna kaksituhattakaksi./Som skedde i Bryssel den sjunde februari tjugohundratvå./V Bruslju, sedmega februarja dva tisoc dva.

Por la Comunidad Europea/For Det Europæiske Fællesskab/Für die Europäische 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

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Za Republiko Slovenijo

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