EN Official Journal of the European Union L 154/1

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 838/2006

of 20 March 2006

concerning the implementation of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Community and the People's Republic of China pursuant to Article XXIV:6 and Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 relating to the modification of concessions in the schedules of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic in the course of their accession to the European Union, amending and supplementing Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 133 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas:

(1) Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 (1) established a goods nomenclature, hereinafter referred to as the ‘Combined Nomenclature’, and set out the conventional duty rates of the Common Customs Tariff.

(2) By Decision 2006/398/EC of 20 March 2006 on the conclusion of an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Community and the People's Republic of China pursuant to Article XXIV:6 and Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 relating to the modification of concessions in the schedules of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic in the course of their accession to the European Union (2), the Council approved the said Agreement on behalf of the Community, with a view to closing negotiations initiated pursuant to Article XXIV:6 of GATT 1994.

(3) Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 should therefore be amended and supplemented accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 shall be amended as follows:

(a) in Part two, Schedule of customs duties, the duty rates shall be amended as shown in point (a) of the Annex to this Regulation;

(b) Annex 7 of Section III of Part three, WTO Tariff Quotas to be opened by the competent Community authorities, shall be amended with the duties and supplemented with the volumes following the terms and conditions shown in point (b) of the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 1, point (b) shall apply six weeks from the date of the publication of this Regulation.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 20 March 2006. For the Council The President U. PLASSNIK

(1) OJ L 256, 7.9.1987, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 486/2006 (OJ L 88, 25.3.2006, p. 1).

(2) See page 22 of this Official Journal.