Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters amending the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the People' s Republic of Bangladesh on trade in textile products - Agreed Minutes - Notes verbale - Exchanges of notes
Date: 1993-12-02
Institutions: Bangladesh, European Economic Community
Subjects: international trade, protocol to an agreement, textile product, third country













EUR-Lex - 21992A1231(27) - EN






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21992A1231(27)

Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters amending the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the People' s Republic of Bangladesh on trade in textile products - Agreed Minutes - Notes verbale - Exchanges of notes  Unofficial translation  


Official Journal L 410 , 31/12/1992 P. 0137 - 0151 Finnish special edition: Chapter 11 Volume 30 P. 0155  Swedish special edition: Chapter 11 Volume 30 P. 0155  L 110 30/04/1994 P.0138 





AGREEMENT in the form of an exchange of letters amending the Agreement between the European  Economic Community and the People's Republic of Bangladesh on trade in textile products Letter N° 1 Sir, 1. I have the honour to refer to the consultations held on 17 December 1992 between our respective  delegations for the purpose of amending the Agreement on trade in textile products between the  European Economic Community and the People's Republic of Bangladesh applied since 1 January 1987,  as extended by the exchange of letters applied since 1 January 1992 and as further amended by the  exchange of letters initialled on 9 October 1992 (hereinafter 'the Agreement`). 2. As a result of these consultations, both Parties agreed to amend the following provisions of the  Agreement: 2.1. The Annex to the Agreement which set out the products concerned by the Agreement is replaced  for the period 1 January 1993 to 31 December 1994 by Appendix 1. 2.2. Article 8 (6) and Protocol C to the Agreement are deleted. 2.3. The first indent of Article 9 (1) is replaced by the following: 'Bangladesh undertakes to supply the Community with precise statistical information on all export  licences issued by the Bangladeshi authorities for all categories of textile products subject to  quantitative limits established under Article 8 or to a double-checking system of surveillance  without quantitative limits as well as on all certificates issued by the Bangladesh authorities for  all products referred to in Article 5 and subject to the provisions of Protocol B.`2.4. Article 9  (2) is replaced by the following: 'The information referred to in paragraph 1 shall, for all categories of products, be forwarded  before the end of the month following the month to which the statistics relate.`2.5. Article 12  (1) and (2) are replaced by the following: '1. The quantitative limits established under this Agreement on imports into the Community of  textile products of Bangladeshi origin will not be broken down by the Community into regional  shares. 2. The Parties shall cooperate in order to prevent sudden and prejudicial changes in traditional  trade flows resulting in regional concentration of direct imports into the Community. 3. Bangladesh shall monitor its exports of products under restraint or surveillance into the  Community. Should a sudden and prejudicial change in traditional trade flows arise, the Community  will be entitled to request consultations in order to find a satisfactory solution to those  problems. Such consultations must be held within 15 working days of their being requested by the  Community. 4. Bangladesh shall endeavour to ensure that exports of textile products subject to quantitative  limits into the Communtiy are spaced out as evenly as possible over the year due account being  taken in particular of seasonal factors.`2.6. Article 14 and all references to this Article in the  Agreement are deleted. 2.7. The following is added at the beginning of Article 16 (1): '1. Save where it is otherwise provided for in this Agreement, . . .`2.8. The second sentence of  Article 18 (1) is replaced by the following: 'It shall be applicable until 31 December 1994. Thereafter, the application of all the provisions  of this Agreement shall be extended automatically for a period of one more year up to 31 December  1995, unless either Party notifies the other at least six months before 31 December 1994 that it  does not agree with this extension. However, if the Agreement on trade in textiles and clothing  products resulting from the Uruguay Round GATT trade negotiations is concluded and enters into  force at an earlier date, this Agreement shall be automatically terminated as of the date agreed  for the implementation of the results of the Uruguay Round GATT trade negotiations.`2.9. The first  sentence of Article 7 (1) of Protocol A is replaced by the following: '1. The export licences for categories of products made subject to quantitative limits under  article 8 as well as for categories subject to a double-checking system of surveillance without  quantitative limits shall conform to the models annexed to this Protocol and they shall be valid  for exports throughout the customs territory to which the Treaty establishing the European Economic  Community is applied. However, where the Community has made recourse to the provisions of Article 8  in accordance with the provisions of the Agreed Minute No 1, or the Agreed Minute No 2, the textile  products covered by the export licences can only be put into free circulation in the region(s) of  the Community indicated in those licences.`2.10. The second indent of Article 12 (1) of Protocol A  to the Agreement is replaced by the following: 'The import authorizations shall be valid for six months from the date of their issue for imports  throughout the customs territory to which the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community  is applied. However, where the Community has recourse to the provisions of Article 8 in accordance  with the provisions of Agreed Minute No 1, or to the Agreed Minute No 2, the products covered by  the import licences can only be put into free circulation in the regions(s) of the Community  indicated in those licences.`2.11. The second and fifth indents of Article 14 (2) of Protocol A  are replaced by the following: '- two letters identifying the intended Member State of customs clearance as follows: BL = Benelux, DE = Germany, DG = Denmark, EL = Greece, ES = Spain, FR = France, GB = United Kingdom, IE = Ireland, IT = Italy, PT = Portugal`, '- a five-digit number running consecutively from 00001 to 99999 allocated to the intended Member  State of customs clearance.`2.12. The export licence form for categories subject to a  double-checking system of surveillance bearing the indication 'non-restrained textile category` set  out in Appendix 2 to this letter shall be added to Protocol A of the Agreement. 2.13. Agreed Minute N° 1 set out in Appendix 3 to this letter shall form an integral part of the  Agreement. 2.14. Agreed Minute N° 2 set out in Appendix 4 to this letter shall form an integral part of the  Agreement. 2.15. Agreed Minute N° 3 set out in Appendix 5 to this letter shall form an integral part of the  Agreement. 3. The Parties agreed that this Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters shall enter into  force on the first day of the month following the day on which the Parties have notified each other  that the legal procedures necessary to this end have been completed. The Parties also agreed that this Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters and the  amendments hereby to the Agreement of 1987, as extended, shall be applied provisionally from 1  January 1993. 4. I should be obliged if you kindly confirm the acceptance of your Government of the foregoing. Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my highest consideration. For the Councilof the European CommunitiesAppendix 1 (The contents of Appendix 1 are  identical to those of Appendix 1 to the Agreement with Singapore; see pages 16 to 42) Appendix 2 ANNEX TO PROTOCOL A Appendix 3 Agreed Minute N° 1In the  context of the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the People's Republic of  Bangladesh on trade in textile and clothing products, initialled on 17 December 1992, the Parties  agreed that Article 8 of the Agreement does not preclude the Community, if the conditions are  fulfilled, from applying the safeguard measures for one or more of its regions in conformity with  the principles of the internal market. In such an event, Bangladesh shall be informed in advance of the relevant provisions of Protocol A  to the Agreement to be applied, as appropriate.  For the Governmentof the People's Republic of BangladeshFor the Councilof the European  CommunitiesAppendix 4 Agreed Minute N° 2Notwithstanding Article 12 (1) of  this Agreement, for imperative technical or administrative reasons or to find a solution to  economic problems resulting from regional concentration of imports, or in order to combat  circumvention and fraud of the provisions of this Agreement, the Community will establish for a  limited period of time a specific management system in conformity with the principles of the  internal market. However, if the Parties are unable to reach a satisfactory solution during the consultations  provided for in Article 12 (3), Bangladesh undertakes, if so requested by the Community, to respect  temporary export limits for one or more regions of the Community. In such a case, these limits  shall not preclude the importation into the region(s) concerned of products which were shipped from  Bangladesh on the basis of export licences obtained before the date of formal notification to  Bangladesh by the Community about the introduction of the above limits. The Community shall inform Bangladesh of the technical and administrative measures, such as defined  in the attached note verbale, that need to be introduced by both Parties in order to implement the  above paragraphs in conformity with the principles of the internal market. For the Governmentof the People's Republic of BangladeshFor the Councilof the European  CommunitiesNote verbale The Directorate-General for External Relations of the  Commission of the European Communities presents its compliments to the Mission of the People's  Republic of Bangladesh to the European Communities and has the honour to refer to the Agreement on  textile products negotiated between the People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Community applied  since 1 January 1987, as extended by the exchange of letters initialled on 12 December 1991 and as  further extended by the exchange of letters of 17 December 1992. The Directorate-General wishes to inform the Mission of the People's Republic of Bangladesh that  the Community has decided to apply, starting from 1 January 1993, the provisions of paragraph 1 of  Agreed Minute No 2 to the exchange of letters initialled on 17 December 1992. Consequently, the  corresponding provisions of Articles 7 and 12 of Protocol A to the Agreement shall also be applied  as of the above date. The Directorate-General for External Relations avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the  Mission of the People's Republic of Bangladesh to the European Communities the assurance of its  highest consideration. Appendix 5 Agreed Minute N° 3In the context of the Agreement between the  European Economic Community and the People's Republic of Bangladesh on trade in textile and  clothing products, applied since 1 January 1987, as extended by the exchange of letters initialled  on 15 December 1991 and further extended by the exchange of letters initialled on 17 December 1992,  Bangladesh agreed that, form the date of request for and pending the consultations referred to in  Article 12 (3), it shall cooperate by not issuing export licences that would further aggravate the  problems resulting from the regional concentration of direct imports into the Community. For the Governmentof the People's Republic of BangladeshFor the Councilof the European  CommunitiesExchange of notes The Directorate-General for External Relations of  the Commission of the European Communities presents its compliments to the Mission of the People's  Republic of Bangladesh to the European Communities and has the honour to refer to the Agreement on  textile products between the People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Community applied since 1  January 1987, as extended by the exchange of letters initialled on 12 December 1991 and as further  extended by the exchange of letters initialled on 17 December 1992. The Directorate-General wishes to inform the Mission of the People's Republic of Bangladesh that  whilst awaiting the completion of the necessary procedures for the conclusion and the coming into  force of the extended Agreement, the Community is prepared to allow the provisions of the Agreement  to apply de facto from 1 January 1993. This is on the understanding that either Party may at any  time terminate this de facto application of the extended Agreement provided that 120 days' notice  is given. The Directorate-General for External Relations would be grateful if the Mission would confirm its  Agreement to the foregoing. The Directorate-General for External Relations avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the  Mission of the People's Republic of Bangladesh to the European Communities the assurance of its  highest consideration. Letter N° 2 Sir, I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of 17 December 1992, which reads as  follows: 'Sir, 1. I have the honour to refer to the consultations held on 17 December 1992 between our respective  delegations for the purpose of amending the Agreement on trade in textile products between the  European Economic Community and the People`s Republic of Bangladesh, applied since 1 January 1987,  as extended by the exchange of letters applied since 1 January 1992 and as further amended by the  exchange initialled on 9 October 1992 (hereinafter "the Agreement"). 2. As a result of these consultations, both Parties agreed to amend the following provisions of the  Agreement: 2.1. The Annex to the Agreement which set out the products concerned by the Agreement is replaced  for the period 1 January 1993 to 31 December 1994 by Appendix 1. 2.2. Article 8 (6) and Protocol C to the Agreement are deleted. 2.3. The first indent of Article 9 (1) is replaced by the following: "Bangladesh undertakes to supply the Community with precise statistical information on all export  licences issued by the Bangladeshi authorities for all categories of textile products subject to  quantitative limits established under Article 8 or to a double-checking system of surveillance  without quantitative limits as well as on all certificates issued by the Bangladesh authorities for  all products referred to in Article 5 and subject to the provisions of Protocol B."2.4. Article 9  (2) is replaced by the following: "The information referred to in paragraph 1 shall, for all categories of products, be forwarded  before the end of the month following the month to which the statistics relate."2.5. Article 12  (1) and (2) are replaced by the following: "1. The quantitative limits established under this Agreement on imports into the Community of  textile products of Bangladeshi origin will not be broken down by the Community into regional  shares. 2. The Parties shall cooperate in order to prevent sudden and prejudicial changes in traditional  trade flows resulting in regional concentration of direct imports into the Community. 3. Bangladesh shall monitor its exports of products under restraint or surveillance into the  Community. Should a sudden and prejudicial change in traditional trade flows arise, the Community  will be entitled to request consultations in order to find a satisfactory solution to those  problems. Such consultations must be held within 15 working days of their being requested by the  Community. 4. Bangladesh shall endeavour to ensure that exports of textile products subject to quantitative  limits into the Community are spaced out as evenly as possible over the year due account being  taken in particular of seasonal factors."2.6. Article 14 and all references to this Article in the  Agreement are deleted. 2.7. The following is added at the beginning of"1. Save where it is otherwise provided for in this  Agreement, . . ."2.8. The second sentence of Article 18 (1) is replaced by the following: "It shall be applicable until 31 December 1994. Thereafter, the application of all the provisions  of this Agreement shall be extended automatically for a period of one more year up to 31 December  1995, unless either Party notifies the other at least six months before 31 December 1994 that it  does not agree with this extension. However, if the Agreement on trade in textiles and clothing  products resulting from the Uruguay Round GATT trade negotiations is concluded and enters into  force at an earlier date, this Agreement shall be automatically terminated as of the date agreed  for the implementation of the results of the Uruguay Round GATT trade negotiations."2.9. The first  sentence of Article 7 (1) of Protocol A is replaced by the following: '1. The export licences for categories of products made subject to quantitative limits under  Article 8 as well as for categories subject to a double-checking system of surveillance without  quantitative limits shall conform to the models annexed to this Protocol and they shall be valid  for exports throughout the customs territory to which the Treaty establishing the European Economic  Community is applied. However, where the Community has made recourse to the provisions of Article 8  in accordance with the provisions of the Agreed Minute No 1, or the Agreed Minute No 2, the textile  products covered by the export licences can only be put into free circulation in the region(s) of  the Community indicated in those licences.`2.10. The second indent of Article 12 (1) of Protocol A  to the Agreement is replaced by the following: "The import authorizations shall be valid for six months from the date of their issue for imports  throughout the customs territory to which the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community  is applied. However, where the Community has recourse to the provisions of Article 8 in accordance  with the provisions of the Agreed Minute No 1, or to Agreed Minute No 2, the products covered by  the import licences can only be put into free circulation in the region(s) of the Community  indicated in those licences."2.11. The second and fifth indents of Article 14 (2) of Protocol A  are replaced by the following: "- two letters identifying the intended Member State of customs clearance as follows: BL = Benelux, DE = Germany, DK = Denmark, EL = Greece, ES = Spain, FR = France, GB = United Kingdom, IE = Ireland, IT = Italy, PT = Portugal", "- a five-digit number running consecutively from 00001 to 99999 allocated to the intended Member  State of customs clearance."2.12. The export licence form for categories subject to a  double-checking system of surveillance bearing the indication "non-restrained textile category" set  out in Appendix 2 to this letter shall be added to Protocol A of the Agreement. 2.13. Agreed Minute N° 1 set out in Appendix 3 to this letter shall form an integral part of the  Agreement. 2.14. Agreed Minute N° 2 set out in Appendix 4 to this letter shall form an integral part of the  Agreement. 2.15. Agreed Minute N° 3 set out in Appendix 5 to this letter shall form an integral part of the  Agreement. 3. The Parties agreed that this Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters shall enter into  force on the first day of the month following the day on which the Parties have notified each other  that the legal procedures necessary to this end have been completed. The Parties also agreed that this Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters and the  amendments hereby to the Agreement of 1987, as extended, shall be applied provisionally from 1  January 1993. 4. I should be obliged if you kindly confirm the acceptance of your Government of the foregoing. Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my highest consideration.'I have the honour to confirm that  my Government is in agreement with the contents of your letter. Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my highest consideration. For the Governmentof the People's Republic of BangladeshAppendix 1 (The contents of  Appendix 1 are identical to those of Appendix 1 to the Agreement with Singapore; see pages 16 to  42)Appendix 2 ANNEX TO PROTOCOL A Appendix 3 Agreed  Minute N° 1In the context of the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the  People's Republic of Bangladesh on trade in textile and clothing products, initialled on 17  December 1992, the Parties agreed that Article 8 of the Agreement does not preclude the Community,  if the conditions are fulfilled, from applying the safeguard measures for one or more of its  regions in conformity with the principles of the internal market. In such an event, Bangladesh shall be informed in advance of the relevant provisions of Protocol A  to the Agreement to be applied, as appropriate.  For the Governmentof the People's Republic of BangladeshFor the Councilof the European  CommunitiesAppendix 4 Agreed Minute N° 2Notwithstanding Article 12 (1) of  this Agreement, for imperative technical or administrative reasons or to find a solution to  economic problems resulting from regional concentration of imports, or in order to combat  circumvention and fraud of the provisions of this Agreement, the Community will establish for a  limited period of time a specific management system in conformity with the principles of the  internal market. However, if the Parties are unable to reach a satisfactory solution during the consultations  provided for in Article 12 (3), Bangladesh undertakes, if so requested by the Community, to respect  temporary export limits for one or more regions of the Community. In such a case, these limits  shall not preclude the importation into the region(s) concerned of products which were shipped from  Bangladesh on the basis of export licences obtained before the date of formal notification to  Bangladesh by the Community about the introduction of the above limits. The Community shall inform Bangladesh of the technical and administrative measures, such as defined  in the attached note verbale, that need to be introduced by both Parties in order to implement the  above paragraphs in conformity with the principles of the internal market. For the Governmentof the People's Republic of BangladeshFor the Councilof the European  CommunitiesNote verbale The Directorate-General for External Relations of the  Commission of the European Communities presents its compliments to the Mission of the People's  Republic of Bangladesh to the European Communities and has the honour to refer to the Agreement on  textile products negotiated between the People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Community applied  since 1 January 1987, as extended by the exchange of letters initialled on 12 December 1991 and as  further extended by the exchange of letters of 17 December 1992. The Directorate-General wishes to inform the Mission of the People's Republic of Bangladesh that  the Community has decided to apply, starting from 1 January 1993, the provisions of paragraph 1 of  Agreed Minute No 2 to the exchange of letters initialled on 17 December 1992. Consequently, the  corresponding provisions of Articles 7 and 12 of Protocol A to the Agreement shall also be applied  as of the above date. The Directorate-General for External Relations avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the  Mission of the People's Republic of Bangladesh to the European Communities the assurance of its  highest consideration. Appendix 5 Agreed Minute N° 3In the context of the Agreement between the  European Economic Community and the People's Republic of Bangladesh on trade in textile and  clothing products, applied since 1 January 1987, as extended by the exchange of letters initialled  on 15 December 1991 and further extended by the exchange of letters initialled on 17 December 1992,  Bangladesh agreed that, form the date of request for and pending the consultations referred to in  Article 12 (3), it shall cooperate by not issuing export licences that would further aggravate the  problems resulting from the regional concentration of direct imports into the Community. For the Governmentof the People's Republic of BangladeshFor the Councilof the European  CommunitiesExchange of notes The Directorate-General for External Relations of  the Commission of the European Communities presents its compliments to the Mission of the People's  Republic of Bangladesh to the European Communities and has the honour to refer to the Agreement on  textile products between the People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Community applied since 1  January 1987, as extended by the exchange of letters initialled on 12 December 1991 and as further  extended by the exchange of letters initialled on 17 December 1992. The Directorate-General wishes to inform the Mission of the People's Republic of Bangladesh that  whilst awaiting the completion of the necessary procedures for the conclusion and the coming into  force of the extended Agreement, the Community is prepared to allow the provisions of the Agreement  to apply de facto from 1 January 1993. This is on the understanding that either Party may at any  time terminate this de facto application of the extended Agreement provided that 120 days' notice  is given. The Directorate-General for External Relations would be grateful if the Mission would confirm its  Agreement to the foregoing. The Directorate-General for External Relations avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the  Mission of the People's Republic of Bangladesh to the European Communities the assurance of its  highest consideration.