Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Community and Turkmenistan amending the Agreement between the European Economic Community and Turkmenistan on trade in textile products initialled at Brussels on 18 October 1993, as last amended by an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters initialled on 25 January 1996 - Exchange of notes
Date: 1999-12-21
Institutions: European Community, Turkmenistan
Subjects: Turkmenistan, USSR, agreement (EU), textile product, trade agreement

L 343/26

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

31.12.1999

AGREEMENT IN THE FORM OF AN EXCHANGE OF LETTERS

between the European Community and Turkmenistan amending the Agreement between the
European Economic Community and Turkmenistan on trade in textile products initialled at
Brussels on 18 October 1993, as last amended by an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of
Letters initialled on 25 January 1996

A. Letter from the Council of the European Union

Sir,

1.

I have the honour to refer to the Agreement between the European Economic Community and
Turkmenistan on trade in textile products initialled on 18 October 1993, as last amended by the
Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters initialled on 25 January 1996 (hereafter referred to
as the (cid:145)Agreement(cid:146)).

2.

In view of the expiry of the Agreement on 31 December 1999 and in accordance with Article 20(4)
of the Agreement, the European Community proposes to extend the duration of the Agreement, for a
further period of at least three years, subject to the following amendments and conditions:

2.1. Annex I which sets out the products referred to in Article 1 of the Agreement is replaced by

Appendix 1 to this letter.

2.2. The text of Article 20(1), second and third sentences, of the Agreement shall be replaced by the

following:

(cid:145)It shall be applicable until 31 December 2002. Thereafter, the application of all of the provisions of
this Agreement shall be extended automatically for a period of one more year up to 31 December
2003, unless either Party notifies the other at least six months before 31 December 2002 that it does
not agree with this extension.(cid:146)

2.3. Textile categories 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 are exempted from the double-checking system referred to in
Article 2(3) of the Agreement and specified in Protocol A. If, in a given year, the levels of imports of
products of these textile categories exceed the rates specified in Article 5(2) of the Agreement, the
double-checking system will be automatically reintroduced for these categories.

3.

4.

Should Turkmenistan become a member of the World Trade Organisation before the date of expiry of
the Agreement, the provisions of Articles 2(2) to (6), 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 to 19, Protocol A, Protocol B,
Protocol C, Agreed Minutes No 1, Agreed Minutes No 2, Agreed Minutes No 3 and Agreed Minutes
No 4 shall continue to be applicable as administrative arrangements within the meaning of Article
2(17) of the WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing.

I should be obliged if you could kindly confirm your Government’s acceptance of the foregoing.
Should this be the case, this letter together with its appendix and your letter of acceptance will
constitute an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters which 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.
it shall be applied
provisionally from 1 January 2000 on conditions of reciprocity.

In the meantime,

Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my highest consideration.

For the Council
of the European Union

31.12.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 343/27

Appendix 1

Annex I to the Agreement between the European Community and Turkmenistan on trade in textile
products initialled on 18 October 1993, containing the category and goods descriptions for textile
is replaced by Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 3030/93 (1). It is understood that, without
products,
prejudice to the rules for the interpretation of the combined nomenclature, the wording of the description
of goods is considered to be of indicative value only, since the products covered by each category are
determined, within that Annex by CN codes. Where there is an (cid:145)ex(cid:146) symbol in front of a CN code, the
products covered in each category are determined by the scope of the CN code and by that of the
corresponding description.

(1) In 1999 this Annex was amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1072/1999 (OJ L 134, 28.5.1999, p. 1).

Appendix 2

Exchange of Notes

The Directorate-General for Trade of the Commission of the European Union presents its compliments to
the Mission of Turkmenistan and has the honour to refer to the Agreement between the European
Community and Turkmenistan on Trade in Textile Products initialled on 18 October 1993, as last
amended by the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters initialled on . . . 1999.

The Directorate-General for Trade wishes to inform the Mission of Turkmenistan that, whilst awaiting the
completion of the necessary procedures for the conclusion and coming into force of the Agreement in the
form of an Exchange of Letters, the European Community is prepared to allow the provisions of the
Agreement to apply de facto from 1 January 2000. This is on the understanding that either Party may at
any time terminate this de facto application of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters
provided that four months notice is given.

The Directorate-General for Trade would be grateful if the Mission of Turkmenistan would confirm its
agreement to the foregoing.

The Directorate-General for Trade of the Commission of the European Union avails itself of this oppor-
tunity to renew to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan the assurance of its highest consider-
ation.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

31.12.1999

Sir,

B. Letter from the Government of Turkmenistan

I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of today’s date which reads as follows:

(cid:145)Sir,

1.

I have the honour to refer to the Agreement between the European Economic Community and
Turkmenistan on trade in textile products initialled on 18 October 1993, as last amended by the
Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters initialled on 25 January 1996 (hereafter referred
to as the (cid:147)Agreement(cid:148)).

2.

In view of the expiry of the Agreement on 31 December 1999 and in accordance with Article
20(4) of the Agreement, the European Community proposes to extend the duration of the
Agreement, for a further period of at least three years, subject to the following amendments
and conditions:

2.1. Annex I which sets out the products referred to in Article 1 of the Agreement is replaced by

Appendix 1 to this letter.

2.2. The text of Article 20(1), second and third sentences, of the Agreement shall be replaced by the

following:

(cid:147)It shall be applicable until 31 December 2002. Thereafter, the application of all of the provisions
of this Agreement shall be extended automatically for a period of one more year up to 31
December 2003, unless either Party notifies the other at least six months before 31 December
2002 that it does not agree with this extension.(cid:148)

2.3. Textile categories 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 are exempted from the double-checking system referred to
in Article 2(3) of the Agreement and specified in Protocol A. If, in a given year, the levels of
imports of products of these textile categories exceed the rates specified in Article 5(2) of the
Agreement, the double-checking system will be automatically reintroduced for these categories.

3.

4.

the Agreement,

Should Turkmenistan become a member of the World Trade Organisation before the date of
expiry of
to (6), 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 to 19,
Protocol A, Protocol B, Protocol C, Agreed Minutes No 1, Agreed Minutes No 2, Agreed
Minutes No 3 and Agreed Minutes No 4 shall continue to be applicable as administrative
arrangements within the meaning of Article 2(17) of the WTO Agreement on Textiles and
Clothing.

the provisions of Articles 2(2)

I should be obliged if you could kindly confirm your Government’s acceptance of the foregoing.
Should this be the case, this letter together with its appendix and your letter of acceptance will
constitute an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters which 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. In the meantime, it shall be applied
provisionally from 1 January 2000 on conditions of reciprocity.

Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my highest consideration.(cid:146)

I have the honour to confirm that my Government is in agreement with the content of your letter.

Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my highest consideration.

For the Government
of Turkmenistan

31.12.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 343/29

Appendix 1

Annex I to the Agreement between the European Community and Turkmenistan on trade in textile
products initialled on 18 October 1993, containing the category and goods descriptions for textile
is replaced by Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 3030/93 (1). It is understood that without
products,
prejudice to the rules for the interpretation of the combined nomenclature, the wording of the description
of goods is considered to be of indicative value only, since the products covered by each category are
determined, within that Annex by CN codes. Where there is an (cid:145)ex(cid:146) symbol in front of a CN code, the
products covered in each category are determined by the scope of the CN code and by that of the
corresponding description.

(1) In 1999 this Annex was amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1072/1999 (OJ L 134, 28.5.1999, p. 1).

Appendix 2

Exchange of Notes

The Mission of Turkmenistan presents its compliments to the Directorate-General
the
Commission of the European Union and has the honour to refer to the Note of the Directorate-General
(date of Note Verbale) regarding the Agreement on trade in textile products initialled on 18 October 1993,
as last amended by the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters initialled on . . . 1999.

for Trade of

The Mission of Turkmenistan wishes to confirm to the Directorate-General for Trade that, whilst awaiting
the completion of the necessary procedures for the conclusion and coming into force of the Agreement in
the form of an Exchange of Letters, the Government of Turkmenistan is prepared to allow the provisions
of the Agreement to be applied de facto from 1 January 2000. This is on the understanding that either
Party may at any time terminate this de facto application of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of
Letters provided that four months notice is given.

The Mission of Turkmenistan avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the Directorate-General for Trade
of the Commission of the European Union the assurance of its highest consideration.