Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Community and the Republic of Azerbaijan amending the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Republic of Azerbaijan on trade in textile products initialled in Brussels on 20 September 1993, as last amended by an agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters initialled on 26 November 1999
Date: 2003-12-17
Institutions: Azerbaijan, European Community
Subjects: Azerbaijan, bilateral agreement, textile product, trade agreement (EU)

24.12.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 340/55

AGREEMENT IN THE FORM OF AN EXCHANGE OF LETTERS

between the European Community and the Republic of Azerbaijan amending the Agreement
between the European Economic Community and the Republic of Azerbaijan on trade in textile
products initialled in Brussels on 20 September 1993, as last amended by an agreement in the form
of an Exchange of Letters initialled on 26 November 1999

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 the
Republic of Azerbaijan on trade in textile products initialled on 20 September 1993, as last amended
by the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters initialled on 26 November 1999 (hereafter
referred to as ‘the Agreement’).

2.

In view of the expiry of the Agreement on 31 December 2003 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 one year, subject to the following amendments and conditions:

2.1. Annex I, which sets out the products referred to in Article 1 of the Agreement, shall be 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:

‘It shall be applicable until 31 December 2004.’

2.3. Textile categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 20 and 136 shall be exempted from the double-
checking system referred to in Article 2(3) of the Agreement and specified in Protocol A. If, in any
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 the Republic of Azerbaijan 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 Minute No 1, Agreed Minute No 2, Agreed Minute No 3 and
Agreed Minute 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 proce-
dures necessary to this end have been completed. In the meantime, it shall be applied provisionally
from 1 January 2004 on conditions of reciprocity.

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

For the Council of the European Union

Appendix 1

Annex I to the Agreement between the European Community and Azerbaijan on trade in textile products initialled on
20 September 1993, containing the category and goods descriptions for textiles products, is replaced by Annex I to
Regulation (EEC) No 3030/93 (1). It is understood that, without 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 ‘ex’ 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 2002 this Annex was published in OJ L 357, 31.12.2002.

L 340/56

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

24.12.2003

B. Letter from the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Sir,

I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of … which reads as follows:

‘Sir,

1.

I have the honour to refer to the Agreement between the European Economic Community and
the Republic of Azerbaijan on trade in textile products initialled on 20 September 1993, as last
amended by the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters initialled on 26 November
1999 (hereafter referred to as “the Agreement”).

2.

In view of the expiry of the Agreement on 31 December 2003 and in accordance with Article
20(4) of the Agreement, the European Community proposes to extend the duration of the Agree-
ment, for a further period of one year, subject to the following amendments and conditions:

2.1. Annex I, which sets out the products referred to in Article 1 of the Agreement, shall be 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:

“It shall be applicable until 31 December 2004.”

2.3. Textile categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 20 and 136 shall be exempted from the double-
checking system referred to in Article 2(3) of the Agreement and specified in Protocol A. If, in
any given year, the levels of imports of products of these textile categories exceed the rates speci-
fied in Article 5(2) of the Agreement, the double-checking system will be automatically reintro-
duced for these categories.

3.

4.

Should the Republic of Azerbaijan 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 Minute No 1, Agreed Minute No 2, Agreed Minute No
3 and Agreed Minute 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. In the meantime, it shall be applied
provisionally from 1 January 2004 on conditions of reciprocity.

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

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 the Republic of Azerbaijan