2005/959/EC: Council Decision of  21 December 2005  on the conclusion of an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Community and New Zealand 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
Date: 2005-12-21
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: New Zealand, accession to the European Union, ratification of an agreement, tariff quota, trade agreement (EU)

L 347/78

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.12.2005

COUNCIL DECISION

of 21 December 2005

on the conclusion of an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European
Community and New Zealand 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

(2005/959/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Having regard to the Treaty
establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 133 in conjunction with
the first sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 300(2)
thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

the WTO under Article XXIV:6 of

On 22 March 2004 the Council
authorised the
Commission to open negotiations with certain other
Members of
the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994,
in the course of the accessions to the European Union of
the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic
the Republic of
of Cyprus,
Lithuania,
the Republic of
Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia
and the Slovak Republic.

the Republic of Latvia,
the Republic of Hungary,

Negotiations have been conducted by the Commission in
consultation with the Committee established by Article
133 of
the
negotiating directives issued by the Council.

the Treaty and within the framework of

finalised negotiations

The Commission has
an
in the form of an Exchange of Letters
Agreement
between the European Community and New Zealand
pursuant to Article XXIV:6 and Article XXVIII of the
GATT 1994. The said Agreement should therefore be
approved.

for

The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Decision should be adopted in accordance with Council
Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the
procedures for
implementing powers
the exercise of
conferred on the Commission (1),

Article 1

the Czech Republic,

in the schedules of

The Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between
the European Community and New Zealand pursuant to Article
XXIV:6 and Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade (GATT) 1994 relating to the modification of
concessions
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
their
Slovenia and the Slovak Republic in the course of
accession to the European Union, with respect to the with-
drawal of specific concessions in relation to the withdrawal of
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, is hereby approved on behalf of the Community.

The text of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of
Letters is attached to this Decision.

Article 2

The Commission shall adopt the detailed rules for implementing
this Agreement
in the form of an Exchange of Letters in
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 3 of this
Decision.

Article 3

The Commission shall be assisted by the Management
1.
Committee for Cereals instituted by Article 25 of Regulation
(EC) No 1784/2003 of 29 September 2003 on the common
the relevant
organisation of
committee instituted by the corresponding article of the Regu-
lation for the common market organisation for the product
concerned.

in cereals (2) or

the market

(1) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

(2) OJ L 270, 21.10.2003, p. 78. Regulation as amended by Regulation

(EC) No 1154/2005 (OJ L 187, 19.7.2005, p. 11).

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2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply.

The period provided for in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at one month.

3.

The Committee shall adopt its Rules of Procedure.

Article 4

The President of the Council
Agreement in order to bind the Community (1).

is hereby authorised to designate the person(s) empowered to sign the

Done at Brussels, 21 December 2005.

For the Council
The President

B. BRADSHAW

(1) The date of entry into force of the Agreement will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.