Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Community and the Republic of Cuba
Date: 2008-09-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Cuba, European Community, GATT, cane sugar, international agreement, tariff quota

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 16.9.2008 
COM(2008) 554 final 

2008/0178 (ACC) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the conclusion of an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the 
European Community and the Republic of Cuba 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

With the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania, the EC has enlarged its 
customs  union.  Consequently,  the  EC  is  obliged  under  WTO  rules  (GATT  Article 
XXIV:6) to enter into negotiations with third  countries  having  negotiating  rights  in 
schedules  of  any  of  the  acceding  Members  in  order  to  agree  on  compensatory 
adjustment. Such adjustment is due if the adoption of the EC’s external tariff regime 
results  in  an  increase  in  tariff  beyond  the  level  for  which  the  acceding  country  has 
bound  itself  at  the  WTO,  whilst  taking  ‘due  account  of  reductions  of  duties  on  the 
same tariff line made by other constituents of the customs union upon its formation’. 

On  29  January  2007,  the  Council  authorised  the  Commission  to  open  negotiations 
under Article XXIV:6 of GATT 1994 (COM proposal 16703/06 WTO 270).  

The Commission has negotiated with the Members of the WTO holding negotiating 
rights  with  respect  to  the  withdrawal  of  specific  concessions  in  relation  to  the 
withdrawal of the schedules of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania, in the course 
of their accession to the European Community. 

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

The negotiations have resulted in an Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters 
with the Republic of Cuba. 

This proposal asks the Council to approve this Agreement. 

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2008/0178 (ACC) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the conclusion of an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the 
European Community and the Republic of Cuba 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

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) 

On 29 January 2007 the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations with 
certain  other  Members  of  the  WTO  under  Article  XXIV:6  of  GATT  1994,  in  the 
course of the accessions to the European Community of the Republic of Bulgaria and 
Romania.  

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

The  Commission  has  finalised  negotiations  for  an  Agreement  in  the  form  of  an 
Exchange of Letters between the European Community and the Republic of Cuba. The 
Agreement should be approved. 

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 the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission1, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:  

Article 1 

The Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Community and 
the Republic of Cuba on the conclusion of GATT Article XXIV:6 negotiations with respect to 
the  withdrawal  of  specific  concessions  in  relation  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  schedules  of  the 
Republic  of  Bulgaria  and  Romania  in  the  course  of  their  accession  to  the  European 
Community is hereby approved on behalf of the Community. 

1 

OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. Decision as amended by Decision 2006/512/EC (OJ L 200, 22.7.2006, p. 
11). 

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The text of the Agreement is annexed to this Decision. 

Article 2 

The Commission shall adopt the detailed rules for implementing the Agreement in accordance 
with the procedure referred to in Article 39(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 318/20062. 

Article 3 

The  President  of  the  Council  is  hereby  authorised  to  designate  the  person(s)  empowered  to 
sign the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters referred to in Article 1 in order to 
bind the Community.  

This Decision is addressed to the Member States. 

Done at Brussels, […] 

For the Council 
The President 
[…] 

2 

OJ  L  58,  28.2.2006,  p.1.  Regulation  as  last  amended  by  Regulation  (EC)  No  1260/2007  (OJ  L  283, 
27.10.2007, p. 1).  

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AGREEMENT 

AGREEMENT IN THE FORM OF AN EXCHANGE OF LETTERS 

between  the  European  Community  and  the  Republic  of  Cuba  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  Republic  of 
Bulgaria and Romania in the course of their accession to the European Union 

A. Letter from the European Community 

Geneva, 19 March 2008 

Sir,  

Following negotiations under Article XXIV:6 and Article XXVIII of the General Agreement 
on  Tariffs  and  Trade  (GATT)  1994  relating  to  the  modification  of  the  Schedules  of  the 
Republic of Bulgaria and Romania in the course of their accession to the European Union, the 
European Community and the Republic of Cuba have agreed as follows: 

The  European  Community  will  incorporate  in  its  schedule,  for  the  customs  territory  of  the 
EC-27, the following modification: 

Add a country allocation (for Cuba) of 10000 tonnes to the current volume of 106925 
tonnes  in  the  EC  tariff  rate  quota  for  raw  cane  sugar  for  refining  (CN  code  1701 
1110),maintaining the present in-quota rate of 98€/t/net.  

For marketing year 2008/2009 the country allocation for Cuba will be 20000 tonnes. 
As from the marketing year 2009/2010 the country allocation for Cuba will be 10000 
tonnes. 

The Republic of Cuba accepts the European Community approach to netting-out of tariff rate 
quotas as a way of adjusting the GATT obligations of the EC-25 and those of the Republic of 
Bulgaria and Romania following the recent enlargement of the European Community.  

This  agreement  will  enter  into  force  two  months  after  the  date  of  the  signed  letter  from  the 
Republic of Cuba.  

On behalf of the European Community

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AGREEMENT 

B. Letter from the Republic of Cuba 

Geneva, 19 March 2008 

Sir,  

With reference to your letter stating: 

’Following negotiations under Article XXIV:6 and Article XXVIII of the General Agreement 
on  Tariffs  and  Trade  (GATT)  1994  relating  to  the  modification  of  the  Schedules  of  the 
Republic of Bulgaria and Romania in the course of heir accession to the European Union, the 
European Community and the Republic of Cuba have agreed as follows: 

The  European  Community  will  incorporate  in  its  schedule,  for  the  customs  territory  of  the 
EC-27, the following modification: 

Add a country allocation (for Cuba) of 10000 tonnes to the current volume of 106925 
tonnes  in  the  EC  tariff  rate  quota  for  raw  cane  sugar  for  refining  (CN  code  1701 
1110), maintaining the present in-quota rate of 98€/t/net.  

For marketing year 2008/2009 the country allocation for Cuba will be 20000 tonnes. 
As from the marketing year 2009/2010 the country allocation for Cuba will be 10000 
tonnes. 

The Republic of Cuba accepts the European Community approach to netting-out of tariff rate 
quotas as a way of adjusting the GATT obligations of the EC-25 and those of the Republic of 
Bulgaria and Romania following the recent enlargement of the European Community.  

This  agreement  will  enter  into  force  two  months  after  the  date  of  the  signed  letter  from  the 
Republic of Cuba.’ 

I hereby have the honour to express my government’s agreement.  

On behalf of the Republic of Cuba 

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LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR PROPOSALS HAVING A 
BUDGETARY IMPACT EXCLUSIVELY LIMITED TO THE REVENUE SIDE 

1. 

NAME OF THE PROPOSAL: 

Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of an Agreement in the form of an 
Exchange  of  Letters  between  the  European  Community  and  the  Republic  of  Cuba 
relating  to  compensatory  adjustment  as  provided  for  by  Article  XXIV:6  of  GATT 
1994. 

2. 

BUDGET LINES: 

Chapter and Article: Chapter 10 - Agricultural duties 

Amount budgeted for the year concerned:  1 683.2 Mio € 

3. 

FINANCIAL IMPACT  

(cid:133) 

Proposal has no financial implications 

⌧  Proposal has no financial impact on expenditure but has a financial impact on 

revenue – the effect is as follows: 

(€ million to one decimal place)  

Budget line 

Revenue3 

12 month period, 
starting dd/mm/yyyy

Year 2008 

Article 100… 

Impact on own resources 

[…] 

- 2.4 

Article … 

Impact on own resources 

[…] 

[…] 

Situation following action 

[n+1] 

[n+2] 

[n+3] 

[n+4] 

[n+5] 

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Regarding  traditional  own  resources  (agricultural  duties,  sugar  levies,  customs  duties)  the  amounts 
indicated must be net amounts, i.e. gross amounts after deduction of 25 % of collection costs. 

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Article … 

Article … 

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ANTI-FRAUD MEASURES 

OTHER REMARKS 

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