CELEX: 22011A1130(01)
Language: en
Date: 2011-04-28 00:00:00
Title: Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union 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 Republic of Bulgaria and Romania in the course of their accession to the European Union

30.11.2011          EN                           Official Journal of the European Union                                   L 317/3
                                                              AGREEMENT
           in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union 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 Republic of Bulgaria and
                               Romania in the course of their accession to the European Union
                                                         A. Letter from the Union
                                                                                        Done at Brussels, 28 April 2011.
           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, I have the honour to propose the following:
           1. The European Union shall incorporate in its schedule, for the customs territory of the EU 27, the
           concessions contained in the schedule of the EU-25 with the following modifications:
           Add 400 tonnes (carcase weight) to the allocation for New Zealand under the EU tariff rate quota ‘meat of
           sheep or goats, fresh, chilled or frozen’, maintaining the present in-quota rate of 0 %;
           Create an erga omnes allocation of 200 tonnes (carcase weight) under the EU tariff rate quota ‘meat of sheep
           or goats, fresh, chilled or frozen’, maintaining the present in-quota rate of 0 %;
           Adjust the EU tariff rate quota ‘live sheep, other than pure-bred breeding animals’, with an in-quota rate
           10 %, by removing the allocations of 1 010 tonnes (Romania) and 4 255 tonnes (Bulgaria);
           Adjust the EU tariff rate quota ‘meat of sheep or goats, fresh, chilled or frozen’, with an in-quota rate 0 %,
           by removing the allocations of 75 tonnes (Romania) and 1 250 tonnes (Bulgaria);
           Change the definition of the EU tariff rate quota of 1 300 tonnes ‘high quality beef’ in the EU WTO
           schedule to: ‘High quality meat of bovine animals fresh, chilled or frozen. Supplying country New Zealand.
           Qualification for the quota is subject to conditions laid down in the relevant EU provisions’.
           2. The European Union shall also replace the definition of high quality beef in the European Union
           regulations implementing this quota by the following: ‘Selected beef cuts derived from exclusively pasture
           grazed steers or heifers, the carcases of which have a dressed weight of not more than 370 kilograms. The
           carcases shall be classified as A, L, P, T or F, be trimmed to a fat depth of P or lower and have a muscling
           classification of 1 or 2 according to the carcase classification system administered by the New Zealand Meat
           Board’.
           3. New Zealand accepts the European Union’s approach to netting-out of tariff rate quotas as a way of
           adjusting the GATT obligations of the EU-25 and those of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania following
           the recent enlargement of the European Union.
           4. Consultations may be held at any time with regard to any of the above matters at the request of either
           Party.
           I should be obliged if you would confirm that your Government is in agreement with the content of this
           letter. Should this be the case, this letter and your confirmation shall together constitute an Agreement in
           the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and New Zealand (the ‘Agreement’).
           The European Union and New Zealand shall notify to each other the completion of their internal
           procedures for the entry into force of the Agreement. The Agreement shall enter into force 14 days
           after the date of receipt of the latest notification.
 ---pagebreak--- L 317/4         EN                           Official Journal of the European Union                                      30.11.2011
        Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my highest consideration.
                                                                               For the European Union
                                                   B. Letter from New Zealand
                                                                                       Done at Brussels, 28 April 2011.
        Sir,
        I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of today’s date, which reads as follows:
             ‘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, I have the honour to propose the
             following:
             1. The European Union shall incorporate in its schedule, for the customs territory of the EU 27, the
                 concessions contained in the schedule of the EU-25 with the following modifications:
                 Add 400 tonnes (carcase weight) to the allocation for New Zealand under the EU tariff rate quota
                 “meat of sheep or goats, fresh, chilled or frozen”, maintaining the present in-quota rate of 0 %;
                 Create an erga omnes allocation of 200 tonnes (carcase weight) under the EU tariff rate quota “meat
                 of sheep or goats, fresh, chilled or frozen”, maintaining the present in-quota rate of 0 %;
                 Adjust the EU tariff rate quota “live sheep, other than pure-bred breeding animals”, with an in-quota
                 rate 10 %, by removing the allocations of 1 010 tonnes (Romania) and 4 255 tonnes (Bulgaria);
                 Adjust the EU tariff rate quota “meat of sheep or goats, fresh, chilled or frozen”, with an in-quota
                 rate 0 %, by removing the allocations of 75 tonnes (Romania) and 1 250 tonnes (Bulgaria);
                 Change the definition of the EU tariff rate quota of 1 300 tonnes “high quality beef” in the EU
                 WTO schedule to: “High quality meat of bovine animals fresh, chilled or frozen. Supplying country
                 New Zealand. Qualification for the quota is subject to conditions laid down in the relevant EU
                 provisions”.
             2. The European Union shall also replace the definition of high quality beef in the European Union
                 regulations implementing this quota by the following: “Selected beef cuts derived from exclusively
                 pasture grazed steers or heifers, the carcases of which have a dressed weight of not more than 370
                 kilograms. The carcases shall be classified as A, L, P, T or F, be trimmed to a fat depth of P or lower
                 and have a muscling classification of 1 or 2 according to the carcase classification system admin­
                 istered by the New Zealand Meat Board”.
             3. New Zealand accepts the European Union’s approach to netting-out of tariff rate quotas as a way of
                 adjusting the GATT obligations of the EU-25 and those of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania
                 following the recent enlargement of the European Union.
 ---pagebreak--- 30.11.2011         EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                L 317/5
                4. Consultations may be held at any time with regard to any of the above matters at the request of
                    either Party.
                I should be obliged if you would confirm that your Government is in agreement with the content of
                this letter. Should this be the case, this letter and your confirmation shall together constitute an
                Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and New Zealand
                (the “Agreement”).
                The European Union and New Zealand shall notify to each other the completion of their internal
                procedures for the entry into force of the Agreement. The Agreement shall enter into force 14 days
                after the date of receipt of the latest notification.’.
           I have the honour to express my Government’s agreement with the above letter.
           Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my highest consideration.
                                                                           For the Government of New Zealand