Legislative Observatory
European Parliament
Please fill in this field to find a procedure

EU/New Zealand Agreement: modification of concessions in the schedule of Croatia in the course of its accession to the EU

2017/0137(NLE)

The Committee on International Trade adopted the report by Daniel CASPARY on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the 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 schedule of the Republic of Croatia in the course of its accession to the European Union.

The committee recommended that the European Parliament give its consent to the conclusion of the agreement.

The present agreement between the EU and New Zealand was negotiated following the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union. With the accession of Croatia, the European Union enlarged its customs union. Consequently, under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules (Article XXIV:6 of the GATT 1994) the EU has to enter into negotiations with WTO Members having negotiating rights related to the tariff schedule of Croatia in order to eventually agree on a compensatory adjustment.

This proposal invites the Council to adopt a Decision concerning the conclusion of an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and New Zealand pursuant to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 relating to the modification of concessions in the schedule of the Republic of Croatia in the course of its accession to the European Union.

The negotiations with New Zealand resulted in an agreement which contains the following:

  • add 1 875 tonnes to the EU tariff rate quota (TRQ) 'Meat of bovine animals, frozen – Edible offal of bovine animals, frozen', tariff item numbers 0202 and 0206.29.91, maintaining the present in-quota rate of 20%. The new tariff rate quota shall be 54 875 tonnes; 
  • add 135 tonnes (carcase weight) to the allocation for New Zealand under the EU tariff rate quota 'Meat of sheep or goats, fresh, chilled or frozen', tariff item number 0204, maintaining the present in-quota rate of 0%. The new tariff rate quota allocation to New Zealand shall be 228 389 tonnes.