The Committee on International Trade adopted the recommendation by Iuliu WINKLER (EPP, RO) on the draft Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the Union, of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and the People's Republic of China in connection with DS492 European Union - Measures affecting Tariff Concessions on Certain Poultry Meat Products.
The committee recommended the European Parliament to give its consent to the conclusion of the agreement.
As a reminder, following the WTO panel report adopted on 19 April 2017 in the WTO dispute settlement proceedings DS492 Measures affecting Tariff Concessions on Certain Poultry Meat Products brought by the People's Republic of China against the European Union, the EU needed to comply with the findings.
The proposed agreement grants the following tariff rate quotas:
- a tariff rate quota of 6060 tonnes for the tariff line 1602.3929 (processed duck, geese, guinea fowl meat, cooked, containing 57% or more by weight of poultry meat or offal) with specific country allocation of 6000 tonnes to China and 60 tonnes to all others, having an in-quota duty rate of 10.9%;
- a tariff rate quota of 660 tonnes for the tariff line 1602.3985 (processed duck, geese, guinea fowl meat, cooked, containing less than 57% by weight of poultry meat or offal) with specific country allocation of 600 tonnes to China and 60 tonnes to all others, having an in-quota duty rate of 10.9%;
- an erga omnes tariff rate quota of 5000 tonnes for the tariff line 1602.3219 (of fowls of the species Gallus domesticus, cooked, containing less than 57% by weight of poultry meat or offal), with an in-quota duty rate of 8%.
The EU is under time pressure to conclude this agreement in order to comply with the WTO panel report. The EU should conclude this agreement as soon as possible also in order to confirm once again through specific action the EU’s firm and unwavering commitment to multilateralism through the WTO and, in particular, to WTO’s most efficient mechanism - the dispute settlement system.