Protocol

adjusting trade aspects of the Europe Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Poland, of the other part, to take account of the accession of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden to the European Union and the outcome of the Uruguay round negotiations on agriculture, including improvements to the existing preferential arrangements

THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY, hereinafter referred to as "the Community",

of the one part, and

THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND,

of the other part,

WHEREAS the Europe Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Poland, of the other part (hereinafter referred to as "the Europe Agreement") was signed in Brussels on 16 December 1991 and entered into force on 1 February 1994;

WHEREAS the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden acceded to the European Union on 1 January 1995;

WHEREAS, under the terms of Articles 76, 102 and 128 of the 1994 Act of Accession, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden have to apply, as from 1 January 1995, the provisions of the preferential agreements concluded by the Community with certain third countries, among them Poland;

WHEREAS the Community adopted as from 1 January 1995, transitional measures in the form of autonomous tariff quotas taking into account the preferential tariff concessions applied by the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden to Poland, and Poland adopted, as from 1995, transitional measures in the form of autonomous tariff quotas taking into account the preferential tariff arrangements applied by Poland to the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden, notably with regard to basic and processed agricultural products;

WHEREAS undertakings by the Community and Poland in the framework of the Uruguay Round negotiations require the amendment of the import tariff arrangements in the Community and Poland, notably with regard to basic and processed agricultural products;

WHEREAS the accession of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden to the European Union and the implementation of the Uruguay Round outcome are likely to affect the bilateral concessions granted under the Europe Agreement, which should, therefore, be amended by means of a Protocol adjusting the trade aspects of the Agreement;

WHEREAS the Council decided by virtue of Decision 95/131/EC(1), to apply on a provisional basis, as from 1 January 1995, the bilateral Agreement negotiated by the Commission on behalf of the Community amending the Additional Protocol to the Europe Agreement on trade in textiles between the European Community and Poland to take into account the accession of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden to the European Union;

WHEREAS the Council decided, by virtue of Decision 96/224/EC(2), to apply on a provisional basis, as from 1 January 1996, the bilateral Agreement negotiated by the Commission on behalf of the Community following the review and amendment of the Additional Protocol to the Europe Agreement on trade in textile products between the European Community and Poland,

HAVE DECIDED to determine, by mutual agreement, the adjustments to be made to the trade aspects of the Agreement to take account, firstly, of the accession of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden, and, secondly, of the entry into force of the outcome of the Uruguay Round negotiations on agriculture, and to this end have designated as their plenipotentiaries:

THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY:

Frans van DAELE

Ambassador,

Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Belgium,

Chairman of the Permanent Representatives Committee

THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND:

Iwo BYCZEWSKI

Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the European Union

WHO, having exchanged their full powers, found in good and due form,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

With regard to industrial products:

1) Article 8(1) of the Europe Agreement shall be replaced by the following:

"1. The provisions of this Chapter shall apply to products originating in the Community and in Poland listed in Chapters 25 to 97 of the Combined Nomenclature with the exception of the products listed in Annex I and Protocol 3."

2) The following shall be added to Article 10(2) of the Europe Agreement: "Poland shall lay down annual duty-free tariff quotas for imports of products originating in the Community listed in Annex XIV following the accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden to the Community."

3) A new Annex shall be added to the Agreement, the text of which appears in Annex A to this Protocol.

Article 2

The Additional Protocol to the Europe Agreement on trade in textile products shall be amended as follows.

1) Annex II shall be replaced by the text given in Annex B to this Protocol.

2) The second indent of the second subparagraph of Article 14(2) of Appendix A, Title IV shall be amended as follows:

"- two letters identifying the intended Member State of customs clearance as follows:

AT = Austria

BL = Benelux

DE = Germany

DK = Denmark

EL = Greece

ES = Spain

FI = Finland

FR = France

GB = United Kingdom

IE = Ireland

IT = Italy

PT = Portugal

SE = Sweden".

3) The model for the certificate of origin annexed to Appendix A shall be replaced by that given in Annex C to this Protocol.

4) The model for the export licence annexed to Appendix A shall be replaced by that given in Annex D to this Protocol.

5) The model for the certificate applicable to certain cottage industry and folklore products attached to Appendix C shall be replaced by that given in Annex E to this Protocol.

6) The Annex to Appendix B shall be replaced by that given in Annex F to this Protocol.

7) Polish customs duties on the products listed in Annex G to this Protocol and originating in the Community shall be reduced, as from 1 January 1997, by 30 % of the customs duty applied as from 1 January 1996. The remaining customs duty will be abolished as from 1 January 1998.

Article 3

With regard to processed agricultural products:

1) The text of Protocol 3 to the Europe Agreement shall be replaced by the text given in Annex H to this Protocol.

2) Article 8(1) of the Europe Agreement shall be replaced by the following:

"1. The provisions of this Chapter shall apply to products originating in the Community and in Poland listed in Chapters 25 to 97 of the Combined Nomenclature, with the exception of the products listed in Annex I and Protocol 3."

3) Article 17 of, and Annex VII to, the Europe Agreement shall be repealed.

4) Article 18(2) of the Europe Agreement shall be replaced by the following:

"2. The term 'agricultural products' means the products listed in Chapters 1 to 24 of the Combined Nomenclature and the products listed in Annex I and Protocol 3, but excluding fishery products as defined by Regulation (EEC) No 3687/91."

Article 4

With regard to basic agricultural products:

1) Annexes VIIIa, VIIIb, IX, Xa, Xb, Xc and XI to the Europe Agreement shall be replaced by the texts in Annex I to this Protocol.

2) Article 20(2) of the Europe Agreement shall be replaced by the following:

"2. The preferential arrangements granted for imports into the Community of products originating in Poland are set out in Annex VIII."

3) Article 20(3) of the Europe Agreement shall be repealed.

4) Article 20(4) of the Europe Agreement shall be replaced by the following:

"4. The preferential arrangements granted for imports into Poland of products originating in the Community are set out in Annex IX."

Article 5

With regard to fishery products:

1) the following shall be added to Article 22 of the Europe Agreement: "The Community shall lay down annual duty-free tariff quotas for imports of products originating in Poland listed in Annex XV following the accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden to the Community.";

2) A new Annex shall be added to the Europe Agreement, the text of which appears in Annex J to this Protocol.

Article 6

The Annexes to this Protocol shall form an integral part thereof. This Protocol shall form an integral part of the Europe Agreement.

Article 7

This Protocol shall be approved by the Community and the Republic of Poland in accordance with their own procedures. The Contracting Parties shall take the necessary measures to implement this Protocol.

Article 8

This Protocol shall enter into force on the first day of the first month following the Contracting Parties' notification of the accomplishment of the corresponding procedures according to Article 7.

Article 9

This Protocol shall be drawn up in duplicate in the Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and Polish languages, each of these texts being equally authentic.

Hecho en Bruselas, el veinte de diciembre del dos mil uno.

Udfærdiget i Bruxelles den tyvende december to tusind og en.

Geschehen zu Brüssel am zwanzigsten Dezember zweitausendundeins.

Έγινε στις Βρυξέλλες, στις είκοσι Δεκεμβρίου δύο χιλιάδες ένα.

Done at Brussels on the twentieth day of December in the year two thousand and one.

Fait à Bruxelles, le vingt décembre deux mille un.

Fatto a Bruxelles, addì venti dicembre duemilauno.

Gedaan te Brussel, de twintigste december tweeduizendeneen.

Feito em Bruxelas, em vinte de Dezembro de dois mil e um.

Tehty Brysselissä kahdentenakymmenentenä päivänä joulukuuta vuonna kaksituhattayksi.

Som skedde i Bryssel den tjugonde december tjugohundraett.

Sporzadzono w Brukseli dnia dwudziestego grudnia dwa tysiace pierwszego roku.

Por las Comunidades Europeas/For De Europæiske Fællesskaber/Für die Europäischen Gemeinschaften/Για τις Ευρωπαϊκές Κοινότητες/For the European Communities/Pour les Communautés européennes/Per le Comunità europee/Voor de Europese Gemeenschappen/Pelas Comunidades Europeias/Euroopan yhteisöjen puolesta/På Europeiska gemenskapernas vägnar

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W imieniu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej

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(1) OJ L 94, 26.4.1995, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 81, 30.3.1996, p. 264.

ANNEX A

"ANNEX XIV

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS

>TABLE>

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For CN 4819 20 10 0 (folding cartons, boxes and cases, of non-corrugated paper or paperboard with a weight of less than 600 g/m2), subject to an "ex" tariff rate suspension of the tariff rate, a duty-free tariff quota of the amount of ECU 20,7 million shall be opened by Poland for imports originating in the Community, if the present suspension of customs duties is not extended."

ANNEX B

"ANNEX II

(The full product description of the categories listed in this Annex are to be found in Annex I)

COMMUNITY QUANTITATIVE LIMITS

(in tonnes or 1000 pieces)

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ANNEX C

"Annex I to Appendix A

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ANNEX D

"Annex II to Appendix A

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ANNEX E

"Annex to Appendix C

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ANNEX F

"Annex to Appendix B

TEXTILES

Outward-processing traffic

(The full product descriptions of the categories listed in this Annex are to be found in Annex I to the Protocol)

OUTWARD-PROCESSING TRAFFIC

Community quantitative limits

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ANNEX G

TEXTILES

5004 00

5006 00

5204 11

5307 10

5403 20

5403 39

5403 41

5403 42

5403 49

5404 10

5503 10

5503 30

5503 40

5504 10

5506 20

5506 90

5605 00

6111 10

6209 90

6212 90

6215 10

6503 00

6505 90

6601 10

ANNEX H

"PROTOCOL 3

on trade between Poland and the Community in processed agricultural products

Article 1

1. The Community and Poland shall apply to processed agricultural products the duties listed in Annex I and Annex II respectively, in accordance with the conditions mentioned therein, whether limited by quota or not.

2. The Association Council shall decide on:

- extensions of the list of processed agricultural products under this Protocol,

- amendments to the duties referred to in the Annexes,

- increases in or the abolition of tariff quotas.

3. The Association Council may replace the duties established by this Protocol by a system of compensatory amounts established on the basis of the respective market prices in the Community and Poland of the agricultural products actually used in the manufacture of processed agricultural products covered by this Protocol. It shall draw up the list of products to which these amounts apply and the list of basic products; it shall adopt general implementing rules to that end.

Article 2

1. The duties applied pursuant to Article 1 may be reduced by decision of the Association Council:

- when in trade between the Community and Poland the duties applied to the basic products are reduced, or

- in response to reductions resulting from mutual concessions relating to processed agricultural products.

2. For the purpose of applying the first indent of paragraph 1, the part of the agricultural component corresponding to the basic product which has been subject to a duty reduction shall be reduced, taking into account the extent of the duty reduction to which it will apply. The quantity of the basic product subject to tariff reduction shall also be taken into account either while determining the amount of quota for the reduction of agricultural component or while determining the extent of agricultural component reduction of the processed product in question.

Article 3

The Community and Poland shall inform each other of the administrative arrangements adopted for the products covered by this Protocol.

These arrangements should ensure equal treatment for all interested parties and should be as simple and flexible as possible.

ANNEX I

Table 1: Duties applicable to goods originating in Poland on import into the Community

>TABLE>

Table 2: Annual quotas within which the reduced agricultural component applies

>TABLE>

Table 3: Basic amounts taken into consideration in calculating the reduced agricultural components and additional duties applicable on importation into the Community as referred to in Table 1

>TABLE>

ANNEX II

>TABLE>"

ANNEX I

"ANNEX VIII

List of Community concessions referred to in Article 20

>TABLE>

ANNEX

Minimum import price arrangement for certain soft fruit for processing

1.

>TABLE>

2. The minimum import prices, as set out in point 1, will be respected on a consignment-by-consignment basis. In the case of a customs declaration value being lower than the minimum import price, a countervailing duty equal to the difference between the minimum import price and the customs declaration value will be charged.

3. If the import prices of a given product covered by this Annex show a trend suggesting that the prices could go below the level of the minimum import prices in the immediate future, the European Commission will inform the Polish authorities in order to enable them to correct the situation.

4. At the request of either the Community or Poland, the Association Committee shall examine the functioning of the system or the revision of the level of the minimum import prices. If appropriate, the Association Committee shall take the necessary decisions.

5. To encourage and promote the development of trade and for the mutual benefit of all parties concerned, a consultation meeting will be organised three months before the beginning of each marketing year in the Community. This consultation meeting will take place between the European Commission and the interested European producers' organisations for the products concerned, on the one part, and the authorities', producers' and exporters' organisations of all the associated exporting countries, on the other part.

During this consultation meeting, the market situation for soft fruit including, in particular, forecasts for production, stock situation, price evolution and possible market development, as well as possibilities for adapting supply to demand, will be discussed."

EXCHANGE OF LETTERS

between the European Community and the Republic of Poland regarding entry prices applied to the import of fruit and vegetables into the Community

A. Letter from the Community

Sir,

The Agreement on the adaptation of the agricultural part of the Europe Agreement following the implementation of the Uruguay Round and the enlargement of the European Community signed today between the European Community and the Republic of Poland does not contain any provisions regarding the entry price regime applied to the import of fruit and vegetables into the Community.

It has been agreed that the Parties will continue consultations on this sector in order to find a solution. Taking into account, inter alia, the experience of the last marketing years, the solution should allow the continuation of trade relations traditionally established between the Community and the Republic of Poland for the products concerned. In the meantime, the Republic of Poland will not be treated less favourably than other associated countries in this context.

In addition, both Parties will continue talks in the framework of the relevant procedures of the Europe Agreement on any other unresolved issues in order to find as soon as possible mutually acceptable solutions.

I should be obliged if you would confirm the agreement of the Government of the Republic of Poland to the contents of this letter.

Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my highest consideration.

On behalf of the Council of the European Union

B. Letter from the Republic of Poland

Sir,

I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of today's date which reads as follows: "The Agreement on the adaptation of the agricultural part of the Europe Agreement following the implementation of the Uruguay Round and the enlargement of the European Community signed today between the European Community and the Republic of Poland does not contain any provisions regarding the entry price regime applied to the import of fruit and vegetables into the Community.

It has been agreed that the Parties will continue consultations on this sector in order to find a solution. Taking into account, inter alia, the experience of the last marketing years, the solution should allow the continuation of trade relations traditionally established between the Community and the Republic of Poland for the products concerned. In the meantime, the Republic of Poland will not be treated less favourably than other associated countries in this context.

In addition, both Parties will continue talks in the framework of the relevant procedures of the Europe Agreement on any other unresolved issues in order to find as soon as possible mutually acceptable solutions.

I should be obliged if you would confirm the agreement of the Government of the Republic of Poland to the contents of this letter."

I have the honour to confirm that the Government of the Republic of Poland is in agreement with the contents of this letter.

Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my highest consideration.

For the Government of the Republic of Poland

ANNEX IX

List of Polish concessions referred to in Article 20: Imports into Poland of the following products originating in the Community shall be entitled to the concessions set out below

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ANNEX J

"ANNEX XV

FISHERIES

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Information relating to the entry into force of the Protocol for the adaptation of trade aspects of the Europe Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Poland, of the other part, to take into account the accession of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden to the European Union and the results of the agricultural negotiations of the Uruguay Round, including the improvements of the existing preferential regime

The Protocol for the adaptation of the Europe Agreement with the Republic of Poland further to enlargement and the Uruguay Round, which the Council decided to conclude on 23 October 2001, entered into force on 1 January 2002, since notification of the accomplishment of the procedures stipulated in Article 8 of that Protocol was completed on 20 December 2001.