On Thursday 5 July, the European Commission adopted a proposal on the conclusion of an agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Union and China on tariff concessions in the poultry sector.
Under this agreement, reached within the context of a WTO dispute settlement procedure, the EU will open a number of tariff quotas for China for a little over 11,000 tonnes of poultry products.
Once the quotas have been opened, the EU and China will notify the WTO Dispute Settlement Body of the mutually agreed solution.
The WTO ruled in April 2017 that, in allocating quantities within tariff rate quotas to supplying countries, the EU should have taken into account China’s increased ability to export poultry products to the EU following the relaxation of sanitary measures in July 2008.
On 12 March 2018, the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations on a mutually agreed solution with China. Negotiations with China resulted in an agreement in the form of an exchange of letters that was initialled in Geneva on 18 June 2018.
Thailand has indicated that it is in agreement with the allocation of tariff rate quotas to China as set out in the agreement. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)