Members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), meeting in the Goods Council in Geneva on Thursday 11 April, called on the European Union to use the postponement of Brexit to resolve the issue of tariff quotas, a source close to the discussions said.
The EU and London had proposed to allocate the 196 individual concessions, covering more than 365 tariff lines, on the basis of their respective shares of use of these quotas.
This proposal had immediately caused discontent among the EU's main partners (see EUROPE 12114/5, 12136/24). Negotiations were therefore launched at the end of 2018 with a view to finding mutually satisfactory solutions. However, due to the Brexit timetable, the Union had proposed to proceed unilaterally with this allocation of tariff quotas, in order to be able to apply them from the day after the British withdrawal from the EU (see EUROPE 12203/23).
Fog is not lifted
The grumbling of the EU's partners is based on several elements. First, they believe that these changes would result in reduced market access for their exporters and reduced flexibility.
Secondly, they consider that the proposed allocation does not address future obligations between the EU and the United Kingdom. Indeed, it is not excluded that London may compete with them for the same quotas, thus reducing their share. For the latter, the vagueness surrounding the future EU-UK trade relationship therefore makes it impossible to assess quotas, an exercise similar to “flying in the dark”, in the words of the Chinese representative.
As a result, several WTO members complain that the EU has not indicated appropriate compensatory adjustments. They now hope that this additional time will be used wisely to resolve their complaints against the EU.
Tariff quotas allow a limited volume of imports to benefit from lower customs duties than those applied outside the quotas. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)