Brussels, 06/05/2004 (Agence Europe) - On the fringes of the visit of Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao to the European institutions (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.8), European Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein and Chinese customs minister Mu Xinsheng signed a cooperation and mutual administrative assistance agreement on Thursday between the EU and China, with the aim of facilitating trade, stepping up security and combating terrorism, and also to establish mechanisms for combating counterfeiting, pirating and fraud. Frits Bolkestein said the agreement would facilitate trade and the fight against fraud and counterfeiting. It will also greatly help to promote the most advanced customs regulations and customs cooperation in general between the EU and other Asian countries.
The agreement will serve as the framework for greater cooperation between the two sides to simplify procedures and facilitate trade, in line with international customs regulations. It will also establish a mutual administrative aid mechanism for the exchange of information and investigations to combat infringements of customs legislation in both the EU and China. In a press release, the Commission pointed out that it would help combat fraud and counterfeiting, while ensuring the protection and confidentiality of data and ensuring the data is used for the purposes for which it has been collected. China is the EU's second largest trading partner in terms of size. Bilateral trade exceeds EUR 135 billion a year, 6.9% of the EU's trade with the rest of the world
The Commission negotiated this agreement with China on behalf of the EU based on a mandate from the Council in May 1997. The agreement is highly similar to others signed by the EU with its main trading partners (like the US, Canada, South Korea, Hong Kong and India). The official endorsement of the agreement by the EU (expected in the second half of this year) required the adoption of a decision by the Council following a proposal from the Commission.