DECISION No 2/2021 OF THE TRADE COMMITTEE ESTABLISHED UNDER THE INTERIM PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY, OF THE ONE PART, AND THE PACIFIC STATES, OF THE OTHER PART

of 7 October 2021

amending the Agreement to take account of the accession of the Independent State of Samoa and of Solomon Islands [2021/2218]

THE TRADE COMMITTEE,

Having regard to the Interim Partnership Agreement between the European Community, of the one part, and the Pacific States, of the other part  ( 1 ) (the ‘Agreement’), signed in London on 30 July 2009, and in particular Articles 13 and 68 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) On 5 February and 4 June 2018, the Independent State of Samoa (Samoa) and Solomon Islands, respectively, submitted to the Contracting Parties their accession requests together with GATT 1994 Article XXIV compliant market access offers. Samoa and Solomon Islands acceded to the Agreement on 21 December 2018 and 7 May 2020, respectively, and have been provisionally applying the Agreement since 31 December 2018 and 17 May 2020, respectively.

(2) Article 68 of the Agreement provides that the Trade Committee is to deal with all matters necessary for the implementation of the Agreement.

(3) At its seventh meeting, held on 3 to 4 October 2019, the Trade Committee adopted a Recommendation to the Parties to the Agreement recommending, among other things, to amend the Agreement to take account of the accession of Samoa and of future accessions of other Pacific Island States.

(4) It is necessary to amend Annex II to the Agreement to add the market access offers of Samoa and of Solomon Islands to that Annex.

(5) Article 13 of the Agreement provides that the Trade Committee by agreement may modify Annex II to the Agreement in any manner deemed appropriate,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The text of the agreed market access offers of the Independent State of Samoa and of Solomon Islands, referred to in the Annex to this Decision, is added to Annex II to the Agreement.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

Done at Brussels, Port Moresby, Suva, Apia and Honiara, 7 October 2021.

For the EU-Pacific Trade Committee

On behalf of the Union

Cristina MIRANDA GOZALVEZ

On behalf of the Pacific States

Richard YAKAM

Shaheen ALI

Peseta NOUMEA SIMI

Barrett SALATO

( 1 )    OJ L 272, 16.10.2009, p. 2 .

ANNEX

CUSTOMS DUTIES APPLICABLE ON IMPORTS INTO THE INDEPENDENT STATE OF SAMOA ( OJ L 333, 28.12.2018, p. 3 )

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32018D1908&from=EN

CUSTOMS DUTIES APPLICABLE ON IMPORTS INTO SOLOMON ISLANDS ( OJ L 85, 20.3.2020, p. 3 )

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32020D0409&from=EN