A.   Letter from the European Union

Sir/Madam,

I would like to refer to the ongoing procedures under Article XXVIII of GATT 1994, which were initiated by the European Union by the notification contained in document G/SECRET/42 of 24 July 2018, proposing modifications of concessions on tariff-rate quotas included in the European Union Tariff Schedule CLXXV as a consequence of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union.

On 17 December 2020, the European Union and the Kingdom of Norway signed an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters to conclude the negotiations pursuant to Article XXVIII of GATT 1994 (the ‘Agreement of 17 December 2020 ’), which entered into force on 10 May 2021.

As a result of negotiations between the European Union and other WTO Members with rights under Article XXVIII of GATT 1994, the European Union has agreed with those WTO Members to change the shares of three erga omnes tariff-rate quotas for which the Kingdom of Norway has negotiating rights (numbers 015 and 017 on meat of swine, fresh, chilled or frozen and number 030 on skimmed milk powder), as detailed in the last column of the Annex to this Letter. Following bilateral consultations, the Kingdom of Norway agrees with the modifications as set out in the Annex to this Letter and the resulting quantitative commitments taken on by the European Union, which no longer includes the United Kingdom.

I have the honour to propose that this Letter and your Government’s confirmation shall together constitute an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and the Kingdom of Norway, amending the Agreement of 17 December 2020 with regard to the apportionment of the tariff-rate quotas for which the Kingdom of Norway holds negotiating rights.

The European Union and the Kingdom of Norway shall notify each other of the completion of their internal procedures in respect of the entry into force of this Agreement. In the case of the European Union, the written notification shall be sent to the Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union. This Agreement shall enter into force on the date of the last notification. This Agreement shall be drawn up in duplicate in the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish and Norwegian languages, each text being equally authentic.

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

B.   Letter from the Kingdom of Norway

Sir/Madam,

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of today’s date, which reads as follows:

I hereby have the honour to express my Government’s agreement with the above letter.