Skip to content
DRAFT RECOMMENDATION (COM(2021)0081 – C9xxx/xxx – 2021/0042(NLE))

On the Proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the Union and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan relating to the modification of concessions on all the tariff rate quotas included in the EU Schedule CLXXV as a consequence of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union

INTA-PR-689583

Committee on International Trade · Rapporteur: Maximilian Krah

Official HTML ↗ PDF DOCX
✦ In shortFull text
✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 25 Sept 2026

Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

This is a draft report by the Committee on International Trade on a proposed Council decision to conclude an agreement with Pakistan on tariff rate quotas after the UK's withdrawal from the EU. The rapporteur recommends that Parliament give its consent to the agreement, which modifies concessions on all tariff rate quotas in the EU Schedule CLXXV. The agreement follows the EU-UK joint approach of maintaining existing EU28 tariff rate quota volumes but splitting them between the EU27 and the UK. Pakistan has consultation rights for six tariff rate quotas and has agreed with the proposed apportionment.

Committee position. The rapporteur recommends that Parliament give its consent to the conclusion of the agreement.

Key points

  1. Parliament gives its consent to the conclusion of the agreement.
  2. The agreement modifies concessions on all tariff rate quotas in the EU Schedule CLXXV as a consequence of the UK's withdrawal from the EU.
  3. The negotiations were launched under Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) of 1994.
  4. The EU and the UK developed a joint approach in 2017 to apportion the quantitative commitments in the EU28 WTO schedule for 143 agricultural, fish and industrial tariff rate quotas.
  5. The existing volume of each tariff rate quota would be fully maintained but split between the EU27 and the UK.
  6. The apportionment methodology is based on trade flows into the EU27 and the UK during a reference period of 3 years from 2013 to 2015.
  7. Regulation (EU) 2019/216 empowers the Commission to amend the apportionment shares based on pertinent information.
  8. The Council authorised the Commission on 15 June 2018 to launch negotiations with WTO Members for apportioning the Union's WTO concessions on tariff rate quotas.
  9. Pakistan has consultation rights for six tariff rate quotas and has agreed with the proposed apportionment.
  10. The EU recognises that Pakistan has initial negotiating rights with respect to the concessions on tariff item number 1006 20.
  11. The agreement with Pakistan follows the EU-UK joint approach of maintaining existing overall EU28 tariff rate quota volumes split into two separate customs territories.
  12. The agreement was initialled on 25 January 2021 in Geneva.

Who is affected

  • The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which has consultation rights for six tariff rate quotas and initial negotiating rights on tariff item 1006 20.
  • The European Union and its member states, as the agreement modifies the EU Schedule CLXXV.
  • Traders and importers of agricultural, fish and industrial products covered by the 143 tariff rate quotas.

Figures and deadlines

  • 143 EU agricultural, fish and industrial WTO tariff rate quotas
  • 3 years from 2013 to 2015, the reference period for trade flows
  • six tariff rate quotas for which Pakistan has consultation rights
  • 25 January 2021, date the agreement was initialled in Geneva
  • 15 June 2018, date the Council authorised the Commission to launch negotiations

Legal basis: Article 207(4) and Article 218(6), second subparagraph, point (a)[(v)], and Article 218(7) and (8) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union