Considerations on COM(2010)57 - 2010/0038 (NLE) Proposal for a Council Decision on a EU position within the EC-South Africa Cooperation Council on the amendment of the relevant provisions and Annexes to the Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) between the EC and its Member States, on the one part, and South Africa, on the other part, to align certain tariffs with those applied to the EU products by Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland in the Annex 3 of the EU-SADC interim Economic Partnership Agreement - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2010)57 - 2010/0038 (NLE) Proposal for a Council Decision on a EU position within the EC-South Africa Cooperation Council on the ... |
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| document | COM(2010)57  |
| date | February 23, 2010 |
(2) Article 97(3) of the Agreement provides that the Cooperation Council shall have the power to take decisions in respect of all matters covered by the Agreement. Article 106(1) of the Agreement gives the Cooperation Council the power to decide on amendments put forward by any Party desirous of amending the Agreement.
(3) Article 3 of Decision 2004/441/EC recalls that the position to be taken by the Community within the Cooperation Council shall be laid down by the Council on a proposal from the Commission, in accordance with the corresponding provisions of the Treaty. Furthermore, Article 10 of Decision 1/2001 of the Cooperation Council (2001/631/EC [5]), adopting its rules of Procedure, authorises the Cooperation Council, to adopt decisions by means of a written procedure.
(4) Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland are members of the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU), together with South Africa and Namibia;
(5) An interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) was signed with Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland on 4 June. It should be provisionally applied by each side as soon as such provisional application is notified to the depositary, as provided for in Art. 105 of the Interim EPA.
(6) Customs duties applicable to products imported from the European Union into Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland under the interim EPA and respectively under the EU-South Africa Trade and Development Cooperation Agreement are identical, except for a list of products falling within the 53 tariff lines;
(7) In order to ensure clarity, long term economic predictability and legal certainty for economic operators, facilitating the smooth free circulation of products within SACU, and preserving SACU tariff coherence, it is considered appropriate to consolidate into the Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement with the Republic of South Africa, (TDCA) [6], the same level of tariffs negotiated between the EU and Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland in Annex 3 to the interim Economic Partnership Agreement, for 53 tariff lines.
(8) The TDCA tariff dismantling schedules of South Africa provided for in Article 12 and in Annex III, Lists 3, 4 and 5 (industrial products) and in Article 15 and in Annex VI, Lists 1, 2 and 3 (agricultural and processed agricultural products) should be amended with regards to 23 agricultural, 11 processed agricultural and 22 industrial tariff lines for which a new schedule for elimination of customs duties will apply as described in the draft Decision of the EC-South Africa Cooperation Council annexed to the present Decision.