Proposal for a Council Decision on the Union position to be taken in the SPS Sub-Committee, the Customs Sub-Committee, and in the Geographical Indications Sub-Committee established by the Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Moldova, of the other part, in relation to the adoption of the rules of procedure of the SPS Sub-Committee, the Customs Sub-Committee, and the Geographical Indications Sub-

The attached proposal constitutes the legal instrument for authorising the Union position to be taken in the Sub-Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures (“SPS Sub-Committee”), in the Customs Sub-Committee and in the Geographical Indications Sub-Committee (“GI Sub-Committee”) established by the Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Moldova, of the other part (“the Agreement”), in relation to the adoption of the rules of procedure of the SPS Sub-Committee, the Customs Sub-Committee, and the GI Sub-Committee.

On 16 June 2014, the Council adopted its decision on the signing, on behalf of the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, and provisional application of certain provisions of the Agreement, including its Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) part. Subsequently, the Agreement was signed in Brussels on 27 June 2014 in the margins of the European Council.

The Republic of Moldova ratified the Agreement on 2 July 2014 and completed, in parallel with the European Union, the requisite notification procedures within the same month. Consequently, in accordance with Article 464 of the Agreement certain provisions thereof are applied on a provisional basis starting from 1 September 2014, pending ratification by the EU Member States.

The Agreement established a Sanitary and Phytosanitary Sub-Committee, the Customs Sub-Committee, and the Geographical Indications Sub-Committee. These sub-committees have to monitor the implementation of the DCFTA part of the Agreement, and resolve related issues. The sub-committees have to adopt their rules of procedure. The first meetings of the sub-committees are expected to take place in the beginning of 2015. The rules of procedure of these sub-committees, attached to this proposal, are based on the rules of procedure of the Association Committee.

EUR-Lex: COM(2014)729: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2014:729:FIN

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