Proposal for a Council Decision establishing the position to be taken by the European Union within the General Council of the World Trade Organization on the Philippines’ request for a WTO waiver to extend the special treatment for rice

The objective of this proposal is to establish the position to be taken by the European Union within the General Council of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the Philippines’ request for a WTO waiver to extend the special treatment for rice from 1 July 2012 until 30 June 2017. The request is likely to be on the agenda of the WTO General Council meeting scheduled for July 2012.

For the EU rice industry, the waiver request does not pose economic concerns since the EU’s export of rice to the Philippines is less than 10 tonnes per year, without significant variation. The Commission will therefore be authorised to take a position on behalf of the EU to support the Philippines’ request.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2012)293: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2012:293:FIN

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