Recommendation for a Council Decision authorising the opening of negotiations with Gabon according to Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994

By document G/SECRET/36 dated 3 October 2013, Gabon notified the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Members of its intention to modify certain concessions in its WTO Schedule XLVII related to around 2159 products in accordance with the procedures of Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 and to enter into negotiations and/or consultations with the concerned WTO Members pursuant to Article XXVIII of the GATT and other applicable legal provisions. In attachment to its notification, Gabon has submitted import statistics by country of origin covering the last three years for which data are available. Although Gabon's notification is made solely under Article XXVIII of the GATT 1994, the Commission’s view is that Article XXIV:6 of the GATT 1994 also applies because Gabon's justification for the re negotiation of its bound tariffs is its alignment to the Common External Tariff of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa.

On the basis of the import statistics submitted by Gabon, the EU qualifies as principal or substantial supplier for most of the products under about 1611 tariff lines out of the 2159 tariff lines concerned.

According to the Procedures for Negotiations established in Article XXVIII, adopted under the GATT on 10 November 1980 and to the decision of the Committee on Trade in Goods (CTG) of 18 October 2013, the EU should react to Gabon's communication and make a claim of interest, i.e. request negotiations, within 180 days following the circulation of the import statistics for the products involved.

It is therefore necessary to open negotiations with Gabon based on Article XXVIII of the GATT 1994.

EUR-Lex: COM(2014)80: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2014:80:FIN

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