Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 207(4), in conjunction with point (a)(v) of the second subparagraph of Article 218(6) and Article 218(7) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Having regard to the consent of the European Parliament^f1,

Whereas:

In accordance with Council Decision (EU) 2017/436^f2, the Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Chile on trade in organic products (‘the Agreement’) was signed on 27 April 2017, subject to its conclusion.

In the Agreement, the Union and the Republic of Chile recognise the equivalence of their respective rules on organic production and control systems as regards organic products.

The Agreement aims at fostering trade in organic products, contributing to the development and expansion of the organic sector in the Union and in the Republic of Chile and achieving a high level of respect for the principles of organic production, of guarantee of the control systems and of integrity of organic products. It also aims at improving protection for the respective organic logos of the Union and the Republic of Chile, and enhancing regulatory cooperation between the Parties on issues related to organic production.

The Joint Committee on Organic Products (‘the Joint Committee’), established pursuant to Article 8(1) of the Agreement, deals with certain aspects of the implementation of the Agreement. In particular, the Joint Committee has the power to amend the lists of products in Annexes I and II to the Agreement. The Commission should be authorised to represent the Union in the Joint Committee.

The Commission should be empowered to approve, on behalf of the Union, amendments to the lists of products in Annexes I and II to the Agreement, on the condition that it inform the representatives of the Member States of the amendments for which it intends to give its approval in the Joint Committee and provide the representatives of the Member States with all relevant information that has led it to conclude that equivalence can be accepted.

Furthermore, to allow for a timely reaction where conditions for equivalence are no longer met, the Commission should be empowered to unilaterally suspend the recognition of equivalence, on the condition that it inform the representatives of the Member States prior to doing so.

In cases where representatives of the Member States representing a blocking minority object to the position presented by the Commission, the Commission should not be allowed to approve amendments to the lists of products in Annexes I and II or to suspend the recognition of equivalence. In such cases, the Commission should present a proposal for a Council decision on the basis of Article 218(9) of the Treaty.

The Agreement should be approved,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: