Attachment

THE EU-UKRAINE ASSOCIATION COUNCIL,

Having regard to the Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part^f1, signed in Brussels on 27 June 2014,

Whereas:

In accordance with Article 486 of the Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part (‘the Agreement’), parts of the Agreement, including provisions on the elimination of customs duties, and related Annex I-A to Chapter 1 of Title IV of the Agreement is applied provisionally as of 1 January 2016.

Regulation (EU) No 374/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council^f2 unilaterally established a preferential arrangement which allowed for the reduction or the elimination of customs duties on goods originating in Ukraine in accordance with Annex I to that Regulation.

Such preferential arrangement corresponded to the tariff concessions which would be applied in the course of the first year of implementation of the Agreement in accordance with Annex I-A to Chapter 1 of Title IV of the Agreement.

Regulation (EU) No 1150/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council^f3, inter alia introduced a clarification on the specific reduction to be applied to the base rate of customs duties for each ‘staging category’ referred to in Annex I to that Regulation.

In the interest of clarity of the Agreement an equivalent clarification is required to specify the reduction to be applied to the base rate of customs duties for all subsequent years for each ‘staging category’ referred to in Annex I-A to Chapter 1 of Title IV of the Agreement. Such modalities of tariff dismantlement correspond to the mutual understanding reached with Ukraine during the negotiation, and will be applied by both parties to the Agreement.

Article 463(2) of the Agreement provides that the Association Council is a forum for exchange of information on implementation and enforcement measures.

Article 463(3) of the Agreement provides that the Association Council may update or amend the Annexes to the Agreement.

It is therefore appropriate for the EU-Ukraine Association Council to adopt a decision supplementing Annex I-A to Chapter 1 of Title IV of the Agreement,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: