Annex Joint declaration by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission

The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission agree on the importance of close cooperation in monitoring the implementation of the Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Colombia and Peru, of the other part^f1 as amended by Protocol of Accession to the Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Colombia and Peru, of the other part, to take account of the accession of Ecuador^f2, Regulation (EU) No 19/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 January 2013 implementing the bilateral safeguard clause and the stabilisation mechanism for bananas of the Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Colombia and Peru, of the other part^f3 and Regulation (EU) No 20/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 January 2013 implementing the bilateral safeguard clause and the stabilisation mechanism for bananas of the Agreement establishing an Association between the European Union and its Member States, on the one hand, and Central America on the other^f4. To that end they agree on the following:

• Upon request by the responsible committee of the European Parliament, the Commission will report to it on any specific concerns relating to the implementation by Colombia, Ecuador or Peru of their commitments on trade and sustainable development.

• If the European Parliament adopts a recommendation to initiate a safeguard investigation, the Commission will carefully examine whether the conditions under Regulation (EU) No 19/2013 or under Regulation (EU) No 20/2013 for ex-officio initiation are fulfilled. If the Commission considers that the conditions are not fulfilled, it will present a report to the responsible committee of the European Parliament including an explanation of all the factors relevant to the initiation of such an investigation.

• The Commission will, by 1 January 2019, assess the situation of Union banana producers. If a serious deterioration in the state of the market or the situation of Union banana producers is found to have occurred, an extension in the period of validity of the mechanism may be considered with the agreement of the parties to the Agreement.

The Commission will continue to carry out regular analyses of the state of the market and the situation of Union banana producers after expiry of the stabilisation mechanism. If a serious deterioration in the state of the market or the situation of Union banana producers is found to have occurred, given the importance of the banana sector for outermost regions, the Commission will examine the situation, together with the Member States and the stakeholders, and decide whether appropriate measures should be considered. The Commission could also convene regular monitoring meetings with the Member States and the stakeholders.

The Commission has developed statistical tools to enable the monitoring and assessment of the trends in imports of bananas and of the situation of the Union banana market. The Commission will pay special attention to reviewing the format of the import surveillance data in order to make available regularly updated information in a more user-friendly manner.