In a letter dated 11 October 2017, the EU and UK jointly notified the other members of the WTO of the need to make adjustments to the EU's existing quantitative commitments in the area of goods. The UK advised that it intends to replicate, as far as possible, its obligations under the current EU commitments. In the letter the EU and UK proposed that the EU's quantitative commitments in relation to tariff rate quotas (TRQ) be apportioned on the basis of existing trade flows. It sought a common approach on data sets and methodology with WTO partners. Seven WTO members - Argentina, Brazil, Canada, USA, New Zealand, Thailand and Uruguay - wrote to EU and UK expressing concern and seeking assurances that no trading partner would be left worse off due to Brexit.
Subsequently the EU and UK held a series of joint bilaterals with WTO members on the margins of the Committee of Agriculture and Committee of Agriculture in Special Session meetings in Geneva last month. They discussed their decision to take a joint approach, based on apportionment, to the adjustment of TRQs in the context of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. The dialogue is at an early stage, and no decision has been taken on the matter.
