Considerations on COM(2018)546 - Accession of Samoa to the Interim Partnership Agreement with the Pacific States - Main contents

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dossier	COM(2018)546 - Accession of Samoa to the Interim Partnership Agreement with the Pacific States.
document	COM(2018)546
date	December 6, 2018

table>(1)On 12 June 2002, the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations for Economic Partnership Agreements with the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States.

(2)

The Interim Partnership Agreement between the European Community, of the one part, and the Pacific States, of the other part (1) (the ‘Interim Partnership Agreement’), which establishes a framework for an Economic Partnership Agreement, was signed in London on 30 July 2009. The Interim Partnership Agreement has been provisionally applied by Papua New Guinea and by Fiji since 20 December 2009 and 28 July 2014, respectively.

(3)	Article 80 of the Interim Partnership Agreement lays down the provisions regarding the accession of the other Pacific Island States.

(4)	On 5 February 2018, Samoa submitted an accession request together with a market access offer to the Council.

(5)	The Commission has assessed Samoa's offer and found it acceptable. Accordingly, it concluded negotiations with Samoa on 23 April 2018.

(6)	Article 76(3) of the Interim Partnership Agreement makes it possible for the Union and Samoa to provisionally apply the Interim Partnership Agreement by notifying each other in writing of the completion of the procedures necessary for this purpose.

(7)	The accession of Samoa to the Interim Partnership Agreement should be approved on behalf of the Union, subject to Samoa's deposit of the act of accession pursuant to Article 80(2) thereof,