An agreement was concluded in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and Iceland concerning additional trade preferences in agricultural products (‘the Agreement’) reached on the basis of Article 19 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area. The Agreement was approved on behalf of the Union by Council Decision (EU) 2017/1913.

Annex V to that Agreement provides for the opening of an annual duty free tariff quota for imports into the Union of poultry originating in Iceland.

Pursuant to Decision (EU) 2017/1913 the Agreement is to enter into force on the first day of the seventh month following the date on which the Parties have notified each other that the required internal procedures have been completed. The last of those notifications took place on 19 October 2017. The Agreement is therefore to enter into force on 1 May 2018. The measures laid down in this Regulation should apply from the date of entry into force of the Agreement.

The Agreement specifies that the tariff quota is to apply annually and imports should therefore be managed on a calendar-year basis. However, as the Agreement is applicable from 1 May 2018, the annual quantities for 2018 and the following years should be laid down in accordance with Annex V to the Agreement.

The tariff quota should be managed by the Commission on the basis of the chronological order of dates of acceptance of customs declarations for release for free circulation in accordance with the rules for the management of tariff quotas laid down in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447.

The Agreement provides that the provisions set out in Protocol 3 to the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Republic of Iceland, as amended by Decision No 2/2005 of the EC-Iceland Joint Committee, shall apply to the products benefitting from the tariff quota.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Customs Code Committee,