It is the responsibility of the agencies concerned in those third countries to keep the information provided in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1295/2008 up to date and to communicate that information to the Commission in a spirit of close cooperation.

Following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union on 1 February 2020 and in view of the end of the transition period provided for in the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community (Withdrawal Agreement) on 31 December 2020, the United Kingdom sent the Commission a request to have its authorities listed as competent authorities of a third country for the purposes of marketing standards in certain sectors. In particular, the United Kingdom has undertaken to comply with the requirements set for the marketing of hops and hop products after the end of the transition period and has authorised an agency to issue attestations of equivalence pursuant to Article 190(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1295/2008.

The attestations issued by the agency authorised by the United Kingdom should therefore be recognised as equivalent in respect of hops and that agency should be listed in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1295/2008, without prejudice to the application of Union law to and in the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland in accordance with Article 5(4) of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland to the Withdrawal Agreement in conjunction with Annex 2 to that Protocol.

As Regulation (EC) No 1295/2008 applies to and in the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland, attestations issued by the authorities of the United Kingdom have to be understood as referring only to Great Britain.

In addition, Australia sent the Commission a request to amend the name and address of the competent agency authorised to issue attestations of equivalence. For reasons of clarity, it is appropriate to replace Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1295/2008 in its entirety.

Regulation (EC) No 1295/2008 should therefore be amended accordingly.

To ensure legal certainty and in order to guarantee a smooth transition of trade flows in the sector concerned, this Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union and apply from 1 January 2021.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for the Common Organisation of the Agricultural Markets,