THIRD ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL to the Europe Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Bulgaria, of the other part

THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY (hereinafter referred to as 'the Community`),

of the one part, and

THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA (hereinafter referred to as 'Bulgaria`),

of the other part,

WHEREAS the Europe Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Bulgaria, of the other part (hereinafter referred to as 'the Europe Agreement`) was signed in Brussels on 8 March 1993, and entered into force on 1 February 1995;

WHEREAS certain provisions of the Europe Agreement relating to the dismantlement of customs duties were last amended by the Second Additional Protocol signed on 30 December 1994 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Second Additional Protocol`);

BEARING IN MIND the desirability of the Community of aligning the duties applicable to exports of textile products originating in Bulgaria with those of the Visegrad associated countries;

BEARING IN MIND the willingness of Bulgaria to accelerate by one year its tariff dismantling for products of Chapters 50 to 63 of the Bulgarian Customs Tariff listed in Annex VI to the Europe Agreement, to reach zero duty on 1 January 2001;

BEARING IN MIND the objectives of the Europe Agreement and, in particular, those referred to in Article 1 (2) second and third indents thereof;

HAVE DECIDED to conclude this Protocol and to this end have designated as their plenipotentiaries:

THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY:

THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA:

WHO, having exchanged their full powers, found in good and due form,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The third indent of Article 2 (1) of Protocol 1 on textile and clothing products to the Europe Agreement, as last amended by the Second Additional Protocol, shall be replaced by the following text:

'at the start of the fourth year, to two-sevenths of the basic duty`.

Article 2

The following text shall be added to the end of Article 11 (3) of the Europe Agreement:

'However, in the case of products listed in Chapters 50 to 63 of the Bulgarian Customs Tariff, Bulgaria shall eliminate all such duties eight years after the entry into force of the Agreement.`

Article 3

This Protocol shall form an integral part of the Europe Agreement.

Article 4

This Protocol shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the date upon which the Parties notify each other of the completion of the procedures necessary for that purpose. This Protocol shall apply from 1 January 1996.

If this Protocol should enter into force after 1 January 1996, any duties paid which would not have been payable if the Protocol had entered into force and its provisions had been implemented on that date shall be refunded and such refund shall be deemed to constitute full compliance with the obligation not to impose such duties.

Article 5

This Protocol shall be drawn up in two copies in the Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and the Bulgarian languages, each of these texts being equally authentic.

Hecho en Bruselas, el veintidós de abril de mil novecientos noventa y seis.

Udfærdiget i Bruxelles den toogtyvende april nitten hundrede og seksoghalvfems

Geschehen zu Brüssel am zweiundzwanzigsten April neunzehnhundertsechsundneunzig.

¸ãéíå óôéò ÂñõîÝëëåò, óôéò åßêïóé äýï Áðñéëßïõ ÷ßëéá åííéáêüóéá åíåíÞíôá Ýîé.

Done at Brussels on the twenty-second day of April in the year one thousand nine hundred and ninety-six.

Fait à Bruxelles, le vingt-deux avril mil neuf cent quatre-vingt-seize.

Fatto a Bruxelles, addì ventidue aprile millenovecentonovantasei.

Gedaan te Brussel, de tweeëntwintigste april negentienhonderd zesennegentig.

Feito em Bruxelas, em vinte e dois de Abril de mil novecentos e noventa e seis.

Tehty Brysselissä kahdentenakymmenentenätoisena päivänä huhtikuuta vuonna tuhatyhdeksänsataayhdeksänkymmentäkuusi.

Som skedde i Bryssel den tjugoandra april nittonhundranittiosex.

>REFERENCE TO A FILM>

Por la Comunidad Europea

For Det Europæiske Fællesskab

Für die Europäische Gemeinschaft

Ãéá ôçí ÅõñùðáúêÞ Êïéíüôçôá

For the European Community

Pour la Communauté européenne

Per la Comunità europea

Voor de Europese Gemeenschap

Pela Comunidade Europeia

Euroopan yhteisön puolesta

För Europeiska gemenskapen

>REFERENCE TO A FILM>