The Post-Brexit Management of EU Agricultural Tariff Rate Quotas

Abstract

Quantitative agricultural concessions are generally acknowledged to be one of the more complex post-Brexit issues facing trade negotiators. The challenge is commonly conceptualised as one of ‘splitting’ existing EU-28 obligations, namely tariff rate quotas (TRQs), between the UK and the remaining EU-27. While an intuitive response to the trading system’s goal of maintaining the balance in negotiating concessions, this article reflects on the consistency of this approach with WTO law and the potential risks to the EU of renegotiating TRQs. The article secondly considers the process by which the UK will establish the post-Brexit form of its current obligations, exploring the merits and pitfalls of, on the one hand, negotiating modifications in accordance with GATT Article XXVIII and, on the other, non-negotiated certification of its revised schedules. It concludes that the UK may be prudent to seek agreement with trading partners through negotiation on revised concessions and that the EU may be wise to leave current TRQs undisturbed.