EU/Russia Agreement: administration of tariff-rate quotas applying to exports of wood; Protocol on technical modalities

The Committee on International Trade adopted the report drafted by Inese VAIDERE (EPP, LV) in which it recommends the European Parliament to give its consent to the conclusion of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and the Russian Federation relating to the administration of tariff-rate quotas applying to exports of wood from the Russian Federation to the European Union and the Protocol between the European Union and the Government of the Russian Federation on technical modalities pursuant to that Agreement.

Members recall that the EU has a strong offensive interest in this agreement as it provides for significant improvement in the supply of wood from Russia. It is paramount to avoid recurrence of the consecutive increases of wood export duties applied by Russia since 2007 which affected many EU producers. The agreement brings more predictability and better trade conditions.