Decision

8 September 2021: Decision No2/2021 of the Joint United Kingdom-Switzerland Committee on Agriculture

Updated 18 March 2024

THE JOINT UNITED KINGDOM-SWITZERLAND COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE

RECALLING that the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on trade in agricultural products, done at Luxembourg on 21 June 1999 (“the Agriculture Agreement”) is incorporated into and made part of the Trade Agreement of 11 February 2019 which entered into force on 1 January 2021 between the Swiss Confederation and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (“the Trade Agreement”).

CONSIDERING that Article 6 of the Trade Agreement provides for the establishment of a Joint Switzerland-United Kingdom Committee on Agriculture (“Joint Committee”), pursuant to Article 6(1) of the incorporated Agriculture Agreement, upon coming into effect of the Trade Agreement;

HAVING REGARD to paragraph 6(4) of the incorporated Agriculture Agreement, providing that the Joint Committee shall adopt its own rules of procedure;

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The Rules of Procedure of the Joint United Kingdom-Switzerland Committee on Agriculture as set out in the Annex to this Decision are hereby adopted.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

Adopted by exchange of electronic copies in the English language.

Signatures

For the Joint UK-Switzerland Committee on Agriculture

The Co-Chairs

For Switzerland

Adrian Aebi
8 September 2021

For the United Kingdom

Rosa McFarlane
8 September 2021

Rules of procedure of the joint UK - Switzerland Committee on Agriculture

Rule 1: chair

Unless otherwise agreed by the Parties, the office of Chair of the Joint Committee shall be held alternately for a period of one calendar year by a representative of Switzerland or a representative of the United Kingdom, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Parties’.

Rule 2: secretariat

The Chair shall carry out the secretarial duties of the Joint Committee. The Chair shall transmit to the heads of delegation the name and other particulars of the person performing the secretarial tasks.

Rule 3: meetings

1. The Chair shall fix the date and venue of meetings in agreement with the heads of delegation.

2. Unless otherwise agreed by the Parties, the Joint Committee shall meet at least once a year and at the request of either of the Parties, no later than 90 days after such a request.

3. The Joint Committee shall meet at a time and place and in a manner (which may include videoconference or other technological means) agreed by the Parties. When meeting in person, the Joint Committee shall meet alternately in London and Berne, unless otherwise agreed by the Parties.

4. Both the Chair and the head of the delegation not holding the office of Chair may request that an extraordinary meeting be held. In such cases, the date and place of the meeting shall be mutually agreed.

Rule 4: delegations

1. Before each meeting, the heads of delegation shall inform the Chair of the intended composition of their delegation.

2. Each Party shall appoint its head of delegation who, outside the meetings, is to be the contact person for all matters relating to the Agriculture Agreement.

3. By mutual agreement of the heads of delegation, the Joint Committee may invite persons who are not members of the delegations to attend meetings to provide information on specific issues.

Rule 5: correspondence

1. When out of session, the Joint Committee may address any issue by digital correspondence.

2. All correspondence to or for the Chair of the Joint Committee shall be sent to the secretariat of the Joint Committee. The latter shall send a copy of all correspondence relating to the Agriculture Agreement to the head of delegation of the Party not holding the office of the Chair.

Rule 6: agendas for meetings

1. The Chair shall draw up the provisional agenda for each meeting. The provisional agenda shall be sent to the heads of delegation no later than 15 working days before the start of the meeting. The provisional agenda shall include the items in respect of which the Chair has received a request for entry in the agenda at least 21 days before the start of the meeting. Such items shall be entered in the provisional agenda only if, where relevant, the documents relating to them have been sent to the Chair no later than the date on which that provisional agenda is sent.

2. The agenda shall be adopted by joint agreement by the heads of delegation at the start of each meeting. An item other than those appearing on the provisional agenda may be placed on the agenda if the heads of delegation so agree.

3. With the agreement of the heads of delegation, the Chair may agree to reduce the time limits set out in paragraph 1 in order to take account of the requirements of a particular case.

Rule 7: minutes

1. The secretariat shall draw up draft minutes of each meeting. The draft shall state the decisions taken, the recommendations made, and the conclusions adopted.

2. The draft minutes shall be drawn up within 10 working days of the meeting and shall be submitted to the Joint Committee for approval under the written procedure set out in Rule 9. If that procedure cannot be completed, the minutes shall be adopted by the Joint Committee at the next meeting.

3. Once adopted by the Joint Committee, the minutes shall be signed by the Chair and the head of delegation of the Party not holding the office of Chair, in person or electronically. An original copy shall be kept by each of the Parties.

Rule 8: adoption of instruments

1. The decisions and recommendations of the Joint Committee within the meaning of Articles 6 and 12 of the Agriculture Agreement shall bear the title ‘Decision’ and ‘Recommendation’, followed by a serial number, the date of adoption and an indication of the subject matter.

2. The decisions and recommendations of the Joint Committee shall bear the signatures of the Chair and the head of delegation of the Party not holding the office of Chair.

3. The decisions and recommendations of the Joint Committee may be adopted either in person or by means of the written procedure (see Rule 9).

4. In case of adoption in person, the date of adoption is the date of signature in person of the instrument by both Parties.

5. Either Party may decide to publish any instrument adopted by the Joint Committee.

Rule 9: written procedure

1. In the period between meetings or where a meeting of the Joint Committee is held by technological means, instruments of the Joint Committee may be adopted by written procedure.

2. An instrument to be adopted shall be signed by the Chair and forwarded to the other Party by postal mail or as an electronic copy by electronic mail for signature by the representative of the other Party, unless otherwise agreed by the Parties.

3. The other Party shall return the instrument signed by both Parties to the Chair by postal mail or as an electronic copy by electronic mail and the instrument shall be deemed adopted on the date of the second signature.

Rule 10: expenses

Expenses in connection with the organisation of a Joint Committee meeting shall be borne by the Party that hosts the meeting. The Parties shall bear the travel and lodging expenses of their delegations.

Rule 11: confidentiality

1. Unless otherwise agreed by the Parties, the meetings of the Joint Committee shall not be open to the public.

2. When a Party submits information designated as confidential to the Joint Committee, the other Party shall treat that information as confidential and shall not otherwise use or disclose that information without the specific permission of the Party providing the information, except where this is necessary to comply with legal requirements.

Rule 12: working groups

1. The working groups shall operate under the authority of the Joint Committee, to which they shall submit a written report after each of their meetings. The report shall be sent to the secretariat of the Joint Committee, which shall forward it to the heads of delegation. The working groups shall not be authorised to take decisions but may make recommendations to the Joint Committee.

2. Each working group shall be assisted by the representatives of the Parties, which shall decide on the number and identity of those representatives.

Rule 13: working language

The working language of the Joint Committee shall be English.

Rule 14: relationship with the UK-Switzerland Trade Joint Committee

1. The Joint Committee established under Article 29 of the incorporated Free Trade Agreement (the “UK-Switzerland Trade Joint Committee”) may coordinate or carry out the duties of the Joint Committee on Agriculture. Where a decision or recommendation is adopted by the UK-Switzerland Trade Joint Committee on this basis, that decision or recommendation shall be deemed to have been adopted by the Joint Committee on Agriculture.

2. Each Party shall ensure that the representatives of that Party with responsibility for the UK-Switzerland Trade Joint Committee are kept informed on the activities of the Joint Committee on Agriculture.