   
  
WT/GC/206  
 
1 February 2020  
(20-0776) Page: 1/3 
General Council  Original: English  
 
 
THE UNITED KINGDOM 'S WITHDRAWAL FROM TH E EUROPEAN UNION  
COMMUNICATION FROM T HE UNITED KINGDOM  
The following communication, dated 1 February 2020, is being circulated at the request of delegation 
of the United Kingdom.  
 
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1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  The United Kingdom ceased to be a Member State of the European Union at 23.00 GMT on 
31 January 2020. The United Kingdom has been, and will continue to be, a Member of the World 
Trade Organization and will represent its inte rests and uphold its obligations on that basis from that 
date. 
1.2.  The European Union and the United Kingdom have agreed a Withdrawal Agreement pursuant 
to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, which provides for a time -limited transition period 
during w hich European Union law, as modified by the Withdrawal Agreement, will apply to and in 
the United Kingdom (the "transition period "). The transition period will end at 23.00 GMT on 
31 December 2020, and the United Kingdom has made clear that it will not see k an extension. The 
transition period provides continuity in the trading relationship between the United Kingdom and the 
European Union, and with other WTO Members, with the United Kingdom remaining part of the 
European Union 's customs union and single mar ket during that time. The Withdrawal Agreement 
also provides that, for the duration of the transition period, the United Kingdom is treated as a 
Member State of the European Union for the purpose of international agreements entered into by 
the European Uni on.1,2 The United Kingdom will continue to apply the European Union 's Generalised 
Scheme of Preferences for the duration of the transition period and the provisions of the European 
Union 's regional trade agreements will continue to apply to trade with the United Kingdom during 
this time.  
1.3.  To assist Members in their ongoing engagement with the United Kingdom, this note sets out 
some of the implications of the United Kingdom 's departure from the European Union in the WTO.  
2  UNITED KINGDOM: PREP ARATIONS FOR EU EX IT IN THE WTO  
2.1.  The United Kingdom was a founding party to the GATT 1947, and is an original Member of the 
WTO, in its own right. However, as a Member State of the European Union, the United Kingdom 's 
concessions and commitments on goods and concessions and specific commitments in services were 
 
1 The reference to international agreements encompasses international agreements concluded by the 
European Union, or by Member States acting on behalf of the European Union, or by the European Union and its 
Member States acting jointly. The same principles also apply to international arrangements and instruments 
without legally binding force entered into by the European Union.  
2 On 27 January 2020, the European Union issued a note verbale  to the Director -General of the World 
Trade Organization and to third c ountries, notifying them that for the duration of the transition period, the United 
Kingdom is to be treated as a Member State of the European Union for the purpose of international agreements 
and arrangements. The annex to the note verbale  issued to the D irector -General was circulated to WTO Members 
in Document WT/Let/1462.  WT/GC/206  
 
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  contained within the schedule of concessions and commitments for goods and schedule of 
concessions and specific commitments in services of the European Union.   
2.2.  On 24 July 2018 the United Kingdom 's draft schedule of con cessions and commitments for 
goods, draft Schedule XIX – United Kingdom,  was circulated for certification in document 
G/MA/TAR/RS/570 under the Procedures for Modification and Rectification of Schedules of Tariff 
Concessions.3 The United Kingdom is continu ing productive discussions with certain Members about 
aspects of that schedule.  As part of that process, the United Kingdom has initiated a process under 
Article XXVIII GATT with respect to tariff rate quotas and the United Kingdom is currently taking 
forward negotiations and consultations with relevant Members.   
2.3.  On 3 December 2018 the United Kingdom 's schedule of concessions and specific commitments 
in services and the United Kingdom 's list of Article II GATS (MFN) exemptions was circulated for 
certificati on in document S/C/W/380 and S/C/W/381 under the relevant procedures.4 The period for 
objections to the certification of that schedule and list of Article II GATS (MFN) exemptions expired 
on 17 January 2019. The United Kingdom continues to consult with one  Member under these 
procedures.  
2.4.  During the transition period, the United Kingdom will continue to be covered by the schedule 
of concessions and commitments on goods and the schedule of concessions and specific 
commitments in services of the European Union.  The United Kingdom 's Article II GATS exemptions 
will continue to be listed in the Article II (MFN) exemptions of the European Communities and their 
Member States (GATS/EL/31).  
2.5.  There are also a small number of other agreements, negotiated since the Marrake sh Agreement 
establishing the World Trade Organization, in which the United Kingdom has participated as a 
Member State of the European Union, but to which the United Kingdom was not party in its own 
right. These are: the Government Procurement Agreement (t he 'GPA'), the Protocol Amending the 
Marrakesh Agreement (the 'Trade Facilitation Agreement '), the Protocol Amending the TRIPS 
Agreement (the 'TRIPS Amendment '), the 2015 Protocol to the Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft, 
the Ministerial Declaration on Trade in Information Technology Products ( 'ITA I') and the Ministerial 
Declaration on the Expansion of Trade in Information Technology Products ( 'ITA II '). For the duration 
of the transition period, the United Kingdom is treated as a Member State of the European Union for 
the purpose of these agreements and arrangements. Upon the expiry of the transition period, the 
United Kingdom will confirm its continued acceptance of these agreements and arrangements.  
2.6.  Regarding the GPA specifically, the Committee on Government Procurement agreed, by means 
of a Decision adopted on 27 February 20195, as reaffirmed by the Decision adopted on 
26 June 20196, that the United Kingdom shall continue to be covered by the GPA until the expiration 
of the transition period between the United Kingdom and the European Union. The United Kingdom 
looks forward to complying with the obligations under those Decisions in relation to assuming 
independent Membership of the GPA at the end of the transition peri od.  
2.7.  Consistent with the principles of the Withdrawal Agreement, for the duration of the transition 
period, the United Kingdom will also continue to be treated as a Member State of the European Union 
for the purpose of ongoing WTO disputes to which the Eur opean Union is a party.  
 
3 Decision of 26 March 1980, Document L/4926.  
4 The United Kingdom' s schedules of concessions and specific commitments in services were circulated 
for certification pursuant to the Proc edures for the Certification of Rectifications or Improvements to Schedules 
of Specific Commitments adopted by the Council for Trade in Services on 14 April 2000, Document S/L/84. The 
United Kingdom' s list of Article II GATS (MFN) exemptions were circulate d for certification pursuant to the 
Procedures for the Certification of Terminations, Reductions and Rectifications of Article II (MFN) exemptions 
adopted by the Council for Trade in Services on 5 June 2002, Document S/L/106.  
5 Decision of the Committee on  Government Procurement dated 27 February 2019, Document GPA/CD/2.  
6 Decision of the Committee on Government Procurement dated 26 June 2019, Document 
GPA/CD/2/Add.1 . WT/GC/206  
 
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  2.8.  The United Kingdom would like to place on record its appreciation to all WTO Members and 
parties to the GPA, and to the Director -General and the WTO Secretariat, for their support and 
engagement in the processes set out above. The U nited Kingdom is committed to continuing to work 
closely with Members on these important issues.  
3  THE UNITED KINGDOM 'S ENGAGEMENT IN THE WTO  
3.1.  The United Kingdom has always been a strong supporter of the multilateral trading system. In 
recent years, the Unit ed Kingdom has played an active role in support of the system as a Member 
State of the European Union, including supporting the Trade Facilitation Agreement, the Ministerial 
Declaration on the Expansion of Trade in Information Technology Products ( 'ITA II '), the Ministerial 
Decision of 19 December 2015 on Export Competition, the launch of critical mass initiatives at the 
Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Ministerial Conferences respectively, and as an active aid for trade 
partner.  
3.2.  In 2020, the United Kingdom will w ork to support efforts to strengthen the multilateral rules -
based trading system, and to modernise the WTO. That will include contributing to a substantive 
and meaningful set of outcomes at the Twelfth Ministerial Conference in Nur -Sultan and working to 
restore the full functioning of the dispute settlement system. More widely, the United Kingdom will 
seek to participate in and initiate discussions in the WTO on issues of particular relevance to the 
United Kingdom and the global economy today, not least in advance of the United Kingdom 's 
Presidency of the G7 in 2021.  
3.3.  The United Kingdom has also long been a strong believer in the role of the multilateral trading 
system to unlock growth, reduce poverty and open markets, and a champion for developing 
countries in the WTO through its aid -for-trade portfolio. The United Kingdom looks forward to 
continuing to partner with developing country Members to strengthen their engagement at the WTO 
and increase their integration into world trade.  
3.4.  With respect to its future trade regime, the United Kingdom is committed to meeting its 
obligations to other Members and to making itself available to answer any questions that Members 
might have.  
3.5.  The United Kingdom looks forward to engaging with all WTO Members, in our collective efforts 
to strengthen the multilateral trading system . 
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