Interim does not mean partial
What is in force is the Interim Trade Agreement (iTA), not the full Partnership Agreement, which is still being ratified. The interim agreement holds the trade part (duties, quotas, origin, customs, technical barriers, sanitary measures and safeguards). In other words, everything that changes daily business for an exporter is already in force, even though the larger agreement is not final.
And «entry into force», wherever the text says it, means the day of provisional application. Article 23.3 makes that clear.
the date of entry into force of this Agreement shall be understood to refer to the date from which provisional application takes place.iTA, Article 23.3, paragraph 5, point (c)
Duties do not drop all at once
Each tariff line is assigned a staging category, and the category sets in how many stages the duty disappears. Category «4» is eliminated in five equal stages; category «10», in eleven. The first stage was the day of provisional application and the following ones fall on each 1 January.
For the purposes of this Annex, ‘year 0’ means the period of time beginning on the date of entry into force of this Agreement and ending on 31 December of the same calendar year. ‘Year 1’ begins on 1 January of the year following the calendar year in which the Agreement enters into force and ends on 31 December of that calendar year, with each subsequent reduction taking effect on 1 January of each subsequent year.iTA, Annex 2-A, Section A, paragraph 5
That is why the sheet shows the duty today and also the year-by-year table. The figure that matters for a twelve-month quote is not today’s.
| Category | Stages | Reaches 0 |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 5 | 1 January 2030 |
| 4-EG | 5 | 1 January 2030 |
| 7 | 8 | 1 January 2033 |
| 8 | 9 | 1 January 2034 |
| 10 | 11 | 1 January 2036 |
| 15 | 16 | 1 January 2041 |
There are also categories that never reach zero, and lines whose only reduction is within a quota. The sheet of each product says so in block 2.
Three things the duty does not settle
- Origin. Shipping from Argentina is not enough. The product has to be originating under the rule its heading has in Annex 3-B. Without the proof of origin the general duty is paid, even if the product qualifies.
- The quota. Some products only get a reduction within an annual volume, the quota. Outside it the general duty is paid, and the quota runs out.
- Health controls. Many products have to enter through a border control post with an official certificate. Without it the consignment is not cleared, however low the duty.