WTO | Regional trade agreements

EU – Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT)

Basic InformationWTO Consideration ProcessRTA ProvisionsRTA Changes

Agreement name:	EU – Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT)
Coverage:	Goods	Type:	Free Trade Agreement
Status:	In Force	Notification under:	GATT Art. XXIV
Date of signature:	29-Sep-1970	Date of notification:	14-Dec-1970
Date of entry into force:	01-Jan-1971	End of implementation period:	1971
Remarks:	The current legal basis of the Association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Union is the European Council Decision 2013/755/EU on the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Union (OJ L 344, 19.12.2013); It has replaced the Council Decision 2001/822/EC of 27 November 2001 on the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Community (OJ L 314, 30.11.2001) as of 1 January 2014. The United Kingdom was a Member State of the European Union until 31 January 2020. 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 which European Union law, with limited exceptions as provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement will apply to and in the United Kingdom. Further details are available in the communication from the United Kingdom (WT/GC/206) dated 1 February 2020 and the note verbal from the European Union (WT/LET/1462) dated 27 January 2020 notifying WTO members that the United Kingdom is treated as a member State of the European Union for the purposes of relevant international agreements for the duration of the transition period.
Current signatories:	Anguilla; Aruba, Netherlands with respect to; Austria; Belgium; Bulgaria; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Ireland; Italy; Latvia; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Malta; Netherlands; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Slovak Republic; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Bermuda; British Indian Ocean Territory; British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; Cayman Islands; Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); French Polynesia; French Southern Territories; Greenland; Montserrat; Netherlands Antilles; New Caledonia; Pitcairn; Saint Pierre and Miquelon; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Turks and Caicos Islands; Virgin Islands, British; Wallis and Futuna Islands
Original signatories:	Belgium; France; French Polynesia; French Southern Territories; Germany; Italy; Luxembourg; Netherlands; Netherlands Antilles; New Caledonia; Saint Pierre and Miquelon; Wallis and Futuna Islands
RTA Composition:	Plurilateral; One Party is an RTA
Region:	Caribbean; Europe; North America; Africa; South America; Oceania
All Parties WTO members?	No	Cross-Regional:	Yes

Related agreements

EU Treaty

Official Web Address

European Commission

Text of the agreement

Text of the agreement	E F S

Annexes & related documents

Annexes	E F S

Consideration status:	Report adopted

Related documents

Document series: WT/REG106

Document type	Symbol	Language
Agreement	L/3467	E
Report	BISD 18S/143 (L/3611)	E
Biennial report	WT/REG106/R/B/1	E F S
Biennial report	WT/REG106/R/B/2	E F S
Biennial report	WT/REG106/R/B/3	E F S
Notification of changes	WT/REG106/N/1	E F S
Notification / Inactive Agreements	WT/REG/GEN/N/10	E F S

RTA Provisions Glossary

For details on these provisions, please consult the Glossary.

Last modified on: 14/05/2019

Topics
	All tariffs eliminated at end of implementation by at least one Party
	Rules of Origin (RoO)
		Change of Tariff Classification Criteria (CTC)
		Regional Value Content Criteria (RVC)
		Other Criteria(s)
		De minimis rules
		Outward-processing allowed
		Cumulation among Parties
		Cumulation with non-Parties permitted
	Technical regulations, standards, technical barriers to trade (TBT)
	Safeguard Mechanisms (Goods)
		RTA-specific safeguard measures always permitted
	Balance-of-payments measures (Goods)
	MFN Clause/Preferences extended from other RTAs (Goods)
	Denial of benefits
	Services
		MFN provision (Services)
	Rendez-Vous/Review/Evolutionary clause (services)
	Other Investment Provisions
		Investment Promotion


	Sector-specific chapter/section or other legal instrument (Services)
	General Exceptions
	Government procurement
	Intellectual property rights
	Competition
		Adopts or maintains competition law
	Environment
		No relaxation of environmental laws
	Labour
		No relaxation of labour laws
	Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
		Cooperation
	Gender
		International commitments
		Cooperation between the Parties

Notification of changes

Parties concerned:	Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, Virgin Islands, British, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Greenland, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Aruba, Netherlands with respect to, New Caledonia, Pitcairn, British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Anguilla, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Turks and Caicos Islands, Wallis and Futuna Islands, European Union	Changes affect:	Goods
Date of signature of changes:		Date of notification of changes:	10-Oct-2017
Date of entry into force of changes:
Remarks:	Three changes to the Association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) with the European Union (original notification L/3467 of 14 December 1970 and subsequent reports) have taken place in these last years. First, the current legal basis of the Association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Union is the European Council Decision 2013/755/EU on the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Union (OJ L 344, 19.12.2013). It has replaced the Council Decision 2001/822/EC of 27 November 2001 on the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Community (OJ L 314, 30.11.2001, p. 1) as of 1 January 2014. Second, some changes occurred also in the territorial scope of this Association, as a consequence of the amendments to the list of the OCTs contained in Annex II of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). 1. On 1 January 2014 Mayotte ceased to be an overseas country and became an outermost region of the Union within the meaning of Article 349 TFEU. Therefore, Mayotte is not anymore listed in Annex II of TFEU and it is not covered by the legal provisions of Council Decision 2013/755/EU applicable to OCTs. This means that Mayotte falls outside the territorial scope of this Association agreement and it is part of the EU internal market. The legal basis of this amendment is the European Council Decision 2012/419/EU of 11 July 2012 amending the status of Mayotte with regard to the European Union (OJ L 204, 31.7.2012, p. 131) 2. On 1 January 2012 Saint-Bartélemy ceased to be an outermost region and became an overseas country listed in Annex II of the TFEU. Therefore, Saint-Bartélemy is now subject to the legal provisions of Council Decision 2013/755/EU. This means that Saint-Bartélemy is covered by this Association agreement and it is not anymore part of the EU internal market. The legal basis of this amendment is the European Council Decision 2010/718/EU of 29 October 2010 amending the status with regard to the European Union of the island of Saint-Barthélemy (OJ L 325, 9.12.2010, p. 4.). Third, on 1 January 2014, Bermuda started being covered by the provision of the Association Agreement, on the basis of the legal provisions of the European Council Decision 2013/755/EU. To be recalled, Bermuda was already listed as an OCT in Annex II of TFEU, but it was not covered by the 2001 EU-OCT decision.

Related documents

Notification of changes	WT/REG106/N/1	E F S

Report a broken link