EU Council authorises signing of Canada tariff quota exchange of letters

The Council of the European Union has authorised the signing of an exchange of letters with Canada that re-apportions all the tariff-rate quotas included in the EU’s Schedule CLXXV following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the Union. The authorisation is set out in Council Decision (EU) 2026/2457, adopted on 26 October 2026 and published in the Official Journal of the European Union, L series, on 29 October 2026. The signature remains conditional on a separate decision concluding the agreement on behalf of the Union.

The decision rests on the first subparagraph of Article 207(4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, in conjunction with Article 218(5), and follows a proposal from the European Commission. It authorises signature for the European Union without publishing the negotiated text, which the decision states “will be published together with the decision on its conclusion”. No quota volumes, tariff lines or economic figures appear in the adopted act itself.

Seven years after the negotiating mandate

The renegotiation dates back to the aftermath of the Brexit referendum. The decision recites a single authorising act and a single initialling date.

• 15 June 2018: the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations under Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994) on the apportionment of the tariff-rate quotas of Schedule CLXXV.
• 28 May 2026: negotiations with Canada were concluded and the exchange of letters was initialled.
• 26 October 2026: the decision was adopted at Luxembourg, signed for the Council by its President, M. HEYDON.
• 26 October 2026: the decision entered into force on the date of its adoption, under Article 2.
• 29 October 2026: publication in the Official Journal as document 2026/2457.

What the Council actually approved

Article 1 authorises the signing of the agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Union and Canada, made pursuant to Article XXVIII of GATT 1994 and relating to the modification of concessions on all the tariff-rate quotas in Schedule CLXXV. The authorisation is expressly “subject to the conclusion of the Agreement”, meaning the signature does not by itself alter the Union’s scheduled commitments; a further Council act of conclusion, with the consent of the European Parliament, is required before the modification takes binding effect.

The decision carries the European Legislation Identifier http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2026/2457/oj and runs to a single page.

A queue of Article XXVIII partners

Canada is one of several trading partners with which the Union has been settling the re-apportionment of quotas that originally included the United Kingdom. The same procedure has already run its course with others.

• China: the exchange of letters was signed in Geneva on 17 October 2025 and entered into force on 31 July 2026.
• Pakistan: negotiations were concluded on 25 January 2021; the Council authorised signature in March 2021 and adopted the conclusion by Council Decision (EU) 2026/1953 of 10 July 2026, with the agreement text published as document 2026/1954.

Why it matters

The step clears the way for the negotiated text to be signed and for the apportioned quota volumes applying to EU and Canadian exporters to be locked into the Union’s WTO schedule, ending a negotiation opened more than eight years ago. Traders will not see the practical effect until the agreement is concluded and its text published in the Official Journal.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L series, 2026/2457, 29 October 2026, p. 1 (official reference: CELEX:L_202602457).