Decision

25 February 2022: Decision No 1/2022 of the UK-Singapore Trade Committee on adopting its Rules of Procedure

Updated 16 April 2024

DECISION No 1/2022 of the TRADE COMMITTEE of 25 OF FEBRUARY 2022 UNDER THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND AND THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE

adopting its Rules of Procedure

THE TRADE COMMITTEE,

Having regard to the Free Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the “UK”) and the Republic of Singapore (“Singapore”) (jointly referred to as “the Parties” or individually referred to as “Party”) done at Singapore on 10 December 2020 (“the Agreement”), in particular Articles 1.3(b) and 7 of the Agreement and Article 16.1 of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Singapore as incorporated into and modified by the Agreement (“Incorporated Agreement”),

Whereas:

1. In accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 9 of the Agreement, the Agreement entered into force on 11 February 2021;
2. Pursuant to paragraph 1 of Article 16.1 of the Incorporated Agreement, the Parties established the Trade Committee; and
3. In accordance with paragraph 4(f) of Article 16.1 of the Incorporated Agreement, the Trade Committee may adopt its own rules of procedure;

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The Rules of Procedure of the Trade Committee as set out in Annex 1 to this decision are hereby adopted.

Article 2

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

Done in duplicate in Singapore on 25 February 2022

ANNEX 1

RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE TRADE COMMITTEE

established pursuant to Article 16.1 of the Incorporated Agreement

Rule 1 - Tasks and Composition

1. The Trade Committee shall perform the tasks provided for in the Agreement, including under Article 16.1 of the Incorporated Agreement and Article 7 of the Agreement.

2. Pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 16.1 of the Incorporated Agreement, the Trade Committee shall comprise representatives of each Party.

Rule 2 - Co-Chairs

1. Pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 16.1 of the Incorporated Agreement, the Trade Committee shall be co-chaired by the Secretary of State for International Trade of the UK and the Minister for Trade and Industry of Singapore, or their respective delegates.

Rule 3 - Secretariat and correspondence

1. Officials from the department responsible for trade for each Party will act jointly as Secretariat of the Trade Committee (“the Secretariat”).

2. Correspondence addressed to the Trade Committee may be sent in any form of written communication, including by electronic mail.

3. The Secretariat will ensure that correspondence addressed to the Trade Committee is delivered to the Co-Chairs and is circulated, where appropriate.

4. All communications to and from the Co-Chairs shall be forwarded to the Secretariat and circulated, where appropriate. Correspondence to and from the Co-Chairs may be by any written means, including electronic mail.

Rule 4 - Meetings

1. Pursuant to paragraph 4 of Article 7 of the Agreement, the first meeting of the Trade Committee shall occur within one year of the entry into force of the Agreement, unless otherwise agreed by the Parties. Following its first meeting, pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 16.1 of the Incorporated Agreement, the Trade Committee shall meet every two years, unless otherwise decided by the Trade Committee, or without undue delay at the request of either Party.

2. The meetings of the Trade Committee will be convened by Co-Chairs and organised by the Secretariat.

3. Pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 16.1 of the Incorporated Agreement, the Trade Committee shall meet alternately in the UK or Singapore, unless the Parties agree otherwise, on a date fixed by mutual agreement.

4. Notwithstanding paragraph 3, if both Parties agree, the meetings of the Trade Committee may be held by means of video- or teleconference.

Rule 5 - Participants

1. Before each meeting, each Party will inform the other Party of the names and functions of the members of its delegation.

2. The Secretariat may by mutual agreement, invite independent experts or representatives of other bodies to the meeting to act as observers or to provide information on a particular subject and only for parts of the meeting where such specific subjects are discussed.

Rule 6 - Agenda for meetings

1. At least 15 days in advance of a meeting, a provisional agenda for each meeting will be drawn up by the Secretariat of the Trade Committee on the basis of a proposal made by the Party hosting the meeting. The other Party will have the opportunity to provide comments.

2. The agenda will be adopted by the Trade Committee at the beginning of each meeting. Items not appearing on the provisional agenda may be placed on the agenda by mutual agreement.

Rule 7 - Minutes

1. Draft minutes of each meeting will be drawn up by the Party hosting the meeting within 30 days from the end of the meeting, unless otherwise agreed by the Parties, and transmitted to the other Party for comments.

2. The Secretariat will adjust the draft minutes on the basis of comments received. The Co-Chairs will approve the draft, as revised, within 60 days following the date of the meeting or by any date agreed by the Parties. Once approved, the Secretariat will provide each Party with a copy of the minutes. The approval of the minutes and provision to each Party may be done by electronic means.

3. The minutes will, as a general rule, indicate in respect of each item on the agenda:

(a) the documentation submitted to the Trade Committee;

(b) any statement that either of the Co-Chairs has requested to be entered in the minutes; and

(c) the decisions, recommendations, opinions, reports or other actions taken or adopted by the Trade Committee.

1. An annex to the minutes will also include a list of the names and functions of all individuals who attended the meeting of the Trade Committee.

2. The minutes will include a list of all decisions of the Trade Committee taken by written procedure pursuant to Rule 8.3 since the last-convened meeting of the Trade Committee.

3. Unless otherwise decided by the Parties, meetings of the Trade Committee will not be open to the public. Each Party may publish agreed outline agendas and agreed summaries of the meetings of the Trade Committee. If either Party wishes to publish agreed summaries of the meeting, draft summaries of the meeting will be drawn up by the Party hosting the meeting within 30 days from the end of the meeting, and transmitted to the other Party for comments. The Co-Chairs will approve the draft, as revised, within 60 days following the date of the meeting or by any date agreed by the Parties.

Rule 8 - Decisions and recommendations

1. By mutual agreement of the Parties, the Trade Committee may adopt decisions or make recommendations as envisaged by the Agreement, including under Article 7 of the Agreement, and Articles 16.1 and 16.4 of the Incorporated Agreement, and take any other action in the exercise of its functions.

2. Decisions or recommendations adopted by the Trade Committee will be entitled “Decision” or “Recommendation” respectively. The Secretariat will give any decision or recommendation a progressive serial number, the date of their adoption and a description of the subject matter. Each decision or recommendation will state the date on which it enters into force.

3. The Trade Committee may decide to adopt decisions or make recommendations by means of a written procedure, consisting of an exchange of notes between the Parties. For that purpose, the text of a draft decision or recommendation will be proposed in writing by one Party to the other Party, with a reasonable time limit within which the other Party will make known any concerns or amendments they wish to make. Adopted proposals will be agreed by the Parties, and recorded in the minutes of the next Trade Committee meeting pursuant to Rule 7(5).

4. Decisions and recommendations adopted by the Trade Committee will be made in two authentic copies, one for each Party, and signed by both Parties. Where a meeting of the Trade Committee is held by means of video- or teleconference, any decision or recommendation adopted at that meeting may be signed in duplicate (each copy being equally authentic), by each Party and forwarded to the other Party as electronic copies.

5. Each Party may publish the decisions and recommendations of the Trade Committee.

Rule 9 - Expenses

1. Each Party will bear the expenses it incurs as a result of participating in the meetings of the Trade Committee, including with regard to staff, travel and subsistence expenditure and to postal and telecommunications expenditure.

2. The Party hosting the meeting will bear the expenses in connection with the organisation of meetings and reproduction of documents.

3. Notwithstanding paragraph 2, where meetings of the Trade Committee are held by means of video- or teleconference, each Party bears its respective cost associated with holding the meeting by such means, unless the Parties agree otherwise.

Rule 10 - Language

1. The official language of the Trade Committee will be English.

Rule 11 - Specialised committees, working groups and other bodies

1. In accordance with paragraph 3(c) of Article 16.1 of the Incorporated Agreement, the Trade Committee shall supervise the work of the specialised committees, working groups and other bodies established under the Agreement.

2. The specialised committees will inform the Trade Committee, via the Secretariat, of the date and agenda of their meetings sufficiently in advance of their meetings and will report to the Trade Committee after each of their meetings.

3. The Trade Committee may decide to establish or dissolve specialised committees, or to allocate responsibilities to such committees, as provided for in paragraph 4(a) of Article 16.1 of the Incorporated Agreement.

4. The Trade Committee will receive a copy of all relevant correspondence, documents and communications pertaining to any specialised committee.

5. Except as otherwise agreed by the Trade Committee or each specialised committee, or provided for in the Agreement, these Rules of Procedure will be applied mutatis mutandis to the operation of specialised committees of the Agreement.

Rule 12 - Amendment of Rules of Procedure

1. These Rules of Procedure may be amended by a decision of the Trade Committee in accordance with paragraph 4(f) of Article 16.1 of the Incorporated Agreement.