. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/REG133/M/1
6 January 2004
(04-0011)
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements
Thirty-Fifth Session
EXAMINATION OF THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
BETWEEN THE EFTA STATES AND JORDAN
Note on the Meeting of 2 December 2003
Chairman:  Mr. S. Dalela (India)
1. The meeting was convened in document WTO/AIR/2217/Rev.1.
2. Under Agenda Item D.VIII of its Thirty-Fifth Session, the Comm ittee on Regional Trade
Agreements (CRTA) took up the examination of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the EFTA
States and the Kingdom of Jordan.  The following topics were discussed:
A. General Remarks
B. Section I – Background Information on the Agreement
C. Section II – Trade Provisions
3. The Chairman noted that it was the first round of examination of the FTA between the EFTA
States and Jordan.  The Agreement and the bilateral agricultural arrangements had been signed on 21
June 2001 and had entered into force among the Parties on 1 September 2002.  It had been applied
provisionally by Jordan, Liechtenstein and Switzerland as of 1 January 2002.  The Agreement had
been notified to the WTO on 22 January 2002 as document WT/REG133/N/1, with the text of the
Agreement appearing in document WT/REG133/1 and the Standard Format in document
WT/REG133/3.  He proposed to organize the exam ination by first asking the Parties and other
Members for general comments and then turn to th e specifics of the Agreement, using the Standard
Format to guide the debate.  He recalled the terms of reference for the examination, adopted on 22
March 2002 by the Council for Trade in Good s, as contained in document WT/REG133/2.
A. G ENERAL REMARKS
4. The representative of Switzerland, speaking on behalf of the EFTA States and Jordan,
indicated that the Agreement and the bilateral agricultural agreements under consideration established
a free-trade area in conformity with the definition set out in Article XXIV:8 of GATT 1994.  The
Agreement was based on the same structure and had similar substantive provisions as other EFTA
agreements concluded and examined in the past.  The Agreement covered trade in industrial products,
fish and other marine products, and processed agricultural products. The bilateral agricultural
agreements introduced liberalization of trade in agricultural basic products and formed part of theinstruments creating the free-trade area.  The Agr eement provided for asymmetric treatment in favor
of Jordan by granting transitional periods for cert ain industrial products up to twelve years.  The
Agreement also contained provisions on protection of intellectual property, public procurement, as
well as services and investment.  An evolutionary clause provided for the possibility to develop
further the existing provisions and their extension to  areas not covered by the Agreement.  Trade data
could be found in the Annex to the Standard Format.  He noted that as the Agreement had entered into
force during 2002, the trade statistics reflected a period when the Agreement was only partly in force.WT/REG133/M/1
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As of September 2002, 95 per cent of total trade between the EFTA States and Jordan, which
amounted to 69 million US dollars, was covered by the Agreement.  The Parties were of the view that
the Agreement and the bilateral agricultural agreem ents were in compliance with the requirements and
provisions of GATT Article XXIV and the Understanding on the Interpretation of Article XXIV of
the GATT 1994.  The Parties were prepared to provide further clarification and replies to anyquestions or comments made by Members either orally or in writing.
B. S
ECTION I - B ACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE AGREEMENT
5. The representative of the United States informed the Parties that her delegation would be
submitting written questions regarding the scope and coverage of the Agreement.
C. SECTION II - T RADE PROVISIONS
6. The representative of Japan asked the Parties for an explanation as to why the transitional
periods for Jordan exceeded ten years.  The representative of Jordan replied that it was due to the
differences in the level of economic development betw een the Parties.  He indicated that the twelve-
year transitional period provided in the Agreement aimed at giving time to Jordanian industries to
improve their competitiveness and at allowing national exporters to adjust to new trade requirements.
7. The Chairman said that the first round of examination of the FTA between the EFTA States
and Jordan had allowed the Committee to clarify a number of issues, but some remained pending.  He
asked delegations to submit questions to the Secretariat by 31 January 2004 and for the Parties to
submit replies no later than 31 March 2004.
8. The Committee took note of the comments made.
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