RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/ACC/SPEC/JOR/3 
19 August 1998 
 (98-3257) 
Working Party on the  
Accession of Jordan Original:   English 
 
 
ACCESSION OF JORDAN 
 
Statement  
by Dr. M. Halayka, Secretary General of Trade and Industry.,  
at the meeting of the Working Party on the Accession of Jordan  
held on 22 July 1998  
 
It is certainly a source of pleasure to meet w ith all again in the Third Round of the Working 
Party.  I would like at the outset to thank, on be half of the Jordanian Government, His Excellency 
Ambassador Kesavapany for continuing to chair the Working Party despite his pressing 
responsibilities.  We appreciate his able chairman ship and his commitment to the success of the 
meetings of the Working Party.  I would like also to thank the team of the accession division for their 
continuous support and much  appreciated counselling. 
Our presence amongst you today is indeed a dem onstration of our genuine commitment to the 
process of accession to this esteemed organisation.  We are pursuing a national exercise to integrate with the global economy.  Our common realisati on is that regional and international economic 
cooperation constitute a fundamental cornerstone in  the process of economic prosperity.  Since we 
met last year Jordan has been diligently working through its econom ic reform plan with effective 
restructuring of the macro-economic and sectoral po licies.  Administrative reforms have also been 
realised in order to enhance efficiency and en sure transparency as well as proper accountability.  
These policies and measures have been formulated to reflect the objectives of our global outlook. 
I would like to use the time available for me to share with you the most important changes 
that the economic scene in Jordan  has witnessed over the past twelve months.  This will cover the 
legislative reform, liberalisation measures a nd regional and international interaction. 
In the area of legislative reform.  I would like to report the following: 
(i) The Jordanian Parliament has recently approve d the safeguard Law.  The Lower House of  
Parliament will soon start a discussion on the an ti-trust Law and the Copyright Law.  All the 
aforementioned Laws are in conformity with WTO requirements. 
(ii) The Jordanian Parliament has also approved the new Law for industry and trade.  The most 
important component of this is the dismantling of the Ministry of Supply which used to control 
internal trade.  The trading activities of the Ministry  of Supply have been transferred to the private 
sector.  Accordingly, the Ministry of Industry and Trade in the new form will have only regulatory or 
supervisory role.  Pricing has been abo lished for the majority of commodities. 
(iii) There are a number of new draft Laws sche duled for discussion by the Jordanian Parliament 
including the Customs Law, the Insurance Law, Tr ade Marks Law and Commercial Agents Law.  My 
Government will continue the process of legisla tive reform to reach a stage where all economic 
legislations are covered.  I would like to emphasise here that simplicity and transparency are basic 
features of these legislations. WT/ACC/SPEC/JOR/3 
Page 2  
 
 As for international and regiona l cooperation, I would like to highlight the following major 
developments: 
(i) Jordan has signed an Association Agreem ent with the European Union which is a 
comprehensive cooperation agreement covering the various fields.  On  the economic front, the 
agreement envisages the establishment of a Free Trade Area over a period of 12 years.  This 
agreement is considered as a major happening in th e history of relations between Jordan and the 
European Union countries and certainly is a demo nstration of Jordan’s commitment to actively 
interact with global economy. 
(ii) Jordan was among the first signatories of th e Arab Free Trade Area (AFTA) which went into 
effect as of 1 January of this year.  There are at present 211 Arab Countries who are parties to this 
agreement which entails a reduction of custom du ties by 10 per cent annually over a period of ten 
years. 
(iii) Jordan is replacing its bilateral trade agreem ents and protocols with free trade agreements.  
Recently, such agreements were signed with Morocco  and Tunisia.  Negotiations are well underway 
for a similar arrangement with Egypt. 
(iv) To further expand our trade relations with  European Countries who are not members of the 
EU, Jordan is negotiating a free trade areas with EFTA group.  Such an exercise is another indication 
of the course Jordan is following to integrate into global economy. 
(v) Jordan has also signed an ag reement with the United States for the establishment of Qualified 
Industrial Zones (QIZ).  The first QIZ was establishe d in the North of Jordan.  The products of such 
zones satisfying certain criteria are granted duty exemption in the United States market. 
As I pointed out earlier, Jordan is firm on its commitments tom economic liberalisation.  
Parallel to the legislative reform other measure s were adopted in the Monetary Sector.  Free 
movement of capital and foreign exchange were re alised earlier this year, and our currency – the 
Jordanian Dinar – has become a c onvertible currency.  Pricing polic ies were abolished and only two 
basic commodities are priced at the time being, namely wheat and flour. 
The privatisation programme of the government is going well and the government has sold or 
is in the process of selling its shares in many enterp rises in the industrial and tourism sectors.  Plans of 
privatising major public transport are priorities on the agenda.  Other activities will be scheduled for 
privatization once the necessary legislative restructuring is finalised. 
Allow me now to briefly talk about our Ma rket Access Offer and aggregate measurement 
support for the Agricultural Sector. 
Jordan’s Market Access Offer is simple, tran sparent and easy to administer.  During the 
bilateral meetings in the last two days, we excha nged views on the rationale of the proposal.  Jordan 
depends heavily on domestic revenues.  Customs duties and General Sales Tax generate around 40 per 
cent of Government revenue.  The government h as adopted an ambitious reform programme to 
minimise budget deficit and serve foreign debt. 
As you are all aware, Jordan has a small mark et and could be easily hooded with imported 
goods that could jeopardise the potentialities of our infant industries.  The respected members should not be alarmed by the seemingly high rates of ta riff bands.  About 45 per cent of the items are 
proposed to be found between 10 and 30 per cent.  Th is lot represents 65 per cent of the total value of 
imported goods.   WT/ACC/SPEC/JOR/3 
 Page 3 
 
 
 As for the schedules Jordan submitted on Aggreg ate Measurement Support and subsidies, it is 
apparent that Jordan has no export subsidies and its Aggregate Support for agricultural production is 
less than 0.1 per cent. 
Before concluding my presentation, I would lik e to report that Jordan is studying its service 
sector at the time being and we hope that we will be able to schedule our offer on services sometime 
next October. 
Jordan is moving forward with its liberali sation process despite signs of slow-down in 
economic activity which is manifested by higher un employment rats and lower incomes.  However, 
we are aware of our responsibility and commitment to sustain a stable economic environment that is 
characterised by new modern legislation, and market oriented practices. 
My government is embarking upon an amb itious programme of institutional building, 
developing the necessary infrastructure and upgrading capabilities of human resour ces to deal with the 
new challenges and to benefit from arising opportunities.  Certainly, the support of the respected members of the Working Party to enhance our accessi on will be vital in helping Jordan play a more 
active role in the International Trading Regime.  Jo rdan has an outstanding record of credibility and I 
assure you all that we will continue to be so. 
Finally Mr. Chairman I would like to thank you again and would also like to thank the 
distinguished delegates for their understanding and support. 
 
 
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