. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/REG132/M/1
6 January 2004
(04-0012)
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements
Thirty-Fifth Session
EXAMINATION OF THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
BETWEEN THE EFTA STATES AND CROATIA
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.VII of its Thirty-Fifth Session, the Committee on Regional Trade
Agreements (CRTA) took up the examination of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the EFTA
States and Croatia.  The following topics were discussed:
A. General Remarks
B. Section I – Background Information on the Agreement
3. The Chairman said that this was the first ro und of examination of the FTA between the EFTA
States and Croatia.  The Agreement and the bilateral agricultural arrangements had been signed on 21
June 2001.  The Agreement had entered into force for Croatia on 1 January 2002, and had been
applied provisionally by Liechtenstein and Switzerland as of the same date.  The Agreement and the
bilateral agricultural arrangements had entered into force between Norway and Croatia on 1 April
2002; between Iceland and Croatia, on 1 August 2002; between Liechtenstein and Switzerland, and
Croatia, on 1 September 2002.  The Agreement had been notified to the WTO on 22 January 2002 as
document WT/REG132/N/1, with the text of the Agreement appearing in document WT/REG132/1
and the Standard Format in document WT/REG132/3.   He proposed to organize the examination by
first asking the Parties and other Members for genera l comments and then turn to the specifics of the
Agreement, using the Standard Format to guide the de bate.  He recalled the terms of reference for the
examination, adopted on 22 March 2002 by the Council for Trade in Goods, as contained in document
WT/REG132/2.
A. GENERAL REMARKS4. The representative of Switzerland, speaking on behalf of the EFTA States and Croatia,
indicated that the Agreement had to be seen against the background of the EFTA States' policy in the
South East of Europe, and of th e expansion of their network of agreements aimed at making a
substantial contribution to the common European effort in bringing peace and stability to the region.
In that context, the EFTA States had concluded a Free Trade Agreement with Macedonia on 19 June2000, and had signed declarations on cooperation (the first step towards future free trade) with
Albania, and Serbia and Montenegro in 1992 and 2000, respectively.  The Agreement and the bilateral
agricultural agreements formed a free-trade area in conformity with the definition set out in Article
XXIV:8 of GATT 1994, and had as objective the establishment of the necessary conditions for the
gradual and reciprocal liberalization of trade in goods (industrial products, fish and other marineproducts).  The Agreement was asymmetrical in favor of Croatia, which was granted longer
transitional periods for certain industrial products, including fish and other marine products.  TheWT/REG132/M/1
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bilateral agricultural agreements introduced libera lization of trade in agricultural products.  The
Agreement also contained provisions on protection of intellectual property, public procurement,
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 and in cluded EFTA-Croatia statistics for 2002 such as
total trade figures; trade by selected commodities; and trade coverage of the Agreement presented in
the HS Nomenclature and divided into three categories.  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.  The Parties were of the view that the Agreement and the bilateral agricultural agreements 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; it would be implemented in a WTO-
consistent manner.  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 structure of the Agreement and the schedule for trade
liberalization.
6. The representative of Japan asked the Parties what was the coverage of the Agreement on a
tariff line basis.  The representative of Switzerland replied that according to the trade statistics
provided in the Standard Format the Agreement cove red more than 95 per cent of total trade between
the EFTA States and Croatia.
7. The Chairman said that the first round of examination of the FTA between the EFTA States
and Croatia 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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