RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/STR/N/1/SVN
29July1996
ORGANIZATION(96-2993)
Original: English Working Party onState Trading Enterprises
STATE TRADING
Notification Pursuant toArticle XVII:4(a) oftheGATT andParagraph 1
oftheUnderstanding ontheInterpretation ofArticle XVII
SLOVENIA
Thefollowingcommunication,dated18July1996,hasbeenreceivedfromthePermanentMission
ofSlovenia.
_______________
I. Enumeration ofstatetrading enterprises
TheRepublic ofSlovenia doesnothavestatetrading enterprises inthecontext oftheprovisions
ofArticle XVII oftheGATT 1994.
Inpart,theAgency oftheRepublic ofSlovenia forCommodity Reserves (forthwith theAgency)
assumes statetrading functions andisaccorded exclusive andspecial privileges within themeaning
ofGATT Article XVII. Asalegalperson, theAgency isauthorized bygovernment decree forduty-free
tariff-quota imports ofwheat andsugar forstocking anddisposal bytheAgency.
II. Reason andpurpose forintroducing andmaintaining ofstatetrading
TheAgency (asalegalentity) wasestablished on1January 1996asastate-owned agency for
thepurpose ofmaintaining public stocks andstrategic reserves asameans ofmarket interventions and
emergency relief. Theactivities oftheAgency arebased ontheLawonNational Commodity Reserves
(Official Gazette RSNos. 60and72,1995). Previously these activities wereconducted byadivision
intheMinistry forEconomic Relations andDevelopment oftheRepublic ofSlovenia.
Theprincipal purpose oftheAgency istoprovide andmaintain stocks ofcommodities inorder
tosupport themarket stabilization measures putforward bytheMinistry ofEconomic Relations and
Development. These measures areimplemented through market interventions incases ofshortage,
oversupply orinemergency situations.
Operations oftheAgency arefinanced bytheannual budget oftheRepublic ofSlovenia.
TheGovernmentpromotes,throughAgencyoperations,itsagriculture-relatedpolicyobjectives,
byprice support andother measures, underlined bytheneedforfoodsecurity, butlimited towheat
andsugar.G/STR/N/1/SVN
Page2
Theobjectives oftheAgency regarding thetwoproducts are:
- pricestability onalevelbelow thedomestic production costandabove theworld-market
prices;
- indirect income support ofdomestic producers andreduced direct government
subsidization;
- financing ofpurchases andstorage ofthedomestic cropand/or production;
- maintenance ofsecurity indomestic foodsupplies.
Forthefulfilmentofagriculture-relatedpolicyobjectivestheGovernmentannuallyadoptsinternal
market measures forwheat andsugar (foracurrent cropyear) which include guaranteed minimum
prices forwheat andsugar, which, effectively arebuying-in prices fortheAgency forthesecommodities.
III. Description ofthefunctioning ofthestatetrading enterprises
TheAgency deals exclusively inwheat andsugar. Other Agency functions areinthecontext
ofstrategic andemergency reserves. Itdoesnotconduct direct import operations butauthorizes trading
enterprises toperform import operations. Theenterprises areselected onthebasisofpublic bidding.
Principles ofnon-discrimination areobserved intheselection process which isbased ontransparent
criteria. Actual purchases ofcommodities areconducted onnormal commercial terms, under established
conditions andpractices, which include profit margins, conditions ofdelivery, availability, marketability
andother trade practices.
Private commercial operators areallowed toimport wheat andsugar ontheirownaccount
provided thattheypaytheprescribed import charges.
Thequantities tobeimported within theduty-free quota aredetermined inreference tothe
current domestic production andcurrent domestic consumption needs. Domestic production ofwheat
represents approximately 60percentandsugar 45percentofdomestic consumption needs.
TheGovernment determines, forevery cropyear, theguaranteed price which corresponds
tothebuying-in prices forwheat andsugar ofdomestic production. TheAgency isobliged topurchase
andstoreallofthedomestic wheat andsugar production, iftheproducers cannot selltheircrops and/or
production inthemarket under theterms oftheguaranteed price. Commercial enterprises import wheat
andsugar intheirname fortheaccount oftheAgency inquantities within theduty-free quota onthe
basis ofbestprice andterms ofdelivery. TheAgency isobliged todispose ofthecommodities at
afixedprice, which islower thantheguaranteed priceandusually higher thanthecurrent world-market
prices. Thenegative difference between theselling price oftheAgency anditspurchasing price of
thedomestic production isinprinciple covered bythepositive difference between theimport prices
andselling prices oftheAgency.
Long-term contracts withimporters ordomestic producers arenotnegotiated bytheAgency.
Contracts arelimited toquantities agreed anddistributed among several selected bidders. Domestic
productionisboughtwholesaleandpricedaccordingtoqualitycriteria.Decisionsconcerningguaranteed
prices arepublished wellinadvance based oncropexpectations.G/STR/N/1/SVN
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IV. Statistical information
(Metric tons)
Commodity Year Production Total
exportAgency
exportTotal
importAgency
import
Wheat 1992 178,396 0 0 67,831 32,096
1993 167,805 0 0 159,398 41,782
1994 181,743 0 0 124,321 50,797
Sugar (white) 1992 26,950 3,275 0 39,422 0
1993 41,674 2,781 0 33,383 9,993
1994 42,127 141 0 27,718 0
Sugar (raw) 1992 0 0 0 2,421 0
1993 0 0 0 14,505 0
1994 0 0 0 26,112 22,400
Sources: Slovene Office ofStatistics
Customs Authority oftheRS
Agency forCommodity Reserves