RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/REG/W/5
27June1996
ORGANIZATION(96-2467)
Original: English Committee onRegional Trade Agreements
COMMUNICATION FROM THE DELEGATIONS OFAUSTRALIA,
HONG KONG AND KOREA
Thefollowing communication, dated 25June1996, hasbeenreceived from thePermanent
Missions ofAustralia, Hong Kong andKorea withtherequest thatthisdocument bedistributed to
allMembers.
____________________
Facilitation andImprovement oftheExamination Process
1. TheCommittee onRegional Trade Agreements (theCommittee) ismandated under item1(c)
ofitsterms ofreference todevelop, asappropriate, procedures tofacilitate andimprove theexamination
process fornotified regional trading agreements (RTAs). While theCommittee 'scurrent deliberation
focusesondraftingastandardformatforthesubmissionofinformationonnotifiedRTAs,theCommittee
isalsoexpected towork, induecourse, towards theimprovement oftheexamination process asawhole.
Ifclear expectations oftheoverall examination process arepresented attheearly stage ofthe
Committee 'swork, thefulfilment ofitsdutyunder thisparticular itemofitsterms ofreference will
befacilitated.
2. Asastanding body oftheWTO, theCommittee 'smain taskofexamining regional trade
agreements needs tobeformalized. Although flexibility andpragmatism areamong thetraditions
oftheGATT/WTO system, theformalization ofprocedures hasthefollowing merits:
- Ensuring predictability: Bothparties andnon-parties toRTAs willbenefit iftheycan
visualize howtheexamination process willproceed;
- Facilitating theprocess byestablishing atime-frame foreachstepoftheexamination
process; and
- Avoiding discrimination among RTAs based ontheirrelative responsiveness tothe
examination process.
Therefore, itisadvisable todevelop aroadmap bywhich toguide theentire examination procedures,
while avoiding overly detailed andrigidprocedural arrangements which maylimittheCommittee 's
flexibility tobestorganize itswork.
3. Given thattheCommittee 'sexamination process istobetriggered bynotification, procedural
rulesfornotification should beestablished andincluded asanintegral partoftheentire examination
procedures. Although Members entering intoanRTA arerequired under theWTO Agreements to
promptly notify it,pastexperience demonstrates thatthisrequirement should befurther elaboratedWT/REG/W/5
Page2
andstrengthened. Tobeeffective, thisrequirement should bemoreformal andbinding innature relative
totheother steps oftheexamination procedures.
4. Pastpractices, asdescribed inAttachment 1oftheSecretariat 'sinformal notedated on
6May1996, mayserve asabasis fordeveloping newguidelines. Thefollowing points maybe
considered indevising suchguidelines:
- Red-tape procedures should bestreamlined;
- Time-frames should beintroduced foreachstepoftheexamination process asfaras
theyarepracticable;
- Theextensive coverage ofthestandard format forinformation ofannotified RATmay
limit theneed foradditional timeforpreparing andresponding tosupplementary
questions, compared topastpractices; and
- ThefirstsessionforexaminingofanRTAshouldbeheldasearlyaspossible,preferably
prior tothedateofitsentry intoforce, andpreparations therefor should bemade at
theearliest possible stage.
5. Thedraft guidelines attached intheannex hereto havebeendrawn upbased ontheabove
considerations.
6. InlightofthefactthattheCommittee isyetinitsinfancy andhasaheavy schedule ofexamining
backlogged RTAs, acertain period oftimemayberequired before wefirmly establish thepracticability
ofnewguidelines forthenormal examination process. Theagreed guidelines, tobeadopted bythe
General Council upon recommendation bytheCommittee, maybereviewed intwoyears oftheir
adoption, bywhich time afullcycle oftheexamination process foroneormore agreements will
havebeencompleted. TheCommittee willthenbeinaposition tofurther improve theguidelines based
ontheirusage.
7. Asarelated note,wemayfurther consider, atanappropriate timeinthefuture, thepossibility
ofdelegating thereferral procedure, currently undertaken byrelevant Councils andtheCommittee
onTrade andDevelopment, totheCommittee. Insuchamanner, theCommittee could make adecision
toinitiate theexamination process onitsownupon notification, andsubmit itsfinalreport directly
totheGeneral Council. Simplified andconsolidated procedures would helpavoid anyunnecessary
red-tapes anddelay intheexamination process.WT/REG/W/5
Page3
ANNEX
Proposed Guidelines toFacilitate andImprove theExamination Process
I. Notification
1. Notifications shall bemade under paragraph 7(a)ofArticle XXIV oftheGATT 1994,
paragraph 7(a)ofArticle VoftheGATS ortherelevant provision oftheEnabling Clause. Members
deciding toenterintoaregional tradeagreement (RTA) shallnotify itnotlaterthan60daysofsignature,
ornotlaterthan150daysprior tothedateofentry intoforce oftheRTA, whichever comes earlier.
2. Theoriginal text(iftheoriginal textisinalanguage other thanaWTO language, atranslation
intooneoftheWTO languages) oftheagreement andrelevant information prepared pursuant tothe
standard format forthesubmission ofinformation should besubmitted atthesame timeasthe
notification. If,under exceptional circumstances, notifying parties cannot submit thisinformation at
thetimeofnotification, theyshould submit asummary ofmainfeatures ofthenotified RTA. Insuch
anexceptional case, theinformation prepared pursuant tothestandard format forthesubmission of
information should beprovided within amaximum oftwomonths thereafter. When notification is
made under Article VoftheGATS ortherelevant provision oftheEnabling Clause, theinformation
required bythestandard format should beprovided within amaximum oftwomonths ofthedecision
toexamine thenotified RTA.
II. Examination
3. Upon receipt ofthenotification, thetextoftheagreement andtherelevant information supplied
bynotifying parties inaccordance withthestandard format willbecirculated toMembers andwill
beusedasbasic materials fortheexamination process.
4. However, Members willbegiven anopportunity toposeadditional questions andreceive
responses thereto inadvance oftheexamination meeting.
(a) Atthetimeofcirculation ofthematerials referred toinparagraph 1,Members will
beinvited tosubmit additional, ifany,written questions. Aperiod offourweeks upon
circulation ofthenotified materials willnormally beprovided forthesubmission of
questions.
(b) Members sowishing willsubmit theirquestions totheSecretariat, withacopytothe
parties totheRTAs. Upon theelapse ofthedeadline dateforthesubmission of
questions, Members 'questions, rearranged andgrouped bytheSecretariat according
tosubject, preferably along thelines ofthestandard format forsubmission of
information, willbeforwarded totheparties.
(c) Theparties willberequired toprovide written replies asearlyaspossible andinany
event notlaterthanfourweeks prior tothefirstformal examination meeting. Inso
doing, theparties willsupply theirreplies inthesame order thatthequestions are
arranged bytheSecretariat.