RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.21
16September 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-3663)
Working Party ontheAccession ofEstonia
DRAFT REPORT OFTHE WORKING PARTY ON
THE ACCESSION OFESTONIA
TOTHE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
Revision
Introduction
1. InMarch 1994, theGovernment ofEstonia requested accession totheGeneral Agreement on
Tariffs andTrade (GATT 1947). Atitsmeeting on23-24 March 1994, theGATT Council of
Representatives established aWorking Party toexamine theapplication oftheGovernment ofEstonia
toaccedetotheGeneralAgreementunderArticleXXXIII,andtosubmittotheCouncilrecommendations
which mayinclude adraftProtocol ofAccession. Membership oftheWorking Party wasopen to
allcontracting parties indicating thewishtoserve onit.Inpursuance oftheMinisterial Decision of
14April 1994 onAcceptance ofandAccession totheMarrakesh Agreement Establishing theWorld
Trade Organization (WTO) andtothedecision of31May1994ofthePreparatory Committee forthe
WTO, theWorking Party examined theapplication ofEstonia formembership intheWTO andagreed
topursue themarket access negotiations forgoods, including anagricultural country schedule, and
forservices. TheWTO Agreement entered intoforce on1January 1995. Inpursuance ofthedecision
adopted bytheWTO General Council on31January 1995, theGATT 1947Accession Working Party
wastransformed intoaWTO Accession Working Party. Theterms ofreference andthemembership
oftheWorking Party arereproduced indocument WT/ACC/EST/7.
2. TheWorking Party meton25November 1994; 6-7Juneand14November 1995; 28March
and18September 1996; 11February 1997 and............ under theChairmanship of
H.E. Mr.D.Kenyon (Australia).
1Inorder tofacilitate theidentification ofchanges totheearlier version oftheReport additions tothetext
areshaded anddeletions arestruck out.WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
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Documentation
3. TheWorking Party hadbefore it,toserve asabasis foritsdiscussions, aMemorandum on
theForeign Trade Regime ofEstonia (L/7423) andthequestions submitted byMembers ontheforeign
traderegime ofEstonia, together withthereplies thereto, andotherinformation provided bytheEstonian
authorities (L/7529 andAddenda 1and2,WT/ACC/EST/2, WT/ACC/EST/4, WT/ACC/EST/9 and
Corrigendum 1,WT/ACC/EST/11, WT/ACC/EST/12 andWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/3). TheGovernment
ofEstonia made available totheWorking Party thefollowing documentation:
- TheCustoms Lawof24September 1993;
- LawonAmending theCustoms Lawof1December 1993;
- Draft LawonCustoms Tariffs;
- LawonForeign Relations of16November 1993;
- LawonCompetition of7July1993;
- Draft Competition Act;
- LawontheState Border of30June1994;
- LawonState Budget (amended version of20April 1994);
- LawonMunicipal andTown Budget of28June1993;
- LawonCorrelationbetweenMunicipalandTownBudgetsandtheStateBudget(amendedversion
of2February 1994);
- LawonPrivatization of7July1993;
- LawonExport andTransit ofStrategic Goods of21April 1994;
- LawonAmending theLawoftheCentral Bank oftheRepublic ofEstonia of20April 1994;
- TheFood Lawof9February 1995;
- TheLawoftheRepublic ofEstonia onForeign Investments of11September 1991;
- Statutes oftheEstonian Foreign Investment Agency (9May1994);
- Restrictions onTransfer ofImmovable Property Ownership toAliens, Foreign States andLegal
Persons Actof29May1996;
- LawonBankruptcy oftheRepublic ofEstonia of10June1992;
- LawonTaxation of29December 1993;
- LawonAmending theLawonTaxation of30March 1994;
- Income TaxLawof21December 1993;
- LawonLand Taxof12May1993;
- LawonLocal Taxes of10October 1994;
- LawoftheCentral Bank oftheRepublic ofEstonia of31May1993;
- LawonMotor Vehicle Excise Taxof8February 1995;
- LawonAlcohol Excise Tax(with 1994 amendments);
- LawonAmending theLawonAlcohol Excise Tax;
- LawonTobacco Excise Tax(new version of13July1994);
- LawonRevenue Stamps of28March 1994;
- LawonValue Added Tax(amended version of30June1994);
- LawonCustoms Valuation of8February 1995;
- LawonPublic Procurement of1January 1996;
- Public Procurement Amendment Actof1January 1997;
- Copyright Lawof23November 1992;
- Patent Lawof30March 1994;
- Utility Model Lawof30March 1994;
- Legislation ontheAgreement onTrade-Related Aspects ofIntellectual Property Rights;WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
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- LawonSecurities Market of14June1993;
- Insurance Lawof18November 1992;
- Memorandum ontheExport Control System inEstonia;
- Rules ofOrigin inFree-Trade Agreements withtheEuropean Union, theUkraine andthe
Trilateral Free-Trade Agreement withLatvia andLithuania;
- Rules ofOrigin inFree-Trade Agreements withEFTA countries (Norway andSwitzerland);
- Commercial Code, consolidated on12June1996;
- LawofProperty Act,consolidated on8October 1996;
- Packaging Actof3May1995;
- Medicinal Products Act,consolidated on15October 1996;
- Draft LawonStandardization;
- Information onstandardization inEstonia;
- Legislation anddraftlegislation inthefieldofveterinary measures;
- Veterinary conditions forimporting goods intoEstonia;
- Regulations fortheimport ofplants andpartofplants toEstonia;
- LawoftheRepublic ofEstonia onVeterinary Services;
- TheOrder ofRegistration forVeterinary Medicines;
- Grains Actof8June1994, asamended;
- Privatization inEstonia (summary);
- Information ontheEstonian Innovation Foundation;
- Acomparison oftheoldandnewversion oftheFood Act,concerning foodcontrol inEstonia;
- Economic bulletins.
Introductory Statements
4. Therepresentative ofEstonia noted thatEstonia hadbeenanobserver totheGATT 1947since
June1992andhadaccordingly witnessed thesuccessful conclusion oftheUruguay Round andlooked
forward toitsimplementation. Estonia hadadopted newlawsandregulations forming asolidlegislative
foundation. Moreover, Estonia 'seconomy, which encouraged competition andanentrepreneurial spirit
through aliberal trade regime foragricultural andindustrial products andopenness regarding foreign
investment andforeign exchange, wasexpanding steadily. Estonia 'sfreeandopenmarket hadbeen
underpinned bybilaterally binding andmutually beneficial market opening commitments intrade
agreements covering more thantwothirds ofEstonia 'strade. Bilateral freetradeagreements hadbeen
concluded withLatvia, Lithuania, EFTA countries, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, the
European Union andSlovenia, andEstonia hadtrade agreements based ontheGATT 1947principles
withseveral othercountries. Having followed thecodeofconduct laiddown byGATT 1947principles,
fullmembership intheGATT 1947 andupon itsentry intoforce intheMarrakesh Agreement
Establishing theWorld Trade Organization -wastheoneimportant missing aspect inEstonia 'strade
policy. Estonia intended tojointhemultilateral trading system embodied intheWTO Agreement as
adeveloped country, fullyaware of,andready toassume, alltheobligations andresponsibilities this
entailed. Estonia 'saccession totheWTO should, however, alsobeviewed inthecontext ofanoverall
political objective tointegrate withtheEuropean Union. Therepresentative ofEstonia looked forwardWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page4
tothebeginning ofanactive negotiating process which should beconcluded byEstonia 'saccession
totheWTO intheverynearfuture.
5. MembersoftheWorkingPartywelcomedEstonia'sinitialapplicationforaccessiontotheGeneral
Agreement and,uponconclusion oftheUruguay Round, totheWTO. Theriseinexports andforeign
direct investment were indicative oftherelative success ofEstonia 'sliberal economic policies.
Membership intheWTO would offerEstonia theopportunity toconsolidate itssmall, openeconomy
within amultilateral framework andtodevelop andincrease trade exchanges withWTO Members
worldwide. Theliberal, openmarket principles currently being implemented byEstonia would also
facilitate itsassumption ofobligations andcommitments arising from theUruguay Round. Several
members accordingly expressed theexpectation thattheestablishment ofmarket access conditions for
goods andservices would proceed inanexpeditious manner andlooked forward tothesuccessful and
timely conclusion ofthetasks oftheWorking Party.
6. TheWorking Party reviewed theeconomic policies andforeign trade regime ofEstonia and
thepossible terms ofadraftProtocol ofAccession totheWTO. Theviews expressed inthecourse
ofthedeliberations oftheWorking Party aresummarized below inparagraphs 7-132.
ECONOMIC POLICIES
Monetary andFiscal Policy
7. QuestionsbysomemembersoftheWorkingPartyfocusedonthetaxcomponentsofgovernment
revenue andthescope forraising revenue fromtaxes ontrade inEstonia inthelightofimportant free
trade agreements which covered alarge share ofEstonia 'sforeign trade.
8. Inresponse, therepresentative ofEstonia recalled thatasawaytoimprove thecompetitiveness
ofthedomestic industries atthepresent timeEstonia didnotgenerally apply import orexport duties.
Themainsources ofgovernment revenue in1996weretheValue Added Tax(39.4 percent), income
taxes (39.2 percent), andexcise taxes (12.9 percent).WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
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Foreign Exchange andPayments
9. Some members oftheWorking Party requested up-to-date information onEstonia 'sforeign
exchange regime, i.e.thedetermination oftheexchange rate,convertibility, availability offoreign
exchange fortrade andpayments purposes, andtheretention offoreign currency.
10. Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed thatEstonia, asamember oftheInternational Monetary
Fund, followed internationally accepted monetary rules. Since June1992, theEstonian kroon hadbeen
pegged against theDeutsche mark attheofficial rateof8kroon to1DM,withatechnical fluctuation
limitof3percent. Thefixed exchange ratewasenshrined intheLawontheSecurity oftheEstonian
Kroon; adevaluation required approval byParliament. HealsosaidthattheBankofEstonia guaranteed
freeexchange within Estonia ofthekroon attheofficial rateaccording tocurrent needs ofcustomers
forconvertible currencies. Non-convertible currencies wereobtained atthecommercial banks. The
lastrestrictions oncurrent account transactions werelifted inMarch 1994, when Estonia accepted the
obligations under Article VIIIoftheArticles ofAgreement oftheInternational Monetary Fund. Capital
account transactions were unrestricted, butexports ofcashandsecurities were subject toacustoms
declaration.
Investment Regime
11. Some members oftheWorking Party sought information onEstonia 'sstrategies inattracting
foreign investment andintheapplication ofanyrestrictions orconditions attached toforeign investment
andtolandownership. Therepresentative ofEstonia replied thatnospecific promotion programmes
wereenvisaged; foreign investments wereencouraged through anopen, non-restrictive regime. The
Government hadestablished aForeign Investment Agency in1994, providing various services toforeign
investors. TheAgency hadbeenrestructured in1997, andwasnowoperating under theEstonian Trade
andInvestment Board. Estonia andhadconcluded bilateral agreements oninvestment promotion and
protection withthefollowing countries: Austria, Belgo-Luxembourg Economic Union, China, Czech
Republic,Denmark,Finland,France,Germany,Israel,Latvia,Lithuania,Netherlands,Norway,Poland,
Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, andtheUnited States. Headded thattheprocedures
forregistration ofcompanies inEstonia distinguished between domestic andforeign investment inonly
sixareas namely, mining; power engineering, gasandwater supply; administration ofwaterways,
ports, dams andsimilar structures; railways andairtransport; telecommunication andcommunication
network; andretail trade inmedicines; where foreign investors would needa"Foreign Investment
Licence"fromtheMinistryofFinancewhilea"LicenceofActivity"wasrequiredfordomesticinvestors.WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
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TheForeign Investment Licence andtheLicence ofActivity licences carried thesame rights, the
procedural difference being theissuing authority. Thecriteria fordetermining whether ornottogrant
these thetwotypes oflicence were identical.
12. Therepresentative ofEstonia added thatwhen Stateenterprises weresoldagainst privatization
vouchers majority stakes were offered to"core" investors, i.e.majority shareholders (domestic or
foreign), whowereselected byanopenbid.Inpurchasing State-owned enterprises investors (domestic
orforeign) might undertake specific commitments withregard totheamount ofcapital tobeinvested
andminimum workforce ("performance guarantee"). TheEstonian Privatization Agency checked the
compliance withagreed conditions. Theperformance guarantee didnotextend tolocalcontent orexport
requirements.
13. Regarding purchase ofland, therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatforeign commercial
undertakings would needpermission fromlocalauthorities, andpermits would onlybegranted when
thebranch ofaforeign commercial undertaking hadbeenentered inEstonia 'sCommercial Register.
Non-residents werenotallowed topurchase landinborder areas andonEstonia 'sislands, except on
thefourlargest islands (Saaremaa, Hiiumaa, Vormsi andMuhu). Inthese areas thepurchase ofland
required special permission oftheGovernment. Non-residents would bepermitted tobuylandprovided
thepurchase wasnotinconflict withtheinterests oftheState, localgovernments ornational security.
14. Concerning taxation offoreign investment therepresentative ofEstonia saidthattheIncome
TaxLawallowed losses tobecarried forward uptofiveyears. TheIncome TaxLawapplied toincome
earned inandoutside Estonia byresidents, andincome derived fromEstonian sources bynon-residents.
Revenue could berepatriated freely.
15. Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed thatEstonia applied national treatment withrespect
todirect taxation andEstonia would continue toapply thenational treatment principle inthecaseof
amendments tothetaxregime inthefuture. Hefurther confirmed thatEstonia didnotusenational
taxation forexport promotion orperformance. TheWorking Party tooknoteofthese commitments
assurances.WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
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State Ownership andPrivatization
16. Some members oftheWorking Party requested details concerning progress inEstonia 's
privatization programme andplans toretain Stateownership inenterprises orsectors. Further questions
addressedrelationsbetweentheStateandcompanymanagement,theapplicationofcompetitionlegislation
toState-owned enterprises, bankruptcy orenterprise dissolution provisions inEstonian legislation and
general orexclusive funds available forState-owned enterprises. Amember requested adetailed report
onfirms remaining inGovernment hands, thenature ofgoods theyconsumed, exported ordistributed;
andareport onplans, asappropriate, tocomplete theprivatization process. Toensure fulltransparency,
Estonia should keepWTO Members informed about progress inprivatization, andprovide periodic
reports ondevelopments inprivatization andeconomic reform issues asrelevant toitsobligations under
theWTO.
17. TherepresentativeofEstoniasaidthatanenterprisewasconsideredprivatizedwhenthemajority
share holding wasinprivate hands. According tothisdefinition allagricultural enterprises hadbeen
privatized byJanuary 1995, andmore than90percentofallindustrial enterprises byAugust 1996.
Companies hadbeensoldin16eleven tender rounds withsuccessful bidders offering guarantees with
regard toinvestment andemployment. Thepublic offering ofshares hadbegun inmid-1994; ina
public offerthemajority stakewassoldtoalocalorforeign "core" investor. TheEstonian Privatization
Agency became thetemporary owner oftheshares intheinterim period needed forselection of"core"
investors orsaleofminority stakes.
18. Therepresentative ofEstonia provided information onprogress inprivatization ofState
enterprises, summarized inTable 1.Privatization wasentering itsfinalstage, involving privatization
ofmajor infrastructure services suchascommunications, transportation andenergy supply. In1996
privatization ofmajor infrastructure enterprises wasunder preparation (Estonian Energy, Estonian
Oil-Shale, Estonian Railway, PortofTallinn andEstonian Telecom). Stateownership would beretained
inrailways andpower stations, while Estonia 'ssoleoil-shale mine, theelectricity distribution companies
andtheservice structure ofrailway depots weretobeprivatized. These enterprises would beprivatized
inaccordance withaprogram established through Government Order No.155-k of20February 1996.
TheGovernment hadconfirmed afinallistofcompanies tobeprivatized. Inall,some 19enterprises
hadbeen, orwould be,soldin1997. However, themaintaskin1997wastoprepare theprivatization
ofEesti Energia ,Eesti Põlevkivi ,theoperational parts ofEstonian Railways andtheprivatization of
land. Eesti Energia andEesti Põlevkivi werecomplex privatization projects which wereunlikely to
becompleted before 1998. Estonia alsointended toprivatize thePortofTallinn andEstonian Telecom.WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
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Table 1:Information onProgress inPrivatization ofState Enterprises
Year 1993 1994 1995 1996
Number ofenterprises soldthrough:
-privatization contracts 54 215 142 43
-openbids 252 126 120 84
-public salesofshares 0 1 16 16
Revenue raised from: (EEK million)
-privatization contracts 353.2 1,330.4 919.1 474.5
-liabilities accepted bythebuyers 195.6 700.2 617.9 230.3
-investment guarantees 236.8 858.5 1,002.9 453.6
-totalobligations accepted bynew
owners922.0 3,272.7 2,799.1 1,177.5
-openbids 122.8 68.2 79.8 148.7
-public saleofshares - 99.9 604.5 662.1
Privatization contracts:
-number ofjobsunder employment
guarantees9,099 25,573 17,279 1,274
19. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatsome privatization tenders hadonlybeenpublished
inEstonia, butforeign investment hadonlybeen restricted inthecaseofenterprises processing
agricultural commodities oroffering services tofarmers. These companies werenowowned byfarmers '
co-operative societies. Headded thattheTallinn Stock Exchange wasestablished on31May1996.
20. Inresponse toquestions concerning theappointment anddismissal ofthemanagement of
State-owned enterprises, therepresentative ofEstonia saidthattheadministrative council orboard and
themanagement ofaState-owned enterprise orjointstock company wasappointed inaccordance with
thecompany'sby-lawsorbytheresponsibleMinistry.Theadministrativecouncilorboardcoulddismiss
thegeneral director oftheenterprise; council orboard members were released bytheGovernment
ortheappointing Ministry. Theprovisions oftheLawonCompetition, including itssanctions, applied
equally toprivate andState-owned enterprises. Since 1September 1995, theCivil Code andthe
Commercial Code contained procedures fortheliquidation ofenterprises. Therepresentative ofEstonia
confirmed thatState-owned enterprises acted onapurely commercial basisandthattheirdirectors were
notgovernment employees. TheState-owned enterprises could notbeconsidered tobeinStatetrading
activities because theydidnotenjoy anyexclusive orspecial privileges inthesense ofArticle XVII
ofGATT 1994 (seealsoparagraph 94inthesection "State-trading"). They werenotsubject toany
controlbytheGovernment,nortoGovernmentdirectivesinrelationtotheiroperations.TheiroperationsWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
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werenotfunded bytheStatebudget, andtheGovernment hadnorighttointervene inthedailyoperations
ofthese enterprises. State-owned andprivate enterprises hadequal access toGovernment funds, i.e.
theExport Credit Fund, theFund ofCredit toAgriculture andRural Life,theFund ofCredit toSmall
Enterprises andtheInnovation Fund.
21. [Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed thereadiness ofEstonia toensure thetransparency
ofitsongoing privatization programme under theregular tradepolicy reviews intheWTO andtoprovide
further information onrequest inaccordance withthenotification andconsultation provisions ofWTO.
TheWorkingPartytooknoteofthisassurance].[TherepresentativeofEstoniaconfirmedtheimportance
ofensuring fulltransparency andinkeeping WTO members informed ofitsprogress inthereform
ofitstransforming economic andtrade regime. Hefurther stated thatEstonia willprovide annually
toWTO members information ondevelopments initsprogram ofprivatization along thelinesofthat
provided totheWorking Party during theaccession process andonother issues related toitseconomic
reformsasrelevanttoitsobligationsundertheWTO.TheWorkingPartytooknoteofthiscommitment.]
Pricing Policies
22. Some members oftheWorking Party requested information ontheprocess ofpriceliberalization
inEstonia andtheextent ofanyremaining controls onprices forgoods andservices. Estonia was
requested toprovide adescription ofexisting price controls; listtheaffected products byHStariff
linewithreference tothelegalprovisions under which controls wereapplied; provisions, ifany,for
border charges thatwould increase import prices; andtheconditions under which theauthority to
control prices wastobeexercised.
23. Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed thatprices ofallgoods andservices weredetermined
freely bymarket forces except foroil-shale andelectricity. Theprices setforthese items, valid as
of1June1996, arereproduced intheAnnex (Tables 2and3).arereproduced inTables 1and2.
Headded thatpricecontrols onoil-shale andelectricity weresubject togradual deregulation programs;
prices would approach world market levels withdueregard tothebalance between therequired return
ontheinvested capital andtheinterests ofconsumers. Healsonoted thatthepresent producers of
energy, heating andoil-shale werenotmonopolies since therewasnoprohibition foranybody tostart
similar operations inEstonia oroffer acompetitive solution fortheentire Estonian energy system
including price reform. Thelegal basis fortheprice controls were thePrice Lawof1989 andthe
Decree oftheMinistry ofEconomic Affairs No.7of15May1996. Heating andlocaltransport charges
were regulated tosome limited extent atthelevelofmunicipalities.WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
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24. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatEstonia could notforesee anyfurther conditions for
theapplication ofanypricecontrols, including those forimports, except forthose inplaceforelectricity
andoil-shale. These incumbent price controls covered onlydomestic andimport transactions viathe
facilities ofEesti Energia andEesti Põlevkivi. Nevertheless, should such conditions arise, the
representativeofEstoniaconfirmedthatanypricecontrolswouldbeappliedinaWTO-consistentfashion.
25. Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed thatprices forgoods andservices inevery sector of
Estonia weredetermined freely bymarket forces withtheexception ofthose listed inTables 2and3
attached tothisreport. Headded thatprices forgoods andservices otherthanforoil-shale andelectricity
would notbesubject toState control. Heconfirmed thatEstonia would apply suchcontrols, from
thedateofaccession without recourse toatransition period, inaWTO-consistent fashion, andwould
takeaccount oftheinterests ofexporting WTO members asprovided forinArticle III.9oftheGATT
1994. Estonia would publish anylistofgoods andservices subject toStatepricecontrols intheofficial
journal,RiigiTeataja(StateGazette),includinganychangesregardingexistingpricecontrolsonoil-shale
andelectricity. TheWorking Party tooknoteofthese commitments.
Competition Policy
26. Some members oftheWorking Party requested adetailed description ofEstonia 'scompetition
policy, including theprovisions intheLawonCompetition which prohibits unfair trade practices and
theauthority oftheCompetition Board topermit agreements restricting competition.
27. Inresponse, therepresentative ofEstonia saidthattheLawonCompetition of1993prohibited
unfair trade practices withspecific reference tothefollowing sixtypes ofpractices:
(i) misleading advertising;
(ii) incorrect useofthedesignation ofafirm, trade mark orother attributes;
(iii) disparaging acompetitor orhisgoods;
(iv) abuse ofbusiness secrets;
(v) preferences orinfluence obtained through theuseofanemployee ofanother market
participant; and
(vi) unlawful restricting orfavouring ofthesaleofgoods andservices.
Provisions concerning theabuse ofadominant market position hadentered intoforceon1October 1993
andagreements andconcerted practices restricting competition on1January 1994. TheEstonianWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
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Competition Board wasestablished under theMinistry ofFinance inDecember 1993. Initsprocedural
wayofmaking decisions theBoard gavepriority totheinterest oftheconsumers. Supervision ofbanking
andinsurance wascarried outbyaseparate State body.
FRAMEWORK FOR MAKING AND ENFORCING POLICIES
28. Therepresentative ofEstonia stated that,inaccordance withtheConstitution, theactivities
oftheRiigikogu (Parliament), thePresident oftheRepublic, theGovernment oftheRepublic, and
thejudiciary courts werebased ontheprinciple ofseparation andbalance ofpowers. Legislative power
wasvested intheRiigikogu andexecutive power intheGovernment oftheRepublic. Justice was
administered solely bythecourts which acted independently asprovided intheConstitution andthe
laws. Themain government entities responsible fortheformulation andimplementation ofpolicies
affecting foreign tradeweretheMinistries ofEconomic Affairs; Foreign Affairs; Finance; Agriculture;
andTransport andCommunications. Alllocalissues wereresolved andmanaged bylocalgovernments
-municipalities andtownships -operating autonomously. Therepresentative bodyoflocalgovernment
wasthecouncil, elected infreeelections foratermofthree years.
29. Municipal andtowncouncils hadtherighttoimpose localtaxesaccording totheLawonLocal
Taxes. Considered aslocaltaxeswerethepolltax,localincome tax,salestax,boattax,motor vehicles
tax,commercial andadvertisement tax,taxonclosing roads andstreets, taxes forkeeping petsand
entertainmenttax.Sub-centralGovernmentsalsohadtherighttoprovide"greenbox"andnon-actionable
subsidies from localbudgetary revenues.
30. Therepresentative ofEstonia stated thatifEstonian lawsorother actsshould befound to
contradict foreign treaties ratified bytheEstonian Parliament Riigikogu ,theprovisions oftheforeign
treaty would apply. TheWTO Agreement would havethestatus offoreign treaty. Therepresentative
ofEstonia confirmed thatsub-central entities hadnoautonomous authority overissues ofsubsidies,
taxation, trade policy andanyother measures [inrespect ofimports andexports] covered byWTO
provisions. Heconfirmed thattheprovisions oftheWTO Agreement, including Estonia 'sProtocol,
shallbeapplied uniformly throughout itscustoms territory andother territories under itscontrol,
including inregions engaging inborder trade orfrontier traffic, special economic zones, andother
areas where special regimes fortariffs, taxes andregulations areestablished. Headded thatwhen
apprised ofasituation where WTO provisions werenotbeing applied orwereapplied inanon-uniform
manner, central authorities would acttoenforce WTO provisions without requiring affected parties
topetition through thecourts. TheWorking Party tooknoteofthese commitments assurances.WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
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POLICIES AFFECTING TRADE INGOODS
Trading Rights
31. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatfrom 1September 1995, theCommercial Code had
replaced theEnterprise Law. TheCommercial Code defined fivetypes ofbusiness association (general
partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, jointstock company andco-operative
association) andtheindividual private entrepreneur, andstipulated procedures foropening aforeign
company 'sbranch office inEstonia. Afirmobtained therelevant rights andobligations, becoming
legally asubject ofEstonian law,through registration intheCommercial Register. Anentry inthe
Commercial Register wasmade upon application. Registration wasapplied uniformly toallfirms,
including those which hadapplied foraForeign Investment Licence, covering alltypes ofbusiness
operations. Atrader submitted therequired documents andtheapplication, withnotarized signatures,
totheregistrar. Anenterprise wishing toperform business inanareawhich required aLicence of
Activity would alsoneedtoobtain suchalicence andsubmit ittotheregistrar. TheCommercial Register
wastobekeptbylocalcitycourts. Theregistrar hadnorighttodenyanentry iftheapplicant had
submitted allnecessary documentation incompliance withtherequirements.
32. Enterprises setupunder previous legislation, notmeeting therequirements ofthenewCode,
would need toberestructured orterminated by1September 1997. Stricter mandatory capital
requirements would apply from1September 1999. TheCommercial Code didnotcontain anyprovision
which would beinconsistent withthenational treatment principle; allitsprovisions applied equally
todomestic andforeign companies.
33. Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed thattheformer Statemonopoly inforeign trade had
beenabolished andthatnorestrictions existed ontheright ofindividuals andenterprises toimport
andexport goods andservices within Estonia 'scustoms territory, except asprovided inWTO
Agreements. Heconfirmed thatindividuals andfirms were notrestricted intheirability toimport
andexport based ontheirregistered scope ofbusiness, andthecriteria forenrolment intheCommercial
Register ofcompanies inEstonia weregenerally regulated intheCommercial Code which waspublished
intheOfficial Journal RiigiTeataja.TheWorking Party tooknoteofthese[commitments][assurances].WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
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Market Access Negotiations
34. Therepresentative ofEstonia presented aninitial offerformarket access negotiations ongoods
inApril 1995 andsubmitted aRevised General Offer forMarket Access Negotiations onGoods in
August 1995. Anumber ofmembers entered intomarket access negotiations withEstonia. The
commitments agreed between Estonia andmembers oftheWorking Party areannexed totheProtocol
ofAccession ofEstonia which isreproduced intheAppendix tothisReport. Asindicated inthe
conclusions ofthisReport, theWorking Party tooknoteofthemarket access commitments ofEstonia.
1. Import Regulations
Customs Tariff
Customs Duties
35. Noting thatthecurrent absence ofacustoms tariff demonstrated Estonia 'sfreetrade
determination, some members oftheWorking Party commended thesuccessful andeffective outcome
ofEstonia 'sfreetradepolicies andhoped thatEstonia would continue topursue these same sound and
progressive policies inthefuture. Some members alsoasked Estonia toprovide details about the
imposition ofcustoms duties andthecriteria forapplication ofzeroandnon-zero rates. Amember
expressed concern about Estonia 'sintentions inthisareaandrequested further clarification, noting
thattheEstonian authorities haddrafted aLawonCustoms Tariff although thedraftlawapparently
remained unadopted. Thismember requested thatthedraftlawbeprovided totheWorking Party for
review andcomment, noting thatprogress onmarket access negotiations wascontingent uponreview
ofthisdocument bymembers oftheWorking Party.
36. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatcustoms duties hadnotbeenrequired sofarsinceprices
oflocalresources hadyettoreach theapproximate international level. Hereaffirmed thefreetrade
orientation ofhiscountry noting, however, thatEstonia would reserve therighttoimpose customs
duties inthefuture, infullconsistency withitsconcessions andcommitments asamember oftheWTO.
Aceiling tariff binding would offerEstonia thesame regulatory opportunities inexternal trade asits
maintrading partners. Therepresentative ofEstonia added that,atpresent, theEstonian Government
hadnoplantoimpose anymore import duties thanthose fortheimports offurs(16percent), sea
scooters, small vessels andsnow-scooters (10percent), andtheexports ofvintage carspresentingWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page14
acultural value (100percent) asprovided forinGovernment Decree No.200of10July1993. A
draftLawonCustoms Tariffs wasprovided totheWorking Party atitssixth session.
[37. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthathisGovernment would submit thedraftCustoms Tariff
LawtotheWTO assoonaspossible andundertook thecommitment toensure thattheCustoms Tariff
Lawwould comply withtheprovisions oftheWTO. TheWorking Party tooknoteofthiscommitment.]
Other Duties andCharges
38. Therepresentative ofEstonia stated thatEstonialevied noduties andcharges onimports other
thanordinary customs duties andcharges forservices rendered. Heconfirmed thatallEstonia 'sduties
andcharges other thantheordinary customs duties, referred toinArticle II.(b) oftheGATT 1994,
were bound atzeroinitsgoods schedule (seeAnnex).
FeesandCharges forServices Rendered
39. SomemembersoftheWorkingPartynotedthatEstoniahadappliedanadvaloremtaxtocustoms
clearance operations andquestioned whether therevised feewascommensurate withtheapproximate
costs oftheservices rendered asprovided forinArticle VIIIoftheGATT 1994. Estonia wasalso
asked toprovide details ontheexemptions from thefee.
40. TherepresentativeofEstoniainformedtheWorkingPartythat,asof1April1995,a0.5percent
customs procedure taxhadbeenreplaced byaflatfeepercustoms declaration. Therepresentative
ofEstonia confirmed thatafixed feeofEEK 200perimport andexport declaration wascharged as
aStatefeeforcustoms declaration andthatthiswastheonlyfeeorcharge forservices rendered currently
inforce. Thefeewascollected bytheNational Customs Board asaprocedure feecovering thecost
ofcustoms formalities.
41. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatthefeerelated onlytothecostofcustoms formalities,
andrepresented some 1.42percentofallrevenue collected byEstonian Customs during 1996; other
revenue wasderived fromexcise taxes(16.98 percent), value added tax(81.28 percent)andcustoms
duties (0.01 percent). Thefeewaslevied onimports fromalltrading partners, butnotontransit trade
orgoods incustoms warehouses, goods declared byphysical persons, orpreliminary declarations.
Alsoexempt weregoods forofficial usebyforeign diplomatic representations, consular representationsWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page15
orinternational organizations; printed matter andinformation carriers addressed tolibraries;
irrecoverable economic aid;andhumanitarian aidreceived bytheEstonian RedCross.
42. Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed that[theStatefeeforcustoms declaration described
inparagraphs 40and41wasapplied onanon-discriminatory basistotrade withallEstonia 'strading
partners. Hefurther confirmed that,] from thedateofaccession, Estonia would notreintroduce an
advalorem customs fee.TheStatefeeforcustoms declaration would beapplied inconformity with
WTO obligations, inparticular Articles VIIIandXoftheGATT 1994. Theleveloftheapplied fee
would notexceed theapproximate costofprocessing import andexport declarations, revenues from
thefeewould beusedsolely forcustoms processing ofimports andexports, andtotalannual revenue
from collection ofthefeewould notexceed theapproximate costofcustoms processing operations
fortheitems subject tothefees. [Heconfirmed thatrevenues from theState feewere notusedfor
customs processing ofimports exempted fromthefee.]Information regarding theapplication andlevel
ofthefee,revenues collected andtheiruse,would beprovided toWTO members upon request. The
Working Party tooknoteofthese commitments.
Application ofinternal taxes toimports
43. SomemembersoftheWorkingPartynotedthattheexcisetaxesforcertaindomesticandimported
tobacco products andalcoholic beverages weredifferent. These members requested Estonia tophase
outallmeasures inconsistent withArticle IIIoftheGATT 1994. Some members alsoquestioned the
conformity ofEstonia 'sexcise taxonautomobiles withArticles III,VIIandVIIIoftheGATT 1994
andtheWTO Agreement onCustoms Valuation andrequested details about thenewtaxregime. Estonia
wasalsoasked toprovide details onexcise taxexemptions. Some members heldtheviewthatexcise
taxexemptions forsmall domestic producers ofbeer(annual domestic production notexceeding
5,000 dekalitres) andofwine(annual production notexceeding 100dekalitres), andtheexemption
fromtheexcise taxonsecond-hand motor vehicles fordomestically-owned carswereinconsistent with
thenational treatment provision ofArticle IIIoftheGATT 1994. Intheirview, Estonia would need
tochange itsexcise taxlegislation tobring itintoconformity withArticle IIIoftheGATT 1994.
44. Therepresentative ofEstonia described theratesofexcise taxapplied in1996 ontobacco,
petroleum products, alcohol andmotor vehicles (Tables 34and45).These taxlevels wereconsidered
optimal andnoreductions wereforeseen upon accession totheWTO. Anexcise dutyof16percent
onfursandfurproducts, levied onlyondomestic producers, hadbeeneliminated.WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page16
45. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthataccording toamendments totheLawonAlcohol Excise
Tax,theexcise ratesondomestic andimported beerwereequalized on1December 1996. However,
small-scale producers ofbeer-producers withannual production notexceeding 300,000 dekalitres
-were subject toalower rateofexcise dutyasaregional development measure. Thesmall scale
producers covered only9percentoftheEstonian domestic beermarket. Thelower taxratewould
apply alsotoimported beerprovided themanufacturer provided thefollowing documentation:
(1)Theofficial name, address, contact address andtelephone number ofthecompany; (2)Theannual
production oftheprevious year; (3)Thename, address, contact address andtelephone number, title
andoriginal signature oftheliable person; and(4)Date. TheLawonAlcohol Excise Taxwasamended
witheffect from 1July1997, withlower rates ofexcise taxapplying forproducers withannual
production below 2million decalitres (Table 4).
46. TherepresentativeofEstoniaconfirmedthattheLawonAlcoholExciseTaxprovidedexemptions
from excise taxforverysmall-scale producers whose annual production ofbeerdidnotexceed
5,000 dekalitres orwhose annual production ofwinedidnotexceed 100dekalitres. These exemptions
werenecessary tomaintain national traditions intheruralareasofEstonia. Thebeerandwineproduced
insuchsmallquantitieswereconsumedlocallyonaverylimitedarea.Theseexemptionswereconsidered
tobemeasures ofregional development. Theproduction ofsuchbreweries andwineries wasnot
significant intheframework ofthetotaldomestic production ofbeerandwine.
47. Therepresentative ofEstonia added thatexcise taxesonalcoholic beverages werenotcollected
ondomesticallyproducedalcoholexportedbythemanufacturerdirectlyorthroughacustomswarehouse;
supplies tomaritime orairtransport vessels engaging inforeign travel; temporary importation by
foreign juridical persons oflimited amounts ofalcohol forfairsandexhibitions; alcohol tobeincluded
inadatabaseonproducer brands; andalcohol imported forofficial functions under diplomatic status.
Theexcise taxonwines distinguished between bulkandbottled imports toencourage bottling andfurther
processing inEstonia. Bottled wine wastaxed atEEK 15.60 (over 15percentalcohol content by
volume) orEEK 10.40 perlitre,andbulkwineatEEK 12.50 orEEK 8.00, respectively. Bulkwine
wasonlytaxed atthelower rateiftheimporter processed thewine intoconsumer packaging prior
tosale,exchange, freesampling orself-consumption. TheEstonian National TaxBoard supervised
compliance withtherules. Estonia hadnodomestic production ofwinefrom fresh grapes. Imports
ofbulkwineamounted to185,902 litres in1996. Double taxation ofimported bulkwinewasavoided
asthetaxonbulkimports wasdeducted from thetaxpayment ondomestically-bottled wine.WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page17
48. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthattheexcise taxwasfixed inEstonian kroon perlitre,
byvolume ofpure alcohol (e.g. thetaxon1litreofvodka (40percentvol.) amounted to
EEK 1.15x40=EEK 46),andassessed ontheamount ofalcohol sold,exchanged, forfreetransfer
orownconsumption. Domestic manufacturers paidthetaxtotheStateBudget through thelocalTax
Board three times permonth -onthethirddayfollowing eachten-day period -onthebasis oftheir
actual turnover during thatperiod. Importers wererequired topaytheexcise taxupon importation,
before release forfreecirculation inEstonia.
Table 43:Excise Taxes inEstonia
Tariff Heading, subheading Product description Taxrate
(EEK)
2203 00011
2203 00091
2203 00101
2203 00019
2203 00099
2203 001091.Beerannual production up
to5,000 decalitres (incl.)
-beerwithanalcoholic
content byvolume upto4.7%
vol.
-beerwithanalcoholic
content byvolume exceeding
4.7% vol.exemption
exemption
2203 00011
2203 00091
2203 00101
2203 00019
2203 00099
2203 00109Annual production from 5,000
to500,000 decalitres (incl.):
-beerwithanalcoholic
content byvolume upto4.7%
vol.
-beerwithanalcoholic
content byvolume exceeding
4.7% vol.2.00*
2.50*
2203 00011
2203 00091
2203 00101
2203 00019
2203 00099
2203 00109Annual production from
500,000 to2,000,000
decalitres:
-beerwithanalcoholic
content byvolume upto4.7%
vol.
-beerwithanalcoholic
content byvolume exceeding
4.7% vol.2.50*
3.00*
2203 00011
2203 00091
2203 00101
2203 00019
2203 00099
2203 00109Annual production
surmounting
2,000,000 decalitres:
-beerwithanalcoholic
content byvolume upto4.7%
vol.
-beerwithanalcoholic
content byvolume exceeding
4.7% vol.3.00*
3.50*WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page18
Tariff Heading, subheading Product description Taxrate
(EEK)
2204 10110-2204 21101,
2204 21110-2204 21840,
2204 29105,2204 29129,2204 29139,
2204 29179,2204 29189,2204 29429,
2204 29439,2204 29449,2204 29469,
2204 29479,2204 29489,2204 29589,
2204 29629,2204 29649,2204 29659,
2204 29719,2204 20729,2204 29759,
2204 29819,2204 29829,2204 29839,
2204 29849,2205 10101,2205 90103.2.3.Sparkling wines and
other wines offresh grapes
withanalcoholic content by
volume upto15%10.40*
2204 29101,2204 29121,2204 29131,
2204 29171,2204 29181,2204 29421,
2204 29431,2204 29441,2204 29461,
2204 29471,2204 29481,2204 29581,
2204 29621,2204 29641,2204 29651,
2204 29711,2204 29721,2204 29751,
2204 29811,2204 29821,2204 29831,
2204 29841,2205 90101-unbottled wines offresh
grapes8.00*
2204 21109,2204 21870-2204 21990,
2204 29109,2204 29879,2204 29889,
2204 29899,2204 29919,2204 29929,
2204 29939,2204 29949,2204 29959,
2204 29969,2204 29979,2204 29989,
2204 29999,2205 10109-2205 10900,
2205 90109,2205 90902.3.4.Sparkling wines and
other wines offresh grapes
withanalcoholic content by
volume exceeding 15%15.60*
2204 29103,2204 29871,2204 29881,
2204 29891,2204 29911,2204 29921,
2204 29931,2204 29941,2204 29951,
2204 29961,2204 29971,2204 29981,
2204 29991,2205 90105,2205 90901.-unbottled wines offresh
grapes12.50*
2206 00100-2206 00510
2206 005914.5.Other fermented drinks
(e.g.cider, berry, wineetc.)
andtheirblends:
2206 00810
2206 00891a)withanalcoholic content
byvolume upto15%vol.4.90*
2206 00592
2206 00892b)withanalcoholic content
byvolume exceeding
15%vol.6.50*
2207 10009
2208
2106 90200
3302 101005.6.Other alcohol 1.15**
ex2207 10000
ex2208 90910
ex2208 909906.7.Rectified spirits usedin
medicine, pharmaceutics,
veterinary, scientific research
andstudy purposes, the
production ofperfumery0.20**WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page19
Tariff Heading, subheading Product description Taxrate
(EEK)
*perlitre
**perone%vol. ofabsolute alcohol alitre
Motor Fuel
2710 00271,2710 00272
2710 00290,2710 00320
2710 00341,2710 00342
2710 00343,2710 00344Petrol 1.80EEK per
litre
2710 00360,2710 00660
2710 00671,2710 00681Diesel Oil 0.75EEK per
litre
2710 00510,2710 00260
2710 00370Aviation petrol andgasoline 2.30EEK per
litre
2711 12940,2711 12970
2711 13910,2711 13970Liquid gasusedasmotor fuel 1.10EEK per
litre
2711 21000 Compressed gasusedasmotor
fuel1.10EEK per
m3
2710 00871 Motor oil 0.20EEK per
litre
Tobacco products
2402 20 Filtered cigarettes 3*
2402 20 Unfiltered cigarettes 3*
2402 20 Russian cigarettes 3*
2402 10001 Cigarillos 3*
2402 10009 Cigars 3**
2403 10 Smoking tobacco 3***
2403 99100 Snuff 3***
2403 99100 Chewing tobacco 3***
ex2403 99900 Other tobacco products 3***
* applies toupto20cigarettes orcigarillos; apackage containing 21-40cigarettes or
cigarillos ismarked withtworevenue stamps etc.
** applies toonecigar
*** applies toupto50grams ofatobacco product; apackage containing 51-100grams
ofatobacco product ismarked withtworevenue stamps etc.
49. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthattheLawonStamp Duty established revenue stamps,
issued against payment oftaxes bytheNational TaxBoard atnoextra charge, forgoods subject to
excises. Atpresent theStamp Duty concerned onlyimported anddomestically produced tobacco
products. Forexample, theexcise taxonperpackage of20cigarettes amounted toEEK 3.Domestic
firms paidexcise taxestothelocalTaxBoard threetimes permonth, taxesonimported tobacco products
werepayable before release forfreecirculation inEstonia. Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmedWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page20
thatexcise rates forimported anddomestically-produced tobacco products hadbeen equalized on
1January 1996 bybringing taxes ondomestic products uptothelevelapplied toimports.
50. Concerning thetaxation ofautomobiles, aMember saidthattheexemption ofuseddomestically
owned automobiles from theexcise taxonusedautomobiles wasinconsistent withArticle IIIofthe
GATT 1994andshould bechanged tobring intoconformity. Inresponse, therepresentative ofEstonia
referred totheLawonMotor Vehicle Excise Tax,inforce since1April 1995, replacing a10percent
import taxwhich hadbeenlevied inaccordance withoriginal invoices forlegalpersons andavaluation
listfornatural persons inorder toavoid fraud. Thenewsystem taxed vehicles infixed amounts
according tovehicle ageandengine cylinder capacity. According totheLawonMotor Vehicle Excise
Tax,theexcise taxwaspaidbythemanufacturer ofmotor vehicles upon sale,exchange, gratuitous
transfer orself-consumption. Onwards salesorprocessing werenotsubject toexcise taximposed on
motor vehicles imported intoEstonia andmanufactured inEstonia. There werenomanufacturers of
motor vehicles inEstonia except thatbuses wereassembled insmall quantities. Atpresent therewere
nosalesofdomestically produced neworusedmotor vehicles. According totheLaw, ifthere would
bemanufacturers ofmotor vehicles, theywould paytheexcise taxupon sale,exchange, gratuitous
transfer orself-consumption ofmotor vehicles. According totheLawonMotor Vehicle Excise Tax
buses werenotsubject toexcise tax.Estonia considered thattheLawonMotor Vehicle Excise Tax
wasinconformity withArticle IIIofGATT 1994 because imported motor vehicles were treated as
favourably asdomestically produced motor vehicles. Thetaxwaspaidbytheimporter uponimportation
andbydomestic manufacturers upon thesaleofthevehicle.
51. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatallnewmotor vehicles andusedmotor vehicles imported
intoEstonia weresubject toexcise tax.Theexcise taxwasimposed onthefirstownership ofamotor
vehicle inEstonia, andthetaxwould bereflected inthedomestic market priceforsubsequent owners.
Theexcise taxwasdesigned toencourage importation ofmodern vehicles. Resale ofmotor vehicles
byabuyer wasnotsubject totheexcise tax.Thesame treatment applied totheresale ofimported
motor vehicles. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthattolevyexcise taxupontheresale ofusedmotor
vehicles would tantamount todouble taxation. Inorder toexplain howexcise duties onautomobiles
were calculated anexample wasincluded inTable 54.WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page21
Table 54:Motor Vehicles
Tariff Heading,
subheadingProduct description Taxrate(EEK)
1.Excise taxbased onthecylinder capacity ofmotor vehicles
8703 Motor carsandother motor vehicles principally
designed forthetransport ofpersons (other than
those ofheading No.8702), including station
wagons andracing cars:
8703 10 Motor vehicles specially designed fortravelling on
snow; golfcarsandsimilar vehicles1EEK/cc
Other vehicles, withspark-ignition internal
combustion reciprocating piston engine ofa
cylinder capacity:
8703 21 notexceeding 1,000 cc 1EEK/cc
8703 22 exceeding 1,000 ccbutnot1,500 cc 1EEK/cc
8703 23 exceeding 1,500 ccbutnot3,000 cc 1EEK/cc
8703 24 exceeding 3,000 cc 3EEK/cc
Other vehicles withcompression-ignition internal
combustion piston engine (diesel orsemi-diesel) of
acylinder capacity:
8703 31 notexceeding 1,500 cc 1EEK/cc
8703 32 exceeding 1,500 ccbutnot2,500 cc 1EEK/cc
8703 33 exceeding 2,500 cc 1EEK/cc
8711
(except under
subheading 8711 90)Motorcycles (including mopeds) andcycles fitted
withanauxiliary motor, withorwithout side-cars;
side-cars1EEK/cc
2.Excise taxonusedmotor vehicles based ontheageofthemotor vehicle
ofupto12years ofage 100EEK/year
from 13years ofage 150EEK/year
3.Excise taxonnewmotor vehicles 1000 EEK
Example:
Ausedautomobile, cylinder capacity 2000cm3,age10years andprice according tothe
purchase documents is10000EEK:
10000-price according tothepurchase documents
2000-excise taxonthebasis ofthecylinder capacity
1000-excise taxonthebasis ofage
13000
2340-VAT (18% from 13000)
15340-price forimporter afterimportationWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page22
52. Some members ofWorking Party requested information ontheapplication ofthevalue-added
tax,including product anduser-specific exemptions andequal treatment forimported anddomestic
products. Questions were alsoraised regarding thecalculation oftheVAT onmotor vehicles.
53. Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed thatthevalue-added taxatan18percentratewas
applied equally todomestic goods andtoallimports regardless ofcountry oforigin. VAT onmotor
vehicles imported bynatural persons hadbeenbased onastandard valuation listuntiltheexcise tax
system waschanged on1April 1995. Healsoconfirmed thattheexemptions forcertain goods and
servicesfromtheVATwereappliedequallytodomesticandimportedgoodsandservices.Thefollowing
goods andservices were exempt from VAT: education andadvanced training, postage stamps and
postal services, medical services, banking andinsurance, funeral services andrequisites gambling and
lotteries, residential rent(letting ofhousing), medical equipment, treatment ofdangerous waste, since
February 1995, social services andscientific research activities ofuniversities andState research
establishments funded fromtheStatebudget, reusable packaging andmunicipal sauna services. Exports,
subscriptions toperiodicals published andprinted inEstonia, theatre tickets, tickets toconcerts ofState
concert organizations andStatecollectives ofperformers, textbooks andworkbooks forbasic schools
andgymnasiums, hadzero-rate VAT. Theturnover ofgoods suchasmedicines, medical goods, medical
treatment equipment andlottery tickets wastaxfree.TheGovernment hadtherighttograntexemptions
from VAT onimports fornon-profit purposes. Imports required forofficial purposes offoreign
representations anddiplomats werenotsubject toVAT provided thatforeign country granted thesame
righttoEstonia 'srepresentations abroad.
54. Noting thatcertain legalentities withaturnover below EEK 250,000 werenotregistered as
obligatory payers ofVAT, amember questioned therationale forthisprovision anditsconformity
withArticle IIIoftheGATT 1994. Inhisview, thisexemption would appear toconstitute asubsidy
program forsales ofdomestic goods bysmall Estonian businesses since imports were assessed for
theVAT inanycaseuponimportation. Estonia should revise itslegislation intheneartermorpropose
amethod bywhich thedeficiencies identified initsexcise taxandVATapplication would beaddressed.
Therepresentative ofEstonia replied thatlegalpersons whose taxable base(except imports) exceeded
thethreshold value ofEEK 250,000 inacalendar yearwere obliged toregister withtheTaxBoard
aspersons liable totaxation. Legal persons withataxable basebelow thethreshold value could also
seekregistration asliable totaxation attheTaxBoard. Inhisview, non-registration didnotamount
toasubsidy program forsmall Estonian companies forsalesofdomestic goods andservices sinceonly
registered taxpayers could claim arefund forVAT paidongoods andservices usedasinputs intheir
production. Experience suggested thatmost firms making useofthethreshold were small services
providers withrelatively lowinput costs.WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page23
[55. Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed that,asofthedateofaccession, theonlydomestic
taxes applied toimports would beexcise taxes andvalue added tax.Hefurther stated that,fromthe
dateofaccession, Estonia willapply itsdomestic taxes, including those onproducts listed inparagraphs
44to54instrict compliance withArticle IIIoftheGATT 1994, inanon-discriminatory manner to
importsregardlessofcountryoforiginandtodomestically-producedgoods.Inthisregard,thefollowing
actionswillbetakenconcerningthecurrenttaxmeasuresappliedtoalcoholicbeveragesandautomobiles:
(i) TheLawonAlcoholExciseTaxshallberevisedasfollows(revisionsareindicatedbystrikeout):
§6.Exemption from Excise Tax
Excise taxshallnotbecharged on:
(1)Beermanufactured inEstonia byonemanufacturer, whose annual production ofbeerdoesnot
exceed 5,000 dekalitres;
(2)Wine withanalcoholic content byvolume ofupto15percentvol.,manufactured inEstonia by
onemanufacturer, whose annual production doesnotexceed 100dekalitres.
(ii) TheLawonMotor Vehicle Excise Taxshallberevised asfollows:
Excise ratescurrently inforce based ontheageofmotor vehicle shallbereplaced asfollows:
Used motor vehicle upto10years ofage EEK 1,000
Used motor vehicle from 11to12years ofage EEK 100peryear
Used motor vehicle from 13years ofage EEK 150peryear
TheWorking Party tooknoteofthese commitments.]
Quantitative Import Restrictions, including Prohibitions, Quotas andLicensing Systems
56. Some members oftheWorking Party sought information about thescope of"Licences of
Activity" andalsocriteria inthegranting oflicences andrelated requirements; licensing arrangements
fortrade inmetals, spirits, tobacco andtobacco products, medicaments, weapons, ammunition, and
explosives; andtheuseofquantitative restrictions. Some members expressed theconcern thatunder
certain circumstances theconditions ofsaleofimported products could beaffected inamanner not
consistent withArticle IIIoftheGATT 1994, forinstance, trade inalcohol andtobacco required a
preliminarydeclaration.AmemberwasconcernedthatEstonia'slicensingsystemcouldbediscretionary
andrequested thatthedraftLicensing Actbeprovided totheWorking Party.WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page24
57. TherepresentativeofEstoniasaidthatlicensingwasnotappliedtorestrictimports,theproduction
orthewholesale ofanyproduct. The"preliminary declaration" requirement simply implied thatall
customs procedures andformalities needed tobecompleted before goods could cross theborder.
58. IndocumentWT/ACC/EST/9(AnnexII),therepresentativeofEstoniaprovidedtheinformation
onimport licensing procedures according totheformat applicable toWTO Members. Hestressed
thatgeneral government policy wastomaintain aliberal economic policy andtoreduce theareas of
activity subject tolicensing. Henoted thatEstonia considered thelicensing arrangements tobeconsistent
withtheWTO Import Licensing Agreement. Initssubmission, Estonia listed 41economic activities
inwhich operators needed a"Licence ofActivity" forproduction and/or trade, valid foruptofive
years, andthecorresponding regulatory authority (Table 6which isreproduced intheAnnex Table 5).
Among thejustifications listed weresafety (e.g.medicaments); atechnological leveladequate tocomply
withcompulsory standards (e.g.alcoholic beverages); registration requirements toprevent threats
tosecurity andtheenvironment (e.g. firearms andvehicles); andregistration andaccounting
requirements fortaxpurposes (alcoholic beverages, tobacco, metals, etc.). Thecriteria fortheissuing
oflicences werepublished intheofficial journal "Riigi Teataja" (State Gazette). Anyperson orfirm
fulfilling asetofobjective criteria (e.g.regarding relevant education, proper place ofbusiness, sanitary
requirements, aclean taxrecord, etc.)could obtain a"Licence ofActivity". Heconfirmed thatthe
number oflicences wasnotrestricted andthatlicences weregranted tonational andforeign operators
under equal conditions. Ineachlicensed sector identical criteria, objectively neutral andsystematically
administered, wereapplied regarding importation, exportation anddomestic trade. Anexpired licence
could berenewed orreplaced byanewvalid licence. Thefeesforissuing licences were nohigher
thannecessary tocover therelevant costs. Inmostcasesthefeedidnotexceed EEK 1,000 while alcohol
andtobacco licences costEEK 10,000.
59. Therepresentative ofEstonia explained thatEstonia intended toestablish ageneral framework
forlicensing which would ensure conformity withWTO provisions. Activity licences hadsofarbeen
established under different regulations; anewLicensing Actwould beelaborated in1997 toregulate
activity licences, constituting apermanent framework forthegranting oflicences bytheGovernment
inconformity withWTO provisions, inparticular theAgreement onImport Licensing Procedures.
Nofurther areas would besubject tolicensing while thenewlawwasinpreparation. ThedraftLaw
alsoenvisaged, inaddition tothe"Licence ofActivity", theoption ofhaving an"Obligation toAnnounce
theBeginningofOperations(i.e.anautomaticlicence)andtherebyreducingthenumberofnon-automatic
licences needed. Thelicensing legislation wasstillsubject tointernal discussion between Government
agencies.AtranslatedtextofthedraftLawonLicensingwouldbeprovidedtointerestedWTOMembers
assoonaspossible.WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page25
60. Therepresentative ofEstonia stated thattheimportation ofproducts covered byactivity licences
weresubjectonlytorequirementsconsistentwiththeWTOAgreement.Heconfirmedthatnorestrictions
existed ontherightofforeign anddomestic individuals andenterprises toimport andexport goods
andservices within Estonia 'scustoms territory, withtheexception ofthose specifically listed inTable 6
5.Theactivity licenses enumerated inTable 65didnotrestrict foreign participation astheyapplied
equally toforeign anddomestic businesses. Activity licences were administered forthepurpose of
ensuring product safety. Thecriteria forgranting activity licences differed according totheareaof
activity andhadbeenpublished intheOfficial Journal RiigiTeataja .Upon request, therepresentative
ofEstoniawouldprovideamoredetailedtablecontainingreferencestorelevantGovernmentRegulations.
Thecriteria forengaging inimport andexport trade intherestricted sectors were consistent with
generally applicable restrictions placed ontrade insimilar domestically produced goods andbased on
criteria published intheofficial journal. Theavailability ofactivity licences wasnotrestricted nor
wasthelicensing applied torestrict imports, theproduction, wholesale orretail trade inanyproduct.
61. [Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed thatEstonia would notintroduce, re-introduce or
apply quantitative restrictions orother non-tariff measures suchasquotas, licences, prior permits or
otherrequirements ormeasures thatcould actasquantitative restrictions onimports orexports. Balance
ofpayments measures werenotenvisaged atthepresent stage. Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed
thatactivity licensing relating tothetrade ingoods wascarried outfully inlinewiththeWTO
Agreements, including theAgreements onImport Licensing Procedures andArticles VIIIandXIof
theGATT 1994.] Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed that,fromthedateofaccession, Estonia
would notintroduce, re-introduce orapply quantitative restrictions onimports, orother non-tariff
measures suchaslicensing, quotas, bansandother restrictions having equivalent effect thatcould not
bejustified under theprovisions oftheWTO Agreement. Ifbalance-of-payment measures wereever
necessary inthefuture, Estonia would impose them inamanner consistent withtherelevant WTO
provisions, including Article XIIoftheGATT 1994 andtheUnderstanding onBalance-of-Payments
Provisions oftheGATT 1994. TheWorking Party tooknoteofthese commitments.
Customs Valuation
62. Some members oftheWorking Party asked about thestatus oftheCustoms Valuation Law
anditscontent. Relating therequest forinformation toEstonia 'simplementation oftheWTO Agreement
ontheImplementation ofArticle VIIoftheGATT 1994, these members enquired whether Estonia 's
Customs Valuation Lawwasfullyconsistent withtheWTO Agreement. Amember understood that
Estonia wasconsidering legislation which could provide forminimum prices onimportation ofcertainWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
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foodproducts andquestioned theconformity ofsuchlegislation withGATT rules. Estonia alsoappeared
touseprice listsofreference prices toverify invoices. Thismember reminded Estonia thattheuse
ofminimum import prices orreference prices wasaviolation ofArticle VII.
63. Therepresentative ofEstonia explained thattheCustoms Valuation Lawhadbeenadopted
on8February 1995 andhadentered intoforce on1January 1996. Thedelay hadbeennecessary
toundertake preparatory work foritsimplementation, including practical arrangements suchasthe
printing ofdocuments, thetraining ofcustoms officers, informing traders, etc.Estonia considered
theLawtobeinfullconformity withWTO rules, including theWTO Agreement ontheImplementation
ofArticle VIIoftheGATT 1994.
64. Estonia 'sresponse tothequestionnaire on"Information onImplementation andAdministration
oftheAgreement"wassubmittedinAugust1995(WT/ACC/EST/4,annexes1and6,listedindocument
WT/ACC/EST/5). Therepresentative ofEstonia wasasked toclarify provisions intheCustoms
Valuation Lawrelating totheuseoftransaction value between related parties (Article 4(3)); verification
oftransaction values between related parties based ontestvalues (Articles 4(5)(4) and(5)); anda
reference tominimum customs values inArticle 9(2)(4) oftheLaw. Estonia wasalsoasked about
theimplementation ofDecision 4.1oftheCustoms Valuation Committee concerning thevaluation of
carrier media bearing software fordataprocessing equipment (theSoftware Decision).
65. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatEstonia hadintroduced theprovisions oftheSoftware
Decision. Adecree, issued bytheMinistry ofFinance on11January 1996, stipulated thatonlythe
costofthecarrier medium itselfwould beaccounted forinthecustoms value. Hestated thatthevalue
ofimportedmerchandisewasdeterminedinconformitywithGATTArticleVII(2)(a)alsointransactions
between related parties; testvalues wereusedfortheverification ofthedeclared value withtheactual
value onlyattherequest oftheimporter.
66. Therepresentative ofEstonia assured members oftheWorking Party thattheLawonCustoms
Valuation would beapplied infullconformity withtheWTO Agreement ontheImplementation of
Article VIIoftheGATT 1994. Inaddition, heconfirmed thatArticle 9(2)(4) oftheLawwould be
applied consistent withArticle VII(Valuation forCustoms Purposes). Hestressed thatArticle 9(2)(4)
oftheCustoms Valuation Lawprohibited thesetting upofminimum import values. Heunderlined
thatEstonia didnothaveanymeasures inplace which would beinconsistent withWTO rules, nor
would Estonia introduce suchmeasures inthefuture. Estonia didnotusemeasures suchasminimum
prices, reference prices orlistsofprices inorder tocalculate customs value ortoverify invoices.WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page27
67. Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed that,fromthedateofaccession, Estonia would apply
fullytheWTO provisions concerning customs valuation, including inaddition totheAgreement on
theImplementationofArticleVIIoftheGATT1994,theprovisionsontheTreatmentofInterestCharges
inCustoms Value ofImported Goods andfortheValuation ofCarrier Media Bearing Software for
DataProcessing Equipment. Inaccordance withthese latter provisions, onlythecostofthecarrier
medium itselfwould beaccounted forinthecustoms value. Hestated thatEstonia [didnotand]would
notuseanyformofreference priceorfixed valuation schedule forthevaluation ofimports ortoapply
duties andtaxes, andthatallmethods ofvaluation usedwereinstrict conformity withthose provided
forintheWTO Agreement ontheImplementation ofArticle VIIoftheGATT 1994. Hefurther
confirmed that, asaninternational agreement, theprovisions oftheWTO Agreement onthe
Implementation ofArticle VIIoftheGATT 1994would supersede domestic lawafteraccession. The
Working Party tooknoteofthese commitments.
Other Customs Formalities
68. TherepresentativeofEstoniaconfirmedthatothercustomsformalitieswereappliedinaccordance
withinternationally accepted rules andwerebased ontheKyoto Convention. Headded thatEstonia
wasamember oftheWorld Customs Organization since June1992.
Rules ofOrigin
69. Some members oftheWorking Party requested information about theelaboration ofrulesof
origin inEstonia whether inthecontext offreetrade agreements orotherwise. Amember requested
Estonia toconfirm thatitsrules oforigin forbothpreferential andnon-preferential trade complied
fullywiththeWTO Agreement onRules ofOrigin. Estonia wasasked todescribe, inparticular,
measures consistent withthedisciplines under Article 2oftheAgreement andtheCommon Declaration
inAnnex IIoftheAgreement.
70. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatthedrafting ofrulesoforigin wasacontinuous process
evolving inaccordance withdevelopments intheTechnical Committee onRules ofOrigin oftheWTO.
Duetotheliberal foreign traderegime theelaboration ofnational rulesoforigin hadnotbeenconsidered
essential inEstonia, butagreed rulesoforigin wereusedintheframework offreetrade agreements.
Estonia applied unified rules oforigin within thesystem ofdiagonal cumulative origin among the
countriesoftheEuropeanEconomicArea,Switzerlandandtenassociatedcountriesincentralandeastern
Europe. Members oftheWorking Party weresupplied copies oftherulesoforigin ofEstonia 'sfreeWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page28
trade agreements withEFTA countries; theEuropean Union, theUkraine andthetrilateral free-trade
agreement withLatvia andLithuania. Hesaidthatthepreferential rulesoforigin complied fullywith
thedisciplines under theCommon Declaration inAnnex IIoftheWTO Agreement onRules ofOrigin.
TheEstonian authorities envisaged theelaboration oflegislation onrulesoforigin along thelinesof
existing rules oforigin inpreferential trade agreements andthesuggestions anddecisions ofthe
Committee onRules ofOrigin oftheWorld Customs Organization andtheWTO Agreement onRules
ofOrigin. Work onanewCustoms Code would begin inAutumn 1997, andinthisconnection non-
preferential rulesoforigin would alsobeenacted. Thenon-preferential rulesoforigin would comply
fullywiththeWTO Agreement onRules ofOrigin.
Anti-Dumping, Countervailing Duties, andSafeguard Regimes
71. Some members oftheWorking Party noted thatEstonia appeared nottohaveanyspecific anti-
dumping legislation, butthatanAnti-dumping Law, including countervailing duties procedures, was
inpreparation. Inview oftheuncertainty regarding thedateofentry intoforce ofsuchalawand
itscontent, Estonia wasasked tosubmit draftlegislation forcomment tomembers oftheWorking
Party.
72. InresponsetoaspecificquestiontherepresentativeofEstoniaclarifiedthatwhilepricedumping
wasmentionedamongabusesofdominantpositioninChapterIII,Article17oftheLawonCompetition,
thelisted unfair trade practices intheActdidnotoverlap withanypending anti-dumping statute. He
added thatnotextofanyAnti-dumping Lawexisted yet.Provisions onanti-dumping andcountervailing
measures would notbeincluded intheCustoms Tariff Law.
73. [Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed that,atthispoint, Estonia didnothavelegalauthority
toapply anti-dumping duties, countervailing duties, andsafeguards, andtherefore didnotusethese
measures toregulate trade.] Hefurther saidthatEstonia would notapply anysuchmeasures until
ithadimplementedappropriatelaws,andthatintheelaborationofanylegislationinthefutureconcerning
suchmeasures, Estonia would ensure theirfullconformity withtherelevant WTO provisions, including
Articles VIandXIXofGATT 1994 andtheAgreements ontheImplementation ofArticle VI,the
Agreement onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures andtheAgreement onSafeguards. Estonia would
alsoapply anyanti-dumping duties, countervailing duties andsafeguard measures infullconformity
withtheWTO provisions. TheWorking Party tooknoteofthese commitments.WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page29
2. Export Regulations
Customs Tariffs, FeesandCharges forServices Rendered, Application ofInternal Taxes toExports
74. Some members oftheWorking Party noted thatEstonia applied export taxes onmetals and
objects ofcultural value andasked foradescription andjustification ofthese taxes. Inresponse, the
representative ofEstonia replied thata100percentexport taxwaslevied onobjects ofcultural value,
i.e.dating frombefore 1950. Prices forobjects ofcultural value destined forexport weredetermined
bytheExpert Division onExportation ofCultural Values oftheCentral Board ofAntiquities. Export
taxes onmetals hadbeenabolished, butexports werecontrolled through aState monopoly onscrap
andradioactive metal exports. Thecommitments onexport duties agreed between Estonia andmembers
oftheWorking Party areannexed totheProtocol ofAccession ofEstonia, reproduced intheAppendix
tothisReport.
75. Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed thattheexport taxes ongoods andservices applied
byEstonia werelisted inAppendix [...]attached toitsaccession protocol, including thelevelofthe
tax.These taxes wereauthorized under Government Decree No.52of19February 1992 "Order of
Imposing Customs Duties" andwereapplied inorder tomaintain thenational cultural heritage. After
accession totheWTO, Estonia would minimize theuseofsuchtaxesandanysuchtaxesapplied would
beinaccordance withtheprovisions oftheWTO Agreement andpublished intheOfficial Gazette.
Changes intheapplication ofsuchmeasures, theirlevel, scope, orjustification, would alsobepublished
intheOfficial Gazette. TheWorking Party tooknoteofthese commitments.
Export Restrictions
76. Noting thattheMinistry ofEconomic Affairs hadtherighttoimpose export quotas oncertain
goods, some members oftheWorking Party asked therepresentative ofEstonia toclarify licensing
arrangements affecting tradeinmetals, spirits, tobacco products andmedicaments andtojustify export
quotas/licences ongravel andclay. Some members alsosought clarification onEstonia 'sintentions
regarding theuseofnon-tariff measures onexports foremergency purposes. Therepresentative of
Estonia replied thattheMinistry ofEconomic Affairs 'right todetermine export quotas hadbeen
eliminated. Thelastremaining export quota (onquartz sand) hadbeenabolished andEstonia didnot
foresee anyfurther quantitative regulation offoreign trade. Astheexport quota/licence ongravel and
clayhadbeenterminated on1January 1995, nojustification would berequired under GATT orWTO
provisions andEstonia would seeknotransitional period forthismeasure. Export andimport licencesWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page30
assuchdidnotexist, buthereferred totheearlier response regarding "Licence ofActivity" (in
paragraph [58]above). Headded thatEstonia would notapply regulations onexports beyond WTO
mechanisms.
77. Export control measures (licences) onscrap metal andradioactive waste material didnotcarry
anylimitation ofquantity. Licences wereissued automatically provided theapplicant could prove that
thegoods hadbeenobtained legally. Failure todosocould constitute acriminal offence. Trade in
metal scrap andradioactive materials wascontrolled byaState monopoly forsecurity reasons, i.e.
toensure thatexports didnotoriginate from illegal sources andthatsafety requirements werebeing
observed inthehandling ofthese goods. Thisexport control measure didnotamount toaquantitative
restriction since anyparty interested inexporting legally obtained metal scrap orradioactive materials
could usetheservices ofthemonopoly operator. In1996, themonopoly hadexported metal scrap
worth nearly EEK 8million.
78. Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed thatallexport quotas andlicences andmeasures having
similar effect hadbeen eliminated andthatanyremaining export control requirements were fully
consistent withWTO provisions, including those contained inArticles XI,XVII, XXandXXIofthe
GATT1994.[Estoniawouldmaintainanexportmonopolyonscrapmetalandradioactivewastematerial
until31December 1999, bywhich dateitwould beeliminated.] TheWorking Party tooknoteofthis
commitment.
Export Subsidies
79. SomemembersoftheWorkingPartysoughtinformationaboutsubsidies,includingtaxincentives
related toexports, theactivities oftheExport Credit Fund, theconsideration ofwideranging useof
exportincentives,andexistingorplannedmeasurestotacklemarketdisturbancesorbalance-of-payments
problems. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatnotaxincentives, including taxholidays, existed
topromote exports. Heconfirmed thatloans fromtheExport Credit Fund carried 12to16percent
annual interest, comparable tothecommercial interest ratesof12to18percentineffect forshort-term
loans inEstonia in1996. Plans existed todevelop theFund intoanExport Credit andGuarantee Board
which would receive theinitial capital injection fromtheNational Budget. Estonia would notconsider
wideranging export incentives, but,duetoanincreasingly negative trade balance, hadtheintention
tointroduce moderate export incentive schemes. Enterprise- orsector-specific subsidies were not
envisaged; theschemes would beofhorizontal nature andallocations would bebased onobjectiveWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page31
economic criteria. Therepresentative ofEstonia added thattheincentives schemes would beapplied
inconformity withWTO requirements.
80. Therepresentative ofEstonia stated thatfromthedateofaccession Estonia would notmaintain
anyexport subsidies which metthedefinition ofaprohibited subsidy within themeaning ofArticle 3
oftheAgreement onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures, andwould notintroduce suchsubsidies
inthefuture. TheWorking Party tooknoteofthiscommitment.
3. Internal Policies Affecting Foreign Trade inGoods
Industrial Policy, including Subsidies
81. SomemembersoftheWorkingPartyrequesteddetailsonanysubsidiestoprivateorState-owned
enterprises andasked whether Estonia maintained anyindustry support tobenotified inaccordance
withtheAgreement onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures. Some members alsoasked Estonia
tostateitsattitude regarding future resort tosubsidies inthepursuit ofindustrial policy andclarification
oftheintention torestore historical trade links.
82. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthattherestoration ofhistorical trade linkswould involve
freeandbalanced economic linkswithcountries offering Estonia thebestpossibilities andrealpotential
formutuallybeneficialeconomicpartnership.Estoniaconfirmedthatithadsomeprogrammesproviding
subsidies toindustries, inparticular theInnovation Foundation, which provided grants forresearch
anddevelopment activities, andtheLawonStateSupport forEntrepreneurship, which regulated State
support tosmall andmedium sized enterprises. Inthislatter casesupport -loans andloanguarantees
-weremade available byaneleven-member Council. TheEstonian Innovation Foundation wasanon-
profit organization, established bytheGovernment. Itsoperations werecoordinated bytheEstonian
Research andDevelopment Council, acollective advisory bodytotheGovernment. Themainfunctions
oftheFoundation weretoinitiate andfundStatetechnology programmes; finance projects toimprove
production technology atthepre-industrial stage; promote technical andtechnological research and
development; andtosupport thedevelopment ofscience andtechnology parks andproduction
infrastructure. TheFoundation provided grants forapplied research (upto50percentofproject costs)
andloans forindustrial projects (maximum 75percentofproject costs). Intheperiod 1991-1995,
theEstonianInnovationFoundationhadsupported214projects,providinggrantstotallingEEK12million
andloans ofEEK 80million; theFoundation 'sbudget for1997amounted toEEK 20million. Estonia
provided adraftnotification under Article 8.3(Non-actionable subsidies) oftheAgreement onSubsidiesWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
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andCountervailing Measures regarding theactivities oftheEstonian Innovation Foundation tothe
Working Party (document WT/ACC/EST/20).
83. Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed thatanysubsidy programmes would beadministered
inlinewiththeAgreement onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures andallnecessary information
onnotifiableprogrammeswouldbeprovidedtotheCommitteeonSubsidiesandCountervailingMeasures
inaccordance withArticle 25oftheAgreement uponentryintoforceofEstonia 'sProtocol ofAccession.
TheWorking Party tooknoteofthiscommitment.
Technical Barriers toTrade, Sanitary andPhytosanitary Measures
84. Some members oftheWorking Party inquired about theapplication ofinternational andnational
standards inEstonia andthecompliance withvarious provisions oftheAgreement onTechnical Barriers
toTrade (TBT) andonSanitary andPhytosanitary Measures (SPS). Regarding agriculture, some
members asked about theobjectives oftheFood Lawandtheresort tosanitary andphytosanitary
measures, withparticular reference toGovernment Regulations 300and340of1992.
85. Therepresentative ofEstonia supplied information ontechnical barriers totrade indocument
WT/ACC/EST/9 (Annex III)andanotification onsanitary andphytosanitary measures. Headded
thatatpresent nolegalactregulated theadoption andapplication ofstandards. Estonia hadconcluded
agreements withBSI(United Kingdom), DIN(Germany) andGOST R(Russia) onpossible adoption
ofnational standards ofthose countries asEstonian national standards. TheNational Standards Board
wasresponsible forstandardization issues. Estonia wasacorrespondent member oftheISO, an
associatedmemberoftheIECandanaffiliatedmemberofCENandCENELEC,andthishadencouraged
theapplication ofinternational andEuropean Standards. Current Estonian standards were adopted
European andinternational standards orbased onthose. Estonian standards were harmonized with
theregulation oftheEuropean Union andwere generally voluntary, except theapplication ofsome
standards (e.g.onpurchasing requirements ofmilk, onfiresafety, etc.)made mandatory byministries '
regulations andinthecaseoftechnical regulations onspirits (white vodka) andconstruction cement.
ConformityassessmentswereorganizedinaccordancewithEuropeanrequirements(EN45000).Former
USSR criteria, theso-called GOST standards, remained temporarily valid insome areas butwereno
longer mandatory. Allstandards applied equally todomestic andimported products. Acceptance of
foreign certification wasbased ontheprinciple ofmutual recognition between therelevant body in
Estonia anditscounterpart inanother country. Draft standards andregistration notices werepublished
intheofficial bulletin oftheNational Standards Board "EVS Teataja" .WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page33
86. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthat"high quality" and"internationally competitive food"
werekeyobjectives citedinEstonia 'sFood Law, which wastoserve asabasisforfurther legislation
regulating foodhandling, quality, safety, control andinspection. ANational Food Board hadbeen
established todealwithallmatters concerning foodandnutrition policy, however, itstasks hadbeen
transferred totheMinistry ofAgriculture inaccordance withtheamendments totheFood Lawof
26June1996. Theresponsibilities oftheMinistry thusincluded planning andanalysis ofthestatus
offoodandnutrition,elaborationofrelevantstrategicproposals,draftinglawsonfoodandfoodhandling,
organization offoodsafety inspection, advising authorities certifying andtesting foodquality andsafety,
andelaboration andimplementation offoodmonitoring programmes.
87. Therepresentative ofEstonia added thatborder controls onplants andplant products were
effected bytheStatePlant Quarantine Inspection inaccordance withGovernment Regulation 300(of
17October1992)on"RegulationofarrangingphytosanitarycontrolontheStateborder"andamendments
tothisdoneon19October 1992 (Regulation No.340)and31March 1995 (Regulation No.147)as
wellastheLawonPlant Protection andtheTemporary Regulation ontheStateControl, Sale, Export
andImport oftheSeeds ofField Crops, andtheLawonVeterinary Services of1992. Sanitary and
phytosanitary measures andthework ofveterinary services wereinaccordance withtheCodex ofthe
OIE(Office International desEpizooties), inwhich Estonia hadbeenmember since1992. Goods subject
toveterinary controls, border check points, requirements forveterinary certificates andtheprocedures
forsettling claims were laiddown inaDecree oftheMinister ofAgriculture of3August 1994 and
Government Regulation No.17of10April 1995. Theauthorities considered thehealth andsafety
provisions oftheFood Lawtobeconsistent withtheWTO Agreement onSanitary andPhytosanitary
Measures. TheFood Lawwould beamended toinclude acceptance ofexporters 'certificates, issued
inconformity withISO9000 andEN45000, attheborder.
88. Some members oftheWorking Party noted thatEstonia hadadopted nolaws, regulations or
administrative procedures relating totheimplementation andadministration oftheWTO obligations
ontechnical barriers totrade andthatregulations concerning SPSwere being developed. Intheir
view, these procedures should beenacted bythetimeofEstonia 'saccession totheWTO.
89. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatEstonia would provide copies ofdraftlegislation related
totechnical barriers totrade andsanitary andphytosanitary measures toMembers forcomment. He
confirmedthatEstoniawouldestablishanEnquiryPointasrequiredinArticle10oftheWTOAgreement
onTechnical Barriers toTrade, andthatagencies drafting standards andconformity assessment or
certification procedures would takeintoaccount existing international standards orguidelines priorWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page34
todrafting domestic legislation. These agencies would accept theCode ofGood Practice established
inAnnex 3oftheTBTAgreement, notify WTO Members atthedraft stage andtakeintoaccount
commentsfromWTOMembersbeforefinalizingregulations.Estoniasubmittedinformationonnational
enquiry points totheWorking Party indocument WT/ACC/EST/19.
90. Therepresentative ofEstonia provided saidthatEstonia waspreparing adraftnotification under
Article 15.2oftheTBTAgreement inApril 1997(document WT/ACC/EST/17). Theauthorities had
prepared aDraft Standard Act; thisactwould provide thelegal andorganizational basis for
standardization activities inEstonia. TheMinistry ofAgriculture would review theFood Law, the
LawonVeterinary Services, theLawonPlant Protection, theLawonGrain, theLawonConsumer
Protection andtheLawonCommon Health withaview toensure their conformity withWTO
Agreements, including theAgreement onTechnical Barriers toTrade andtheAgreement onSanitary
andPhytosanitary measures.
91. Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed thatEstonia would apply allobligations under the
WTO Agreements onSanitary andPhytosanitary Measures andTechnical Barriers toTrade fromthe
dateofaccession without recourse toanytransition period. Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed
thatprocedures togrant licences toimport foodwould befinalized bytheendof1997 andwould be
infullconformity withtheprovisions oftheWTO Agreement onImport Licensing Procedures, notably
itsArticles 2,3and5.Therepresentative ofEstonia added thatlicences inthisconnection would
notacttorestrict thequantity ofimports; theywould begranted automatically withtheexception
ofconditions related toTBTandphytosanitary requirements. TheWorking Party tooknoteofthese
commitments.
Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs)
92. Withreference totrade related investment measures, therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed
thathisGovernment applied theprinciple ofnational treatment. HesaidthatEstonia would notmaintain
anymeasures inconsistent withtheTRIMs Agreement andwould notdoesnotintend tointroduce any
suchnon-conforming measures inthefuture andwould notinvoke provisions intheAgreement that
provide fortheprogressive elimination ofsuchmeasures within afixed period oftime. TheWorking
Party tooknoteofthiscommitment.WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
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State-trading
93. Some members oftheWorking Party noted thatasignificant portion ofEstonia 'soutput and
traderemained inStatehands andthattobacco andalcohol hadbeensubject toStatemonopoly. Estonia
wasrequested tonotify under Article XVII anydefactoordejuretrademonopoly andtradeactivities
ofanyState-owned firmbenefitting from selective support orsubject toState intervention.
94. Therepresentative ofEstonia replied thatfollowing extensive privatization State-owned firms
accounted forlessthan5percentofdomestic trade. Theprocess ofprivatization wascontinuing and
shares inprivatized companies weretraded actively ontheTallinn Stock Exchange. Hestressed that
theinfluence oninternational trade oftheshares remaining inGovernment ownership wasdifficult
toestimate asEstonian lawdidnotallow thecustoms authorities todisclose enterprise-specific trade
information toanythirdparty except thetaxauthorities. Estimates based ontrade pershare werenot
meaningful inpractice because ofrapid changes inshare ownership. Therefore, hecould onlyconfirm
astrong tendency forState-ownership todecrease astheStatesoldshares tothepublic toencourage
thedevelopment ofEstonia 'sstock market. Withtheexception ofanexport monopoly onscrap metal
andradioactive scrap, Eesti Energia andEesti Põlevkivi ,therepresentative ofEstonia saidthat
enterprises part-privatized through thesaleofState-owned shares didnotconstitute aState trading
enterprise inthesense ofArticle XVII since theyhadnospecial rights orprivileges inrelation toany
other enterprises.
95. Estonia notified under Article XVII oftheGATT 1994 initsInformation onState-trading
(WT/ACC/EST/9 (Annex IV))thataState monopoly hadbeenestablished onscrap metal tocontrol
metal trade. Thepurpose ofthescrap metal monopoly (EMEX) wastoprevent serious crime; i.e.
tradeinmetalstolenfromunguardedinstallationsandconstructionsites.Suchtheftshadcausedextensive
damage todomestic infrastructure, inparticular totheoperations ofEstonian Railways, Estonian Energy
andEstonian Telephone. Themonopoly would alsobeusedtocontrol trade inradioactive scrap
materials.
96. Therepresentative ofEstonia stated thathisGovernment hadidentified theState monopoly
onexports ofmetal scrap andradioactive waste andthetrading activities ofthefirms Eesti Energia
andEesti Põlevkivi assubject totheprovisions ofArticle XVII oftheGATT 1994. Heconfirmed
thatitwastheintent ofhisGovernment toeventually eliminate itsState trading role. Hefurther
confirmed thatafteraccession totheWTO, Estonia would observe theprovisions ofArticle XVII of
theGATT 1994, theWTO Understanding onthatArticle, andArticle VIIIoftheGATS regardingWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page36
State trading, inparticular abiding bytheprovisions fornotification, non-discrimination, andthe
application ofcommercial considerations fortrade transactions except forthemonopoly onexports
ofmetal scrap, noenterprises carried special orexclusive rights inEstonia. Heconfirmed thatthe
scrap metal monopoly would beoperated inaccordance withtherelevant provisions oftheWTO
Agreements, including Articles XVII andXIoftheGATT 1994, andthatthemonopoly would be
abolished withthereturn tonormal conditions inthetradeofmetal scrap inEstonia. Therepresentative
ofEstonia further confirmed that,intheapplication oflawsandregulations governing thetrading
activities ofState-owned enterprises andother enterprises withspecial andexclusive rights, his
Government would inallcircumstances actinfullconformity withtheprovisions oftheWTO
Agreements, inparticular Article XVIIoftheGATT 1994, including theUnderstanding onthatArticle,
andArticle XIoftheGATT 1994; aswellasArticle VIIIoftheGATS. Hefurther confirmed that
Estonia would notify anyenterprise falling within thescope ofArticle XVII. TheWorking Party took
noteofthese commitments.
FreeZones, Special Economic Areas
97. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatthere were currently nofreetrade zones inEstonia.
Government Procurement
98. Some members oftheWorking Party asked whether Estonia intended tojointheAgreement
onGovernment Procurement andrequested details about Estonia 'sprocurement legislation, itscoverage
anditsconformity withWTO principles. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthattheLawonPublic
Procurement wasadopted inMay1995 andentered intoforce on1January 1996. TheLawwasin
linewithWTO provisions. TheGovernment hadestablished aPublic Procurement Office tocoordinate
andadminister public procurement activities. Thelegislation defined fiveprincipal methods of
procurement; opentender, two-stage tendering, negotiated tendering, request forquotations andsingle-
source procurement. Open tender implied thatanyinterested supplier could submit abidandno
negotiation would takeplacebetween theprocuring entity andanytenderer. Two-stage tendering would
beapplied when alltechnical andeconomic factors could notbeassessed apriori ortheprocurement
carried uncertainty regarding research anddevelopment costs. Negotiated tendering would beorganized
inprocurement subsequent toaninconclusive round ofopentender (nobidsreceived oralltenders
rejected) orincasepublic procurement involved urgent works orpublic procurement wasperformed
bythediplomaticrepresentationoftheRepublicofEstonia,i.e.procurementtakingplaceoutsideEstonia.
Prior tothecommencement ofthetendering theprocuring entity should notify thePublic ProcurementWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page37
Office inwriting about theperformance ofthetendering. Theprocuring entity could request quotations
when acompetitive market existed fortheproduct tobepurchased andtheprocedure would result
inoffers below thegoing market price andaftertherelevant written notifications hadbeensenttothe
office. Single-source procurement could onlytakeplaceintheexistence ofsolesuppliers, extraordinary
needs ortimepressure; asacontinuation ofprevious procurement contracts; andwhen thesupplier
would carry outresearch anddevelopment resulting inprototypes. Again, therelevant notice inwriting
should besenttotheOffice prior tothetendering procedure. Inaccordance withtheamendments
totheLawonPublic Procurement of1January 1997, theobservance oftherules established inthe
LawonPublic Procurement were notobligatory when theobjective ofthepublic procurement was
(i)public procurement involving Statesecrets; (ii)printed matter andarticles ofvirtue; (iii)scientific
research andspecial programmes; (iv)elaboration oflegal actsandlegal assistance; (v)purchase
ofanexisting building oranypartthereof fromanatural person; and(vi)public procurement established
byother laws.
99. Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed that,uponitsaccession, hisGovernment would notify
theCommittee onGovernment Procurement ofitsintention toaccede totheAgreement onGovernment
Procurement andseekobserver status inthatCommittee. Hefurther confirmed thatEstonia would
initiate negotiations formembership intheAgreement bytabling anentity offer within [three][six]
months ofaccession totheWTO priorto31December 1998[31December 1997]. Healsoconfirmed
that,iftheresults ofthenegotiations were aresatisfactory totheinterests ofEstonia andtheother
members oftheAgreement, Estonia would complete negotiations formembership intheAgreement
by31December 1998 orwithin oneyearofaccession, whichever came first2000 [30June1998].
TheWorking Party tooknoteofthese commitments.
Transit
100. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatEstonia hadjoined the"Convention onCustoms for
Goods inInternational Transit under theTIRCarnet" inApril 1993. Departure andarrival formalities
werecompleted atthecustoms inspection stations attheborder. Nocustoms duty, customs clearance
charge, salestaxorexcise taxwere levied ongoods intransit.
101. TherepresentativeofEstoniaconfirmedthathisGovernmentwouldapplyitslawsandregulations
governingtransitoperationsandwouldactinfullconformitywiththeprovisionsoftheWTOAgreement,
inparticular Article VoftheGATT 1994. TheWorking Party tooknoteofthiscommitment.WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page38
4. Agricultural Policies
102. Some members oftheWorking Party requested information onEstonia 'scurrent agricultural
policy, including main principles, andspecific policies regarding tariffs andtariff bindings, trade
measures inthegrain sector, safeguards, farmsupport programmes andincomes policy, pricecontrols,
export subsidies, privatization andpreferential trade arrangements.
103. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatthereturn oflandtoformer owners hadbeen a
cumbersome process butthemajor partofagriculture hadbeenprivatized. Remaining Stateenterprises
stillplayed animportant roleinthedevelopment ofseeds andbreeds. Foreign ownership existed in
thefoodprocessing industry. Estonia hadnotariffs ornon-tariff measures affecting agricultural imports
andnosubsidies orprice controls onfood. However, theLawonMarket Arrangements would allow
theintroduction oftariffs. Theinitial offer forthemarket access negotiations (WT/L/60) included
nozero-tariff bindings inagriculture andEstonia indicated thatitstariffs would bebound atalevel
similar totheneighbouring countries. The1994 LawonGrain allowed theGovernment torestrict
grain imports when domestic demand wasfullycovered bylocalproduction. However, quotas had
notbeenimplemented untilnow. Therepresentative ofEstonia agreed thattheLawonGrain was
inconsistent withtheWTO andtheAgreement onAgriculture andEstonia wasready totakea
commitment tobring theLawonGrain intoconformity withWTO Agreements bythedateofaccession.
Theprovisions intheGrain Lawauthorizing theuseofimport quotas when domestic demand wasfully
covered bylocalproduction were accordingly repealed, andacopyoftheamended Grain Lawwas
provided totheWorking Party.
104. Therepresentative ofEstonia confirmed Estonia 'sawareness oftheWTO requirement notto
usequantitative restrictions andtorelyoncustoms duties andsaidthatthisrulewould befollowed
infuture policy. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatdrafting ofaLawonFood Licensing hadnot
beencompleted asforeseen bytheendof1996 duetoamendments made intheFood Law. Estonia
haddecided nottoprescribe foodlicensing bylaw. Paragraph 4oftheFood Lawstated thatthe
Government should enforce theissuance oflicenses forhandling food. Thecorresponding legislative
actwould bedrafted bytheendof1997, andwaslikely toenter intoforce inearly 1998. Thedraft
LawonFood Licensing would befinalized bytheendof1997. Hestressed thatlicensing arrangements
forfoodimports would beofautomatic nature andwould nothaverestrictive effect onimports.
[105. Some members oftheWorking Party noted thattheprovisions regarding special safeguard
measures intheAgreement onAgriculture were reserved forWTO members having undertakenWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page39
tariffication ofnon-tariff measures intheUruguay Round. Therefore, asanon-member oftheWTO
atthattime, Estonia would notbeentitled toresort tospecial safeguard measures. Amember sought
acommitment from Estonia nottoinvoke special safeguard measures onanyagricultural products.
Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatEstonia 'sunderstanding wasthatnon-Uruguay Round countries
alsohadapossibility tousesuchmeasures. Accordingly, Estonia would notexclude anyfuture resort
tospecial safeguard measures, buthewasnotabletoindicate anyspecific areas where suchmeasures
might beused.]
[106. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatthelackoffinancial resources hadsofarprevented
subsidization ofagricultural exports, butEstonia would reserve therighttointroduce domestic support
programmes andexport subsidies. Anofferondomestic support andexport subsidies foragriculture
wascirculated tomembers oftheWorking Party inSeptember 1995(WT/SPEC/13) including export
subsidy ceilings forbutter, cheese, milkpowder, beef, pigmeatandpoultry meat; income support
measures subject toreduction commitments; andvarious "green box"measures. Estonia alsolisted
anumber ofcurrent support programmes itconsidered "green box"support inWT/ACC/EST/4. Some
members oftheWorking Party didnotagree thatEstonia should beentitled toclaim protection for
programs ithadnotyetimplemented, suchasexport subsidy programs, orprograms thathadbeen
implemented afterEstonia applied foraccession totheWTO.]
[tobecompleted]
Trade inCivil Aircraft
107. Amember oftheWorking Party sought acommitment thatEstonia would implement the
Agreement onTrade inCivilAircraft without exceptions ortransition periods atthetimeofaccession.
108. TherepresentativeofEstoniaconfirmedthatEstoniawouldbecomeasignatorytotheAgreement
onTrade inCivil Aircraft upon accession totheWTO. TheWorking Party tooknoteofthis
commitment.
TRADE-RELATED ASPECTS OFINTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
109. Some members oftheWorking Party requested details about legislation andenforcement of
intellectual property rightprotection inEstonia andthecompatibility withrequirements oftheTRIPS
Agreement. Specific questions wereaddressed regarding exceptions fromnational orMFN treatment,WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page40
non-patentable inventions, protection ofplantvarieties, patent holders 'rights, extension ofpatent terms,
granting ofcompulsory licences, judicial review, semiconductors, copyright, trademarks, industrial
design andcompetition andanti-trust.
110. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatEstonia deemed itsintellectual property rightprotection
compatible withtheTRIPS Agreement withnoexceptions totheprinciples ofnational andm.f.n.
treatment. ThePatent Office hadopened inMarch 1992. During 1992and1994Estonia hadenacted
aPatent Law; aUtility Model Law; aTrademark Law; andaCopyright Law, andprovisions related
toTRIPS-obligations hadbeenincluded intheLawonCompetition of7July1993. ADesign Protection
Lawwasinpreparation. Legislation onindustrial property wassaidtobemodelled oncorresponding
lawsoftheNordic countries. Estonia 'sCopyright LawandTrademark Lawallowed bilateral and
multilateral agreements towhich Estonia hadacceded totakeprecedence ifprovisions ofnational law
were inconsistent withtheprovisions ofsuchagreements.
111. In1994, Estonia hadbecome fullmember oftheWorld Intellectual Property Organization,
joined thePatent Cooperation Treaty andrestored itsmembership totheParis Convention forthe
Protection ofIndustrial Property andtheBerne Convention fortheProtection ofLiterary andArtistic
Works which Estonia originally joined in1924and1927, respectively. TheMinistry ofCulture was
preparing Estonia 'saccession tothe1971 Geneva Convention andthe1961 Rome Convention. The
textoftheRome Convention hadbeentranslated intoEstonian andadraftLawtojointheConvention
would bepresented toParliament inthefirsthalfof1997. Estonia alsoplanned toaccede totheProtocol
relating totheMadrid Agreement onInternational Registration ofMarks andtheTrademark LawTreaty.
Inresponse tofurther questions, therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatplant varieties wereprotected
under the1994Variety Protection Lawandpatent protection formicroorganism strains could begranted
following Estonia 'saccession totheBudapest Treaty. Asof14September 1996, Estonia wasamember
oftheBudapestTreatyontheInternationalRecognitionoftheDepositofMicroorganismforthePurposes
ofPatent Procedure. From thatdate, theEstonian Patent Office accepted patent applications onthe
microorganism strains andthenovel useofmicroorganism strains. Estonia intended toaccede tothe
Union fortheProtection ofNewPlant Varieties (UPOV) andtheVariety Protection Lawwould be
harmonized withthe1991 UPOV Convention.
112. Certain inventions were non-patentable (inventions contrary topublic order andmorality,
treatment anddiagnostic methods practised onhumans oranimals, topology ofmicro-circuits and
substances derived from nuclear fission). Patent protection wasprovided toequipment, methods,
substances ormicro-organism strains, including theircombination andusefornovel purposes, inWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page41
accordance withArticle 6oftheEstonian Patent Law; noplans existed tointroduce supplementary
protection certificates forpharmaceutical andagricultural chemical products. Provisions regarding
apatentee 'sexclusive rights andexceptions were found inChapter IV(sections 15,17,45and46)
ofEstonia 'sPatent Law. There werenorestrictions onapatent owner 'srights toassign, transfer or
licence rights, butalicensing agreement needed toberegistered withthePatent Office tobevalid.
Compulsorylicencescouldbegrantedbycourtorderonly(section47).Estoniaconsideredthisprovision
tofulfilentirely therequirements ofArticle 31(b) and(c)oftheTRIPS Agreement. Patents werenot
extendable under present legislation. Provisions corresponding toArticle 34oftheTRIPS Agreement
(Process Patents: Burden ofProof) hadnotyetbeenestablished.
113. With respect tocopyright andrelated rights, therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatEstonia
applied theprinciple ofnational treatment intheprotection ofworks. TheCopyright Lawalsoprotected
works originating incountries where international treaties didnotapply, provided thattheothercountry
guaranteed similar protection totheworks ofEstonian authors orworks firstpublished inEstonia.
Therepresentative ofEstonia added thatthedrafting andenactment oflegislation onprotection of
semiconductor layout design wasscheduled for1998. Theconditions governing freeuseandfree
decompilation ofcomputer programs weresetoutinChapter IV,Sections 24and25,oftheCopyright
Law. TheLawdidnotcontain provisions oncompulsory licensing ofcopyrightable works andsound
recordings; fullretroactive protection wasprovided under Sections 38and74.Section 75prescribed
thelimitations onrights neighbouring oncopyright. Thecollection ofalevytocompensate forthe
useofaudiovisual works andsound recordings began inJanuary 1996.
114. With regard totrade marks, therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatsigns registrable astrade
marks wereenumerated inSection 6oftheTrade Marks Law. TheLawprotected wellknown marks
whether ornotregistered intheRepublic ofEstonia. Section 5oftheLawsetouttherights (and
limitations) granted toholders oftrademarks; registration satisfied notice oftheexclusive right, and
nospecificprovisionsrestrictedthelicensingortransferoftrademarks.Theregistrationofanassignment
wasnotmandatory, butitwasnotconsidered validwithout registration. Registrability ofatrademark
generally didnotdepend onuse.Applications werelodged withthePatents Office, itsrefusal toregister
atrademark (contravention ofsections 7and8)might becontested through theBoard ofAppeals of
Industrial Property. Decisions oftheAppeal Board could bebrought before acourt oflaw. Estonia
foresaw nochanges totheTrademark Lawatthisstage.
115. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatEstonia wasdrafting anewlawonindustrial design,
which would bepresented toParliament inFebruary 1997. Thelegislative aspects ofgeographicalWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page42
indications oforigin would beprovided inthenewTrademark Law, which would bedrafted bythe
endof1997. Forthetimebeing, geographical indications oforigin wereprotected indirectly through
theTrademark LawandtheLawonCompetition. Taking intoaccount thatWIPO wasrevising the
Washington Treaty onIntellectual Property inrespect ofIntegrated Circuits, thedrafting oftheaLaw
onSemiconductor Layout Designs would nottakeplace before theamendments totheWashington
Treaty hadbeenmade. Trade secrets were notprotected byseparate legislation, butwere covered
under Article 148oftheCriminal Code. Undisclosed information wasprotected under theprovisions
governingtheabuseofbusinesssecretsintheLawonCompetition.Informationsubmittedtogovernment
agencies wasprotected under thePublic Service Law. TheSecond PartofEstonia 'sCompetition Law:
Unfair Competition wasconsistent withtheParisConvention andArticle 40oftheTRIPS Agreement.
TheCustoms Lawformed thelegal basis fortheprevention ofimports ofinfringing goods. In
accordance withArticle 38oftheCustoms Law, customs officers examined goods tocheck thattheir
nature, origin, condition, quantity andvalue corresponded totheinformation provided inthecustoms
declaration. Proceedings could beinstituted incases offorged, falsified orincomplete documentation.
Amendments totheCriminal Code andtheCode ofInfringement ofAdministrative Lawtoinclude
specific provisions onlegalprotection ofindustrial property awaited approval byParliament.
116. Amember asked Estonia tobecome amember oftheGeneva Phonograms Convention, noting
thattherestoration ofprotection forcopyrighted works wasrequired under Article 18oftheTRIPS
Agreement. Protection ofindustrial designs, semiconductor chiplayout designs andnewplantvarieties
wasalsorequired under TRIPS. Onpatents, thismember asked forconfirmation thatacourt, indeciding
onacompulsory licence, would follow theprocedures outlined inArticle 8,paragraph 6ofitsbilateral
agreement withEstonia.
117. Inreply, therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatEstonia waspreparing toaccede tothe1971
Geneva Convention, the1961Rome Convention andtheUnion fortheProtection ofNewPlantVarieties
(UPOV). Estonia wasalsopreparing aDesign Protection Law, aLawonIndustrial Design andaLaw
onProtection ofSemiconductor Layout Design.
118. Therepresentative ofEstonia stated thatEstonia would fullyapply alltheprovisions ofthe
Agreement onTrade-Related Aspects ofIntellectual Property Rights fromthedateofitsaccession to
theWTO,withoutrecoursetoanytransitionalperiod.TheWorkingPartytooknoteofthiscommitment.WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page43
POLICIES AFFECTING TRADE INSERVICES
119. Intheinterest ofaccelerating theprocess ofaccession totheWTO Agreement, therepresentative
ofEstonia submitted Estonia 'sdraftschedule ofspecific commitments inservices (document WT/L/59),
andaRevised Draft Schedule ofSpecific Commitments inTrade inServices (document
WT/ACC/EST/6). Certain services activities weresubject tolicensing; therequired licences andthe
corresponding regulatory authorities arelisted inTable 65.Estonia 'sschedule ofspecific commitments
onservices isreproduced intheannex tothisreport. Asindicated intheconclusions ofthisreport,
theWorking Party tooknoteoftheservices commitments ofEstonia. [Revert tothissection atan
appropriate time.]
120. Some members oftheWorking Party commented onEstonia 'sdraftschedule ofcommitments
ontradeinservices. Intheirview, theinitial offerwasnotsufficient sincethedocumentation indicated
anopen services regime andEstonia hadentered unbound inseveral modes ofdelivery. Specific
questions covered procedures orrestrictions ontheentryofforeign labour, including lawyers, architects
andaccountants andcross-border tradeinsuchservices; market access conditions, cross-border trade,
theeffect oftheeconomic stabilization programme, andrecent legislation inthefinancial services sector;
licensing ofoperators intelecommunications andairtransport; restrictions onforeign investment;
establishment oftrade offices andthecoverage ofservices inpreferential trading arrangements.
121. Therepresentative ofEstonia presented arevised services schedule undertaking further
commitments. According totherepresentative ofEstonia theunbound entries inthefirstdraftreflected
thelackofspecific regulations withregard tospecific services. Headded thatvisaregulations governed
thetemporary entry offoreigners; aresidence permit andawork permit wasrequired forforeign
personneltotakeupemploymentinEstonia.Theannualimmigrationquotacorrespondedto0.1percent
ofEstonia 'spopulation. Foreign lawyers, architects andaccountants could actasconsultants toEstonian
firms andthere werenolegalobstacles tothepurchase ofsuchservices abroad. Therepresentative
ofEstonia stated thatthefinancial services sector wasfreefrom restrictions andthatnorestrictive
measures wereplanned forthenearterm. Estonia confirmed thatforeign suppliers werenottreated
lessfavourably thannational providers offinancial services, withtheexception ofsome special
requirements concerning foreign-owned insurance companies indicated initsdraftSchedule ofSpecific
Commitments (WT/L/59). Applications toestablish representation offices orsubsidiaries inbanking
were addressed totheBank ofEstonia. Recent amendments infinancial sector legislation included
further regulations onprudential requirements andtheadoption ofanewCredit Institution Lawwith
additional instruments forthesupervisory authority andprovisions onmoney laundering. TheEstonianWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page44
securities market wasinitsearlystages ofdevelopment, butgrowth hadbeensubstantial. Thedemand
forinsurance hadbeenboosted bycompulsory insurance formotor vehicles.
122. Withregard totelecommunications, therepresentative ofEstonia saidthataforeign firmwould
need aforeign investment licence andregister asalegal person inEstonia todobusiness in
telecommunications. Aconcession conferring monopoly rights to"Eesti Telefon" (Estonian Telephone)
wasvalid untilyear2003. TheLawofBroadcasting (Article 22)limited foreign ownership and
possession ofbroadcasting transmitters tolessthan50percentoftheshares.
123. Withregard totransportation, therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatonlycompanies registered
inEstonia could obtain alicence forconveyance ofgoods andpassengers; aferry hadtobeowned
byacitizen ofEstonia oracompany withheadquarters inEstonia andhaveaminimum 51percent
national ownership. Theshipping company "Estline" currently hadamonopoly concession, validfor
afurther threeyears, ontheconveyance ofpassengers between Estonia andSweden. Aviation licences
were issued topermanent residents ofEstonia orlegal persons withminimum 51percentresident
ornational ownership. Aircarriers operating inEstonia included Estonian Airandseveral foreign
carriers.
124. Therepresentative ofEstonia stated thatEstonia didnotprohibit foreign services suppliers
fromestablishing tradeoffices inanysector andthatnoservices sectors andactivities werecompletely
closed toforeign companies. Licensing requirements suchastheForeign Investment Licence andthe
LicenceofActivityfellunderGATSArticleVI(DomesticRegulation)andwereaccordinglynotindicated
intheGATS Schedule ofEstonia. Insectors inwhich Estonia would undertake specific commitments,
Estoniawouldnotapplytechnicalstandards,licensingorqualificationrequirementsthatnullifyorimpair
suchspecific requirements inamanner notcomplying withthecriteria outlined insubparagraph 4of
Article VIoftheGATS, orwhich could notreasonably havebeenexpected ofEstonia atthetimethe
commitments weremade. Regarding Estonia 'scommitments onprofessional services, Estonia would
provide foradequate procedures toverify thecompetence ofprofessionals ofanyother Member.
125. Headded thatEstonia 'sfreetrade agreements mainly covered goods; nocurrent agreement
gaveanycountry preferential status inservices trade inEstonia.
[tobecompleted]WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page45
TRANSPARENCY
Publication ofInformation onTrade
126. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatArticle 2oftheLawonOfficial Journal RiigiTeataja
stipulated 14different groups oflegislative acts(normative acts)tothepublished intheOfficial Journal,
including: (i)Laws, decisions, anddeclaration ofParliament; (ii)decisions andregulations ofthe
President; (iii)regulations andorders ofGovernment; (iv)regulations ofministers; and(v)theannual
report andgeneral regulations oftheCentral Bank. Prompt publication oflawsandnormative acts
ensured thehighest transparency possible.
127. Therepresentative ofEstonia stated that,atthelatest fromthedateofaccession, alllawsand
other normative actsrelated totradewould bepublished promptly intheofficial journal "Riigi Teataja"
(State Gazette) insuchamanner astoenable Governments andtraders tobecome acquainted withthem.
Hestated further thatnolaworrule,etc.related tointernational trade would become effective prior
topublication intheofficial journal "Riigi Teataja" (State Gazette). TheWorking Party tooknote
ofthiscommitment.
Notification
128. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthat,atthelatest upon entry intoforce oftheProtocol of
Accession, Estonia would submit allnotifications (other thanthose required tobemade onanadhoc
basis) required byanyAgreement constituting partoftheWTO Agreement. HisGovernment would
notify itsInnovation Fund atthelatest uponentry intoforce ofEstonia 'sProtocol ofAccession. Any
regulations subsequently enacted byEstonia which gaveeffect tothelawsenacted toimplement any
Agreement constituting partoftheWTO Agreement would alsoconform totherequirements ofthat
Agreement. TheWorking Party tooknoteofthiscommitment.
TRADE AGREEMENTS
129. Some members oftheWorking Party enquired about Estonia 'spreferential agreements with
theEuropean Union andEFTA member countries, Latvia andLithuania, further plans toconclude
suchagreements,includingapossibleBalticCustomsUnion,andtheexistenceofcountertradeagreements
withformer CMEA members. Questions were alsoraised concerning theconsistency ofEstonia 's
freetrade agreements withtherequirements ofArticle XXIV oftheGATT 1994, inparticular theWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page46
obligation tocover substantially allthetradebetween theconstituent territories. Amember requested
information onthescope ofEstonia 'spreferential agreements withparticular attention tosectors where
allmeasures andcharges ontrade hadnotyetbeeneliminated.
130. Therepresentative ofEstonia replied thatEstonia hadpreferential tradeagreements withEFTA;
theEU; Latvia andLithuania; Ukraine; theCzech Republic; theSlovak Republic andSlovenia.
Based ontheperiod January-March 1996, about 73percentofEstonia 'sforeign trade wassubject
topreferential agreements. TheFreeTrade Agreement withtheEuropean Union hadentered into
force on1January 1995, alsocovering newmembers Austria, Finland andSweden. Estonia 'sFree
Trade Agreement with theEuropean Communities hadbeen notified totheWTO indocument
WT/REG8/N/1 andwasbeing examined inaccordance withnormal practice (document WT/REG8/1
contained theAgreement anddocument WT/REG8/2 theTerms ofReference). TheFreeTrade
Agreement withEFTA States hadbeennotified totheWTO indocument WT/REG28/N/1; additional
relevant documentation included document WT/REG28/1 (theAgreement), document WT/REG28/2
(Standard Format) anddocument WT/REG28/3 (Terms ofReference). TheFreeTrade Agreement
withSlovenia hadbeennotified totheWTO indocument WT/REG37/N/1. Estonia hadmade proposals
toconclude freetradeagreements withPoland andHungary. Hestated thatEstonia hadnocountertrade
agreements withcountries incentral andeastern Europe. Thefreetradeagreements generally provided
dutyfreeimportationandexportationofindustrialgoods(HSChapters25-97)whiletradeinagricultural
goods were covered either inseparate agreements orrelated protocols; theextent ofliberalization
waslessthanforindustrial goods. Some quantitative andqualitative requirements applied toEstonia 's
agricultural exports.
131. Therepresentative ofEstonia saidthatthe1994FreeTrade Agreement between Estonia, Latvia
andLithuania didnotcover HSChapters 1to24,butanagreement covering trade infarmproducts
hadentered intoforce on1January 1997. Henoted thatEstonia hadthepossibility, untiltheendof
1997, toregulate agricultural imports with tariffs under theFree Trade Agreement with the
European Union. Should Estonia apply import duties inthefuture, heconfirmed thatpreferential
treatmentwouldonlybeaccordedinthecontextoffreetradeagreementsasprovidedforinArticleXXIV
oftheGATT 1994.
132. Therepresentative ofEstonia stated thathisGovernment would observe theprovisions ofthe
WTO including Article XXIV oftheGATT 1994andArticle VoftheGATS initstrade agreements,
andwould ensure thattheprovisions oftheseWTO Agreements fornotification, consultation andother
requirements concerning preferential trading systems, freetrade areas andcustoms unions ofwhichWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page47
Estonia wasamember weremetfromthedateofaccession, [insofarastheseprovisions hadnotalready
beenmetbyoneoftheother Parties tosuchanagreement.] TheWorking Party tooknoteofthese
commitments.
Conclusions
133. TheWorkingPartytooknoteoftheexplanationsandstatementsofEstoniaconcerningitsforeign
traderegime, asreflected inthisreport. TheWorking Party tooknoteoftheassurances given byEstonia
inrelation tocertain specific matters which arereproduced inparagraphs [21and33]ofthisreport.
TheWorking Party tooknoteofthecommitments given byEstonia inrelation tocertain specific matters
which arereproduced inparagraphs 15,[21], 24,30,[33],[37], 42,55,61,67,73,75,78,80,83,
91,92,96,99,101,108,118,127,128and13224,30,34,35,39,52,58,64,70,73,75,78,
86,87,91,94,96,103,113,122,123and127ofthisreport. TheWorking Party tooknotethat
these commitments hadbeenincorporated inparagraph 2oftheProtocol ofAccession ofEstonia to
theWTO.
134. Having carried outtheexamination oftheforeign trade regime ofEstonia andinthelightof
theexplanations, commitments andconcessions made bytherepresentative ofEstonia, theWorking
Party reached theconclusion thatEstonia beinvited toaccede totheMarrakesh Agreement Establishing
theWTO under theprovisions ofArticle XII.Forthispurpose, theWorking Party hasprepared the
draftDecision andProtocol ofAccession reproduced intheAppendix tothisreport, andtakes note
ofEstonia 'sSchedule ofSpecific Commitments onServices (document .......) anditsSchedule of
Concessions andCommitments onGoods (document ........) thatareannexed totheProtocol. Itis
proposed thatthese textsbeadopted bytheGeneral Council when itadopts thereport. When the
Decision isadopted, theProtocol ofAccession would beopenforacceptance byEstonia which would
become aMember thirty daysafteritaccepts thesaidProtocol. TheWorking Party agreed, therefore,
thatithadcompleted itswork concerning thenegotiations fortheaccession ofEstonia totheMarrakesh
Agreement Establishing theWTO.
[TOBECOMPLETED]WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page48
ANNEX
Table 2:Electricity prices (Since 1June1996)
Consumer
GroupPayment
VariantsCapacity
charge
EEK/kW
per
monthConsumer
charge
EEK/A
permonthActive Energy Reactive Energy
Main price
sent/KWh*Time price sent/kWh* consump-
tion/kvarhreleasing to
the
network
sent/kvarh*day
07.00-
12.00day
12.00-
23.00night
IConsumer
withcapacityAvoltage in
connection
51.00 - 27.631.2 29.6
19.4 3.8 7.6 400kWor
more peronepoint 110kV
ormore 30.4 30.4
substation or
measuringBvoltage in
connection
point
6-35kV56.00 - 30.834.6 32.8
21.6 4.3 7.6 system unit
33.7 33.7
Cvoltage in
connection
point less
than6kV61.00 - 33.537.8 35.8
23.6 5.0 7.6
36.8 36.8
IIConsumer
withcapacityAvoltage in
connection
-1-phase
2.50
37.742.6 40.4
24.7 5.0 7.6 400kWor
more perlessthan
6kV3-phase
7.50 41.5 41.5
onesubstation
ordistribution
unit. Atthe
choice ofthe
consumer either
A,B,orC.Bvoltage in
connection
point less
than6kV- - 48.6 53.5 53.5 33.0 5.0 7.6
Cvoltage in
connection
point
6-35kV- - 43.2 47.5 47.5 30.5 4.3 7.6
IIIReseller
- 7.00 CC+
2.0C+
2.00.61
C 4.1 6.8
IVHouseholds
- -38.1/
45.038.1/
45.038.1/
45.018.6/
22.0 - -
V.Consumer
without A(1-phase) - 53.00 - - - - - -
measuring
B(2-phase) - 159.00 - - - - - -
VINight
consumers
consumption
regulatorsAvoltage in
connection
point 6kVor
more- 3.00 - - - 19.3 4.3 7.6
100kW ormore Bvoltage in
connection
point less
than6kV- 3.00 - - - 22.4 5.0 7.6
*1EEK=100 sentWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page49
Table 3:Oil-shale Prices (Since 1June1996)
Quality class
MJ/kgPrice forregular
customer
EEK/tPrice forclients
without contract
EEK/t
1. PK over11.51 68.93 98.43
2. 1PK over10.97 68.07 97.21
3. 2PK 10.26 -10.97 67.12 95.86
4. 3PK 9.59-10.25 66.27 94.65
5. 4PK 8.54-9.58 65.33 93.03
6. P over9.21 64.40 92.00
7. 1P over8.79 63.55 90.78
8. 2P 7.79-8.79 62.68 89.55
9. 3P 7.29-7.78 61.74 88.23
10. 4P 6.28-7.28 60.88 87.00
11. 5P 6.07-6.27 59.96 85.67WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
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Table 65:Activities subject tolicensing (Activity Licence)
Activity Issuing Authority
1.Management ofaviation andseatransport (exclude small
private boats), international carandrailway transport
(excludes intra-enterprise railtransport)Ministry ofTransport and
Communications
2.Geology-related activities, mining ofnatural resources Ministry ofEconomic Affairs
3.Production andtrade inobjects containing precious metals
andprecious stonesMinistry ofFinance
4.Production, possession andtrade inweapons, parts
thereof, ammunition, orpyrotechnic equipment; repairs of
weaponsMinistry ofInternal Affairs
5.Production andtrade inmedical narcotic, highly toxic,
radioactive, andpoisonous substances. Growing plants that
contain narcotic, highly toxic andpoisonous substances.
Purchase andpossessing ofmedical narcotic, highly toxic,
radioactive, andpoisonous substancesMinistry ofSocial Affairs
6.Allforms ofmedical treatment Ministry ofSocial Affairs
7.Production ofandtrade inmedicines Ministry ofSocial Affairs
8.Import andexport, aswellasproduction andwholesale of
tobacco andproduction thereof, andalcohol; andretail of
alcoholMinistry ofEconomic
Affairs; Municipal
Governments
9.Printing andminting ofmoney Bank ofEstonia
10.Printing ofsecurities Ministry ofFinance
11.Printing ofpostage stamps Ministry ofTransport and
Communications
12.Building andmanagement ofpublic communications '
networks ofanykindMinistry ofTransport and
Communications
13.Management ofaneducational institution ofahigher or
general level, bothvocational, orprofessional; together
withtherighttoissue nation wideaccepted certificates of
educationMinistry ofCulture and
Education
14.Management ofsecurity services 'firms, installation of
security, guard, andsignalization systemsMinistry ofInternal Affairs
15.Opening andmanagement ofprivate detective agencies Ministry ofInternal Affairs
16.Collation ofmeasuring instruments Ministry ofEconomic Affairs
17.Production andtrade inmicro-organisms, plants, and
animals created bygenetic engineeringMinistry ofAgriculture
18.Insurance Ministry ofFinance
19.Projecting, expertise andinspection ofbuildings,
construction contracting activitiesMinistry ofEnvironment;
Ministry ofAgriculture
20.Geodetic andcartographic activities Ministry ofEnvironment
21.Ecological expertise Ministry ofTransport and
CommunicationsWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page51
Activity Issuing Authority
22.Management ofenvironmentally harmful substances Ministry ofTransport and
Communications
23.Transmission orbroadcasting ofradio andtelevision
programmes bymeans oftheradio andtelevision networksMinistry ofCulture and
Education
24.Management ofcasinos (gambling) Ministry ofFinance
25.Reproduction oftheState symbols ortheirparts ofthe
Republic ofEstoniaState Chancellery
26.Exchange management Ministry ofFinance
27.Tourism Ministry ofEconomic Affairs
28.Ships'agencies andorganizing seatransport Ministry ofTransport
29.Lotteries Ministry ofTransport and
Communications
30.Assessment oflandproperty, selling andbuying land Ministry ofAgriculture
31.Activities onthesecurities 'market Ministry ofFinance
32.Veterinary activities, veterinary practice Ministry ofAgriculture
33.Temporary storage ofcommercial goods, customs-storage
proceduresMinistry ofFinance
34.Commercial trade (imports, re-exports), wholesale and
retail, andstorage ofimported fuelsandlubricantsMinistry ofEconomic Affairs
35.Production andrepairs ofweapons, ammunition, and
technology fornational defence purposesMinistry ofDefence
36.Experiments withanimals Ministry ofAgriculture
37.Management ofimports andexports, aswellasother
trade, services, repairs, anddissembling ofmotor vehicles
andtrailersMinistry ofEconomic Affairs
38.Assessment ofpersonal protective equipment types, quality
certification; assessment ofmachinery andequipment typesNational Labour Inspection
Board
39.Logopedical aid Ministry ofSocial Affairs
40.Conservation, restoration, creating ofrepairs projects, and
carrying outthecorresponding activities ontheobjects of
cultural importance (theobjects ofarchaeological,
architectural, technological, andhistorical value, objects of
finearts)Ministry ofCulture and
Education
41.Classification ofgoods andmeasuring ofgoods for
customs 'purposesMinistry ofFinanceWT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
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APPENDIX
ACCESSION OFESTONIA
Draft Decision
TheGeneral Council,
Having regard totheresults ofthenegotiations directed towards theestablishment oftheterms
ofaccession oftheRepublic ofEstonia totheMarrakesh Agreement Establishing theWorld Trade
Organization andhaving prepared aProtocol fortheAccession ofEstonia,
Decides, inaccordance withArticle XIIoftheMarrakesh Agreement Establishing theWorld
Trade Organization, thattheRepublic ofEstonia mayaccede totheMarrakesh Agreement Establishing
theWorld Trade Organization ontheterms setoutinthesaidProtocol.WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page53
PROTOCOL OFACCESSION OFESTONIA
TOTHE MARRAKESH AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING THE
WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
Draft
TheWorld Trade Organization (hereinafter referred toasthe"WTO"), pursuant totheapproval
oftheGeneralCounciloftheWTOaccordedunderArticleXIIoftheMarrakeshAgreementEstablishing
theWorld Trade Organization (hereinafter referred toas"WTO Agreement"), andtheRepublic of
Estonia (hereinafter referred toas"Estonia"),
Taking noteoftheReport oftheWorking Party ontheAccession ofEstonia totheWTO in
document WT/ACC/EST/.... (hereinafter referred toasthe"Working Party Report"),
Having regard totheresults ofthenegotiations ontheaccession ofEstonia totheWTO,
Agree asfollows:
PartI-General
1. Upon entry intoforce ofthisProtocol, Estonia accedes totheWTO Agreement pursuant to
Article XIIofthatAgreement andthereby becomes aMember oftheWTO.
2. TheWTO Agreement towhich Estonia accedes shallbetheWTO Agreement asrectified,
amended orotherwise modified bysuchlegalinstruments asmayhaveentered intoforce before the
dateofentry intoforceofthisProtocol. ThisProtocol, which shallcomprise thecommitments referred
toinparagraph [133] 116oftheWorking Party Report, shallbeanintegral partoftheWTO Agreement.
3. Except asotherwise provided forintheparagraphs referred toinparagraph [128...]ofthe
Working Party Report, those obligations intheMultilateral Trade Agreements annexed totheWTO
Agreement thataretobeimplemented overaperiod oftimestarting withtheentry intoforce ofthat
Agreement shallbeimplemented byEstonia asifithadaccepted thatAgreement onthedateofits
entry intoforce.WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page54
4. Estoniamaymaintainameasureinconsistentwithparagraph1ofArticleIIoftheGATSprovided
thatsuchameasure isrecorded inthelistofArticle IIExemptions annexed tothisProtocol andmeets
theconditions oftheAnnex totheGATS onArticle IIExemptions.
PartII-Schedules
5. TheSchedules annexed tothisProtocol shall become theschedule ofConcessions and
Commitments annexed totheGeneral Agreement onTariffs andTrade 1994 (hereinafter referred to
asthe"GATT 1994") andtheSchedule ofSpecific Commitments annexed totheGeneral Agreement
onTrade inServices (hereinafter referred toas"GATS") relating toEstonia. Thestaging ofconcessions
andcommitments listed intheSchedules shallbeimplemented asspecified intherelevant partsofthe
respective Schedules.
6. Forthepurpose ofthereference inparagraph 6(a)ofArticle IIoftheGATT 1994tothedate
ofthatAgreement, theapplicable dateinrespect oftheSchedules ofConcessions andCommitments
annexed tothisProtocol shallbethedateofentry intoforce ofthisProtocol.
PartIII-Final Provisions
7. ThisProtocol shallbeopenforacceptance, bysignature orotherwise, byEstonia until.........
8. ThisProtocol shallenter intoforce onthethirtieth dayfollowing thedayofitsacceptance.
9. ThisProtocol shallbedeposited withtheDirector-General oftheWTO. TheDirector-General
oftheWTO shallpromptly furnish acertified copyofthisProtocol andanotification ofacceptance
thereto pursuant toparagraph 7toeachmember oftheWTO andEstonia.
10. ThisProtocol shallberegistered inaccordance withtheprovisions ofArticle 102oftheCharter
oftheUnited Nations.
Done atGeneva this...dayof....onethousand ninehundred andninety seven, inasingle
copyintheEnglish, French andSpanish languages eachtextbeing authentic, except thataSchedule
annexed hereto mayspecify thatitisauthentic inonlyoneormore ofthese languages.WT/ACC/SPEC/EST/2/Rev.2
Page55
ANNEX
SCHEDULE CXLII -ESTONIA
PartI-Goods
[tobecompleted]
PartII-Services
[tobecompleted]