RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/ACC/UKR/27
14November 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-4826)
Original: English
ACCESSION OFUKRAINE
Communication from Ukraine
Thefollowing communication hasbeenreceived from theMinistry forForeign Economic
Relations andTrade ofUkraine.
_______________
With aviewtocoordinate further cooperation onUkraine 'saccession totheWTO, Iwould
liketoinform youabout theplanofmeasures oftheGovernmental Commission onUkraine 'sAccession
totheWTO inthescope ofthepreparation forthefourth meeting oftheWorking Party ontheAccession
ofUkraine totheWTO.
Inthiscontext Iwould liketomention thatsome important events tookplace inUkraine 's
economic andpolitical lifeafterthethirdWorking Party meeting. These events onemore timeproved
theinvariability ofthedemocratisation process andmarket reforms. Inparticular, theSupreme Rada
ofUkraineadoptedtheConstitution,formedanewGovernment,andtheParliamentofUkraineapproved
theProgram ofActivity fortheGovernment for1997.
Asintheprevious one,thenewProgram defines thatUkraine 'saccession totheWTO isan
important integral partofthegeneral process ofeconomic reforms inUkraine.
Inthisconnection, Iwould alsoliketomention thattheCommission isworking actively on
theharmonisationofUkrainianlegislation,includingcommoditiescertification,thecustomdutiessystem,
thestatistics reports system, regulation oftheState trade enterprises 'activity etc.
So,theprocess oftheliberalisation oftheforeign trade régime isbeing conducted inUkraine
inthedirection ofbringing itintocompliance withtheprinciples andrequirements oftheWTO.
Besides that,intheprocess ofimprovement ofcustoms tariff regulation, alarge number of
amendments tothecurrent customs tariffs havebeenintroduced which complicated anddelayed the
process ofpreparation ofdocumentation.
Having reviewed theresults ofthethirdmeeting oftheWorking Party, weconsider theprogress
innegotiations ontariffs andservices tobethemost important condition forconducting thefourth
meeting.
Iwould alsoliketomention thattheprocess ofpreparation ofdocumentation onthesystem
ofGovernmental support totheagricultural complex andUkraine 'sposition astoitsobligations to
adjust thesystem ofsupport totheagricultural complex totherequirements oftheWTO Agreement
./.WT/ACC/UKR/27
Page2
onAgriculture (WT/ACC/4) isstillgoing on,because theParliament ofUkraine isexamining the
Agricultural Development Program. Itisplanned tofinalise theprocess bytheendofNovember 1996.
Taking intoconsideration theabove, wepropose tostartnegotiating tariffobligations ofUkraine
regarding itsnational commodity market access ontheground oftheConcept Paper onthe
Transformation ofUkrainian Customs Tariff for1996 -2005approved bythePresidential Decree as
anofficial position ofUkraine fornegotiating tariffs andtariff concessions inpartofindustrial
commodities group (headings 25-97oftheHarmonized System), andforstarting theprocess of
consultations andnegotiations onensuring theguaranteed access totheservices markets.
Wesuggest conducting negotiations onagricultural products aftertheParliament ofUkraine
adopts theAgricultural Development Program andtheinformation onthesystem ofGovernmental
support totheagricultural complex andUkraine 'sposition astoitsobligations toadjust thesystem
ofsupport totheagricultural complex totherequirements oftheWTO Agreement onAgriculture
(WT/ACC/4) isprepared.
Withthispurpose theGovernmental Commission onUkraine 'sAccession totheWTO submits
thefollowing documents totheWTO Secretariat1:
- aconsolidated listofamendments tothecurrent customs tariffandalistofunified excise rates;
- awritten description oftheCommodity Nomenclature headings from theconcept Paper of
Customs Tariff Transformation, onwhich Ukraine shallundertake tariff obligations.
Theofficial position ofUkraine astoconducting negotiations onservices market access will
besubmitted assoonasitiscompleted inthenearfuture.
Asconducting thenegotiations isthemostimportant integral partoftheprocess ofaccession
totheWTO atthepresent stage, wepropose toconduct thefourth meeting oftheWorking Party on
theAccession ofUkraine totheWTO afterconsidering theresults ofnegotiations ontariffconcessions
andaccess totheservices market andweaskyoutosupport usinsolving thisproblem.
1These documents willbecirculated inaddenda tothisdocument.