WORLD TRADE WT/L/199
28November 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5038)
Original: English
ACCESSION OFTHE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OFYUGOSLAVIA
Communication from theRepublic ofSlovenia
Thefollowing communication hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent Mission oftheRepublic
ofSlovenia.
_______________
TheRepublic ofSlovenia would liketoremind Members, withreference tothecommunication
from theFederal Republic ofYugoslavia (Serbia andMontenegro) document WT/L/176/Rev.1
(13November 1996), ofthefulltextofthedecision bytheGATT Council taken on19June1992
andmodified on16June1993:
"TheCouncil considers thattheFederal Republic ofYugoslavia (Serbia andMontenegro) cannot
continueautomaticallythecontractingpartystatusoftheformerSocialistFederalRepublicofYugoslavia
intheGATT, andtherefore decides thattheFederal Republic ofYugoslavia (Serbia andMontenegro)
should apply foraccession totheGATT andthatitshallnotparticipate inthework oftheCouncil
anditssubsidiary bodies. TheCouncil further invites other committees andsubsidiary bodies ofthe
GATT, including theCommittees oftheTokyo Round Agreements andtheCommittee onTrade and
Development, totakethenecessary decisions inaccordance withtheabove".
Inthemost recent communication bytheFederal Republic ofYugoslavia (Serbia and
Montenegro), thisdecision isinaccurately represented. Thestatement claims initssecond paragraph
thattheFederal Republic ofYugoslavia (Serbia andMontenegro) hadparticipated innegotiations of
theUruguay Round since1986. Itfurthermore implies thattheFederal Republic ofYugoslavia (Serbia
andMontenegro) hadbeenunjustifiably excluded from thework oftheGATT, hence it"could not
complete negotiations within theUruguay Round andregulated itsmembership intheWTO".
These claims areatgross variance withthefacts. TheFederal Republic ofYugoslavia (Serbia
andMontenegro), established on27April 1992, never participated intheUruguay Round. TheState
thatparticipatedintheUruguayRoundwastheSocialistFederalRepublicofYugoslaviawhich,according
totheUNSecurity Council resolutions 777(1992) and821(1993) ceased toexist. Thesameresolutions
stated thattheFederal Republic ofYugoslavia (Serbia andMontenegro) should apply formembership
intheUnitedNations.TheabovewasalsostatedintheGeneralAssembly'sresolutions47/1and47/229.
Therefore,theclaimscontainedinthesaidcommunicationoftheFederalRepublicofYugoslavia
(Serbia andMontenegro) areunfounded andtherecould beno"reintegration" oftheFederal Republic
ofYugoslavia alsointotheWorld Trade Organization. Thesaidstatement contains infactademand
toconsider thestatus oftheformer State(Socialist Federal Republic ofYugoslavia) asacontracting
party intheGATT asafoundation foraccording theFederal Republic ofYugoslavia (Serbia and
Montenegro) membership intheWorld Trade Organization. Inaddition tothearguments expressed
./.WT/L/199
Page2
above, theGovernment oftheRepublic ofSlovenia would liketodraw attention tothefactthatthe
demand oftheFederal Republic ofYugoslavia (Serbia andMontenegro) isalsoincontradiction with
oneofthebasic principles ofinternational law-theprinciple ofnon-retroactivity.
Thereference inthecommunication toArticle XII:1 oftheWTO Agreement asthebasis of
accession oftheFederal Republic ofYugoslavia (Serbia andMontenegro) canbeinterpreted asexcluding
other parts ofArticle XIIwithout anyjustification.
Thereference totheUnited Nations Security Council resolution 1074, which conditionally
lifted trade sanctions against theFederal Republic ofYugoslavia (Serbia andMontenegro), doesnot
haveanybearing whatsoever onthequestion ofitsmembership ininternational organizations.
InviewofthemisrepresentationsintheapplicationoftheFederalRepublicofYugoslavia(Serbia
andMontenegro) totheGeneral Council, Slovenia cannot giveitsconsent tothethusformulated request.
Ifaccepted, itmayhaveserious negative legalimplications. Asother successor States oftheformer
Socialist Federal Republic ofYugoslavia, theFederal Republic ofYugoslavia (Serbia andMontenegro)
mayapply foraccession totheWorld Trade Organization asanewState andaccede onthebasis of
Article XIIoftheWTO Agreement.
Moreover, theRepublic ofSlovenia would welcome theaccession oftheFederal Republic of
Yugoslavia (Serbia andMontenegro) butonlyinfullaccordance withallrelevant provisions ofthe
Marrakesh Agreements.