WORLD TRADE G/L/107
9September 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-3516)
Original: English COUNCIL FOR TRADE INGOODS
19September 1996
EXTENSION OFWTO WAIVERS
Communication from theEuropean Communities
Thefollowing communication hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent Mission oftheEuropean
Communities.
_________________
1. Asprovided forinparagraph 2oftheUruguay Round Understanding inrespect ofWaivers
ofObligations under GATT 1994, anywaiver ineffect onthedateofentry intoforce oftheWTO
Agreement shallterminate, unless extended, onthedateofitsexpiry ortwoyears from thedateof
entry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement, whichever isearlier. Asaresult, thefollowing waivers
pertaining totheEuropean Communities areduetoexpire bytheendofthisyear, unless theyare
extended:
- Waiver granted inconnection withtheECSC (BISD 1S/17);
- Special problems ofdependent overseas territories (BISD 3S/21);
- Items traditionally admitted freeofdutyfromcountries oftheCommonwealth (BISD 3S/25);
- Trading arrangements withMorocco (BISD 9S/39);
- Fourth ACP-EEC Convention ofLomé (L/7604).
2. TheEuropean Communities havedecided nottorequest anextension ofthefirstthreewaivers
mentioned above.
Atthetimeofitsestablishment, itwasnecessary torequest awaiver fortheECSC because
itslimited product scope didnotmeettherequirement inArticle XXIV:8 GATT that"substantially
allthetrade" should becovered. Awaiver wasdulygranted in1952, without anytimelimit. Now
thattheneedforextension ofthiswaiver hastobeconsidered, itisevident thatits"raison d'être"
nolonger exists. Nowadays, theEuropean Communities, i.e.theECSC, theEuropean Community
andEuratom together, areasingle WTO Member andcustoms union, covering "substantially allthe
trade" within themeaning ofArticle XXIV:8 GATT. Enlargements oftheEuropean Communities
have always been notified toGATT inasingle notification asenlargements of"theEuropean
Communities", again covering allthree Treaties asone. Themostrecent enlargement withAustria,
Finland andSweden wasnotified asanenlargement of"theEuropean Union". Ithasthusnever been
necessary torequest anyamendment tothewaiver, andinfacttheonlyreason whythewaiver isstill
formally onthebooks isthatitwasnever feltnecessary toactively revoke it.There is,however, no
./.G/L/107
Page2
further needforthiswaiver. Aspartofthecustoms union formed bytheEuropean Communities,
steel andcoal products arecovered inGATT terms bythecustoms union exception of
Article XXIV GATT inthesame wayasallother products are.
Thewaiversforspecialproblemsofdependentoverseasterritoriesanditemstraditionallyadmitted
freeofdutyfrom countries oftheCommonwealth, granted in1955 totheUnited Kingdom foran
unlimited period oftime, havebeenovertaken andcanalsobeallowed tolapse.
3. TheEuropean Communities do,ontheother hand, wishtorequest anextension ofthelast
twowaivers mentioned above. Thewaiver fortrading arrangements withMorocco, granted in1960
toFrance, isstillbeing usedandwillcontinue tobenecessary untiltheentry intoforce oftheEuro-
Mediterranean Agreement establishing anassociation between theECandtheirMember States, of
theonepart,andtheKingdom ofMorocco, oftheother part. Thewaiver grants France aderogation
from theprovisions ofparagraph 1ofArticle IoftheGeneral Agreement (now GATT 1994) tothe
extent necessary topermit theapplication onimportation intoFrance ofduty-free tariff quotas toa
number ofproducts originating inparts oftheterritory oftheKingdom ofMorocco notcovered by
theprovisions ofparagraphs 2and4ofArticle IoftheGATT 1947 (now theGATT 1994). These
special advantages have been taken intoaccount inthenewEuro-Mediterranean Agreement with
Morocco. Entry intoforce ofthisAgreement isexpected tooccur thisyearoratthelatest nextyear.
Asallwaivers should henceforth haveaclear timelimitattached tothem, theextension would run
untiltheentry intoforce oftheAgreement oruntil 31December 1997, whichever isearlier. If
necessary, arenewal ofthewaiver could beasked toward theendof1997. Therequest1forextension
ofthiswaiver andadraftoftheWTO Decision2tobetaken inthisregard havebeenattached.
4. Finally, thewaiver forLomé IVshould beextended until29February 2000, thedateofthe
Convention 'sexpiry, towhich dateithadalsooriginally beengranted. Thisistherefore asimple re-
confirmation oftheoriginal waiver, withnoamendments. Therequest3forextension ofthiswaiver
andadraftoftheWTO Decision4tobetaken inthisregard havebeenattached. Thisrequest issubmitted
jointly bytheEuropean Communities andtheGovernments oftheACPStates which arealsoMembers
oftheWTO.
1Circulated indocument G/L/109
2Circulated indocument G/C/W/59
3Circulated indocument G/L/108
4Circulated indocument G/C/W/58