RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/C/W/317
19 October 2001
(01-5149)
Council for Trade in Goods Original:  Spanish
QUESTIONS FROM PANAMA REGARDING THE WTO WAIVER
REQUESTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE NEW
ACP-EU PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT1
The following communication, dated 18 October 2001, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of Panama.
_______________
I. GENERAL QUESTIONS
1. Under the Understanding in Respect of Waivers of Obligations under the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 94), Members agreed that "a request for a waiver … shall describe
the measures which the Member proposes to take …".
(a) Please would the European Communities (EC) and the ACP States describe the measures
which they propose to take and for which they need a waiver of their obligations under
Article I of the GATT 1994;  and where appropriate, indicate the articles of the ACP-EC
Partnership Agreement (PA) which contain them.
(b) In the event that the measures which they propose to take and for which they require a waiver
are not contained in the PA, please would the EC and ACP States provide the text of such
measures.
2. The EC and ACP States are requesting a waiver of their obligations under Article I of the
GATT 1994 to permit the European Community "to provide preferential treatment for products
originating in the ACP States as required by the relevant provisions" of the PA.
(a) Please would the EC and ACP States explain whether these "relevant provisions" are
synonymous with the universe set of articles of th e PA that may be mentioned in their reply to
our question No. 1.
(b) If not, please would the EC and ACP States specify any provision of the PA they consider
"relevant".
3. The EC and ACP States are requesting an exemption of their obligations under Article I of the
GATT 94 "to the extent necessary to permit the Eur opean Community to grant preferential treatment
for products originating in the ACP States as re quired by the relevant provisions" of the PA.
                                                     
1 In preparing this document we have used the latest text of the Partnership Agreement circulated to
Members on 4 May 2000 under symbol G/C/W/204.  We should be grateful if in their replies the EC and ACPStates could indicate whether there is any discrepancy between references or quotations made by them and
document G/C/W/204, and the reasons for any such discrepancy.G/C/W/317
Page 2
(a) Please would the EC and ACP States clarify whether this wording seeks some latitude of
action that would not be covered with the elimination of the words "to the extent necessary".
(b) If so, please would the EC and ACP States clarify who will decide whether a measure comes
under what would be "necessary" and how this decision will be reached.
4. Article 36.3 of the AA provides for the application of preferences applied under Lomé IV.
(a) Please would the EC and ACP States specify what these preferences are, and which of them
need to be covered by the requested waivers.
(b) Please would the EC and ACP States specify whether this provision is a "relevant provision".
5. Articles 20.3, 95.23 and 100 of the PA and Decl aration XXIII of the Final Act provide that
the PA may be amended, and refer to special procedures for the provisions relating to economic and
trade cooperation.
(a) Please would the EC and ACP States indicate every provision of the PA that permits or deals
with the amendment of any measures adopted pursuant to the PA.
(b) Please would the EC and ACP States clarify whether any of these provisions applies to the
"relevant provisions".
(c) Please would the EC and ACP States clarify whether any of these provisions constitutes one
of the "relevant provisions".
(d) Please would the EC and ACP States clarify wh ether, in their opinion, the requested waivers,
if granted, would cover amendments made to the PA after the date on which the relevant
waiver was granted.
(e) Please would the EC and ACP States clarify wh ether, in their opinion, the requested waivers,
if granted, would cover amendments made, after the date on which the relevant waiver was
granted, to measures adopted pursuant to the PA.
6. Please would the EC and ACP States clarify whet her, in their opinion, the requested waivers
would be extended to States or countries that jo in the EC or acquire the status of ACP State
subsequent to the date on which the requested waivers may have been granted.
7. Article 37.1 of the PA provides for the negotiation of economic partnership agreements,
which may enter into force before the end of the period for which the EC and ACP States are
requesting waivers.  Other provisions provide for the negotiation of other types of agreement
(e.g., fishery agreements under Article 53, food security under Article 54).
(a) Please would the EC and ACP States clarif y whether, in their opinion, these agreements
would be covered by the requested waiver.
(b) If so, please would the EC and ACP States indi cate every provision of the PA which provides
an obligation to conclude other agreements or refers to the desirability of doing so.
(c) Please would the EC and ACP States clarify whether any of the provisions constitutes one of
the "relevant provisions".G/C/W/317
Page 3
8. In Articles 41 to 43, the PA provides for bilateral preferential treatment in trade in services.
(a) Please would the EC and ACP States indicate whether, in their opinion, the requested waivers
extend to the treatment granted under Articles 41 to 43 of the PA.
(b) If so, will this waiver, in their opinion, extend to the preferential treatment granted by ACP
States to the EC?
(c) Article 42.3 of the PA provides for bilateral national treatment in maritime transport services.
If the reply to our question 8(a) is in the negative, how will the EC and ACP States ensure
that the application of this provision does not infringe their MFN treatment obligations
pursuant to the GATS?
9. Article 52 of the PA refers to Article 32.1 of Annex IV.  This would seem to be a mistaken
reference.  Please would the EC and ACP States clarify this reference.
II. QUESTIONS ON BANANAS
1. The EC and ACP States have indicated that preferences for bananas from ACP countries will
be set out in a transitional tariff-quota regime applicable from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2005and thereafter in a tariff-only regime applicable as from 1 January 2006.
(a) Please would the EC and ACP States describe the measures they intend to apply during the
transitional tariff-quota regime applicable from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2005 for
which they are requesting a waiver from Article I of the GATT 1994.
(b) Please would the EC and ACP States describe the measures they intend to apply during the
transitional tariff-quota regime applicable from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2005, for
which they are requesting a waiver of Article XIII of the GATT 1994.
2. The waiver from Article XIII obligations requested by the EC and ACP States appears to be
intended to reserve a portion of the European banana market exclusively for ACP banana producers.
In tandem, the waiver from Article I obligations requested by the EC and ACP States appears
intended in part to permit a preference for ACP countries over non-ACP producers within this
reserved portion.  Please would the EC and ACP States explain why they need to apply a preference
over non-ACP producers within a market share that  would be reserved for ACP banana producers.
3. The EC and ACP States have indicated that as from 1 January 2006 the European banana
market will be governed by a tariff-only system.  A tariff-only system normally does not require awaiver from Article I obligations, unless it is accompanied by preferences, which the EC and ACP
States have not mentioned in their request.
(a) Please would the EC and ACP States describe the measures they intend to apply during the
tariff-only transitional regime applicable as from 1 January 2006.
(b) Please would the EC and ACP States indicate which of these measures are those for which
they are requesting a waiver from Article I of the GATT 1994.
4. The EC banana market will expand, whether as a result of an increase in the number of EC
member countries, simple population growth or other causes.
(a) Please would the EC and ACP States indicate whether market growth will be reflected in the
volumes available under the tariff quota system that will be in force until 31 December 2005.G/C/W/317
Page 4
(b) If so, please would the EC and ACP States in dicate whether, in their opinion, the requested
waiver will apply to the treatment accorded to these additional volumes.
(c) If the requested waiver will apply for the treatment given to these additional volumes, please
would the EC and ACP States explain the mechanism that will be used to include these
additional volumes in the tariff-quota regime that will be in force until 31 December 2005.
__________