WORLD TRADE WT/REG44/2
26September 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4000)
Original: English Committee onRegional Trade Agreements
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN
ROMANIA AND THE REPUBLIC OFMOLDOVA
Communication from theParties
Thefollowing texthasbeenreceived from theParties totheAgreement.
________________
I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ONTHE AGREEMENT
1. Membership, dates ofsignature, ratification andentry intoforce
TheParties totheAgreement aretheGovernment ofRomania andtheGovernment ofthe
Republic ofMoldova. TheAgreement applies inrespect oftheterritory towhich thecustoms laws
ofRomania andtheRepublic ofMoldova areapplicable respectively.
TheAgreement wassigned on15February 1994.
TheAgreement wasratified inRomania andtheRepublic ofMoldova respectively inthe
legislatures ofOctober-December 1994(Romania ratified on8November 1994andMoldova ratified
on31December 1994). TheAgreement entered intoforce on1January 1995.
2. Type ofAgreement
TheAgreement creates afree-trade areainconformity with thedefinition setoutin
Article XXIV:8(b) ofGATT 1994.
3. Scope
TheAgreement covers alltradeinindustrial products andagricultural products (HSChapters 1-
97).Theproducts covered areproducts originating inRomania ortheRepublic ofMoldova according
torules oforigin laidoutintheAgreement.
Total coverage oftheAgreement isasfollows:WT/REG44/2
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Romania
(thousands ofUSdollars)
Total Trade Import Export
1994 146,702 95,105 51,597
1995 186,111 104,530 81,581
1996 176,932 79,796 97,136
4. Trade data
Trade dataisattached tothisdocument.
II. TRADE PROVISIONS
1. Import restrictions
(a) Duties andcharges
Asprescribed inArticle 3.2oftheAgreement, customs duties ofalloriginating goods listed
inHSChapters 1-97willbeeliminated ontheentry intoforce oftheAgreement. According tothe
provisions inArticle 3.3oftheAgreement, Romania willapply animport charge of0.5percentand
theRepublic ofMoldova willapply animport charge of0.25percent. Thepurpose ofthese import
charges istodevelop andtoimprove theCustoms Authorities 'infrastructures.
(b) Quantitative restrictions
Article 6oftheAgreement prohibits theimposition ofquantitative restrictions oranyother
measure having equivalent effect ontheimportation ofanygoods from theother Party.
2. Export restrictions
(a) Duties andcharges
Article 7.1oftheAgreement prohibits theimposition ofanyduty, taxorother charge onthe
export ofanygoods oftheother Party. However, according toArticle 5.2oftheAgreement, Romania
applies anexport charge of0.5percentandtheRepublic ofMoldova anexport charge of0.25per
cent. Thepurpose ofthese export charges istodevelop andtoimprove theCustoms Authorities '
infrastructures.
(b) Quantitative restrictions
Article 7.1oftheAgreement prohibits theimposition ofquantitative restrictions oranyother
measure having equivalent effect ontheexportation ofanygoods fromtheotherParty. Afewexceptions
arelisted inAnnex IforRomania andinAnnex IIfortheRepublic ofMoldova.
3. Rules oforigin
Detailed rules oforigin aredefined inProtocol AtotheAgreement. These rules oforigin
aremeant toestablish theorigin ofproducts qualifying forthetreatment established through theFree
Trade Agreement. Ingeneral theorigin isconferred when:WT/REG44/2
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- thegood iswholly obtained orproduced intheterritory ofaParty;
- eachofthenon-originating materials usedintheproduction ofthegoods undergoes
anapplicable change intariff classification setoutinthespecific ruleforthatgood
(detailed inAnnex II),andthegoodsatisfies anyother applicable requirement setout
inthatrule,asaresult ofproduction occurring entirely intheterritory ofoneorboth
oftheParties;
- thegoodisproduced entirely intheterritory ofoneorbothoftheParties exclusively
from originating materials.
Protocol Aalsocontains aseries ofprovisions tofacilitate customs procedures, including the
certification oforigin andtheadministration andenforcement oforigin determination, while the
Agreement, under Article 9,states thattheJointCommittee willreview andensure theeffective and
harmonious application oftheprovisions ofProtocol A.
4. Standards
4.1 Technical barriers totrade
Asprescribed inArticle 8oftheAgreement, theParties shallnotify eachother ofthe
drafttechnical regulations anddraftamendments thereof which theyintend toissue.
4.2 Sanitary andphyto-sanitary measures
Article11oftheAgreementstipulatesthatthePartiesshallapplytheirveterinary,phyto-
sanitary andsanitary measures inanon-discriminatory manner.
5. Safeguards
(a) Bilateral andglobal emergency actions
Article21andArticle25.3(a)oftheAgreementprovidefortheapplicationofsafeguardmeasures
byaParty ontheimport ofgoods from theother Party ifitsimports leadto:
- serious injury tothedomestic producers oflikeordirectly competitive products, or
- aserious disturbance inanysector oftheeconomy, or
- difficulties which could bring about serious deterioration intheeconomic situation of
aregion.
(b) Balance-of-payments emergency actions
Article 26oftheAgreement stipulates thatifoneParty totheAgreement isinserious balance-of-
payments difficulties, orunder imminent threat thereof, itmayadopt traderestrictive measures, which
shallbeoflimited duration andshallbeprogressively relaxed andeliminated when conditions nolonger
justify theirmaintenance. Italsostates thatthetwocountries shalldotheirbestinorder nottomake
appeal torestrictions motivated bybalance-of-payment difficulties.
6. Anti-dumping andcountervailing measures
Article 20oftheAgreement stipulates that,ifoneParty finds thatdumping istaking place
initstrade, theState Party concerned maytakeappropriate measures against thispractice.WT/REG44/2
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7. Subsidies
There arenospecific provisions onsubsidies.
8. Sector-specific provisions
TheAgreement doesnotcontain sector-specific provisions.
9. Competition policy, monopolies, stateenterprises
Article 16oftheAgreement stipulates thecases andtypeofmeasures considered tobe
incompatible withtheproper functioning oftheAgreement. Allagreements between undertakings,
decisions byundertakings andconcerted practices between undertakings which haveastheirobjective
oreffect theprevention, restriction ordistortion ofcompetition, andabuse byoneormore undertakings
ofadominant position intheterritories oftheStates Parties aretobesanctioned.
Article 14oftheAgreement imposes anobligation toadopt disciplines onthebehaviour of
monopolies within aperiod offiveyears from thedateofentering intoforce oftheAgreement.
There arenospecific provisions related tostateenterprises.
III. GENERAL PROVISIONS OFTHE AGREEMENT
1. Exceptions andreservations
TheAgreement includes aprovision onnational security inArticle 13.
Exceptions provided forinArticle XXofGATT 1994 areincorporated inArticle 12ofthe
Agreement.
2. Accession
TheAgreement doesnotcontain provisions regarding accession.
3. Dispute settlement provisions
TheAgreement doesnotcontain provisions regarding dispute settlement.
4. Relationship withother agreements
Article 30stipulates thattheParties havetheright tomaintain ortoestablish newcustoms
unions, freetrade oreconomic union agreements aswellasspecial arrangements forfrontier trade.
5. Institutional framework
TheAgreement establishes aRomania-Moldova JointCommittee which istomeetatleastonce
ayeartomonitor theimplementation oftheAgreement.WT/REG44/2
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IV. OTHER
Ongovernment procurement, under theArticle 18.1, theParties agree tofurther liberalize
their respective public procurement markets. TheParties shall develop rules governing public
procurement, inorder toensure mutual access tocontract award procedures intheirpublic procurement
markets.
TheAgreement doesnotcontain specific disciplines intheareaoftradeinservices. However,
Article 15oftheAgreement provides forfreedom ofthetransfer ofpayments.
Onintellectualpropertyrightsprotection,theAgreementstipulatesthattherelevantinternational
treaties andconventions willapply.WT/REG44/2
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ATTACHMENT
FreeTrade Agreement between Romania andtheRepublic ofMoldova
I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION OFTHE AGREEMENT
4. Trade data
HS ROMANIA ROMANIA
Exports toMoldova Imports from Moldova
Chapter 1994 1995 1996 1994 1995 1996
000'USD 000'USD
01 277 570 431 220 3,425 70
02 17 256 2,207 7,287 25,421 10,108
03 65 3 - 49 6 -
04 8 229 10 1,495 940 2,918
05 - - 6 13 33 26
06 2 - 31 4 - 73
07 400 200 760 564 874 159
08 404 879 963 113 1,153 458
09 - 3 7 - 31 3
10 31 21 437 1 101 9
11 - 7 431 - 32 5
12 293 47 41 763 239 379
13 51 25 - - - 40
14 - - - - - -
15 111 500 898 1,069 136 73
16 83 115 108 2 - -
17 31 156 166 23,380 29,488 23,656
18 38 36 80 21 47 35
19 22 244 509 9 - 5
20 1,049 480 591 676 2,078 2,026
21 67 123 314 96 327 82
22 1,576 3,756 4,842 4,518 5,557 2,783
23 9 22 458 - 187 109
24 9 53 - 2,042 2,659 10,746
25 139 158 294 202 577 278
26 3 - 13 - - -
27 16,137 21,557 21,378 12,453 3,839 2WT/REG44/2
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HS ROMANIA ROMANIA
Exports toMoldova Imports from Moldova
Chapter 1994 1995 1996 1994 1995 1996
000'USD 000'USD
28 742 1,488 2,886 54 73 23
29 1,436 1,392 419 533 1,038 1,092
30 1,092 909 1,162 31 42 42
31 61 49 287 3 1 2
32 73 147 404 117 53 3
33 173 227 166 4 17 1
34 161 557 1,071 8 1 -
35 66 116 269 25 49 -
36 - 24 - 141 - 65
37 73 249 195 - - -
38 271 118 358 100 103 48
39 648 2,534 3,947 599 892 574
40 134 407 1,823 113 68 2
41 46 38 - 545 237 227
42 149 105 236 19 6 10
43 25 26 175 25 15 2
44 135 411 623 202 112 108
45 - - 23 49 83 28
46 - - - - - -
47 - - - 53 119 -
48 193 2,727 6,067 3,423 3,369 703
49 198 264 429 850 928 445
50 - 1 - - - -
51 1,121 1,403 1,686 16 421 174
52 495 572 327 515 337 2,062
53 546 1,440 1,600 - 119 57
54 293 2,896 879 3 13 2
55 1,969 1,938 1,835 60 32 -
56 74 26 447 21 - -
57 6 16 21 3,040 3,136 3,696
58 23 17 26 - 9 -
59 194 163 70 3 2 7
60 79 73 232 - - 17WT/REG44/2
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HS ROMANIA ROMANIA
Exports toMoldova Imports from Moldova
Chapter 1994 1995 1996 1994 1995 1996
000'USD 000'USD
61 411 126 328 78 16 3
62 864 1,805 1,769 229 145 269
63 58 45 114 48 293 198
64 603 586 719 350 120 10
65 44 19 8 6 45 -
66 - - 8 - - -
67 9 2 - - - -
68 115 198 80 2,043 1,864 1,841
69 261 176 403 239 91 142
70 306 3,841 5,259 33 1,114 1,478
71 43 246 129 - 13 -
72 65 272 1,419 7,731 4,341 3,079
73 529 913 1,271 892 495 183
74 - 119 15 76 31 84
75 - - - - - -
76 327 876 1,984 169 65 17
77 - - - - - -
78 - - 1 - - -
79 - 1 - 1 23 -
80 - - - - - -
81 - - - - 24 -
82 44 21 83 27 29 2
83 101 226 559 963 91 59
84 1,997 3,457 4,170 1,710 1,493 1,073
85 3,871 4,749 3,982 3,091 2,590 7,195
86 - - - 7 - -
87 2,174 7,277 899 8,795 1,135 413
88 4 21 20 211 8 19
89 - - 8 - 128 -
90 267 - 162 177 1 189
91 - - - - - -
92 3 - - - - -
93 - - - - - -WT/REG44/2
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HS ROMANIA ROMANIA
Exports toMoldova Imports from Moldova
Chapter 1994 1995 1996 1994 1995 1996
000'USD 000'USD
94 4,494 6,216 8,079 90 92 69
95 3 6 18 28 20 11
96 33 64 96 2 2 -
97 9 33 - - 1 -
98 - - - - - -
99 3,626 432 1,673 2,553 1,800 -
TOTAL 51,597 81,581 97,136 95,105 104,530 79,796