G/TRIMS/W/127  
 
25 September 2013  
(13-5124)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Trade-Related Investment Measures  Original: English  
 
RUSSIAN FEDERATION – LOCAL CONTENT CONDITIONS IN 
THE "AUTO INVESTMENT PROGRAM" 
REPLIES TO QUESTIONS FROM THE UNITED STATES, EUROPEAN UNION AND JAPAN 
Question 1: 
 Paragraph 1090 of the WPR states that "[t]he representative of the Russian Federation 
confirmed that all WTO-inconsistent measures , including preferential tariffs or tariff 
exemptions, applied pursuant to Auto Inve stment Program No. 1 and Auto Investment 
Program No. 2 and agreements concluded under these programmes would be eliminated by 1 July 2018." However, in response to a question about phasing down or elimination 
of the program, the notification of the Russi an Federation pursuant to TRIMS Article 5.1 
states, "[t]he ultimate date of expiration of the agreements between investors and the 
Ministry of Economic Development of the Ru ssian Federation is 31 December 2020." In 
light of Addendum G/TRIMS/N/1/RUS/1/Add. 1, can the Russian Federation please 
confirm that [t]he ultimate date of expirati on of the agreements in their current form 
between investors and the Ministry of Econom ic Development of the Russian Federation 
is 1 July 2018? 
 Reply: 
 
As stated in the addendum to the notification of the Russian investment regime of industrial 
assembly of motor vehicles and parts thereof number G/TRIMS/N/1/RUS/1/Add.1, the Russian Federation took a commitment to eliminate all the WTO inconsistent elements of this investment 
regime by 1 July 2018. The WTO membership can find specific language of this commitment as 
well as detailed description of the investment regime in the Working Party Report on Russia's accession to the WTO (WPR). Relevant paragraphs of the WPR are number 1063, next - from 
paragraph 1072 to 1086 and the language of the commitment itself can be found in the 
paragraphs 1089 and 1090.  The commitment provides for changing of the curren t investment regime by 1 July 2018 in order 
to bring it into compliance with the WTO rules. However the commitment does not provide for 
elimination of the investment regime itself after 1 July 2018.  
In the same way the commitment does not provide for termination of the investment agreements. 
Equally, the form of the agreements should not necessarily be changed. There could be different 
means of ensuring compliance of the regime with the WTO rules. At this stage we cannot forecast 
what these measures will be. 
 Question 2:  
Please describe any preparatory steps th e Russian Federation has taken or is 
contemplating in connection with the elimination of these WTO incompatible programs pursuant to paragraph 1090 of the WPR. 
 
Reply: 
 
Russia has launched a discussion with participants of the regime on means of ensuring compliance 
of the regime with the WTO rules with a view to  keep balanced their investment projects after 
bringing the regime into compliance with the WTO rules. G/TRIMS/W/127 
 
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Question 3:  Under paragraph 1090 of the WPR, the Russian Federation agreed that it would "engage 
in consultations with interested WTO Member s, no later than 1 July 2016, regarding 
WTO-consistent measures that could be appl ied in connection with its Auto Investment 
Program No. 1 and Auto Investment Program No. 2 and would notify WTO Members of 
any measures planned to replace the WTO-in consistent measures applied under these 
programmes at least six months prior to th e adoption of such new measures." Has the 
Russian Federation taken any action, or does it anticipate taking any action prior to the next meeting of this Committee that would requ ire notification or consultation pursuant 
to paragraph 1090? 
 Question 4: 
 
The United States and the European Union wo uld appreciate if the Russian Federation 
could regularly inform the TRIMs Committee on the steps that will be taken with a view 
to consulting interested WTO Members and e liminating the relevant programs pursuant 
to paragraph 1090 of the WPR.  Reply: 
 As explained in the answer to the question 1, it is not clear at this stage through which means full 
WTO compliance of the regime would be achieved by 1 July 2018. 
 
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