WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/REG215/M/1 
19 December 2008 
 
 (08-6249) 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements 
Fifty-first Session  
 
 
 
CONSIDERATION OF THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT  
BETWEEN JORDAN AND SINGAPORE, GOODS AND SERVICES  
 
Note on the Meeting of 27-28 November 2008  
 
Chairman:  Mr. D. Brauns (Germany) 
 
 
1. The meeting was convened in document WTO/AIR/3261, dated 16 October 2008. 
2. Under Agenda Item B.IV of its 51st Session, the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements 
(CRTA or the Committee) took up consideration of  the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Jordan 
and Singapore (hereinafter referred to as 'the Agreement'), goods and services. 
3. The Chairman  said that the Agreement had entered into force on 22 August 2005 and had 
been notified by the Parties to the WTO on 7 July 2006 under Article XXIV:7(a) of the GATT 1994 
and the Understanding on the Interpretation of  Article XXIV of GATT 1994 as an Agreement 
establishing a free-trade area (document WT/REG 215/N/1) and under GATS Article V:7(a) as an 
Agreement providing for the liberalization of trade in services within the meaning of Article V of the 
GATS (document S/C/N/370).  The text of the Agreem ent was available, together with its Annexes, 
on the Parties' official websites. 
4. The Factual Presentation on the goods and services aspects (document WT/REG215/2 dated 
10 September 2008) had been prepared by the Secret ariat on its own responsibility in full consultation 
with the Parties, in accordance with paragraph 7(b) of the Transparency Mechanism for Regional 
Trade Agreements (document WT/L/671).  In a ddition, written questions and replies on this 
Agreement had been recently distributed in doc ument WT/REG215/3 dated 19 November 2008.  He 
had been advised that a revision of the Factual Presentation would be circulated following this 
meeting to correct some minor changes in Table III.I relating to the percentages of Jordan’s imports.  
He proposed to organize the consideration of the Ag reement by first asking the Parties and then other 
Members to give any general comments.  The Co mmittee would then turn to the specifics of the 
Agreement using the Factual Presentation, document WT/REG215/2, to guide the debate.  Given that 
the goods and services aspects of this Agreement were  dealt with in a single Factual Presentation, he 
proposed that the Committee go through the Factual Presentation section by section, and then look at 
the questions and replies document. 
5. The representative of Jordan  expressed his government's interest in the process and welcomed 
the opportunity of being considered for transparen cy purposes.  He thanked the WTO Secretariat for 
its efforts in having prepared the Factual Pr esentation, which provided a comprehensive and 
informative overview of the Agreement, and Member s for their involvement in this exercise and for 
the interest shown through the written questions that  the Parties had received.  He also thanked the 
Singapore delegation for its cooperation to put together  all the information needed for this meeting. WT/REG215/M/1 
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  6. Jordan and Singapore shared longstanding and out standing bilateral economic relations.  The 
Agreement had institutionalized bilateral economic ties and had promoted greater trade and 
investment flows between the Parti es.  Jordan was the first country in the Middle East to sign a FTA 
with Singapore creating a gateway for business partners hips in the region and South East Asia.  It was 
his delegation’s opinion that the Agreement was comp rehensive in scope, and s ubstantially liberalized 
trade in goods and services, in compliance w ith GATT Article XXIV and GATS Article V, 
respectively.  The Agreement also included chap ters on electronic commerce, business cooperation, 
rules of origin, anti-dumping, and safeguards.  It did not include provisions on SPS and TBT measures, but both Parties affirmed their ri ghts and obligations under the WTO Agreements on 
SPS and TBT as mentioned in the replies to the questi ons.  The same applied for intellectual property.  
For investment, a bilateral investment treaty had b een signed between the Parties in addition to other 
agreements in tourism, culture and informati on technology.  The Agreement established clear, 
transparent and mutually advantageous rul es governing trade to enable businesses to conduct 
transactions freely, used resources efficiently and took planning decisions with certainty.  It was 
designed to further strengthen trad e and economic ties between the Parties with a view to raising 
living standards and promoting economic growth , investment opportunities and employment, and 
eventually raising the capacity and international co mpetitiveness of goods and services of the Parties.  
The Agreement also recognized that  Jordan was still in a state of development and faced special 
challenges.  The gradual approach to liberalizati on within the ten year transitional period of the 
Agreement, which, in his delegation’s point of  view, was in full compliance with GATT Article 
XXIV, meant that the date for full liberalization would be 2014.  This approach allowed a 
progressively closer economic relationship while  providing the necessary time to improve the 
competitiveness of Jordan's different economic sect ors and industries and a llowing national exporters 
to adjust to new requirements. 
7. In conclusion, the Agreement complemented Jo rdan's foreign trade policy, which was based 
on the norms of economic openness and integration, into the rapidly globalizing world economy.  
Such a policy incorporated the country’s vision and positiveness in viewing economic partnerships as 
a necessary tool to achieve mutual interests and fair  dividends.  Through an intensive reform process 
with a view to introducing a modern and conduciv e regulatory environment, Jordan had taken a big 
step towards economic and trade liberalization to reinforce a market-oriented economy.  In 
conclusion, he stressed the importance that Jordan  attached to the multilateral trading system and 
WTO principles, and the importance of regional trade agreements in integrating developing countries 
into the world economy.  It was his delegation’s opi nion that such bilateral and regional arrangements 
were supplementary and complimentar y to the multilateral trading system. 
8. The representative of Singapore
 supported Jordan's appreciation to the Secretariat and other 
Members for their interest in the Ag reement.  The Parties enjoyed exce llent relations with each other, 
and the Agreement had further enhanced this splend id state of affairs.  The Agreement had been 
signed in May 2004, and had not just marked Singapor e’s first FTA with a country in the Middle East, 
but also represented its increased economic enga gement with the region.  The Agreement had 
signified a key milestone in Singapore’s relations with  Jordan, and was part of a broader platform for 
increasing economic engagement with Jordan.  It w as a key pillar of the broader framework on the 
Closer Economic Partnership between the two countr ies.  The Agreement had come into force in 
August 2005.  In two short years, total trade be tween the Parties had increased by 140%, from 
S$61 million in 2005 to S$147 million in 2007.  The Agreement was a comprehensive one that 
encompassed trade in goods and services, electr onic commerce, business cooperation, dispute 
settlement mechanisms and other forward-looking  WTO provisions.  In addition, a Bilateral 
Investment Treaty had been negotiated under the au spices of the Agreement.  For trade in goods, 
Singapore had liberalized its remaining MFN-dutiable tariff lines upon entry into force of the Agreement.  All qualifying goods of Jordanian or igin now entered Singapore on a duty-free basis.  
Prior to the Agreement, approximately 48% of Singa pore's exports had entered Jordan duty-free.  As a 
result of the tariff elimination under the Agreemen t, Jordan had reduced tariffs on an additional  WT/REG215/M/1 
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  45% of Singaporean goods and would extend tariff reduction to 97.5% of its tariff lines by 2011.  For 
trade in services, both Parties had continue d to liberalize services sectors beyond their 
WTO commitments.  Among other GATS plus elemen ts, the Agreement had also instituted a 
framework to facilitate cooperation in  financial services between the Par ties' regulators.  The Bilateral 
Investment Treaty signed under the auspices of th e Agreement had helped to create favourable 
conditions to stimulate bilateral investment flow s between the Parties, for instance, by minimising 
restrictions and strengthening the protection of investment.  The disciplines in the Treaty would 
include both the traditional disciplines of invest ment agreements, such as national treatment, 
expropriation and compensation, as well as more a dvanced provisions, such as access to investor-to-
state dispute settlement.  Although the Agreement w as the first FTA for Singapore with a country in 
the Middle East, and similarly the first FTA for Jord an with a country in Asia, Singapore did not see 
this as a new trading relationship, but merely a reki ndling of old ties between the two regions.  Over 
the centuries, ships had sailed the trade winds be tween the Middle East and South-East Asia.  
Tradesmen from the Middle East had traded with merchants from Asia in the past.  Where once 
spices, porcelain and silk had been traded, today electronics, research and development (R&D), and 
innovation were traded.  It was his delegation’s view  that the Agreement helped to facilitate two-way 
trade and investment between the Parties that would continually evolve and contribute to the dynamic 
relationship between them. 
9. The representative of the United States  thanked the Parties as well as the Secretariat for the 
Factual Presentation.  Although there were 153 tariff  lines that Jordan had not liberalized under the 
Agreement, his delegation commended the Parties on negotiating an Agreement that liberalized both 
markets, creating opportunities for growth and economic improvement. 
10. The representative of the United States  wished to follow up on its written question no. 10 on 
the issue of "new services".  The Parties’ respon se had noted that “new services” referred to “those 
services not included in the CPC list”.  As the Unite d States had noted in its written question, the CPC 
constituted a comprehensive classification of all goo ds and services.  The Preface to the Provisional 
CPC declared:  “The newly developed CPC cons titutes a complete product classification covering 
goods and services.” while paragraph 21 of the CPC noted that “The CPC is a system of categories covering both goods and services that  is both exhaustive and mutually exclusive.”  Moreover, the 
CPC recognized that it did not explicitly describe every single service, by providing guidance on how 
to choose which of the available categories best fi tted the service in question.  In light of these 
clarifications, his delegation asked the Parties how any new services could be construed as “not 
included” in the CPC. 
11. The representative of Singapore
 responded that the issue of "new services" was not new.  This 
was an issue that had been discussed in the Counc il for Trade in Services since the WTO had come 
into effect in 1995 onwards.  Although Members had had extensive discussions in that Council, there 
was no resolution on this issue.  Members had differe nt interpretations as to what constituted a "new 
service", and as to whether it was covered by the CP C.  Given that the debate was not resolved, 
Singapore believed that stating the CPC did not cove r "new services" would not in any way injure the 
approach that both Parties had taken with a view to liberalizing services, given that the Agreement 
was a dynamic one that both Parties would regularl y review with a view to further improving their 
commitments.  Further, it was his delegation’s opin ion that at a later stage the Council for Trade in 
Services would probably take up the issue again and this technical issue should be dealt in that 
Council rather than in the context of the CRTA. 
12. Given that there were no more questions, the Chairman  noted that the consideration of the 
goods and services aspects of the Free Trade Agr eement between Jordan and Singapore had allowed 
the Committee to clarify a number of questions a nd the Committee concluded oral discussion of this 
RTA in accordance with paragraph 11  of the Transparency Mechanism.  If any delegations wished to 
ask follow-up questions they were invited to forw ard submissions in writing to the Secretariat by WT/REG215/M/1 
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  4 December 2008 and Parties were asked to submit re plies in writing by no later than 18 December 
2008.  In accordance with paragraph 13 of the Tr ansparency Mechanism all written submissions, as 
well as minutes of this meeting would be circulat ed promptly, in all WTO official languages, and 
would be made available on the WTO website. 
13. The Committee took note  of the comments made. 
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