. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/AG/GEN/28 
20 December 2007 
 (07-5672) 
Committee on Agriculture 
Special Session Original:   English 
 
 
 
NEGOTIATIONS ON AGRICULTURE 
 
Communication from Albania  
 
 
 The following communication, dated 17 December 2007, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegation of Albania.  
 
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 Introduction 
 
1. In paragraph 35 of the Doha Declaration, Members agree to examine issues related to the 
trade of small economies and paragraph 41 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration urges Members 
to adopt specific measures that would facilitate th e fuller integration of sm all, vulnerable economies 
into the multilateral trading system. 
2. Until now Albania has played an active and cons tructive role in this Round of negotiations 
within the framework of Recently Acceded Members (RAMs). 
3. Referring to document TN/AG/W/4 dated 1 A ugust 2007, the "Revised Draft Modalities for 
Agriculture", Section H "Small and Vulnerable Econom ies", paragraph 134, where it is stated that 
"for the purposes of this Agreement, this term a pplies to Members with economies that, in the period 
1999 to 2004, had an average share of (a) world me rchandise trade of no more than 0.16 per cent or 
less, and (b) world trade in non-agricultural products of no more than 0.1 per cent and (c) world trade in agricultural products of no more than 0.4 per cen t".  Albania is classifying itself as a small and 
vulnerable economy. 
The level of development of the economy and accession commitments 
 
4. Albania's economy is still undergoing a reform process as a transition economy.  The 
agriculture sector is facing a lot of difficulties during its transformation to achieve sustainable development. 
5. In the Protocol of Accession of Albania to the WTO it was stated that no support was granted 
on agricultural products and AMS calculations were zero.  Thus Albania reserves the right to grant domestic support in accordance with Article 6.4(a)  of the Agreement on Agriculture, not exceeding 
"de minimis " level of 5 per cent and Article 7, pa ragraph 2(b) of the said Agreement.  
6. Since its accession to the WTO, Albania has not granted domestic support for agriculture 
products at the level exceeding " de minimis ", thus being in compliance with Article 6.4(a) of the 
Agreement on Agriculture. TN/AG/GEN/28 
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  7. Albania undertook deep market access commitm ents during its accession process to the 
WTO, covering all agricultura l products, and is still impl ementing post-accession reduction 
commitments. 
8. The maximum bound rate is 20 per cent while 27 per cent of agricultural tariff lines are bound 
at 6.5 per cent and lower.  The average bound ra te of agricultural products is 10.6 per cent. 
9. Moreover, regarding fish and fisheries, Al bania was committed to bind the rate on these 
products at zero and has already been implemen ting these commitments since 2004.  These products 
represent 15.4 per cent of all agricultural prod ucts or 3.6 per cent of all tariff lines. 
10. In its Protocol of Accession, Albania has committed to grant zero export subsidies for 
agricultural products. 
Albania's proposal and position in the agriculture negotiations 
 
11. Considering that the draft modalities and new commitments may become a burden for the 
agriculture sector, we would like to state that Albania should, regarding modalities on domestic support, be exempted from the Overall Reduction of  Trade-Distorting Domestic Support, and not be 
required to make cuts in " de minimis ". 
12. Given the extensive and deep market access commitment it has taken during its accession 
process, Albania should also be exempted from the new reduction commitments on bound rates for 
agricultural products resulting from this round of negotiations. 
13. We judge that this is the only manner to creat e a fair environment for the agriculture sector, 
ensure the future competitiveness of Albania's pr oducts in a highly competitive market, and put 
Albania on the right track for a future sustainable development. 
14. Albania looks forward to a balanced and su ccessful outcome of this round of negotiations, 
beneficial for all Members. 
 
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