. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/MA/W/94/Rev.2 
18 March 2009 
 (09-1350) 
Negotiating Group on Market Access Original:   English/ 
 Spanish 
 
 
 
MARKET ACCESS FOR NON-AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 
 
Proposal for the Elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers  
 
Communication from Cuba 
 
Revision  
  
 The following communication, dated 17 March 2009, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Cuba and is a revisi on of the proposal TN/MA/W/94/Rev.1. 
 
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Decision on the Elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers Imposed as
 
Unilateral Trade Measures  
  Members, 
 
 Recalling  that the Marrakesh Agreement is desi rous of contributing to sustainable 
development and growth in international trade by en tering into reciprocal and mutually advantageous 
arrangements directed to the substantial reduction of  tariffs and other barriers to trade and to the 
elimination of discriminatory treatment in international trade relations;  
 Noting  that, pursuant to paragraph 16 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, Members agreed to 
negotiations on non-agricultural products aimed at re ducing or, as appropriate, eliminating tariffs and 
non-tariff barriers on non-agricultural products, in pa rticular on products of interest to developing 
countries;  
 Stressing that the international community has rep eatedly called for urgent and effective 
actions  to ensure that its members refrain from appl ying and eliminate unilateral coercive economic 
measures;   Emphasizing  that such measures not only undermin e basic WTO principles and principles 
enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and international law, but also severely threaten the 
freedom of trade and transit;   Mindful of the fact that the WTO Agreements do not au thorize the application of such 
unilateral measures; 
 TN/MA/W/94/Rev.2 
Page 2  
 
  Agree as follows: 
 1. Members shall not adopt or apply any unilate ral economic or trade measure against any other 
Member if it is inconsistent with the letter and spirit of the WTO Agreements. 
 
2. Members shall eliminate all such unilateral trad e measures, as defined in paragraph 1,  within 
the first year following the adoption of this Deci sion, thereby enhancing market access opportunities, 
in particular for developing countries, and they shall notify this fact in writing to the Council for 
Trade in Goods.  
3. Members shall regularly review their non-tari ff measures to ensure that they do not constitute 
disguised restrictions on international trade.  4. No Member shall apply any trade measur e against another Member if it affects the 
commercial interests or the rights and obligations of third parties. 
 
5. Members shall refrain from having recourse to Article XXI of GATT 1994 when there is no agreement at the international level about the situat ion put forward to which they intend to respond, 
thereby avoiding measures that do not pursue legiti mate security objectives and preventing arbitrary 
or unjustifiable discrimination between Members.   
 
6. Members seeking to apply any unilateral coer cive measure shall notify to the Council for 
Trade in Goods of their intention in writing, indica ting the nature of the measure and its legal basis, 
scope and objectives, so that Members' c onsiderations can be taken into account. 
 7. The Council for Trade in Goods shall conduct an annual review of the progress made in 
respect of compliance with the provisions of th is Decision and report to the General Council. 
 
 
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