. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/MA/W/94/Rev.1 
22 April 2008 
 
 (08-1927) 
Negotiating Group on Market Access Original:   Spanish 
  
 
MARKET ACCESS FOR NON-AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 
 
Proposal for the Elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers
 
 
Communication from Cuba 
 
Revision  
   The following communication, dated 21 April 2008,  is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Cuba and is a revision of the proposal TN/MA/W/94. 
 
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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 
measures to ensure that its members refrain from applying and eliminate unila teral coercive economic 
measures;   Emphasizing  that such actions not only undermine 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 authorize the application of unilateral 
measures;  TN/MA/W/94/Rev.1 
Page 2  
 
  Agree as follows: 
 1. Members shall not adopt or apply any unilate ral economic or trade measures against any other 
Member, given that such measures are inconsistent with the letter and spirit of the WTO Agreements. 
 
2. Members shall eliminate all unilateral trad e measures imposed on other Members within the 
first year following the adoption of this Decision,  thereby enhancing market access opportunities, in 
particular for developing countries, and shall notif y 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. Members shall ensure that no trade measure against another Member affects the commercial 
interests or the rights and obligations of third parties. 
 
5. Members shall refrain from having recour se to Articles XX and XXI of the GATT 1994 in 
order to impose unilateral trade measures in a manne r which would constitute a means of arbitrary or 
unjustifiable discrimination, unless the grounds theref or are substantiated or there is a general 
international understanding with regard to the ju stification for recourse thereto, respectively. 
 
6. Members seeking to apply a unilateral measure shall notify the Council for Trade in Goods of 
their intention in writing, indicating the nature of th e measure and its legal basis, scope and objectives, 
so that Members' considerations 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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