WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/TPR/M/227 
29 April 2010 
 (10-2317) 
Trade Policy Review Body 
24 and 26 March 2010  
 
 
 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW 
 
CROATIA 
 
Record of the Meeting  
 
Chairperson:  H.E. Mr. Istvan Major (Hungary) 
 
  Page 
 
I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY THE CHAIRPERSON 3 
II. OPENING STATEMENT BY THE REPRESENTATIVE OF CROATIA 4 
III. STATEMENT BY THE DISCUSSANT 7 
IV. STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS 9 V. REPLIES BY THE REPRESENTATIVE OF CROATIA AND ADDITIONAL 
 COMMENTS  20 
VI. CONCLUDING REMARKS BY THE CHAIRPERSON 27 
 
Note:   Advance written questions by WTO Me mbers and the replies provided by Croatia are 
reproduced in document WT/TPR/M/227/Add.1 and will be available online at:  
http://www.wto.org/english/tr atop_e/tpr_e/tp_rep_e.htm.    WT/TPR/M/227 
 Page 3 
 
 
  I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY THE CHAIRPERSON 
1. The first Trade Policy Review of Croatia was held on 24 and 26 March 2010.  
The Chairperson H.E. Mr. Istvan Major (Hungary) welcomed the delegation of Croatia, headed by 
H.E. Mr. Đuro Popija č, Minister of the Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship, and the discussant, 
H.E. Mr. Hannu Himanen (Finland).  
2. The Chairperson recalled the purpose of the Trad e Policy Reviews and the main elements of 
the procedures for the meeting.  The report by Croatia was contained in document WT/TPR/G/227 
and that of the WTO Secretariat in WT/TPR/S/227. 
3. Questions by the following delegations had been  submitted in writing at least two weeks in 
advance and had been transmitted to the delegation of Croatia: Brazil;  India;  Turkey;  the United 
States;  the European Union;  Canada;  Mexico, and Japan.    
4. The following delegations had submitted written questions after the two-week deadline:  
Argentina;  Hong Kong, China;  and the Republic of Korea. 
5. The Chairperson said that he had considered the reports prepared for the Review and he noted 
that Croatia's reform programme, centred on trade li beralization, deregulation and privatization, had 
resulted in a positive economic performance over the last few years, with relatively high economic 
growth, low inflation, and declini ng public deficit.  Nevertheless, fo r 2009, real GDP growth rate was 
estimated to have contracted by 5.8% largely as a result of the global economic downturn.  Moreover, 
Croatia still faced key problems, notably external vul nerability due to its high external current account 
deficit and large stock of external debt. 
6. Both reports made clear that the orientati on of Croatia's economic and trade policies was 
largely driven by its commitments in the WTO and preparations for accession to the European Union.  
In this regard, important reforms had taken place in the trade area during the period under review, for 
example, all fees charged by customs had been abolis hed and Croatia had updated almost all its trade-
related legislation, a process that was still ongoing.  Furthermore, Croatia reduced its simple average 
MFN tariff from 12.1% at the time of its ac cession to the WTO in 2000 to 7.1% in 2009.  
Nonetheless, the reports made clear that further st ructural reforms would be key to strengthening 
Croatia's resilience to shocks, sustaining growth, attracting investment, and improving productivity. 
 WT/TPR/M/227 
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  II. OPENING STATEMENT BY THE RE PRESENTATIVE OF CROATIA  
7. The Croatian delegation welcomes this First Tr ade Policy Review of Croatia by the World 
Trade Organisation. We believe that it provides an excellent opportunity for a country like Croatia, a 
“Recently Acceded Member”, to report on the current  situation in its economy, at the same time it 
contributes to transparency and the functioning of  the WTO and to multilateralism.  We are also 
impressed by the number of questions that the WT O Members submitted to us. We see this as a sign 
of interest of the global community in our economy.   
8. I will focus in my statement today on the three important topics: firstly on the main benefits 
of the liberalization of the Croatian economy and the actions taken between  2000 and 2010; secondly, 
on the impacts of the economic and financial cris es on the Croatian economy, and thirdly, on the 
Croatian position towards the Doha Round of trade negotiations.  
The main benefits of the liberalization of the Croatian economy and the actions taken between 
2000 and 2010  
 
9. Croatia is the 140
th Member of the World Trade Organization as of 30 November 2000.  In 
the period from our accession to the WTO numerous  acts and regulations have been adapted and 
harmonised with the EU acquis communautaire  due to the fact that EU membership is a strategic goal 
of Croatia and in this period we have started with the negotiation process with the EU. So we can say 
that the Croatian legislation reflects today the b asic WTO principles and disciplines and is gradually 
brought in line with the EU acquis.   
10. It would take too long to enumerate all th e areas in which we adopted new laws and 
regulations but I would like to stress out, as we did in our National Report, the areas that had not 
existed at the time of our accession to the WTO, such as consumer protection and control of dual-use 
export control.  Furthermore, I would like to draw  your attention to the progress made in the areas of 
intellectual property rights, competition and public proc urement policy.  To sum up, Croatia has in the 
last nine years developed from a country in transition to a country very close to the EU membership.  
11. I would like to illustrate this by some key m acroeconomic indicators. GDP per capita in 2000 
was slightly above US$4.000 and inflation reached ove r 7%.  On the contrary in 2008, the GDP per 
capita reached over US$15.000 and inflation rate is 2.2%.  
12. Concerning the preferential trade, Croatia had only three preferential trade agreements in 
2000 whereas today our trade with 39 trading partne rs is carried out under free trade agreements, 
notably with 27 EU Member States, 7 CEFTA 2006 pa rties, 4 EFTA states and Turkey. Preferential 
trade represented almost 77% of Croatia's total expo rts and imports in 2008.  EU is traditionally the 
main trading partner of Croatia. In 2000 total trad e exchange was more than US$12 billion and last 
year it reached almost US$32 billion.  Observed acco rding to the purchasing power parity it reached 
63% of the average of GDP per capita of the EU27 countries.  
13. It is sure that Croatia’s membership of the WTO and accession negotiations for the 
membership of the European Union contributed to further liberalization of the Croatian economy, 
opening of the market, exports’ incentive and participation in the world trade. 
14. We have also to mention that Croatia concl uded 43 international agreements in the area of 
trade and economic cooperation and 50 agreements on avoidance of double taxation. To apply them 
once Croatia becomes an EU member, these agreemen ts are in the process of amendment to bring 
them in line with the EU acquis .   WT/TPR/M/227 
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  The impact of the economic and fina ncial crises on the Croatian economy 
 
15. This Trade Policy Review has been prepared at the time of global financial crisis and 
recession. It has also had an effect on the Croatian economy.  To minimise/reduce the impacts on the crises and to ensure stability and liquidity of the public finances Croatia has adopted a package of 10 
antirecession measures in the course of 2009.  The aim of these measures was to preserve 
macroeconomic stability and to create conditions fo r recovery and stable economic growth. Owing to 
the financial crisis spill-over to th e Croatian economy in 2009 a real drop  of GDP by 5.8% is expected 
according to the first estimate of the Central Bureau of Statistics.  
16. The budget was revised in 2009 three times. In the first budget revision in March 2009, total 
expenditures were reduced by 4%. In the second su ch items as Croatian Ra ilways, construction of 
traffic infrastructure, were reduced, and in the thir d, which included measures relating to the changes 
on the revenue side and the retention of jobs, it was necessary to amend and adopt a number of 
regulations with the aim of providing strong antirecessi on effect and the reduction of deficit. Thus, the 
VAT rate was increased from 22% to 23%, a 2 to 4% crises tax on salaries, pensions and other 
receipts was introduced, changes were made to speci al taxes and charges were introduced for certain 
services.  Following the aforementioned budget revisi ons, the total state budget deficit is planned at 
the level of 2.8% of the estimated GDP for 2009.  
17. As the newest measure, at its session in January  2010, the Croatian Government adopted the 
decision on measures for economic recovery and development including two models of active 
involvement of the state in granting loans to en terprises – the model of financing business projects 
and of the guarantee fund, as well as the decision on th e intention to participate in the establishment of 
economic cooperation funds.  The second model is a guarantee fund for partial covering of risks 
related to banks’ new placements, which is exclusively intended fo r developmental and investment 
projects.   
18. With regard to economic cooperation funds, the state would participate in the establishment 
of funds with the amount not higher than HRK 1 billion.  
19. Also, the Croatian Government and the World Bank signed in January this year, the Loan 
Agreement in the amount of €200 million for the Loan  for Developmental Policy in the Fiscal, Social 
and Financial Sector of the Republic of Croatia . By granting this new Project, the World Bank 
confirmed its support to the measures of the Croatian Government aimed at furt her stabilization of the 
macroeconomic situation in Croatia, and alleviation of the consequences of the global financial crisis.  
20. I would like to emphasise that measures related to economic recovery and development were 
adopted with the full support of all the political pa rtners as well as other relevant institutions, social 
partners and NGO’s.  We hope that these measures will give a strong boost to the Croatian economy 
and will bring expected positive results.  
The Croatian position towards the Doha Round of trade negotiations   
 21. Croatia attaches great importance to trade and its key role in the overall development. In this 
context we recognise the significance of the WTO. Th roughout years, the WTO has confirmed its role 
and provided benefit to the global community. This  rules-based system has helped build global 
economic cooperation.  
22. Participating to the Doha Conference for the first time as a WTO Member, Croatia strongly 
supported the new round of multilateral trade negotia tions believing that it will bring benefits and 
contribute to the long-term economic  growth of all WTO Members.  WT/TPR/M/227 
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  23. Our position in this round of ne gotiations is based on the fact  that during its accession process 
Croatia has made extensive market access commitments in the key areas of agriculture, non-agricultural market access a nd services which went far beyond those agreed in the Uruguay 
Round. We believe that the specific situation of Croatia and other Recently Acceded Members would 
be fully taken into account in all areas of negotiations.  
24. I have to underline here that in the process of the WTO accession Croatia has considerably 
liberalized its market and assumed obligations that  range Croatia among the Members with the most 
liberalized systems within the WTO.  
25. Croatia bound all its tariff lines at a final simp le average rate of 6.7%.  Croatia's tariff 
comprises of 94% ad valorem  rates and only 6% non- ad valorem  rates, which apply only 
to 639 agricultural lines. Since its accession to the WTO, Croatia has reduced its applied MFN tariff.  
The simple average MFN tariff declined from 12.1% in 2000 to 7.1% in 2009. 
26. Tariff quotas are applied only on agricultural prod ucts and cover 0.7% of total tariff lines. 
Transitional periods for reductions of tariffs last ed 5 years for industrial goods and 7 years for 
agricultural goods.  All reduction commitments had been implemented as scheduled.  It can be said that 
such a strong market’s opening, reducing tariffs a nd undertaking other large commitments contributed 
strongly to the progress of Croatian economy and standard of living.  
27. Having in mind this high level of undertaken co mmitment, we believe th at we have the right 
to seek for the conditions for developing countries to apply to Croatia in this round of trade 
negotiations, until our membership in the European Uni on.  In line with this, Croatia strongly supports 
the continuation of Doha Developm ent Round of Negotiations and further trade liberalization. Croatia 
supports some sectoral initiatives, the continuation of negotiations on non-tariff barriers to trade, the 
continuation of negotiations on NAM A and AGRI modalities and services. 
28. Let me conclude this part of my statement by  repeating our strong support to the successful 
outcome of the Round as a whole.  A successful  conclusion to the Doha Round would make a 
significant contribution to the multilateral trading system and would provide a boost to the global 
economy. 
29. At the end, I take this opportunity to emph asize significance of the WTO membership for 
Croatia. This membership was a first step and a pr econdition for further integration into international 
economic processes and organization.  Also, accession to the WTO had facilitated trans ition to a 
market economy, ensured stability of the domestic ma rket, and promoted invest ments, which had led to 
better competitive conditions for trade. Alt hough regional and bilateral trad e relations are of vital 
interest for our economy, we see them as comple mentary to the multilateralism that WTO represents. 
At the same time, these bilateral and regional trade relations fully applies WTO rules and disciplines 
considering them as a basic standard for successful trade relations. 
30. Finally, we would like to express our willingn ess to maintain transparent and predictable 
trade and economic policy in compliance with our obligations and commitments under the WTO 
Agreements.  WT/TPR/M/227 
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  III. STATEMENT BY THE DISCUSSANT (H.E. Mr. Hannu Himanen (Finland)) 
31. Croatia became independent in  1991 and went through a number of turbulent years shaking 
and shaping the region. It joined the WTO in late 2000 as the Organization’s 140th Member and is 
now subject to its first Trade Policy Review. As Cr oatia aims to conclude its accession negotiations 
with the EU in the course of this year, it may well be that this first Review will be Croatia’s last. 
Economic Environment  
32. Croatia has come a long way since the end of the tragic war in 1995. It embarked on an 
ambitious economic reform program me aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and establishing a 
fully functioning market economy.  It has largely reached these objectives. Croatia is today a modern, 
stable, relatively diversified and outward-oriented  economy, well integrated into the global market. 
33. Croatia’s economic reform programme is based on  the three pillars of trade liberalisation, 
deregulation and privatisation, an d it is driven by WTO commitments and preparations for accession 
to the EU. Indeed, Croatia’s economy is highly de pendent on international trade, with the EU 
accounting for about two-thirds of Croatia’s trade.  Inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) have 
increased considerably, which is largely due to positive economic performance and reflects a positive 
trend in investor confidence. Croatia also deserv es praise for its stable banking sector and currency, 
which have served the economy well thanks to the conservative and proactive policy of the Croatian 
National Bank.  
34. These policies have been effective, as the figur es for GDP growth (4.2% per year on average), 
inflation (3.5% per year on average) and public  deficit (0.9% of GDP in 2008) during 2004-2008 
clearly indicate. Unemployment rate fell to 8.4% in 2008, and per capita income rose to 
approximately two-thirds of the EU average. 
35. This was before Croatia, as most other economi es, was hit by the global economic downturn.  
According to most recent estimates, real GDP growth in 2009 was -5.8% and fiscal deficit 3.2% of GDP.  What is the latest growth prognosis for 2010 and beyond?  Could the Delegation provide us 
with updated information about measures the Governme nt intends to take in reaction to the crisis? 
How do you see the balance between reducing public expenditure and stimulat ing economic growth?  
36. Croatia’s foreign investment regime is fairly liberal.  Inflows of FDI increased considerably 
since 2000, but it is clear that the country could do better in attracting FDI. While Croatia’s eventual 
membership in the EU will certainly boost foreig n investment, what measures has the Government 
taken or intends to take to further improve th e business environment and boost investor confidence? 
Trade Policy Regime and Measures  
37. Croatia is strongly committed to  the multilateral trading system, including the current round 
of trade negotiations.  It participates actively in the Group of the Recently Acceded Members (RAM) 
and was its coordinator from November 2001 until mid-2007.  
38. Croatia made extensive commitments upon its WTO accession, binding 100% of its tariff 
lines and making extensive specific commitments under the GATS. Croatia is a signatory to the 
Information Technology Agreement and the Agreem ent on Trade in Civil Aircraft, and also an 
observer to the Plurilateral Agreement on Governme nt Procurement (GPA).  When can we expect 
Croatia to sign the GPA?  Are further legisl ative measures necessary before it can do so? 
39. To a very large extent, the goal of EU acces sion will guide Croatia’s economic and trade 
policies and reforms. Adoption of the EU’s acquis communautaire  is a huge undertaking, for which WT/TPR/M/227 
Page 8  
 
  purpose Croatia has reviewed and updated almost all its  trade-related legislation with the objective of 
bringing it into line with the acquis. This process continues.  
40. Croatia has implemented a major privatisation programme of state-owned enterprises since 
the early 1990s.  Could the Delegation provide furt her information as to how the restructuring and 
privatisation of state-owned enterprises is progressing, including the timetable? 
41. The Government, quite understandably, believes in  export-led growth and has made an effort 
to promote Croatian exports, including the establis hment of free zones. There are a number of 
programmes providing differen t forms of export support . As the Croatian Export Offensive Strategy 
(2007-2010) is in its last year, could the Delegati on give a preliminary assessment of its results?  Is 
Croatia envisaging changes to its export prom otion regime in view of the EU accession? 
Sectoral Policies  
42. Croatia has a relatively diversif ied economy, with services being the most important sector.  
The services sector comprises more than 60% of GDP and employs more than half of Croatia’s labour force. Croatia is also a net exporter of services.  Tourism is a major net foreign exchange earner.  
43. Under the GATS, Croatia has scheduled exte nsive specific commitments. However, the 
applied regime is more liberal.  In recent years Croatia has been modernising its service industries.  
The Secretariat’s Report concludes that this modernisation process would benefit from increased foreign presence, in terms of increased transfers of capital, technology and know-how, and hence 
from enhanced market-access commitments in the WTO. 
44. Manufacturing accounts for about one-fifth of  GDP and is relatively diversified. 
Manufactured goods represent about 70% of total me rchandise exports and impor ts.  Manufacturing is 
a major beneficiary of government support, and the State continues to play an important role in 
manufacturing, mainly through state-owned enterprises, some of which are loss-making.   
45. While Croatia has established a functioning mark et economy, the State continues to provide 
aid on economic and social grounds. State aid has in recent years been some 2.5% of GDP.  
Agriculture and fisheries together account for on e third of total state aid.  The authorities 
acknowledge the need to redirect aid towards horizontal and regional objectives given that these 
categories of state aid have a smaller impact on competition than sector-specific aid. 
46. Croatia’s objective is to improve its competitiv eness and productivity and to reduce direct 
state intervention so as to be ready for EU acc ession.  Could the Delegation explain what the 
Government is doing in order to achieve this objec tive?  In particular, as the State has significant 
shares in shipyards, it would be interesting to hear how restructuring and privatisation is advancing in 
that sector. 
47. Croatia is a good example of a country that has used it membership in the WTO to strengthen 
and develop its economy and to join the European and subregional economic integration processes. It 
has continued to make solid progress.    WT/TPR/M/227 
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  IV. STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS 
BRAZIL 
 
48. Brazil notes with satisfaction that, since its a ccession to the WTO on November 2000, Croatia 
has renewed its commitment to opening its econom y to international trade through the establishment 
of solid commercial ties not only with its immediate vicinity, but with the global markets. Croatia’s 
successful integration in the multilateral trading syst em has certainly contributed to spurring domestic 
entrepreneurship, improving industrial efficiency  and enhancing national competitiveness, thereby 
enabling the consolidation of a str ong and prosperous market economy. 
49. As decisive steps are taken in relation to th e future accession of Croatia to the European 
Union, Brazil expects that the relatively open trad e regime followed in agriculture will not be 
adversely affected in areas of our export interest.  
50. Turning to the larger economic context, we ar e also glad to verify that recent measures 
adopted in response to the international economic cr isis were not to the detriment of trade-openness 
and have not compromised public liquidity or fiscal stability. We sincerely wish a speedy recovery of 
the Croatian economy, which was temporarily led astray, by the crisis, from an otherwise impressive 
path of growth. Brazil is looking forward to provi de a measure of contribution to this recovery 
through further strengthening its economic ties with Croatia. 
51. In the past few years, trade flows between Brazil and Croatia have experienced a significant 
and steady growth from a relatively modest base. In the 2004-2008 period , Brazilian exports to 
Croatia increased almost three times (from US$69.8 million to US$199.2 million); while imports from 
Croatia, though still relatively modest, raised more  than 9 times (from US$1.3 million in 2004 to 
almost US$12.6 million in 2008).  
52. Needless to say, trade relations between our countries also suffered the impacts of the 
international economic crisis: sluggish  economic activity led to shrinkage in total trade value, with a 
23.5% drop in Brazilian exports, which amounted to  US$152.3 million in 2009. On the other hand, 
Brazil notes with satisfaction the resilience disp layed by Croatian exports, which increased 19.2% 
raise in relation to the previous year. 
53. Brazil is confident that bilatera l trade will recover its vigor in the near future and welcomes 
the positive trends reflected on the figures throughout n early the entire first decade of this century. We 
are equally convinced there is potential to be furthe r explored by our traders so as to intensify our 
commercial relations. 
54. We hold the view that there is especially still room for the increment of Croatian exports to 
Brazil, and the Brazilian Government is committed to  exploring possible ways of achieving this goal. 
INDIA 
55. We recognise that since its Independence Croa tian economy has made great strides – from the 
country in transition at the end of the 20th century, to move to the upper middle income category in 
beginning of this century.  However, Croatia has also been impacted by the effects of the global 
financial crisis since the second half of 2008 as a result of which economic activity substantially 
slowed down. In 2009, GDP in the first 3 months fe ll by 6.7% and the industrial production in the first 
8 months fell by 9.8%.  Last year, new businesses registered at Croatian Commercial Court decreased by 30%. The government introduced several meas ures to address liquidity squeeze and adverse 
depositor and investor perception.  WT/TPR/M/227 
Page 10  
 
  56. We heard the Croatian PM yesterday announce that the government was preparing a new 
package of measures to be presente d before Easter to strengthen the economy and help companies in 
financial difficulties.  
57. The Secretariat Report has pointed towards so me negatives in the business environment in 
Croatia.  Bureaucratic obstacles such as red tape, hi gh taxes, misc. levies, and lack of transparency are 
some of the barriers potential investors are reported to face there.  We hope Croatia will take effective 
steps to address these issues in a comprehensive manner. 
58. We are happy to note the historic interest in Croatia about India and its culture.  The 
Carmelite monk Paulinus a Santo Bartolomaeo,  a Croat, known as Filip Vesdin stayed in India during 
1776-1789 and also wrote the first book on Sanskrit grammar to be published in Europe.  In recent 
years, cultural troupes have been regularly exchanged.  India is also extending scholarships to Croatian 
students and scholars. 
59. Relations between India and Cr oatia have traditionally been  friendly and have gained 
momentum during the last 15 years.  Since Croatia ’s independence, several high-level visits have 
been exchanged.  Over 15 bilateral agreements  and MoUs including Trade and Economic Cooperation 
Agreement have been signed and are operational. These provide the platform  for structured and 
institutionalized cooperation between  our two countries.  An Indo-Croatian Joint Committee on Trade 
and Economic Cooperation serves as a useful mechan ism to explore and work on opportunities for 
enhancing bilateral trade and economic ties.  India-Croatia trade is around US$160 million.  We 
believe there is scope for further expanding it.   
60. We hope Croatia will facilitate further bilate ral cooperation by facilitating grant of visas and 
work permits for Indian professionals. 
TURKEY 
61. We have a moderate but steadily increasing trade volume with Croatia. The free trade 
agreement signed in 2002 has been an important impetus to our trade relations. Two way exchanges 
increased by four times to US$434 million between 2 004-2008, before slowi ng down in 2009 due to 
the economic crisis. Croatia is also vital as a tran sit route for the Turkish export and import shipments 
to West Europe.  
62. Besides trade, tourism has emerged as one of th e key fields of investments for the Turkish 
companies as several of them have started operati ng hotels in or around Dubrovnik.  There is also a 
few Turkish companies working in Croatia in the field of marine construction and management.  
63. Beyond any doubt, Croatia has come a long way to complete its integration with the world 
economy since its accession in 2000. 
64. The robust economic performance of the last fe w years also proves that Croatia has firmly 
established the basis for a modern and diversified economic structure. This progress probably will be 
crowned soon with the membership to the EU.  
65. While Croatia has moved towards a liberal economy  with deregulated markets, there has still 
been some room for further improvement like speeding up the privatization process and strengthening 
the regulatory framework for competition policy. Similarly, improving the investment environment seems to deserve a priority on th e agenda as well. This may become crucial to increase productivity.  
66. Decreasing the regional disparities, and ensuring a smooth restructuring of the agricultural 
sector seems to be the other key areas for future cour se of action.  Nevertheless, it is also clear that  WT/TPR/M/227 
 Page 11 
 
 
  Croatia has been targeting all these areas as it move s towards the membership  to the EU. Obviously, 
Croatia has been in continuous process of changing its regulations as part of the efforts to harmonize 
its legislation with the EU.  
67. Besides its harmonization efforts, it is also worth mentioning that since its accession to the 
WTO, Croatia has also undertaken a number of refo rms to further liberalize its trade regime like 
decreases in average applied tariffs since 2000. Now, after almost a decade after its accession to the 
WTO, about 40% of all its tariff lines are set at zero. We also welcome the abolishment of customs 
fees in 2008.   
68. In addition to its trade regime, we believe th at at present, liberalization efforts are more 
evident in services as Croatia has now achieved a number of regulatory reforms in the telecom, 
insurance, financial services and the electronic communication services. We hope that these efforts 
will be maintained in the future.  
CANADA 
69. We congratulate Croatia on its efforts to bring its  trade regime fully into conformity with the 
obligations it assumed on its accession and to estab lish a dynamic market economy well integrated 
into the global system. 
70. Croatia is one of the most prosperous economies in south-eastern Europe, mainly because of 
its long-standing trade relations with the European Union.  Its chances of becoming a member of the 
European Union open up favourable economic pros pects for Croatia, as does the process of growing 
integration, not only within the region under the impetus of the Central European Free Trade 
Agreement and free trade agreements with Turkey a nd EFTA, but also with the rest of the world by 
virtue of its membership of the WTO. 
71. Despite being modes in size, commercial relati ons between Canada and Croatia have been 
growing steadily in the last few years.  Total bila teral trade between Canada  and Croatia amounted to 
over $128 million Cdn in 2009.  This is an encour aging increase from our level of bilateral trade 
between 2000-2006 which was generally  around $50 million Cdn/year.  In addition to a rise in the 
value of our bilateral trade, the last two years have seen the elimination of the visa requirement for 
Croatian citizens, as well as a series of bilateral visits. 
72. In December 2006, Canada and Croatia concluded a bilateral Air Transport Agreement which 
is available for use by designated airlines of both  countries.  Furthermore, Canada and Croatia’s 
Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreem ent entered into force in January 2001.  This 
Agreement helps foster a stable and predictable e nvironment for inward and outward flows of foreign 
direct investment between the two countries.  We  hope that our countries’ private sectors and 
institutions will capitalize on this impetus to deve lop sustainable and prosperous commercial ties. 
73. Croatia has come a long way since its independe nce in 1991.  It has succeeded in repairing 
war-inflicted damage.  Its trade liberalization po licies and acceptance of market economy principles 
have helped create an open, market-driven economy,  well integrated at the regional and multilateral 
levels, and a welcoming business environm ent favourable to foreign investment. 
74. We hope that Croatia maintains its strong co mmitment to the multilateral trading system, 
since the expansion of markets and elimination of trade barriers are essential for the further growth 
and development of its economy.  Its active particip ation in the Doha Round of trade negotiations, and 
its recent coordination of the Recently Acceded Me mbers, demonstrate Croatia’s dedication to the 
WTO and its principles.  While membership in the WTO was a key step to further integration to the WT/TPR/M/227 
Page 12  
 
  global economy, the accession to the EU, Croatia’s larg est trading partner and investor, is today the 
main driver of the reform agenda in Croatia – th e importance of that driver is likely to increase. 
75. We appreciate Croatia’s efforts and are encouraged by key initiatives that are designed to 
promote good governance practices, efficient public administration and facilitate licensing procedures.  We encourage Croatia to continue to implement reforms to further invigorate the 
business and investment climate, with a view to building a competitive market economy. 
76. We have submitted written questions relating to Croatia’s accession to  the EU, the ongoing 
reform process, standards and technical requirement s.  Canada also looks forward to receiving 
Croatia’s application for accession to the Agreem ent on Government Procurement, and its initial 
offer, in the near future.  Cana da foresees working with Croatia towards its ambitious and timely 
accession to the GPA. 
77. In closing, Canada strongly encourages Croatia to hold firm to its economic and trade policy 
reforms, which have resulted in a strong economic performance.  
MEXICO 
Successes and challenges of the Review 
 
78. First, I should like to underscore the excellent  economic performance achieved by Croatia 
from 2004 to 2008, when it grew at an average annual rate of 4.2 per cent as a result of major reform 
programmes which enabled it to stabilize its econom y.  Similarly, it should be emphasized that 
Croatia's liberalization policies in the areas of both trade and investment have enabled the country to 
achieve sustained growth in recent years, creati ng a modern, stable and globally well integrated 
economy.  Nevertheless, we agree with the assessment concerning the external vulnerability of the 
Croatian economy, due to its high external current a ccount deficit and large st ock of external debt, 
conditions which undoubtedly increase the risk  of destabilization by external shocks. 
79. Given Croatia's dependence on fore ign trade, it greatly benefited from the global prosperity of 
previous years.  Similarly, it has been considerably  affected by the financial crisis, particularly on 
account of the economic slowdown in the European Un ion, which accounts for two-thirds of Croatia's 
trade.  We hope that the Government will take th e necessary measures to confront the impact of the 
global economic crisis, in particular measures enab ling it to stimulate private sector development. 
80. As far as tariffs are concerned, the Report poin ts out that Croatia reduced its average applied 
MFN tariff rate from 12.1 per cent in 2000 to 7.1 per cent in 2009.  However, reference is also made 
to a coefficient of variation of 1.4, which is indica tive of a relatively high dispersion of tariff rates.  
By reducing this dispersion, Croatia could stim ulate productivity, promote competitiveness in its 
production sectors and increase exports. 
81. The Report indicates that the services sector plays a key role in the diversification of the 
economy, making a substantial contribution to GD P (more than 60 per cent) and employment.  
Croatia is a net exporter of services, ranked 25
th among world exporters.  We congratulate Croatia on 
the adoption of measures to resolve some of the st ructural problems in certain services subsectors, and 
we urge it to continue the process of modernizati on of the transport and tourism networks, the latter 
being a major net foreign exchange earner.  We note, however, that reference is made to the 
dominance of State enterprises in certain services activ ities and that many of these enterprises operate 
as de jure  monopolies or benefit from exclusive rights.  Th at being the case, we ag ree with the need to 
foster an enhanced foreign presence in the services sector in order to increase transfers of capital, 
technology and know-how.  At the same time, we urge Croatia to take steps to strengthen its 
competition policy, which would undoubtedly enable it to improve the efficiency of the sector.   WT/TPR/M/227 
 Page 13 
 
 
  Notwithstanding the importance of the services sector , it should be mentioned that the commitments 
undertaken fall short of binding under the GATS.  As part of the current negotiations, we believe that 
the presentation of an improved offer reflecting autonomous liberalization would afford greater 
certainty to the economic operators and have positive effects on the levels of investment and trade. 
JAPAN 
82. I would like to begin with the economic policy and environment in Croatia. Before the global 
and financial crisis, Croatian ec onomy had been developing steadily.  According to the Secretariat’s 
Report, from 2004 to 2008, the average annual real GDP growth was 4.2% with a moderate inflation 
rate of 3.5%.  Although the unemployment rate rema ined relatively high, it has declined from 13.8% 
in 2004 to 8.4% in 2008.   
83. However, the global economic and financial cris is has affected the economy of Croatia, as it 
has for many other countries. In 2009, as we have heard from the Minister, the GDP growth rate 
decreased 5.8%, with an estimated unemploymen t rate of 11.0%. The government balance has 
deteriorated due to the serious decline in tax revenues.  
84. Taking into account that the public sector, includi ng state-owned enterprises, has the share of 
about 30% of the output and of the employment in the Croatian economy, privatization and reform of 
state-owned enterprises remain a key for the Croatian economy. Japan hopes that Croatia will 
continue to develop and implement its privatization program as well as its other liberalization policies.  
85. We also note the Croatian government’s efforts to  keep a sound fiscal policy, such as cuts of 
expenditures and a revenue increase by raising VAT  rate and introducing the Crisis tax.  
86. As for the trade policies, Japan appreciates that the Croatian Government has implemented 
regulatory reforms in some service subsectors, particularly, the liberalization of the 
telecommunications services and the improvement in  the regulatory framework in financial and air 
transportation services. Japan is also pleased to know  that the restriction of retail business on Sunday 
has been abolished.  
87. With regards to the business environment in Croatia, Japan commends the relaxation for the 
requirements of visas for the families of foreigners with work permits. The Procedures and Requirements for Construction Permission to Promote I nvestment Act, which came into force in June 
2009, shorten the time to acquire the necessary perm issions for the investment of €10 million and 
more.  
88. Having said that, we heard from the Japanese businesses operating in Croatia that the 
procedures for the visas and work permits are tr oublesome. The application is only accepted in the 
Embassy of Croatia in the country where the appl icant is born, and requires prior submission of a 
copy of the house and insurance contracts necessary in  Croatia. Further, in some cases, we heard that 
it took more than half a year to receive these visas and work permits. It is impairing the movement of foreign business personnel and theref ore making less attractive the business environment in Croatia. 
Therefore Japan would like Croatia to cons ider improvement in these procedures.  
89. In conclusion, Japan would like to  reiterate its hope that Croatia will continue its efforts to 
promote and liberalize its economy and trade, in or der to benefit from the multilateral trading system. WT/TPR/M/227 
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  ARGENTINA 
 
90. We wish to congratulate Croatia on the success of the reform process carried out in recent 
years with a view to achieving a more globally in tegrated economy.  We trust that the process can 
continue in order to overcome the present crisis  and accelerate preparations for entry into the 
European Union. 
91. Moreover and above all, we are grateful for th e very complete and detailed written replies to 
the questions submitted by the Argentine delegation. 
92. Lastly, we wish to reiterate our appreciation for this opportunity to exchange views and 
observations on Croatia's trade policy. 
EUROPEAN UNION 
93. Croatia is a candidate country for accession to th e EU. I am pleased to be able to report that 
negotiations have been making subs tantive progress. Indeed, the state of play provided in the Report 
by the Secretariat is no longer up to date. As of today, negotiations have been opened on 30 out of 
35 chapters of the acquis , and provisionally closed on 17, including the customs union, as well as 
other related and economic areas such as right of  establishment and freedom to provide services, 
financial services, free movement of workers, ente rprise and industrial policy, intellectual property, 
consumer protection, and econom ic and monetary union.  
94. In the meantime, until Croatia becomes a memb er of the EU, bilateral relations between 
Croatia and the EU are governed by the Stabilisa tion and Association Agreement. As regards trade 
and trade related matters, the agreement provid es for a free-trade area for goods, with further 
provisions covering trade in services, investme nt, intellectual property rights, competition and 
standards. 
95. Underpinned by these arrangements bilateral trad e saw steady growth until last year, when the 
economic crisis took its toll. Let me highlight so me figures. Merchandise trade between the EU and 
Croatia grew at an annual average of 9.5% between 2003 and 2008 when it reached in total 
€19.5 billion. In relative terms, EU is the market for some 60% of all goods exported by Croatia, and 
the source of close to 70% of Croatian imports.   
96. On the services side, Croatia sold €5.2 billion to  the EU in 2008. The amount represents about 
half of what Croatia exported to the world, and twice its imports of services from the EU. Tourists 
arriving from the EU are behind some 60% of this figure. 
97. EU is also the leading foreign investor in Croatia. In 2008, EU companies added over €2 
billion of investment in Croatia. The accumulated value of investment from the EU was over 14 
billion, equal to some two thirds of the total stock of FDI in Croatia.  
98. The EU has a close cooperation with Croatia, w ith talks on membership approaching the final 
stages. Nevertheless, we appreciate this opportunity to discuss at the multilateral level its trade policies and developments, and the conditions that affect them. The EU has the following comments. 
99. Croatia has accomplished a major transformation of its economy since the 1990s. It has taken 
on extensive commitments upon joining the WTO. As  noted by the Secretariat in its Report, its 
progressive integration with the EU and the ongoi ng preparations for accession have also been a 
driving force for liberalization of trade and invest ment at the core of a wide-ranging reform process.  WT/TPR/M/227 
 Page 15 
 
 
  100. Unfortunately, the Croatian economy has not escaped  the repercussions of the recent financial 
crisis. While return to positive growth is expected in 2010, this should not dist ract from further reform 
measures which remain paramount for locking in th e recovery as much as for the ability to sustain 
solid growth in the longer term.  
101. We commend the government of Croatia for its  first prompt reactions to stabilize public 
finance. However, the situation remains fragile a nd will require further measures to achieve fiscal 
consolidation.  
102. Rising unemployment will pose a continued risk  of elevated demand for trade restrictive 
measures. These pressures must be resisted. In stead, Croatia should undertake to encourage 
competition and facilitate the business environment, notably in ways most helpful to small and 
medium enterprises that are the principal generato rs of growth and jobs. There is still scope for 
reducing the regulatory burden, revisiting and easi ng access to licences, and simplifying taxation.  
103. Overall, Croatia has a highly open economy. It has progressively been putting in place a 
legislative framework consistent with enhancing its international competitiveness and developing the 
potential of trade as a driver of economic development. It is important that an equally dedicated effort 
is invested in effective and transparent implementa tion. In this regard, we urge Croatia to attach 
priority to further strengthening its administrative cap acity, particularly in areas such as customs, IPR 
enforcement and public procurement. 
104. The EU has been making available significant funds to this end. In total, assistance to Croatia 
in the pre-accession context has been in the range of €150 million per year. Between a quarter and a 
third of this total is directed towards institution building, which includes public administration reform 
and institutional capacity building for law implementation. 
HONG KONG, CHINA 
Bilateral Trade Relations 
105. Croatia is a valued trading partner of Hong K ong, China.  While our bilateral trade amounted 
to a relatively modest US$39 million in 2009, we ar e encouraged by the strong growth in domestic 
exports to, and imports from, Croatia last year.  We note and welcome Croatia’s efforts to liberalise 
its trade regime, and strongly believe that such effort s will contribute to further growth in our bilateral 
trade in the years to come.  
Tariffs 
106. Let me now turn to some specific aspects covered in the reports.  On tariffs, we are pleased to 
note that Croatia has bound all its tariff lines, a nd has reduced its simple  average MFN tariff from 
12.1% in 2000 to 7.1% in 2009.  Croatia has also made significant improvements in increasing the 
number of duty-free lines in the last 10 years from 7.2%  to 42.1% of its total lines.  We would like to 
commend Croatia for its efforts in bringing down its tariff rates.  Moreover, the average bound rate of 
8.5% is very close to the average applied MFN rate  of 7.1%, imparting a high degree of predictability 
to its tariff regime.  However, Croatia’s tariff st ructure remains somewhat complicated, with both 
ad valorem  rates and various non- ad valorem  rates.  We would like to encourage Croatia to simplify 
its tariff structure further.  
Agriculture 
107. According to the Secretariat Report, Croatia’s average applied tariff rate of 16.3% for 
agricultural products is substantially higher than th e 4.2% rate for non-agricultural products.  On WT/TPR/M/227 
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  domestic support, direct payments linked to produc tion and/or prices still constitute a significant part 
of Croatia’s total domestic aid, and preliminary figures showed that there was an increase in support 
in different boxes from 2001 to 2005.  We would like to  encourage Croatia to li beralise its agriculture 
regime further through reduction of trade-distor ting support and improvement in market access 
opportunities. 
Services 
108. As noted from the Secretariat Report, services is the most important sector of Croatia’s 
economy, contributing to over 60% of its GDP and empl oying over half of the labour force.  Given its 
importance, sustaining the efforts to liberalise trad e in services would be beneficial to Croatia’s 
further economic growth and development. 
109. We would also like to commend Croatia’s exte nsive coverage of its specific commitments 
scheduled under the GATS and its efforts in carrying out structural reforms in the past few years, 
particularly by introducing further liberali sation measures in its financial services and 
telecommunication services and by modernising its transport and tourism ne tworks.  We echo the 
Secretariat’s views that the process of modernis ation of the services industries would benefit from 
increased foreign presence, in terms of increased tr ansfers of capital, technology and know-how, and 
hence from enhanced market access commitments in  the WTO.  We would encourage Croatia to 
continue its efforts in this direction, especially in respect of those services sectors still dominated by 
state-owned enterprises.  This will further enhance th e competitive environment for trade in services.    
Standards and other Technical Requirements 
110. We are glad to note that Croatia has conti nued to harmonise its national standards with 
international or regional standards, with some 85% of its national standards adopting from the 
European standards.  We note that Croatia has signed mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) with 
the accreditation bodies of some countries.  To facilita te the flow of international trade, we would 
encourage Croatia to engage in more activities in the development of MRAs and to notify the WTO of 
such progress in a timely manner. 
UNITED STATES 
111. Croatia’s economic progress and steady pursuit of  economic reform over the past decade – 
anchored in its drive to accede to both the WTO and the EU – have been impressive.  GNI per capita 
has more than doubled from $5,170 since 2000, movi ng Croatia closer to its principal economic 
development objective:  achieving 75% of the EU’s av erage per capita income by 2013.  Remarkably, 
it currently stands within striking distance of this goal at around 63%.  Notably, the World Bank 
classified Croatia as a high-income country, w ith a GNI per capita of $13,570 in 2008.   
112. While this growth has narrowed recently, with  GDP slowing to 2.4% in 2008 and shrinking 
by nearly 6% in 2009, these earlier reforms, as l ong as they are maintained and enhanced, should help 
position Croatia to resume steady growth by the end of 2010.  
113. The United States and Croatia share a strong bi lateral political and ec onomic partnership. 
Bilateral trade amounted to $455 million in 2009; U.S. goods exports to Croatia were $203 million 
and U.S. goods imports were $252 million. The stock of  U.S. FDI in Croatia is valued at $75 million. 
From 1992-2008, Croatia benefited from U.S. Agen cy for International Development technical 
assistance programs worth more than US$320 million.   
114. This brings me to another indicator of Croa tia’s progress.  Croatia has been one of the 
heaviest users of the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program in the Southeastern  WT/TPR/M/227 
 Page 17 
 
 
  European region, exporting $69.7 million in goods  to the United States under the GSP program in 
2008.  However Croatia's economic reforms and rapid development ha ve resulted in the country’s 
graduation from the GSP program, effective January  1, 2011.  We view this as immensely positive 
because it means that Croatia’s exports are able to compete effectively in the U.S. market.  As a 
result, we are confident that our bilateral trade re lations will remain strong a nd continue to mature.  
115. Croatia’s WTO membership has helped pave the way for its successful integration into 
European and global markets – making it a regional economic success story.  The country has pursued 
a strategy of trade liberalization at the bilatera l and regional levels, as well, negotiating free trade 
agreements with Turkey, the Eu ropean Free Trade Association ( EFTA) countries and accession to the 
2006 Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA ). These agreements have contributed to the 
expansion of export markets – and a concomitant in crease in the efficiency and competitiveness of 
Croatian firms – with resultant positive impact on overall economic growth.   
116. Furthermore, Croatia’s new political and economic  dynamism is moving it into a leadership 
position in Southeastern Europe on development issues,  as it transitions from an aid-recipient to a net 
donor country.  The WTO Secretariat reports that Cr oatia has been “providing development assistance 
to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the areas of reconstruc tion, health, and education” and that Croatia also 
has made significant contributions to the UN, international organizations and peacekeeping 
operations, as well as civil society organizations.  
117. We note that Croatia has entered into the fina l stage of its accession negotiations with the EU 
and could conceivably become an EU Member Stat e by the beginning of 2012.  The United States 
remains firm in its support of this process, wh ich will reinforce Croatia’s political stability and 
economic growth. 
118. While Croatia has demonstrated its seri ous commitment to open trade and economic 
liberalization, the United States continues to have  some concerns.  For example, we are seeking 
clarification of certain aspects of Croatian trade po licies and legislation related to its EU accession, 
including issues regarding agriculture, intellectua l property, anti-dumping and countervailing duties, 
safeguards, and subsidies, among others.  The written questions that the United States submitted in the 
context of this TPR address these and other ques tions and concerns, and we  will examine Croatia’s 
responses with great interest. 
119. With respect to the EU accession process, the United States would appreciate more 
information on the extent to which Croatia has adopt ed or harmonized with EU technical and sanitary 
and phytosanitary regulations affecting imports, including whether Codex, OIE and IPPC standards 
have been fully taken into account. 
120. Additionally, we have a decided interest in Croatia’s new Act on the Regulation of 
Agricultural Products Market that was adopted in December 2009.  We understand that its purpose is 
to harmonize with EU requirements.  Therefore, we  look forward to an explanation of the impact the 
government expects the new Act to have on Croatia’s  global trade in agriculture, including when the 
law will be implemented and how the government pl ans to factor in Croatia’s WTO obligations. 
121. There are certain operational and implementati on aspects of Croatia’s Free Zone Act and 
some programs maintained by the Croatian Bank fo r Reconstruction and Development which are of 
interest to us. We have asked Croatia to clar ify these in light of its obligations under the WTO 
Subsidies Agreement.   
122. And, while we have several questions regard ing Croatia’s IPR regime, today, we would 
highlight the government’s treatment of pre-ex isting trademarks under the Act on Geographical 
Indications and Designations of Or igin of Products and Services.  In this regard, we have asked WT/TPR/M/227 
Page 18  
 
  Croatia to clarify the conditions under which a tr ademark owner can oppose and cancel a geographical 
indication or designation of origin if it is likely to be confused with the prior trademark.  We are also interested in how this issue is being treated  in Croatia’s EU accession deliberations.    
123. Come November 2010, as Croatia celebrates its decade of participation in the WTO, the 
government can look proudly upon the nation’s economic transformation and the role that its active 
participation in this organization has played.  Open ing the economy to trade and investment within the 
context of the WTO’s rules and obligations has c ontributed significantly to Croatia’s growth and 
global competitiveness.  We would like to recogni ze Croatia for its support for initiating the Doha 
Round from the outset, and the work your government continues to undertake as an active WTO Member. I would like to emphasize that we conti nue to value our work with Croatia’s government 
and our WTO partners to strengt hen and build on the WTO’s rules-based system and to achieve a 
market-opening conclusion to the Doha Round. 
124. The United States appreciates this opportunity to comment on Croatia’s achievements in 
economic liberalization and trade policy.  Croatia ’s efforts to date to  strengthen its domestic 
institutions, harmonize trade regulations, and facil itate regional and international trade are truly 
admirable.  The United Sates fully supp orts Croatia’s continued progress.   
CHINA 
125. China congratulates Croatia for its strong econom ic performance since accession to the WTO. 
According to the Secretariat Report, Croatia’s ec onomic reform has resulted in relatively high 
economic growth, low inflation and declining of public deficit and unempl oyment rate. Per capita 
income in nominal terms is above €10,000, which is  quite enviable. But a key problem that Croatia 
faces is the external vulnerability due to its larg e current account deficit and external debt. The 2009 
global economic downturn obviously made the situation even worse. It would be interesting to hear 
how Croatia plans to deal with this problem in the longer term. 
126. China and Croatia enjoy friendly relations. Exchanges in economy and trade, science and 
technology and culture are all developing smoothly. High level visits are frequent. In 2005, China and 
Croatia jointly announced to establish all-round coope rative partnership during a visit of the former 
Prime Minister of Croatia to China. Trade and i nvestment, in particular, between China and Croatia 
are expanding fast from a relatively small basis. In  2008, bilateral trade amounted to US$1.78 billion. 
However, hit by the global financial crisis, trade between our two countries in the first 10 months of 
2009 barely managed US$1 billion, a decrease of 32. 5% year on year. Both sides believe there are 
great potential to be tapped. Our governments are determined to support actively enterprises of both 
countries to strengthen exchanges and expand coopera tion in accordance with the principle of equality 
and mutual benefit so as to improve trade in goods and services both in quantity and in quality and to 
achieve balanced development of bila teral trade and economic cooperation. 
127. China and Croatia also share many common grounds in the WTO. Above all, both countries 
are recently acceded members that have made comprehensive and extensive commitments during 
accessions, as mentioned by the Minister in his intervention. These include, inter alia , tariffs all 
bound at very low levels. Committed to the multilateral trading system, recently acceded members, whom Croatia successfully coordinate d, have been playing an active a nd constructive role in the Doha 
Development Agenda and have shown the willingn ess to make further contributions to trade 
liberalization on top of their accession commitmen ts. China calls upon all Members to respect the 
outcome already achieved and to strive for an early  conclusion of the round. We hope the stocktaking 
this week will provide some guidance on the way forward. 
128. My Delegation has not raised any advance written question to Croatia. For the sake of 
deliberations in the next couple of days, we have just received instructions from our authorities that  WT/TPR/M/227 
 Page 19 
 
 
  the business is interested in knowing the specific re gulations for foreign investment in electricity, 
natural gas, oil and tourism in Croatia. We w ould very much appreciate replies from our Croatian 
colleagues, and we will submit this qu estion in writing after the meeting.  
ALBANIA 
129. Albania and Croatia have excellent bilatera l relations, both political and economical, which 
have been made evident through the exchange of visi ts between both countries at all levels, in order to 
promote the cooperation in the fields of common inter est and in the benefit of regional integration.  
130. My delegation would like to congratulate this  first Trade Policy Review of Croatia, which 
dates from the accession of Croatia to the WTO in 2000.  Referering to the WTO Report, Croatia’s 
economic reform programme results in a very pos itive performance during 200 4-2008, with relatively 
high GDP 4.2% per year on average, moderate  inflation and declining public deficit. 
131. We notice as well that the strong economic performance has brought to substantial 
improvement is its social indicators such as the unemployment rate decline and per capita income 
around two-third of the EU’s GDP average. Due to the positive development in the economy and 
privatization process, Croatia has managed to attract a large number of FDI.   
132. With regard of sectoral policies, as mentioned in the Secretariat Report, services are being the 
most important sector in terms of contribution to GDP, meanwhile, the Croatian Government has undertaken significant reforms in agricultural sect ors, especially measures regulating market for 
agricultural products. 
133. In the contex of regional economic cooperati on, we would like to congratulate the very 
constructive role of Croatia, especially under the implementation of the CEFTA Agreement. Croatia 
has an important contribution in this agreement, esp ecially towards the harmonisation of its legislation 
with international one and WTO rules.   
134. The implementatin of the CEFTA Agreement for Albania and Croatia has provided the total 
liberalization of trade exchange in industrial pr oducts, meanwhile is successfully negotiated further 
liberalisation of agriculture products. The level of trade exchange in imports and exports has been 
progresively increased since 2005. 
135. My delegation commends the active role of Cr oatia to the multilateral trade negotiations 
within the framework of the DDA.  Croatia has c oordinated the RAMs group, to which my country 
belongs to, from November 2001 to summer 2007, in  a very efficient and constructive manner, by 
representing all different RAM’s interests with the DDA negotiations.   
136. Finally, we are pleased to note that the WTO Agreements and Croatia’s current and future 
trade relation with the Europan Union are the main factors influencing Croatia ’s trading system. Since 
its accession to the WTO, Croatia has continued to reform its policies in trade with the objective of 
bringing the domestic legislation in ine with WTO rules and EU acquis comumunaitaire . WT/TPR/M/227 
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  V. REPLIES BY THE REPRESENTATIVE OF CROATIA AND ADDITIONAL 
COMMENTS 
137. Before the TPR, Croatia has received 152 ques tions from 11 WTO Members. The statement 
reflects the Croatian answers to most of the questions  and is therefore organised in three parts as was 
summarised by the Secretariat, on main points cont ained in advanced questions. In addition, on the 
first day’s session, 12 Members took the floor addressing various issues. Croatia appreciates all the 
commendations as well as remarks and suggestions regarding the further liberalisation process. 
I. ECONOMIC AND INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT 
Macroeconomic policy 138. The discussant and some Members have expressed interest and asked for further information 
on antirecession measures. Regarding the fiscal policy, three State budget revisions were adopted in 
the course of 2009. Also, the Government issued eu robonds after being absent from foreign financial 
markets for five years.  These measures aimed at  ensuring system liquidity and creating the 
preconditions for economic recovery.  In 2010, the Government prepared new guidelines to maintain 
macroeconomic stability, foster ec onomic development a nd strengthen investment activities. Thus, 
two models of financing have been prepared.  
139. According to the A model, the State will, th rough the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and 
Development, actively participate in co-financi ng bank’s credit placements for working capital. 
According to the B model, the Government will establish guarantee fund through which it will assume 
part of the risk coverage for new banks’ credit plac ements. This means, through joint forces, at least 
half a billion euros could be channelled to entrepreneurs through this Model. 
140. On the side of monetary policy, the Croatia n National Bank took several steps in order to 
preserve stability of the exchange rate and thus overall financial st ability.  The Central Bank reacted 
by providing foreign currency liquidity, releasi ng funds worth €3.8 billion, and by tightening 
domestic currency liquidity. 
141. Almost all Members raised questions regard ing the export strengthening and the Croatian 
Export Offensive.  The main goal of the export strate gy is to solve the key problems: small capacities, 
fragmentation of production and low level of compet itiveness in general. Hence, high export potential 
sectors were identified and six clusters established: water, small shipbuilding,  textile-clothing, ICT 
solutions, and wood-furniture and mariculture-Croatian fish.  After three years of implementation, the 
most significant outcome of the strategy is crea tion of new measures such as: programs for export 
financing, support through horizontal measures for e xport oriented companies, information centre for 
exporters, strengthening of Croatia n economic diplomacy and support to networking of entrepreneurs 
through clusters.  
Foreign investment regime  
142. Many members have expressed interests and requested further information regarding 
measures undertaken to improve the business environment.   In this field, Croatia has made significant 
improvement. 
143. In 2006 the new Investment Promotion Act intr oduced several measures in order to improve 
business and investment environment, and to attr act new foreign investments. New investment 
incentive scheme is focused on production pro cess activity, establishment of technology and 
innovation centres as well as investments into business support activities. The Act makes no 
difference between domestic and foreign investors,  regarding priorities in granting incentives and 
grants them equivalent treatment.   WT/TPR/M/227 
 Page 21 
 
 
  144. Establishing the Trade and Investment Promoti on Agency enabled improvement in macro and 
micro business environment.  
EU accession process 
145. Members raised questions on the EU accession process. I have to emphasise that negotiations 
for the Accession of Croatia to the EU are conducte d on the basis of the General EU Position, that 
covers all aspects of the full EU membership: trad e, economical, fiscal, legal, political, institutional, 
social ones etc. For the purpose of accession negotia tions such issues are being divided into 35 
negotiating chapters. Currently the status of th e EU accession negotiations stands as follows:  30 
chapters have been opened, whereas 17 chapters ha ve been provisionally closed.  In 3 chapters the 
verification of the fulfilled closing benchmarks is underway and in 10 chapters, Croatia is currently 
working on fulfilling the closing benchmarks. Three chap ters still remain to be opened. It is foreseen 
to open these chapters in the first half of 2010. Tw o chapters, which did not go through the screening 
process (Chapters "Institutions" and "Other") remain for the end of the negotiations (in line with the 
usual practice in the EU accession negotiations). Croa tia has made substantive progress in meeting the 
closing benchmarks in all chapters and has ente red the final phase of the accession negotiations. At 
this stage closing of all the chapters is foreseen by the end of 2010. 
II. TRADE POLICIES BY MEASURE  
146. There was a question on use of reference prices, simplified procedures, electronic system, risk 
assessment, authorized economic operators.  Refere nt prices are used exclusively as a help for 
customs officers during customs clearance i.e. as an  element of risk analysis when clearing certain 
types of goods. When there is a doubt in authenticit y of the declared data, a customs officer will act 
pursuant to the relevant WTO decision. 
147. It is also mentioned that Croatia does not a pply the EU simplified procedure for certain 
perishable goods imported for commission sale. That  kind of goods is subject to common rules for 
determining customs value.  The Croatian Custom s Administration plans the introduction of the e-
customs concept as it is foreseen in the framework of the European Commissi on’s planning. As for 
customs controls in Croatia, they are based on ri sk analysis using automatic data processing methods 
based on criteria developed in Croatia.  The system of “ authorized economic operator”  will be 
operational by the date of accession of Croatia to the EU at the latest. The reasons for change in the 
taxable base of value added tax and for the adoptio n of the new Excise Duty Act were adjustment 
with the EU legislation. 
148. In addition, some Members raised questions regarding the level of duties for agricultural 
products. In general, custom duties are higher than  for industrial products. However, due to a large 
number of trading partners under free trade regime, the applied duties are significantly lower than the 
WTO bound rates. In the two years, the average applied duty for agricultural products was around 6%.   
Import licensing and prohibitions 
149. A Member asked for the detailed list of all pr oducts that are prohibited for importation, 
including the specific reason for the prohibition. I have to emphasise here that some products are 
prohibited only for the reasons such as health, environment, pub lic security and order, cultural 
heritage or fulfilment of intern ational obligations. In the written answers we named all the acts and 
ordinances where these products are listed and provide also a list of current restrictions in accordance 
with recognized veterinary and phytosanitary practices.   Furthermore the Croatian legislation in this 
field is or will be aligned w ith the EU legislation in 2010. WT/TPR/M/227 
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  Contingency trade remedies 
150. A Member raised a question regarding the prov isions of the Croatian regulations on anti-
dumping, countervailing duties and safeguard measures. I would like to emphasise that questioned regulations are aligned with the provisions of the WTO agreements.  Pursuant to the Croatian 
regulation “serious damage” is significant deteri oration of the position of domestic production.  
TBT   
151. Members raised also questions about the level of harmonization of the Croatian TBT 
regulations with international rul es and those applied in the EU.  In the field of free movement of 
goods Croatia has made a significant progress in the a lignment of its technical legislation concerning 
requirements for placing products on the market with the requirements of the acquis communautaire . 
152. These activities aim to ensure that Croatian products are competitive on the European and 
other markets, and to ensure the safety of all products which will have free access to the Croatian 
market. Our main concern regarding quality infrast ructure is avoiding barriers to trade, introducing 
the WTO/TBT principles of standardisation, improving access to harmonised standards as well as accelerating the standards development process.  In or der to achieve these goals, an efficient system 
of co-ordination between all regul atory bodies has been set up.  
SPS  
153. Some Members enquired about the level of ha rmonization of the Croatian SPS regulations 
with international rules and those applied in the EU . Croatia is harmonised with  the EU veterinary and 
phytosanitary regulations, including those regardi ng imports. No import restrictions are applied, 
except in the case of outbreak of disease of animals or plants in the exporting country. All SPS 
measures are developed and controlled centrally, by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural 
Development, and local provinces cannot establish their own SPS measures. 
154. Regarding the notification obligations, Croatia has established the required inquiry points and 
the staff in charge of the notifications will receive  additional training by the WTO Secretariat in the 
area of SPS notifications.  
State owned enterprises 
155. Some Members raised their concerns on de facto  monopolies and the future of the state 
owned enterprises. Privatization in Croatia is bei ng carried out in accordance with the Privatization 
Act and decisions of the Government.  The State portfolio contains 21 public companies and two of 
them, INA (oil company) and HT (Croatian Teleco m), were privatized pursuant to special acts. 
156. According to the adopted Strategic Development Framework for 2006-13, the main goals 
remain the accomplishment of privatization of th e companies from the State’s portfolio managed by 
the Croatian Privatization Fund (CPF). This process will go along with the exit from the market of 
hopeless companies and an adequate social security plans. This refers to the accomplishment of the 
privatization process in the shipbuilding industry in the course of 2010 and transformation of a few 
institutions managing state property in a single institution. If the sale of certain company may not be 
realized through public invitation to tender or an interested investor may not be found, the company 
will be forced to exit the market by means of bankruptcy or liquidation. 
157. Furthermore, it should be pointed out that Competition Act applies to all undertakings 
including state owned enterprises and undertaki ngs in a dominant position. If the Competition 
Authority establishes that this undertaking h as breached the Competition Act, the Competition  WT/TPR/M/227 
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  Authority adopts the decision on the abuse of dominant position from those undertakings. The only 
existing monopolies are natural monopolies in the sector  of energy and rail transport. In these sectors 
liberalization process is enabled by respective legislation.  
Intellectual Property Rights   
158. Two Members have requested further elaboration of certain issues of copyright and related 
rights, geographical indications and enforcement of rights.  The Croatian Copyright and Related Right 
Acts is fully in compliance with the provisions of  Article 13 of the TRIPs Agreement and Article 9(2) 
of the Berne Convention. The Croatian IPR le gislation addresses the relationship between a 
geographical indication and a trademark under vari ous circumstances, and related provisions on 
coexistence and nullification have been elaborated in written reply. In the EU accession negotiations 
geographical indications issues are being discussed w ithin the chapter on agriculture, and so far the 
issue of possible conflict with earlier trademarks ha s not been risen.  Foreign persons may apply for 
protection of a geographical indication or a designation of origin in Croatia if they have been granted 
such rights in the country of origin and if they comply with the requirements prescribed by related 
Croatian regulations. If there is an international or bilateral agreement on mutual protection of 
geographical indication or designation of origin with a certain country , then such foreign geographical 
indication or designation of origin is afforded prot ection on the basis of protection in the country of 
origin. Regarding the enforcement of rights, Croatia has in the written reply elaborated application of 
customs measures and related scope of competences of the customs administration.  
III. SECTORAL POLICIES 
Agriculture  159. Members enquired about recent changes of legisl ation in the agricultural sector and the plans 
for harmonization, in particular the legislation on market organization measures. In this regard the 
most important progress in harmonization with the EU legislation was made by the adoption of the 
Act on Organisation of Agricultural Markets in December 2009 and currently implementing legislation is being drafted and adopted. The Act and relevant implementing regulations cover trade 
issues, more specifically the tariff quotas and impor t/export licensing systems, which are also being 
harmonized with the EU applied practices. The Ac t provides a transparent framework for market 
organisation measures and will ensure stable and pr edictable conditions for operators on the market. 
GATS commitments   
160. Some Members enquired about the services sector, particularly about the influence of the 
global downturn on services and plans for future open ing of this sector and the removal of the MFN 
exceptions. In the written answers we have put availa ble data on the basis of balance of payment.  
161. Regarding these questions, I ha ve to underline that the Croatian Schedule of Specific 
Commitment on Services shows a very large number of sectors and sub-sectors included and also high 
level of undertaken commitments. In figures, 11 sectors and 122 sub-sectors are included which 
represent almost 80% of total, including all majo r sectors and sub-sectors. The level of undertaken 
commitments is generally higher than the leve l of commitments undertaken by founding WTO 
Members and in particular by WTO members at comparable level of development. These 
commitments leave not much space for further liberalisation of services.  
Telecommunications and postal services  
162. Some members raised questions related to lib eralization of both electronic communications 
market and postal services market, as well as to the role of the Croatian Post and Electronic 
Communications Agency (HAKOM) as the national regulatory authority. The independency and the WT/TPR/M/227 
Page 24  
 
  strength of HAKOM are assured in the Electronic Communications Act. HAKOM is also authorized 
to supervise the status and development of the posta l services market and to ensure fair and efficient 
competition on the postal services market. The Postal  Services Act was adopted in July 2009. 
Amendments to the primary legislation already fo resee implementation of most of the regulatory 
elements of the EU 3rd Postal Directive and lay down a detailed timetable for gradual market 
opening. As a result of such policy there are 20 postal services providers dealing on the postal 
services market in Croatia. 
Transport  
163. Regarding the significance of the transport sector in Croatia, I would like to say that main 
transport routes passing through Croatia connect Ce ntral Europe with the Mediterranean and South 
East Europe. Hence, Croatia has adopted several documents relevant for the development of its 
transport infrastructure. 
164. Investments in the transport sector have been ma inly oriented towards the development of the 
road transport infrastructure. By the beginning of 2010 the total length of the motorway network in 
Croatia has been 1.246 km while in 1998 the total le ngth of the motorway network was 417.6 km.  In 
the field of rail transport, investment activiti es were intensified and mainly focused on the 
modernization and reconstruction of the railway infrast ructure.  In the field of inland waterways, the 
recovery of the waterway marking system has been carri ed out.  In the field of air transport, State, as a 
majority stake holder, ensures financial means fo r financing of safety and security equipment and 
various construction projects on the infrastructure. In the course of previous years, the transport 
network of Croatia has been developing at a gr eat speed, although that development has, until now, 
primarily been oriented towards the construction of road infrastructure. 
Tourism  
165. Members raised questions regarding the promo tion of tourism, incentives for tourism and the 
foreign aid that had helped devel opment of this industry. Few exam ples were explained in the written 
answers as well as the promotion plan of the Croatian tourist sector. 
166. This brings me to the end of my statement.   At the beginning of the first TPR day, our 
Minister emphasizes the significance of the WTO me mbership for Croatia. We believe that during 
both TPR days as well as through answers to all of Members’ questions we gave explanations and 
clarifications regarding Croatian economy. Ha ving in mind that the WTO membership was a 
precondition to start the integration into interna tional economic processes, Croatia also presented a 
significant progress achieved through ni ne years of the WTO membership . 
167. Taking into account the advanced phase of ou r EU accession negotiations, we are convinced 
that the compliance of Croatian legislation with the EU acquis communautaire  is logical and 
expected. I hope that positive experience and achievements of Croatia based on the WTO 
Membership will give additional incentive to countries in the accession process to the WTO, 
especially countries who are our traditional trading partners. 
168. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all Members for participating in the first 
Trade Policy Review of Croatia. Members’ questi ons, interventions and constructive comments are 
highly appreciated. We assure you that we will pay special attention to address issues that you 
mentioned in a constructive manner as incentives for further improvements.  WT/TPR/M/227 
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  DISCUSSANT 
169. I would like to thank the Delegation of Croatia  for its comprehensive answers to questions 
and comments raised by Members during Croatia’s first Trade Policy Review. In addition, State 
Secretary Mme Natasa Vujec  has just provided detailed responses focusing on the main themes of this 
Review. The quality of Croatia’s answers demonstr ates its commitment to tr ansparency in trade 
policy which the Trade Policy Review Mechanism was created to increase. 
170. Croatia has been much praised for its economic reforms, driven by WTO commitments and 
its preparations for EU accession. Croatia is toda y a well-integrated market economy open to trade 
and investment. However, its road to prosperity has been shadowed by ex ternal vulnerability and 
regional disparities. 
171. The global economic downturn inevitably interrupt ed Croatia’s growth and its response to 
this challenge attracted much interest during th e Review. The Government has not resorted to 
protectionism and has successfully introduced sever al measures to stabilize the economy, although the 
situation remains fragile. In order to cope with the revenue shortfa ll the Government has implemented 
expenditure cuts and raised taxes. Subsequently it  has also started to help companies in financial 
difficulties.  
172. It is clear that attempting to reach pre-crisis growth rates will not be easy for Croatia as it will 
be very difficult for many other countries as well. This  will require structural reforms in various fields 
such as public administration, taxation and agricultu re. Also, the role of the State in the economy 
remains large, so reform of inefficient state-owne d enterprises and continued privatisation, as well as 
reform of state aid will play an important role in the future, not least of course because of the 
requirements of EU membership.  
173. In its policies, Croatia emphasises exports  as a means to achieving further economic 
development and has resorted to a number of pr ogrammes to promote and support exports. This is 
exactly as it should be, but we know that improve d competitiveness and productivity are needed to 
ensure growth in exports and reach new and more di versified export markets. FDI will play a role in 
developing a competitive export sector, but to attract  more FDI, Croatia needs further improvements 
in its business environment. I welcome the fact that  Croatia has made the fight against corruption a 
priority. 
174. Croatia’s trade-related legislative framework is generally up to date and meets high standards, 
not least thanks to the EU accession process. Howeve r, the issue of implementation and enforcement 
remains.  Continued capacity-building will be need ed in areas such as government procurement and 
intellectual property rights.  In the case of government procurement, further improvements in 
transparency are needed. 
175. Finally, I wish to express my satisfaction on the fact that Croatia is taking its first steps as a 
donor country allocating ODA funds to help count ries in need. Its experience and know-how are 
welcome in many areas, including Aid for Trade. I congratulate Croatia for its successful performance 
during its first – and most likely last – Trade Polic y Review, and wish to thank all Members of the 
Delegation for their hard work.  
CHINA 
176. We express our appreciations to the delegation of  Croatia for providing prompt replies to our 
question. We will transmit the replies to the capital for analysis and if there is any need for further 
follow-up, we will approach our Croatian colleagues bilaterally. 
UNITED STATES 
177. The United States highly appreciates the informative statement made by Croatia today as well 
as the most comprehensive responses to our various  questions.  We have a couple of specific follow-WT/TPR/M/227 
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  up questions that we would like to get clarifica tion on.  Firstly, Article 17.4 of the Agreement on 
Subsidies and Countervailing Measures states that th e application of provisional measures shall not 
exceed four months.  Can Croatia please confirm that  its regulations do not permit the application of 
provisional countervailing duty measures beyond four months.  And the second question, Article 7.4 
of the Anti-Dumping Agreement states that the a pplication of anti-dumping measures shall not exceed 
four months or in certain define circumstances six months.  These periods may only be extended to 
six and nine months respectively, if the authoriti es examine whether a duty lower than the margin of 
dumping would be sufficient to remove injury.  This  is commonly referred to as a lesser duty rule.  
Could Croatia please clarify whether its regulations include a provision for the application of a lesser 
duty rule.    
REPUBLIC OF KOREA 
178. Since my delegation did not take the floor on  the first day, I would like to take this 
opportunity to express my delegation’s words of welcom e to the delegation of Croatia for its first and 
quite possibly their last trade policy review to be held on an individual basis.  With regards to the 
answers to the advance written questions my dele gation has reviewed the written responses and we 
would like to thank them for the detailed answers provi ded.  We noticed that a lot of hard work has 
been put into the responses and th is context we are very thankful. 
179. On a couple of questions we wonder if we coul d request for some additional information. On 
page 81 of the 1
st day replies, specifically Q3, we wonder if Croatia could be a little more specific 
with regards to the criteria used by the relevant au thorities to screen request for approvals. In this 
context, we wonder if they could provide, in their revised final written answers,  an English translation 
of the relevant sections of “Ordinance on Licen ses for Carrying out energy activities (OG 107/09), 
Act on conditions for representation in customs proc eedings (OG 92/01), and re levant sections of OG 
110/07 and OG 7/97. 
180. On page 83 of the 1st day replies, specifically Q5, we wonder if Croatia could further 
elaborate on the expected level of state aid to be disbursed to the shipbuilding sector this year and in 
subsequent years prior to its accession to the EU. 
181. For Q6 on the same page, with regards to Cr oatia’s privatization plan for the shipbuilding 
sector, we wonder if Croatia could include informat ion on where we could find more relevant and 
detailed information, including contact points. 
EUROPEAN UNION 
182. I would just like to join others in thanking th e Croatian delegation for the very comprehensive 
answers which have fully satisfied my colleagu es in Brussels and we have no follow up questions. 
CANADA 
183. Canada would like to thank Croatia for the comp rehensive responses today.  As noted by the 
discussant this is a clear demonstration of the commitmen t to transparency in their efforts that they are 
putting into this trade policy review.  Canada has a specific technical question which we will pass to 
the delegation of Croatia bilatera lly following this meeting.   
FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA 
184. The Republic of Macedonia would like to congr atulate Croatia for its successful performance 
during its first Trade Policy Review.     WT/TPR/M/227 
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  VI. CONCLUDING REMARKS BY THE CHAIRPERSON 
185. This first Trade Policy Review of Croatia has allowed us to improve our understanding of its 
trade and related policies, and the developments  since its accession to the WTO in 2000.  Our 
discussions have greatly benefited from the participation of H.E. Mr. Đuro Popija č Minister of the 
Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship, Mrs.  Nataša Vujec, State Secretary, and their delegation 
from Zagreb and Geneva.  We are also grateful for the valuable contri bution of the discussant, 
Ambassador Himanen, and for the engagement  of several Members in this exercise. 
186. Members commended Croatia for the positive econom ic performance over the last few years.  
High real GDP growth, relatively low inflation, and a declining fiscal deficit are some of the fruits of 
an ambitious reform programme centred on structur al reforms and trade liberalization.  It also 
succeeded in establishing a modern, stable, outward -oriented economy, well integrated with its 
neighbours and worldwide.  Members, nonetheless, not ed the big contraction in Croatia's GDP growth 
rate in 2009 due to the global economic downturn, a nd encouraged Croatia to move ahead with its 
structural reforms, improve its business environm ent and licensing procedures, and further liberalize 
its trade and investment regimes to strengthen its  resilience to shocks and improve productivity. 
187. Members welcomed Croatia's commitment to th e multilateral trading system including the 
current round of trade negotiations.  Members a ppreciated that Croatia has reviewed and updated 
almost all its trade related legislation in line w ith its main policy objective to seek early accession to 
the European Union.  Members also welcomed th at Croatia reduced its simple average MFN tariff 
from 12.1% in 2000 to 7.1% in 2009.  Members also noted that Croatia's tariff structure remains somewhat complicated and they encour aged Croatia to further simplify it. 
188. It was also noted that a number of concerns were also raised, including issues regarding the 
new Croatia SPS and TBT regimes, as well as agricu lture, intellectual property rights, contingency 
trade remedies and subsidies.  It was noted that Croatia has neither imposed nor initiated any anti-
dumping or countervailing measure, while one safeguard  measure has been introduced so far.  Some 
Members invited Croatia to accede to the plurilatera l Agreement on Government Procurement.  Other 
questions asked referred to customs;  export promo tion and support, including free zones;  incentives;  
state aid;  competition policy;  state-owned enterpri ses and privatization;  manufacturing, particularly 
shipbuilding;  and services. 
189. Members expressed their appreciation for the responses provided by the Croatian delegation 
to questions posed during the review exercise, a nd looked forward to receiving written answers to any 
outstanding questions within one month. 
190. In conclusion, I believe that through this Revi ew we have gained a first-hand appreciation of 
Croatia's achievements since its independence in 1991,  and of the challenges that lie ahead.  Croatia's 
exemplary participation in this Review bodes well for its capacity to meet those challenges, to the 
benefit of its people and its trading partners.  I en courage Croatia to pursue its  reforms and improve its 
multilateral commitment on goods and services with a view to enhancing the transparency and 
predictability of its trade regime, and adherence to  WTO principles.  Member s could help by keeping 
their markets open for products and services of interest to Croatia. 
__________