. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/RL/W/167 
8 December 2004 
 
 (04-5398) 
Negotiating Group on Rules Original:   English 
 
  
SUBMISSION ON REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS 
 
Paper by Turkey
 
 
  The following submission, dated 8 December 2004, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Turkey. 
 
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PROPOSAL FOR THE USE OF FACTUAL PRESENTATION FORMAT  
IN EXAMINATION PROCESS 
 
 
1. Introduction 
 Turkey has already put forward its position towa rds raising the effectiveness of the CRTA in 
its submission TN/RL/W/32 and in its previous interv entions during the course of the work carried out 
by the NGR.  
 
 Taking account of the commonly accepted underperformance of the CRTA to fulfil its 
mandate of examining the conformity of the RTAs  with the WTO rules, Turkey has indicated its 
aspiration to give priority to the procedural issues  within the work of the Group without excluding the 
possibility of handling the systemic issues simultaneously.  
  
 In this regard, attaching a great deal of im portance to the improvement of the current RTA 
examination procedures, Turkey has always supported the efforts aiming at enhancing the level of 
information provided in the standard format from the very beginning. It was Turkey’s firm presumption that amelioration of the standard form at could yield promising results towards shortening 
the overall examination process whil e upgrading its effectiveness.  
 
 Therefore, for the sake of transparency and the overall success of the negotiations in this 
regard, Turkey now welcomes and encourages the idea of testing the new format of factual 
presentation being prepared within the CRTA.  
 
 Turkey agrees with the 4 parameters drawn by the NGR participants regarding the process 
which are briefly; remaining of all the elements in the RTAs' Transparency "package" under 
consideration within the NGR, replacement of current  standard format with a factual presentation by 
the Secretariat, prerequisite of RTA parties assurances for the Secretariats factual presentation, 
limitation of factual presentation to RTAs covering trade in goods.  
 
 Depending on these conditions and especially upon the preference of its RTA partners, 
Turkey is ready to get involved in th e use of the said examination process. 
 
 TN/RL/W/167 
Page 2  
 
 2. Giving The Volunteering Countries The Right For A Faster Examination 
 Having put forward its clear standpoint regarding the issue, Turkey would suggest taking 
another step forward on the use of factual presentation.  
 
 According to the parameters set out so far, th e only element to be replaced by the Secretariat’s 
factual presentation appears to be the submission of  initial information from the parties in accordance 
with the standard format from the cu rrent CRTA examination procedures.  
 
 As the factual presentation is to be prep ared mainly through the additional information 
submitted by the RTA partners like it is in the TPR mechanism, Turkey proposes to give a permanent nature for this process.  
 
 In other words, two different examination processes (dual factual inquiry methodology) could 
be determined where the factual presentation varies according to the scope of initial information to be 
submitted by the RTA partners and the degree of their collaboration with the Secretariat.    In Turkey’s perception, the le vel of information to be submitted in both cases should be far 
beyond the actual level to set out a common denominator for all members. However, choosing the 
second option of submitting more detailed data that would definitely ease the work carried out by the 
Secretariat, an incentive mechanism needs to be created.     
  Therefore, the volunteering countries choosing the second option could be given a right for a faster examination that is to be finalized in a shorter time frame than the first one.  
 
 
3. A Complementary Initiative For Overcoming  The Possible Difficulties Facing The 
Developing Members 
 In order to avoid any difficulties that could seem to arise from the demanding nature of the 
proposed factual presentation, a complement ary initiative could also be considered.  
 
 Accordingly, the RTAs where the Least-Deve loped Countries are parties to and the RTAs 
concluded pursuant to the Enabling Clause should be subject to faster examination without having bound with the requirement of submitting additional da ta. The only prerequisite for having the faster 
examination would therefore be their obligation to notify the RTAs to the CRTA.  
 
 Turkey believes that this would be totall y in conformity with the spirit of the DDA 
negotiations addressing the needs of the developing countries. At the same time, it will serve to the 
purpose of increasing the number of  un-notified RTAs to become the part of the multilateral trading 
system. 
 
 Being aware of the fact that the proposed mechanism would be more burdensome for the 
Secretariat, Members should also discuss the ways and means to help the Secretariat in carrying out 
its new task properly. 
  
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