WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/GC/W/565 
TN/AG/W/2 
TN/MA/W/73 
2 June 2006 
 (06-2663) 
General Council Committee on Agriculture (Special Session) Negotiating Group on Market Access Original:   English 
 
  
RECENTLY ACCEDED MEMBERS 
 
Communication from Ecuador and Panama
 
 
  The following communication, dated 2 June 2006, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegations of Ec uador and Panama. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
I. BACKGROUND 
 The reference paper of the Chairman of th e Special Session of the Committee on Agriculture 
of 4 May 2006, concerning the issue of "Recently  Acceded Members", mentions among its main 
aspects the need to define the list of t hose Members considered as recently acceded. 
  In his reference paper, the Chairman identifies the special characteristics of Recently Acceded 
Members when pointing out in paragraph 7 that "one common feature is that it would appear that they 
had to take on extensive commitments in order to accede to the WTO."  It has been stated that these 
commitments are much broader th an those assumed by other Members during the Uruguay Round of 
negotiations.  As a result, the tariff averages are much lower (see the tariff profile review and the 
dates of application for the Members that entered the WTO since the beginning of the application of 
the results of the Uruguay Round).  
Finally, the Chairman considers that "…this  particular aspect of the Doha Development 
Agenda is perhaps more a matter, in formal te rms, for bodies other than this Negotiating Group per se  
to resolve.  This for present purposes is w ithout prejudice to that formal issue." 
II. CENTRAL POSITION OF ECUADOR AND PANAMA 
 Ecuador and Panama have insisted on the fact that in light of the broad commitments assumed 
in terms of market access in their accession pro cesses to the WTO they consider themselves Recently 
Acceded Members and, therefore, subject to th e flexibilities to be agreed in these negotiations, 
recognized in paragraph 47 of A nnex A and in paragraph 11 of A nnex B of the General Council 
Decision of 1 August 2004 containe d in document WT/L/579 and later confirmed in paragraph 58 of 
the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration. 
III. MAIN JUSTIFICATIONS 
 The charts first presented by the Chairman of the Committee on Market Access and later by 
the Chairman of the Special Session of the Committ ee on Agriculture clearly show the level of the 
commitments assumed by Ecuador and Panama in our accession processes to the WTO, as well as the WT/GC/W/565 
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  commitments assumed by Members that acceded at late r dates. It can be observed in these charts that 
there is no major difference for such commitments, wh ich is the basis for the objective criteria of our 
position. 
 
 Ecuador and Panama strongly consider that the criteria to define the list of Recently Acceded 
Members is determined by the broad levels of commitments assumed in the accession processes to 
which these Members were subjected and that are cl early outlined in the charts prepared by the WTO 
Secretariat.  
 
 It cannot be justified in any way that deve loping countries such as Ecuador and Panama be 
excluded from this list since our commitments ar e higher than those of many Members that 
participated in the Uruguay Round negotiations.    
 Ecuador and Panama, together with those Me mbers that entered the WTO after the Uruguay 
Round, did not have the opportunity to participat e in any previous multilateral negotiation and, 
therefore, it would be highly discriminatory that we be excluded from any flexibility agreed in this 
Round of negotiations.   An additional general characteristic of Recen tly Acceded Members is that they have been 
implementing accession commitments during a large part of the Doha Round of multilateral 
negotiations.     Ecuador and Panama are willing to positively contribute to the development of modalities for 
Recently Acceded Members.  
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Commitments on Agricultural Products, Selected Members 
 
SUMMARY OF MARKET ACCESS (TARIFFS) COMMITMENTS ON AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 
Implementation of commitments 
(Number of tariff lines fully implemented) Last year of 
implementation Member Date of 
Accession 
to the 
WTO Simple 
average of 
bound 
tariffs Max. 
ad val. No. of 
NAV 
lines. Implemented 
by 2006  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2015  
Ecuador 21/01/1996 25.5 86 0 887   Full               2001 
Bulgaria 01/12/1996 35.6 98 550 2204   Full               2005 
Mongolia 29/01/1997 18.9 75 0 826   Full               2005 
Panama 06/09/1997 27.7 260 5 1204 1265 Full             2007 
Kyrgyz Republic 20/12/1998 12.3 30 47 921  Full               2003 
Jordan 11/04/2000 23.7 200 7 688 690 694 694  874 Full       2010 
Georgia 14/06/2000 11.7 30 26 781  Full               2006 
Albania 08/09/2000 9.4 20 0 2069 2137 Full             2007 
Oman 09/11/2000 28.0 200 0 723Full               2006 
Croatia 30/11/2000 9.4 55 229 1142 1163 Full             2007 
Moldova, Rep. of 26/07/2001 12.2 25 63 784Full               2005 
China 11/12/2001 15.8 65 0 978 978 978 978  981 Full       2010 
Chinese Taipei 01/01/2002 15.3 500 103 1161 1377 1377 1377 1377 1379   Full     2011 
Armenia 05/02/2003 14.7 15 0 684  Full               2003 
FYR Macedonia 04/04/2003 11.3 60 305 2070 2179 Full             2007 
Saudi Arabia 11/12/2005 12.4 200 89 1122 1122 1143 1143 1168 Full       2010 
Tonga WP 1.12.05                       
 
Note :  Does not include Cambodia (13.10.2004) and Nepal (23.04.2004) which are considered LDCs.  It also does not include Estonia ( 13.11.1999), Lithuania (31.05.2001) and 
Latvia (10.02.1999) which acceded to the EU on 1 May 2004. Source
:  WTO Secretariat.   
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Page 4 Commitments on Agricultural Products, Selected Members 
SUMMARY OF MARKET ACCESS (TARIFFS) COMMITMENTS ON AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 
Implementation of commitments 
(Share of agriculture lines implemented) Member Date of 
Accession to 
the WTO Simple 
average 
of bound 
tariffs Max. ad 
val. No. of 
NAV 
lines. Implemented 
by 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2015 Last year of 
implemen- 
tation 
Ecuador 21/01/1996 25.5 86 0 100%               2001 
Bulgaria 01/12/1996 35.6 98 550 100%               2005 
Mongolia 29/01/1997 18.9 75 0 100%               2005 
Panama 06/09/1997 27.7 260 5 95% 100%             2007 
Kyrgyz Republic 20/12/1998 12.3 30 47 100%               2003 
Jordan 11/04/2000 23.7 200 7 78.72% 78.95% 79.41% 79.41% 100%       2010 
Georgia 14/06/2000 11.7 30 26 100%               2006 
Albania 08/09/2000 9.4 20 0 97% 100%             2007 
Oman 09/11/2000 28.0 200 0 100%               2006 
Croatia 30/11/2000 9.4 55 229 98% 100%             2007 
Moldova, Rep. of 26/07/2001 12.2 25 63 100%               2005 
China 11/12/2001 15.8 65 0 99.69% 99.69% 99.69% 99.69% 100%       2010 
Chinese Taipei 01/01/2002 15.3 500 103 84% 99.85% 99.85% 99.85% 99.85% 100%     2011 
Armenia 05/02/2003 14.7 15 0 100%              2003 
FYR Macedonia 04/04/2003 11.3 60 305 95% 100%             2007 
Saudi Arabia 11/12/2005 12.4 200 89 96% 96% 98% 98% 100%       2010 
Tonga WP 1.12.05                        
 
Note :  Does not include Cambodia (13.10.2004) and Nepal (23.04.2004) which are considered LDCs.  It also does not include Estonia ( 13.11.1999), Lithuania (31.05.2001) and 
Latvia (10.02.1999) which acceded to the EU on 1 May 2004. 
Source :WTO Secretariat.  
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 Page 5Commitments on Agricultural Products, Selected Members 
 
SUMMARY OF DOMESTIC SUPPORT COMMI TMENTS ON AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 
Implementation of commitments 
(Annual bound total AMS commitments) Last year of 
implemen-
tation Member Date of 
Accession to 
the WTO Currency  
Final Bound 
Total AMS 
Commitment 
Implemented 
by 2006  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2015  
Ecuador 21/01/1996  NIL NA        NA 
Bulgaria 01/12/1996 ECU million 520 520 Full        2001 
Mongolia 29/01/1997  NIL NA        NA 
Panama 06/09/1997  NIL NA        NA 
Kyrgyz Republic 20/12/1998  NIL NA        NA 
Jordan 11/04/2000 JD 1,333,973 1,333,973 Full        2006 
Georgia 14/06/2000  NIL NA        NA 
Albania 08/09/2000  NIL NA        NA 
Oman 09/11/2000  NIL NA        NA 
Croatia 30/11/2000 € 134,116,772 134,116,772 
Full        2004 
Moldova Rep. of 26/07/2001 SDR million 12.8 12.8 Full        2005 
China 11/12/2001  NIL NA        NA 
Chinese Taipei 01/01/2002 NT$ million 14,165.2 14,165.2 Full        2000 
Armenia 05/02/2003  NIL NA        NA 
FYR Macedonia 04/04/2003 € million 16.3 16.3 Full        2003 
Saudi Arabia 11/12/2005 Saudi Riyals 
Million 3218.28 3,662.60 3,613.23 3,563.86 3, 514.49 3,465.12 3,415.76 3,366.39 3,218.2
8 Full 2015 
Tonga WP 1.12.05            
 
Note :  Does not include Cambodia (13.10.2004) and Nepal (23.04.2004) which are considered LDCs.  It also does not include Estonia ( 13.11.1999), Lithuania (31.05.2001) and 
Latvia (10.02.1999) which acceded to the EU on 1 May 2004. 
Source :  WTO Secretariat.  
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Page 6 Commitments on Agricultural Products, Selected Members 
 
SUMMARY OF EXPORT SUBSIDY COMMITMENTS ON AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 
Implementation of commitments Member Date of 
Accession 
to the WTOExport Subsidy Commitments 
Implemented 
by 2006  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2015 Last year of 
implementation 
Ecuador 21/01/1996 NIL NA               NA 
Bulgaria 01/12/1996 Budgetary outlay and Quantity reduction 
commitments in respect of 44 
products/group of products 100%               2000 
Mongolia 29/01/1997 NIL NA               NA 
Panama 06/09/1997 Budgetary outlay reduction commitments 
in respect of products covered in the 
Annex I of the Agreem ent on Agriculture 100%               2003 
Kyrgyz Republic 20/12/1998 NIL NA               NA 
Jordan 11/04/2000 NIL NA              NA 
Georgia 14/06/2000 NIL NA               NA 
Albania 08/09/2000 NIL NA               NA 
Oman 09/11/2000 NIL NA               NA 
Croatia 30/11/2000 NIL NA              NA 
Moldova 26/07/2001 NIL NA               NA 
China 11/12/2001 NIL NA               NA 
Chinese Taipei 01/01/2002 NIL NA               NA 
Armenia 05/02/2003 NIL NA              NA 
FYR Macedonia 04/04/2003 NIL NA              NA 
Saudi Arabia 11/12/2005 NIL NA               NA 
Tonga WP 1.12.05                  
 
Note :  Does not include Cambodia (13.10.2004) and Nepal (23.04.2004) which are considered LDCs.  It also does not include Estonia ( 13.11.1999), Lithuania (31.05.2001) and 
Latvia (10.02.1999) which acceded to the EU on 1 May 2004. 
Source :  WTO Secretariat. 
  
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 Page 7 
NAMA NEGOTIATIONS  
Commitments on Non-Agricultural Products, Selected Members  
              
SUMMARY OF COMMITMENTS ON NON-AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 
Implementation of commitments                                                        
(Share of non-ag lines) Member Date of 
Accession to the 
WTO Binding 
coverage 
(percent) Simple 
average Max.       
ad val. 
Implemented by 
2006  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2015 Last year of 
implem. 
Ecuador 21/01/1996            99.8          21.1  40 100.00%               2001 
Bulgaria 01/12/1996          100.0          23.0  40 99.30% 99.30% 99.30% 99.30% 100.00%       2010 
Mongolia 29/01/1997          100.0          17.3  30 100.00%               2005 
Panama 06/09/1997          100.0          22.9  81 97.23% 97.26% 97.26% 97.26% 100.00%       2010 
Kyrgyz 
Republic 20/12/1998            99.9            6.7  20 100.00%               2005 
Jordan 11/04/2000          100.0          15.2  30 78.05% 81.12% 81.89% 81.89% 100.00%       2010 
Georgia 14/06/2000          100.0            6.5  20 100.00%               2005 
Albania 08/09/2000          100.0            6.6  20 89.18% 92.66% 92.66% 100.00%         2009 
Oman 09/11/2000          100.0          11.6  20 97.40% 97.40% 97.40% 100.00%         2009 
Croatia 30/11/2000          100.0            5.5  25 100.00%               2005 
Moldova 26/07/2001          100.0            6.0  20 100.00%               2005 
China 11/12/2001          100.0            9.1  50 99.40% 99.40% 99.98% 99.98% 100.00%       2010 
Taipei, 
Chinese 01/01/2002          100.0            4.8  90 98.82% 99.38% 99.64% 99.64% 99.64% 100.00%     2011 
Armenia 05/02/2003          100.0            7.5  10 97.89% 100.00%             2007 
Macedonia, 
FYR 04/04/2003          100.0            6.2  25 76.06% 94.81% 94.81% 94.81% 99.57% 99.57% 100.00%   2012 
Saudi Arabia 11/12/2005          100.0          10.5  20 92.02% 92.02% 96.48% 96.48% 99.94% 99.94% 99.94% 100.00% 2015 
Tonga WP concluded 
01.12.2005                          
              
Note : Does not include Cambodia (13.10.2004) and Nepal (23.04.2004) which are considered LDCs.  It also does not include Estonia (1 3.11.1999), Lithuania (31.05.2001) and 
Latvia (10.02.1999) which acceded to the EU on 1 May 2004.  
Source : WTO Secretariat.             
 
 
  
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Page 8  
NAMA NEGOTIATIONS  
Commitments on Non-Agricultural Products, Selected Members  
              
SUMMARY OF COMMITMENTS ON NON-AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 
Implementation of commitments                                                         
(Number of tariff lines) Member Date of 
Accession to the 
WTO Binding 
coverage 
(percent) Simple 
average Max.      
ad val. 
Implemented by 
2006  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2015 Last year of 
implem. 
Ecuador 21/01/1996             99.8          21.1  40 5889               
Full Imp.               2001 
Bulgaria 01/12/1996           100.0          23.0  40 8316 8316 8316 8316 8375       
Full Imp.       2010 
Mongolia 29/01/1997           100.0          17.3  30 4737              
Full Imp.               2005 
Panama 06/09/1997           100.0          22.9  81 6947 6949 6949 6949 7145       
Full Imp.       2010 
Kyrgyz 
Republic 20/12/1998             99.9            6.7  20 6054              
Full Imp.               2005 
Jordan 11/04/2000           100.0          15.2  30 4598 4779 4824 4824 5891       
Full Imp.       2010 
Georgia 14/06/2000           100.0            6.5  20 5200              
Full Imp.               2005 
Albania 08/09/2000           100.0            6.6  20 7533 7827 7827 8447       
Full Imp.         2009 
Oman 09/11/2000           100.0          11.6  20 4714 4714 4714 4840       
Full Imp.         2009 
Croatia 30/11/2000           100.0            5.5  25 6241              
Full Imp.               2005 
Moldova 26/07/2001           100.0            6.0  20 5203              
Full Imp.               2005 
China 11/12/2001           100.0            9.1  50 6140 6140 6176 6176 6177       
Full Imp.       2010 
Taipei, 
Chinese 01/01/2002           100.0            4.8  90 7180 7221 7240 7240 7240 7266       
Full Imp.     2011 
Armenia 05/02/2003           100.0            7.5  10 5046 5155       
Full Imp.             2007 
Macedonia, 
FYR 04/04/2003           100.0            6.2  25 6379 7952 7952 7952 8351 8351 8387       
Full Imp.   2012 
Saudi Arabia 11/12/2005           100.0          10.5  20 5881 5881 6166 6166 6387 6387 6387 6391       
Full Imp. 2015 
Tonga WP concluded 
01.12.2005                          
Note : Does not include Cambodia (13.10.2004) and Nepal (23.04.2004) which are considered LDCs.  It also does not include Estonia (1 3.11.1999), Lithuania (31.05.2001) and 
Latvia (10.02.1999) which acceded to the EU on 1 May 2004.  
Source : WTO Secretariat.             
__________