WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/TF/W/132/Rev.1 
7 May 2007 
 (07-1869) 
Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation Original:   English 
  
 
COMMUNICATION FROM TURKEY 
 
Revision
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 3 May 2007, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Turkey.  
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PROPOSAL ON NATIONAL WEBSITES AND ENQUIRY POINTS 
 
 I. INTRODUCTION 
1. The following textual proposal is submitted by Turkey for consideration by the Negotiating 
Group and based on the proposals on publication and availability of information presented in the 
communication TN/TF/W/132 of 10 July 2006. The proposal aims at improving and clarifying the proposals in the document W/132 so as to pa ve the way for reaching a common understanding
1 by 
taking into account of the discussions and other subm issions on this issue in the Negotiating Group as 
well as the progress in consequence of the productiv e discussions at the workshop on "Transparency 
and Predictability" on 13 March 2007.  
2. A possible agreement on trade facilitation should cover headings inter alia ; Enquiry Points, 
and Publication of Trade Legislation and Procedures  on Internet as the two important elements of the 
transparency principle.  
3. We believe that such an agreement should also include provisions on Special and Differential 
(S&D) treatment. In this respect, Turkey suggests a specific approach to developing-country Members 
and believes that this part should be concluded following the discussions to reach a consensus on how 
to specifically elaborate on the S&D treatment. 
II. EXPLANATION OF PROPOSAL 
4. Turkey suggests two main headings; Enquiry Po ints, Publication of Trade Legislation and 
Procedures on Internet, to be included to a possible agreement. 
5. Article X of GATT 1994 is on the transparency i ssue. We believe transparency has two main 
components within the context of Trade Facilita tion Negotiations: Publication of Trade-Related 
                                                      
1 We have drawn upon the proposals laid down in communications TN/TF/W/26, TN/TF/W/30, 
TN/TF/W/70, TN/TF/W/96, TN/TF/W/107, TN/TF/W/11 4, TN/TF/W/115, TN/TF/129/Rev.1, TN/TF/W/137 
and TN/TF/W/142 in developing our textual proposal.    TN/TF/W/132/Rev.1 
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  Legislation on the Internet and Establishment of National Enquiry Points. This document includes our 
proposals on these two main issues.  
6. Publication of all trade legislation and proce dures through official means has already been 
envisaged in GATT Article X. However, we be lieve that Internet publication will improve 
accessibility to this legislation.  
7. We propose that trade-related legislation a nd procedures are published on a national website. 
Principally, the content of the publication on this website should include all le gislation and procedures 
in accordance with GATT Article X. In our proposal, we provide a list of the legislation and procedures that should necessarily take place on the national website.  
8. To further promote transparency, we also propose that each Member establish a National 
Enquiry Point to respond to relevant inquiries from other Members and interested parties in other 
Members. We define an enquiry point as a coordi nator governmental body responsible for providing 
information on trade-related legislation and proced ures. Any interested party looking for specific 
information on a country's trade legislation or procedures through the corresponding national enquiry 
point should be able to reach the relevant docum ents or information by accessing this country's 
national enquiry point. In principle, we suggest a single national enquiry point for the Members. 
However, more than one enquiry point for one Memb er can also be considered only if the Member 
country ensures that the coordination is est ablished between different enquiry points.  
9. We acknowledge the position of Small Vulnerab le Economies (SVEs) on this issue with 
reference to communication TN/TF/W/129/Rev.1. SVEs involved in a regional integration may 
establish enquiry points at the regional level.  
10. As far as developing and least-developed co untry Members are concerned, technical 
assistance and capacity building is an essential component of the provisions’ implementation process.  Generally, we acknowledge the prospective progress in the ongoing negotiations on S&D Treatment 
within the framework laid down by communications  TN/TF/W/137 and TN/TF/W/142. In this sense, 
we believe in the necessity of technical assistan ce and capacity building as S&D treatment for the 
developing and least-developed country Member s for the implementation of trade facilitation 
measures. This approach is reflected in  the related provisions of the proposal. 
11. The implementation-related issues and technical de tails of the provisions in this proposal are 
to be determined by the Trade Facilitation Committee to be established.  
Textual Proposal
 
 I. ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL WEBSITE 
1. Members shall ensure that a national website is  established for the purpose of publication of 
legislation and procedures re ferred to in paragraph 2. 
A. T
HE CONTENT OF THE WEBSITE  
2. Members shall provide a copy of all laws, regul ations, judicial decisions and administrative 
rulings of general application a nd trade-related procedures which are entered into force through 
official means and relating to or affecting trade in goods in such a manner provi ded for in Article X of 
GATT 1994 as to enable governments and traders to b ecome acquainted with these. Information to be 
published should include:  TN/TF/W/132/Rev.1 
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  (a) Procedures of border agencies (including port,  airport, and other entry-point procedures 
and relevant forms and documents); 
(b) Rate of duties and taxes imposed on or in connection with im portation or exportation 
(including applied tariff rates); 
(c) Decisions and examples of customs classification; 
(d) Import and export restrictions; 
(e) Fees and charges imposed on or in co nnection with importation or exportation; 
(f) Penalty provisions against breaches of import and export formalities; (g) Appeal procedures; and (h) Agreements with any country or countries relating to the above issues. 
 
B. P
RIOR PUBLICATION AND CONSULTATION  
3. Members shall ensure that new or amended trade-related legislation and procedures be 
published on the national website at least [  ] days  be fore its  entry into for ce so that the interested 
parties shall be able to submit their comments on the legislation and take necessary measures for the 
adaptation. Exceptions to this provision are th e legislation requiring urgency [and cases where 
publication in advance may distort market conditions]. 
C. LANGUAGE OF THE PUBLICATION  
4. Members shall provide a copy of their trad e-related legislation and information on the 
procedures in one of the official languages of the WTO. Special and Differential Treatment provisions 
for developing and the least-developed country Members are defined in paragraphs 6 and 7. 
D. NOTIFICATION  
5. Members shall notify the Trade Facilitation Co mmittee of the website addresses in order to 
make such information available to governments and interested parties. 
E. SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT  
6. The least-developed country and developing country  Members shall not be required to apply 
the provisions of paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 until they acq uire the full capacity to do so through technical 
assistance and capacity building mechanism. 
7. [Until their acquisition of the capacity to fu lly implement the provisions referred to in 
paragraphs 2, 3 and 4; Developing country Memb ers shall provide a copy of their trade-related 
legislation and procedures in their own language on their national website. In addition, they shall 
provide the search keywords in one of the official languages of the WTO in a format to be decided by 
the Trade Facilitation Committee.]  
II. ENQUIRY POINTS 
A. ESTABLISHMENT OF ENQUIRY POINTS  
8. Members shall ensure that a nati onal enquiry point be established. TN/TF/W/132/Rev.1 
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  B. D
UTIES OF THE ENQUIRY POINTS  
9. The enquiry point will be responsible for: 
(a) answering all relevant enquiries on trade-re lated legislation and procedures received 
from all interested parties through the National Enquiry Points or WTO Secretariat.  
(b) providing the specific information and docum ents related to trade procedures in a 
non-discriminatory and convenient manner in case of an inquiry. 
(c) operating through communication among national enquiry points. 
C. OPERATION OF THE ENQUIRY POINTS  
10. Interested parties shall submit their inquiries to  their own National Enquiry Point in order to 
obtain information on legislation or procedures of other Members. Exchange of information between 
Members shall be carried out through national e nquiry points. International Organizations shall 
submit their inquiries through the WTO Secretariat and national enquiry points shall respond through the same channel.  
11. The enquiry points shall operate at no cost or at a cost commensurate with the cost of the 
service rendered.  
12. The enquiry points shall reply all inquiries within at most [ ] days.  
D. N
OTIFICATION  
13. Members shall notify the Trade Facilitation Co mmittee of the contact information of the 
enquiry points in order to make such information available to governments and interested parties. 
E. SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT  
14. The least-developed country and developing country  Members shall not be required to apply 
the provisions regarding enquiry points until they acqui re the full capacity to do  so through technical 
assistance and capacity building.  
15. Small Vulnerable Economies involved in a regi onal integration may establish enquiry points 
at the regional level.   
 
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