WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/REG109/5/Rev.2 
25 July 2005 
 (05-3353) 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements Original:   English 
 
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN  
THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY AND MEXICO 
 
Questions and Replies  
 
Revision  
 
 The following communication, dated 17 June 2005,  is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the European Communities. 
 
 This document reproduces the questions addressed  to the Parties and the responses submitted.  
The questions and replies set out below are or ganized in accordance with document WT/REG109/3 
and S/C/N/192. 
_______________  
GOODS ASPECTS  
 
I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE AGREEMENT 
 
3. Scope  
 
1. Article 3, paragraph 5 provides for liberalizing  tariff eliminations or implementation of 
services commitments ahead of schedule.  In wh at goods/services sectors, if any, has there been 
such accelerated liberalisation? 
To date, tariff acceleration h as been agreed between the Par ties at two occasions:  through 
Joint Council Decision 2/2002 referring to cars, vans , batteries, bicycles, pharmaceutical products and 
chemicals and though Joint Council Decision 1/2004 referring to chemical products. 
 
2. Article 10 provides for a review of addition al liberalization before October 2003.  What 
is the status of this review? 
Mexico and the EU have been exchanging and analysing the relevant information on 
agricultural trade, in order to define the ob jectives and the products that can be addressed. 
 
3. The United States supports Canada’s verbal  request made during the September 2001 
meeting for statistics on a chapter-by-chapter basis of preferential trade.  This request is made 
in the interest of transparency according to  the Parties’ Article XXIV:7(a) obligations. 
What products are excluded from coverage? 
 
No reply received. 
 
4. What changes, if any, were made in Mexico ’s applied rates at the time the Agreement 
was under negotiation, and subsequently when it was implemented by both Parties?  Have any 
applied duties increased as a result of this Agreement? 
No reply received. WT/REG109/5/Rev.2 
Page 2  
 
 II. TRADE PROVISIONS 
 
1. Import Restrictions
 
 
5. Does the transition period mean the year 2009 in the tariff elimination on agricultural 
products? 
The transition period on agricultural products is up to 10 years (category 4), so the end of the 
transition period would be year 2010.  
6. Please explain the concept of “on a case by ca se basis” in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 
10 of this Agreement.   
“Case by case basis” means that the review process will be carried out on each product’s 
merits.  
7. Which measures are set out in Annex IV of this Agreement and which products are 
subject to these measures? Would the Parties provide the trade statistics on these products 
between the EC and Mexico?  Are the se measures temporar y or permanent? 
The measures specified in Annex IV of the Agre ement are self explained in paragraphs 1 to 6 
of such Annex.  Additionally, specific HS Head ings and Subheadings ar e provided for terms of 
reference.  For your reference, please find enclo sed the trade figures for these products (see Annex) 
 8. In addition to the tariff differential and/ or enhanced services commitments created by 
the elimination of duties in the context of th e FTA, does the agreement have other provisions 
that affect the comparative economic market access opportunity of countries that are not 
parties to the agreement? 
The FTA provides for a clear legal framework that furthers progressive trade liberalisation 
beyond commitments achieved in the Uruguay Round.  Th erefore, this question is not entirely clear.  
More importantly, it should be stressed the elimin ation of trade obstacles between the Parties, as 
provided under this FTA, does not involve raising ba rriers to trade with countries that are not parties 
to the Agreement in accordance with  GATT Article XXIV.  In other words, the elimination of tariffs 
and other trade barriers through the FTA does no hinder trade with countries that are not parties to the Agreement.  On the contrary, the FTA contributes to  the deepening of trade liberalisation as well as to 
the creation of incentives for economic growth and increased trade flows both at the regional and 
multilateral level.  The active pa rticipation of the Parties in the WTO demonstrates their strong 
commitment to the promotion of multilateral trade liberalisation.  
9. Please explain how the EC price entry system  operates.  Which products are regulated 
by this system?  Would the Parties provide the trade statistics on these products between the EC 
and Mexico? 
No reply received. 
 
10. Could the Parties comment on any non-tariff import measures (including charges 
and QRs) that are applied to third countries and not to intra-FTA trade?  We would appreciate 
a list of such measures.  This request is made in the interest of transparency. 
No reply received. 
 
  WT/REG109/5/Rev.2 
 Page 3 
 
 
 11. Can the Parties explain why the customs duties on products listed in Category 5 of 
Annex I as well as Category “O ” of Annex I (for the EC) are not granted tariff concessions 
under this Agreement? Since the Parties have sti pulated that 80.7% of Mexico’s agricultural 
exports will received duty-free treatment and 42.6% of the EC’s agricultural exports will receive duty-free treatment, it can be deduced  that these exempted categories encompass a 
significant percentage of EC-Mexico agricultural trade.  Can the Parties explain? 
No reply received. 
 3. Rules of Origin
 
 12. Would the Parties explain in detail what is meant by the phrase “bilateral cumulation is 
foreseen.”  Does this sentence refer to the extende d cumulation of products originating from 
non-Parties to this Agreement? If so, whic h countries would be covered by the bilateral 
cumulation? 
The provisions implementing bilateral cumulation of origin, which are laid down in Article 3 
of Annex III to Decision n° 2/2000, establish that  an originating product from one Party could be 
considered as originating from the other Party, when it is incorporated into a good manufactured in 
the other Party.  Bilateral cumulation of origin is  enforced since 1 July 2000.  These provisions are 
only applicable to the Parties of this Agreement and,  hence, do not apply to any material originating in 
a countries that are not parties to the Agreement.  13. The Parties state that “bilateral cumulati on is foreseen” (WT/REG109/3).  Will this 
agreement amount to the extension of th e Pan-European cumulation system?  
No reply received. 
 
14. How do the rules of origin in this ag reement interface with other preferential 
agreements to which the Parties are party?  With regards to Mexico, how will the rules of origin 
in this agreement interface with NAFTA rules of origin? 
No reply received. 
 4. Standards
 
 
 4.1 Standards 
 
15. Can the Parties please describe whether these pr eferential rules of origin are used under 
their respective agreements with the European Community on the recognition of conformity 
assessment procedures, and how the use of such rul es will affect each of the Parties' treatment 
of conformity assessment procedures with resp ect to goods and materials produced in each 
other's territories? 
No reply received. 
  4.2 Sanitary and phytosanitary measures  16. Article 20 creates an SPS Committee for the FTA partners.  What specific problems or 
issues to date has the committ ee identified and/or addressed? 
The main objectives of the Special Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures are to 
co-operate in order to enhance transparency and facilitate trade in the food and agriculture sector. WT/REG109/5/Rev.2 
Page 4  
 
  
The Committee has addres sed issues like Mexico’s procedur es to recognise Member States as 
free of foot and mouth disease and Classical Swine Fever, as well as the EU’s procedures to recognise 
Mexico as free of highly pathogenic avian influenza and to regionalise Mexico for Newcastle disease 
and classical swine fever.  The sanitary authoriti es of both sides are working on the relevant 
information regarding the sanitary status a nd the follow-up to veterinary inspections. 
 
As a result, Mexico’s sanitary authorities authorised the direct imports of highland ham 
produced in 2 establishments of Spain and is evalua ting the inclusion of more Spanish establishments;  
Mexico also opened the review process for imports  of ham from Italy.  For dairy products, Mexico 
authorized imports from Austria and, on a country-by-country basis, accepted imports from Member 
States’ establishments lists based on Council Directive 92/46/EEC.  5. Safeguards
 
 17. Does this agreement provide for any special  conditions or preferential treatment 
between the Parties in the application of  global safeguard measures? 
No reply received. 
 
18. Have safeguard measures been implemented du ring the life of the agreement?  If so, by 
whom, on which products, and under what circu mstances?  To whom did the action apply? 
No reply received. 
 
19. Does the agreement require that a margin of preference vis-à-vis third countries be 
maintained when the safeguard provisions are invoked?  Will the Parties to the agreement 
observe the provisions of Article XIX in the ap plication of safeguard measures that involve 
third country trade? 
No reply received. 
 8. Sector-Specific Provisions
 
  8.1 Steel 
 
20. Article 24 creates a special steel committee for the FTA partners.  What does this 
committee do to affect the rules governing this trade? 
The Special Steel Committee does nothing that affects the rules governing trade.  The Special 
Committee on Steel Products, which is thought to meet once per year, provides an opportunity to 
discuss all steel issues of interest to both Parties.  
 
 8.2 Natural Gas - Petroleum 
 
21. Article 22(f) provides an exception relating to the conservation of exhaustible natural 
resources.  To what specific policies does this ex ception apply in the natural gas and petroleum 
sectors?  In other sectors? 
The scope of this exception is the same as Article XX of GATT 1994. 
  8.3 Agricultural Products 
  WT/REG109/5/Rev.2 
 Page 5 
 
 
  
22. On what basis will trade liberalization provided for in the agreement be extended at the 
three-year point of evaluation to other agricultural products currently excluded? 
No reply received. 
 
IV. OTHER  
Government procurement
 
 
23. How do the substance and scope of the FTA government procurement commitments in 
Title III compare to those provided for in the plurilateral Agreement on Government 
Procurement?  Is coverage universal, or are there entity lists?  Are the current opportunities for 
third country supply diminished?   
The scope and commitments in the FTA are e quivalent to the GPA commitments, list of 
covered procuring entities, threshol ds, covered services and exemptions.  With regard to the coverage, 
it must be pointed out that Mexico is not a Party of the GPA.  The procurement procedures and other 
provisions governing the tendering process applicab le to the EU are those of the plurilateral 
Agreement on Government Procurem ent (GPA) Articles 2 and 6 to 15.  In the Annexes VI through XI 
of the FTA the coverage is described and, more sp ecifically, Annex VI contains the entities covered.   
 
Title III guarantees the Parties national treatme nt for the government procurement covered 
under the Agreement. 
 
24. Have the Parties developed any lists or sche dules of types of procurement that will be 
subject to special contract award procedures?  
No reply received. 
 
Competition Policy  
 
25. Which public monopolies are subject to the pr ovisions of the agreement?  Are all state 
monopolies notified as required by Article XVII of the GATT 1994?  If not, could the Parties please list all such entities covered by this rele vant article and explain why they are not covered 
by Article XVII of GATT. 
No reply received. 
 WT/REG109/5/Rev.2 
Page 6  
 
 SERVICES ASPECTS
 
  
I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE AGREEMENT 
 3. Scope
 
 
26. Among all the FTAs that were subject to examination at the 34th session of the 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements, and to which either EC or Mexico is a party, this 
particular FTA seems to be the only one that ex cludes audio-visual services from the coverage.  
Japan would like to know the reason and background as  to why this particular service sector is 
excluded only under this particular FTA. 
 It was not the intention of the Parties to include  audio-visual services within the scope of such 
agreement.  Despite the exclusion of audio-visual  services, the Agreement fulfils the criteria of 
Article V of the GATS, in particular with rega rd to the substantial sectoral coverage and the 
elimination of substantially all discrimination.  
 
II. PROVISIONS AFFECTING TRADE IN SERVICES 
 
27. According to Article 7.3 of the decision, we understand that: 
[No later than 3 years following the entry in to force of this decision, the Joint Council 
shall adopt a decision providing for the elimin ation of the remaining discrimination between 
Parties in the regulated sectors.  And the deci sion shall contain a list of commitments and a 
liberalization calendar for each party.]  
Is it correct to assume that this list of co mmitments will include all four modes of supply 
and be on the positive-list basis?  
 The list of commitments will apply to the four modes of supply of services.  The Parties have not yet taken any decision on the form of that list or  on the timing of its establishment, which has been 
postponed in accordance with the footnote to Article 7.3. 
  
  WT/REG109/5/Rev.2
 Page 7Mexican imports from the EU 
US Dollars 
 
   1999 2000 2001 2002 
Item Description Unit Value Volume Va lue Volume Value Vo lume Value Volume 
           
  TOTAL   420,886,571  817,385,235   1,160,002,498  1,619,811,152  
                      
27075099 Other aromatic hydrocarbon mixtures of which 65% or more by 
volume (including losses) distils at 250 °C by the ASTM D 86 
method L 2,581 29 3,186 64 3,165 1,707 14,645 7,258
27079999 Other L 7,500 302 2,565 229 3,091 142 3,469 2,324
27090099 Other M3 0000 00 1 01
27100012 Naphthas which are precursors of aromatics L 0000 00 5 5 , 4 3 6 2 2 , 6 2 5
27101101 Pure petroleum mineral oils, in tanker-car, tanker-ship or tanker-
truck L 817,329 1,670,085 887,891 2,000, 860 421,904 936,002 62,808 189,410
27101104 Gasoline, except that classified under head ing 2710.11.03 L 67,236,459413,147, 492 52,188,565220,988,591 84,444,533335,55 7,051 101,699,203449,067,436
27101105 Propylene tetramer L 5,037 1,200 1,009 200 0 0 0 0
27101106 Paraffinic oil Kg 9,164 722 13,175 708 13,444 367 11,156 1,839
27101107 Hexane; heptane L 0000 2 , 2 9 9 2 3 5 2 4 21
27101108 Isomeric mix of  trimethylpentane and dimethylhexane 
(diisobutylene) Kg 0 0 110 1 0 0 0 0
27101110 Naphtha which is a precursor of aromatics L 0000 00 9 6 41
27101199 Other L 6,919,405 33,270,571 1,360,606 570,156 1,381,546 292,722 3,353,683 8,851,855
27101901 Pure petroleum mineral oils, without additives (basic lubricating 
oils), in tanker-car, tanker-shi p or tanker-truck, except that 
classified under heading 2710.19.04 L 297, 524 345,631 95,309 203,975 1,529, 338 3,516,988 476,132 1,473,033
27101902 Greases or lubricating oils obtained from petr oleum minerals, with 
additives (finished lubricating oils) L 1,133, 092 640,775 1,411,211 1,033,990 1,874, 313 1,089,961 2,120,171 3,087,057
27101903 Lubricating greases L 1,644,988 381, 763 2,204,787 555,149 1,470, 418 319,017 1,764,726 523,136
27101904 Gas oil or diesel oil L 0 0 7,434,042 35,591,339 531 3 11,882,972 56,733,888
27101905 Fuel oil L 12,875,101130,141,182 5, 214,842 40,027,565 7,129,901 47,632,530 0 0
27101906 Rubber extender oils L 158,714 10,000 154,905 21,557 437 324 2,942 355
27101907 Paraffinic oil Kg 6,690 784 11,463 1,441 9,173 1,789 6,744 1,302
27101999 Other L 5,660,393 6,758,848 9,747, 882 510,598 13,106,992 499,514 10,347,863 476,654
27109999 Other L 6,797 13,839 3,172 461 42 24 775 135
27111101 Natural gas L 0 0 33 12 0 0 20,273 140,805
27111201 Propane L 4,521 376 4,698,367 32,063,773 15,728 1,086 17,580 3,272
27111301 Butanes L 3,437,042 20,986,493 4,502,116 28,569,930 7,622 2,880 0 0
27111401 Ethylene, propylene, butylene and butadiene L 0000 8 8 1 2 00
27111901 Butane and propane, mixed together, lique fied  L 15,239 6,175 9,146 4,803 5,991 3,016 13,540 4,865
27111902 Alkanes used for cutting and soldering (even if blended) Kg 0000 00 1 2 98
27111903 Mixture of butadienes, but anes and butanes, known as 
" C 4  s t r e a m s "  L  0000 00 1 , 129,200 5,885,699
27112101 Natural gas L 6,305 16 4,963 749 4,587 75 0 0
27129001 Lignite wax Kg 326,299 223,100 237,845 157,610 403,840 235,060 338,468 180,680 
 WT/REG109/5/Rev.2 
Page 8 27129002 Micro-crystalline waxes Kg 154, 432 76,676 117,229 62,149 86,689 50,501 96,474 46,931
27129004 Waxes, except those classified under headings 2712.90.01 and 
2712.90.02 Kg 1,477 752 2,423 932 4,454 1,242 9,032 1,585
27129099 Other Kg 4,087,148 2, 120,306 2,732,932 1,590,394 2,307, 723 1,428,186 2,376,798 1,328,747
27131101 Not calcined Kg 2,404 4,500 0 0 18,443 36,250 0 0
27132001 Petroleum bitumen Kg 381 130 874 340 0 0 738 1,080
27139099 Other residues of petroleum oils or of oils obtained from bituminous 
minerals Kg 8,823 11,039 14,365 21,158 0 0 46 6
27141001 Bituminous or oil shale and tar sands Kg 0000 5 4 1 1 0 0 00
27149001 Bitumen and asphalt, natural Kg 719 257 1,746 1,837 0 0 355 68
27149099 Other Kg 2,507 895 6,085 6,402 0 0 1,236 236
29011002 Pentane L 240 20 496 25 101 2 1,410 45
29011003 Tridecane L 0000 00 00
29011004 Hexane; heptane L 0000 3 , 0 3 4 4 8 0 1 7 , 2 8 3 1 , 7 7 1
29011099 Other L 158,797 47,898 148,182 67, 488 99,967 24,703 1,331,276 5,665,143
84073401 Recognized as being exclusiv ely for motorcycles Unit 2,49 8100 2 , 5 4 31 2 , 9 6 61
84073402 Of a cylinder capacity not exceeding 2,000 cc Unit 841,757 602 1,517,716 1, 895 2,133,044 2,559 2,897,031 5,273
84073499 Other Unit 79,239,457 5, 929,348213,347,860 18,074,269 68,012,431 3,139,296 48,134,631 1,772,729
87012001 Road tractors for semi-trailers Unit 0 0 132,335 1 30,137 1 72,535 2
87021001 With body mounted on a chassis, except those classified under 
heading 8702.10.03 Unit 31,27 1100 00 4 3 , 5 2 91
87021002 With integral body, except those classified under heading 
8702.10.04  U n i t0000 00 00
87021003 For the transport of 16 or more persons, including the driver, with 
body mounted on a chassis Unit 4,985,535 29 4,037,190 30 3,176,158 22 10,729,998 78
87021004 For the transport of 16 or more persons, including the driver, with 
integral body Unit 0 0 1,408,700 5 0 0 719,755 3
87029002 With body mounted on a chassis, except those classified under 
heading 8702.90.04 Unit 79,531 8 66,450 9 42,900 6 34,400 4
87031001 With electric engine, except t hose classified under headings 
8703.10.02 and 8703.10.03 U n i t 5 , 0 0 0200 00 8 , 8 4 73
87031002 Special vehicles for transporting pers ons on a golf course Unit 0 0 11,761 3 0 0 6,245 4
87031003 Four-wheeled motorcycles (quad bikes) or three-wheeled 
motorcycles equipped with differ ential and reverse (motorized 
tricycles) Unit 32,626 10 18,428 6 134,287 36 646,512 238
87031099 Other Unit 22,35 3700 7 , 3 7 75 00
87032101 Four-wheeled motorcycles (quad bikes) with motor car-type 
steering; three-wheeled motorcycles (motorized tricycles) with 
motor car-type steering and/or differentia l and reverse Unit 0 0 25,840 9 11,968 5 18,908 1
87032199 Other Unit 67,590 24 113,547 48 6,681,839 817 224,852 50
87032201 Of a cylinder capacity exceeding 1,000 cc, but not exceeding 
1,500 cc Unit 57,890,312 8,757102,771,326 15,761 47,709,668 7,288 75,601,213 10,916
87032301 Of a cylinder capacity exceeding 1,500 cc, but not exceeding 
3,000 cc Unit145,269,414 14,494341,251,951 33,684 802,685,417 73,1971,170,566,837 98,235
87032399 WITHDRAWN Unit 121,45 1500 00 00
87032401 Of a cylinder capacity exceeding 3,000 cc Unit 25,071,613 665 49,911,405 1,350 75,403,207 1,571 101,842,206 2,965 
  WT/REG109/5/Rev.2
 Page 987032499 WITHDRAWN Unit 14,94 6100 00 00
87033101 Of a cylinder capacity not exceeding 1,500 cc Unit 13,43 7100 2 3 , 8 7 62 108,771 15
87033201 Of a cylinder capacity exceeding 1,500 cc, but not exceeding 
2,500 cc  Unit 8,000 2 23,412 3 141,461 10 3,520,298 223
87033301 Of a cylinder capacity exceeding 2,500 cc Unit 70,58 1300 00 5 5 , 0 8 92
87039099 Other Unit 0000 1 8 , 0 0 01 00
87041001 Dumpers with a load capacity exceeding 30,000 kg Unit 405,335 6 822,557 4 2,430,546 15 1,852,825 11
87041099 Other Unit 879,154 23 2, 980,466 38 1,027,942 20 657,974 9
87042102 Of a g.v.w. not exceeding 2,721 kg Unit 0 0 26,448 4 55,718 8 352,225 47
87042103 Of a g.v.w. exceeding 2,721 kg,  but not exceeding 4,536 kg Unit 0 0 65,418 7 41,127 4 4,682,772 270
87042199 Other Unit 0000 2 7 , 0 8 52 00
87042204 Of a g.v.w. exceeding 7,257 kg,  but not exceeding 8,845 kg Unit 0 0 670,063 7 0 0 0 0
87042205 Of a g.v.w. exceeding 8,845 kg,  but not exceeding 11,793 kg Unit 0000 3 7 , 6 6 01 00
87042206 Of a g.v.w. exceeding 11,793 kg,  but not exceeding 14,968 kg Unit 0000 3 7 , 3 1 31 2 , 313,797 67
87042299 Other Unit 0 0 66,116 4 40,865 3 1,328,965 46
87042399 Other Unit 0 0 229,015 1 49,222 1 809,159 19
87043102 Four-wheeled motorcycles (quad bikes) with motor car-type 
steering; three-wheeled motorcycles (motorized tricycles) with 
motor car-type steering and/or differentia l and reverse  Unit 0 0 24,840 8 43,320 13 343,938 103
87043103 Of a g.v.w. exceeding 2,721 kg,  but not exceeding 4,536 kg, 
except those classified under heading 8704.31.04 Unit 700 3 1,165 5 3,175 7 0 0
87043104 Pick-ups of a g.v.w. not exceedin g 3,200 kg, with a serial number 
or model year at least 10 years prior to the current year, not dual-
wheeled Unit 0 0 311,328 1,122 34,452 64 32,867 36
87043199 Other Unit 6,775 17 2,971,212 279 26,886,127 3,020 37,768,361 3,251
87043202 Of a g.v.w. of 5,000 kg or more, but not exceeding 6,351 kg Unit 0000 00 8 1 01
87043204 Of a g.v.w. exceeding 7,257 kg,  but not exceeding 8,845 kg Unit 40 0100 00 00
87043205 Of a g.v.w. exceeding 8,845 kg.  but not exceeding 11,793 kg Unit 80 0200 5 0 01 00
87043299 Other Unit 0 0 265,431 3 0 0 0 0
87049099 Other Unit 0 0 2,467 25 0 0 0 0
87052099 Other Unit 0 0 345,876 1 1,045,699 8 1,207,855 4
87054001 Concrete-mixer lorries Unit 741,984 12 751,114 19 1,184,068 22 1,033,049 22
87060002 Chassis for the vehicles of heading 87.03 or subheadings 8704.21 
and 8704.31 U n i t0000 00 2 6 , 6 5 82
87060099 Other Unit 96,943 2 2, 276 6 6,493,431 186 15,007,495 293
 
 
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