Ginebra, Suiza, 29 de octubre del 2012.- Tayikistán superó una etapa importante en sus negociaciones de adhesión a
la OMC el 26 de octubre de 2012 cuando el Grupo de Trabajo sobre la adhesión de
ese país aprobó, ad referéndum, el conjunto de documentos en los que se definen
las condiciones para su ingreso en la Organización.
(de momento sólo en
inglés)
The Working
Party on Tajikistan’s accession, chaired by Ambassador Clyde Kull (Estonia),
agreed, ad referendum, on the terms of the country’s membership to the WTO by
adopting the package containing reforms to Tajikistan’s trade regime, market
access schedules on goods and services, the Ministerial Decision and the
Protocol of Accession.
The Working
Party will now send its accession recommendation to the General Council of
11-12 December2012, when all members are expected to approve these documents
and accept Tajikistan as a WTO member.
Tajikistan
applied for WTO membership on 29 May 2001.
“Tajikistan
is one step closer to becoming a member of the WTO family. This is a sign of
solid confidence in the WTO and in the multilateral trading system. Accession
to the WTO will firmly integrate Tajikistan into the global economy and the
global trading system, providing an open, transparent and non-discriminatory
environment. As a new member, Tajikistan will be in a better position to use
trade as a tool for its development and growth, as others have done,” said
Director-General Pascal Lamy.
Tajikistan’s
WTO commitments
As part of
the accession accord, Tajikistan has agreed to undertake a series of important
commitments to further open its trade regime and accelerate its integration in
the world economy. The deal offers as well a transparent and predictable
environment for trade and foreign investment.
Tajikistan
would apply WTO provisions uniformly throughout its entire territory, including
in regions engaging in border trade, special economic zones and areas where
special regimes for tariffs, taxes and regulations were established.
From the
date of accession, Tajikistan has committed to fully apply all WTO provisions
without any recourse to transitional periods. It committed to join the
Information Technology Agreement upon accession and will submit an application
for membership of the Government Procurement Agreement within one year of its
accession. Overall, Tajikistan’s commitments will include the following:
Market
access for goods and services
As part of
the accession, Tajikistan concluded six bilateral agreements on market access
for services and 13 on market access for goods.
Goods
Tajikistan
has agreed to accept “bound” rates, i.e. maximum ceiling levels, for all its
import tariffs. Tariffs will be “ordinary customs duties” only, within
committed levels, with no additional duties and charges.
The average of Tajikistan’s “bound” tariffs,
for all products, is 8.0%. For agricultural products, this average is 10.4%
while for non-agricultural products the average is 7.6%.
Services
Tajikistan
has made specific commitments in 11 services sectors, including 111
sub-sectors.
Tajikistan’s
licensing procedures and conditions would not act as independent barriers to
market access in services. Licensing procedures and conditions would be
published prior to becoming effective.
Other
commitments include:
State-trading enterprises would make
purchases and sales which are not for the Government’s own use in accordance
with commercial considerations. Companies from other WTO members will be
afforded adequate opportunity to compete for participation in purchases or
sales of Tajikistan’s state enterprises.
Tajikistan would ensure that natural
monopolies recover all costs, including a reasonable profit, in the ordinary
course of their business. Tajikistan would apply price controls in a WTO
consistent manner.
Tajikistan will provide for the right to
appeal administrative rulings to an independent tribunal on WTO matters,
including those on trade regulations, subsidies, customs valuation,
intellectual property rights and domestic regulation in services.
Any natural or legal person, regardless of
physical presence or investment in Tajikistan, would be granted the right to be
the importer of record. Full rights to import and export would be granted in a
non-discriminatory and non-discretionary manner and commercial registration
would not be linked to investment and distribution requirements.
Tajikistan will join the Information
Technology Agreement upon accession.
Import tariff rate quotas will be
administered in compliance with WTO rules.
Fees and charges for services rendered by
the Government will be applied in accordance with WTO rules and information
regarding the application and level of such fees will be published.
Tajikistan would apply its domestic taxes
in a non-discriminatory manner to imports regardless of country of origin and
to domestically-produced products.
Tajikistan would not apply quantitative
restrictions on imports or other non-tariff measures — such as licensing,
quotas, bans, permits, prior authorization requirements and other restrictions
— having equivalent effect, without justification under WTO rules. Import
licensing procedures would be applied in accordance with WTO rules.
WTO rules on rules of origin, preshipment
inspection, trade-related investment measures, free zones and the transit of
goods (including energy) will be applied in accordance with the relevant WTO
provisions from the date of accession.
Trade remedies: upon accession, Tajikistan
will apply anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard measures in accordance
with WTO rules. In determining price comparability, the importing WTO member
shall use either Tajikistan’s prices or costs for the industry under
investigation or a methodology that is not based on a strict comparison with
domestic prices or costs in Tajikistan in accordance with a specific set of
rules spelled out in the Report of the Working Party.
Tajikistan will eliminate and not introduce
duties, taxes, fees and charges applied to exports, except on about 300
specific tariff lines identified in its Report. Tajikistan will notify the WTO
of changes to its duties, taxes, fees and charges applied to exports. Export
licensing requirements, quantitative restrictions and other export control
requirements would be brought in line with WTO provisions.
Tajikistan will join the WTO Agreement on
Trade in Civil Aircraft upon accession and will start negotiations to join the
Government Procurement Agreement within one year of its accession.
Tajikistan will apply the WTO Agreement on
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights no later than by the date
of its accession to the WTO.
WTO rules on the use of industrial subsidies
will be applied in accordance with the relevant WTO provisions from the date of
accession. Subsidies provided to state-owned and state-trading enterprises will
be viewed as specific if, inter alia, they are the predominant recipients or if
they receive disproportionately large amounts of such subsidies.
The WTO Agreements on Technical Barriers to
Trade (product standards and labelling) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
(food safety and animal and plant health) will be fully implemented from the
date of accession.
Transparency: Tajikistan will submit the
initial notifications required by the WTO Agreements upon accession. All laws
related to trade would be promptly published. Within two years of accession,
Tajikistan will designate an official journal or website where all trade
regulations/laws will be published, for WTO members, individuals and
enterprises to consult. Tajikistan would provide a reasonable period of no less
than 30 days for comments on trade regulations/laws. Tajikistan would provide
periodic reports to WTO members on developments in its programme of
privatization. In relation with trade in services, Tajikistan will publish a
list of all organizations responsible for authorizing, approving or regulating
services activities for each services sector. It will also publish in the
official journal all of its licensing procedures and conditions upon accession.
Tajikistan would observe all WTO provisions
in its participation in preferential trade agreements. Tajikistan will notify
its Free Trade Areas and Customs Union Agreements to the relevant WTO
Committee.
Next steps
Tajikistan’s
accession package will be forwarded to the General Council to be held on 11-12
December 2012 for adoption by all members. Tajikistan will have until 7 June
2013 to ratify its accession package. Tajikistan will become a full-fledged
member 30 days after it notifies the WTO of the ratification.
Background
information on Tajikistan’s accession process
Tajikistan’s applied to the WTO on 29 May
2001.
The Working Party was established in July
2001.
The first meeting of the Woking Party took
place in March 2004.
Secretary:
Mr Dimitar Bratanov
Co-Secretary:
Ms Juneyoung Lee
Director of
the WTO Accessions Division: Mr Chiedu Osakwe
General
statistical information about Tajikistan
(Sources:
WTO statistics and World Bank)
Basic
indicators
Population: about 7 million (2011)
GDP (million current US$): 5 640 (2010)
Doing Business Rank: 147 (2012)
CO2 emissions (metric tons per capita): 0.5
(2008)
Life expectancy at birth: 68 (2011)
Rank in
world trade (2010)
Merchandise: 143 (exports) and 140
(imports)
Commercial services: 161 (exports) and 157
(imports)
Merchandise
trade (2010)
Merchandise (exports): 1 195 million USD
Merchandise (imports): 2 657 million USD
Commercial
services trade (2010)
Services (exports): 182 million USD
Services (imports): 389 million USD
Main
trading partners: China, EU, Russian Federation, Central Asian countries and
Turkey.
Fuente: OMC