WT/TPR/S/12
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VI. DISPUTES, CONSULTATIONS, AND WTO NOTIFICATIONS
(1) Disputes andConsultations under theGATT andWTO
1. TheCzech Republic hasnotbeenaparty toanydispute under theGATT ortheWTO.
2. Following anotification byAustria inMarch 1993thatitwould takeemergency action under
GATT Article XIXinrespect ofimports ofcement fromtheCzech Republic andcertain othercountries,
theCzechRepublicrequestedArticleXIXconsultationswithAustriaonthematter.1TheCzechRepublic
alsorequested consultations withAustria following thenotification byAustria inApril 1993 thatit
would takeemergency action under GATT Article XIXinrespect ofimports offertilizer from the
Czech Republic andcertain other countries.2Consultations were heldonthese issues inJune1993
andwereheldagain inMarch 1994forfertilizer only. Asaresult ofconsultations, theCzech Republic
agreed tolimititsexports ofthese products toAustria. These agreements arenolonger ineffect,
according totheauthorities.
(2) Dispute Settlement under Other Fora
3. Disputes between theCzech Republic andSlovakia within thecontext oftheCustoms Union
aretobesettled byanArbitration Commission established onanadhocbasisforeachdispute; decisions
ofanArbitration Commission arebinding ontheparties (Chapter II(5)(i)). Nodisputes havebeen
brought toaCommission. Disputes between theCzech Republic andtheEuropean Union inthecontext
oftheirAssociationAgreementaretobereferredtotheJointCommittee,whichoverseestheAgreement3;
intheevent thatadispute cannot beresolved bytheJoint Committee, anarbitration panel shallbe
appointed andthemajority voteofthepanel becomes binding ontheparties.4Under theterms ofthe
Agreement Between theEFTA States andtheCzech Republic, ifanEFTA StateortheCzech Republic
considers thattheother party hasfailed tofulfilanobligation under theAgreement, itmayfollow the
Agreement 'sprovisions forsafeguards, which require thatconsultations between theparties takeplace
intheJointCommitteethatsupervisesandadministerstheAgreement.Thedisputesettlementprovisions
oftheCentral European FreeTrade Agreement (CEFTA) andoftheFreeTrade Agreement Between
theCzech Republic andtheRepublic ofSlovenia areidentical tothose under theCzech-EFTA
Agreement; nodisputes havebeenbrought under theCzech-EFTA Agreement.
(3) Notification Obligations under theWTO
4. TheCzech Republic, based onitsobligations under various WTO Agreements andGATT
CONTRACTING PARTY decisions, hasbeenactively making notifications totheWTO. Asurvey
ofthethestatus ofselected notification obligations iscontained inTable VI.1. Thistablegives abrief
description ofthenotification obligation, thesource oftheobligation, andtheperiodicity. Ifa
1GATT document L/6899/Add.6.
2GATT document L/7204/Add.2.
3TheJointCommittee wasoriginally established betheAgreement onTrade andCommercial andEconomic
Cooperation, signed between theEuropean Economic Community andtheCzech andSlovak Federal Republic
inMay 1990. TheJoint Committee continues tooversee theAgreement pending theestablishment ofthe
Association Council provided forintheAssociation Agreement.
4Panels consist ofonemember appointed byeachparty andathirdmember appointed bytheJointCommittee.Czech Republic WT/TPR/S/12
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notification hasbeenreceived, thedocument number anddateofthenotification areindicated and,
insome cases, comments aregiven. Ifnonotification hasbeenreceived, thescheduled dateofthe
firstnotification isindicated.WT/TPR/S/12
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Table VI.1
Status ofselected notification requirements totheWTO, asatDecember 1995
WTO
agreementDescripton of
requirementPeriodicity Document No.ofmost
recent notif. (ifnone,
dateofscheduled
notification).Comments
Agriculture
(Art. 18)Info. ontariff quotas Once, thenchanges G/AG/N/CZE/1,
June1995Tariff quotas on24products
Agriculture
(Art. 18)Volume ofimports
under tariff quotasAnnual, endofMY (March 1996)
Agriculture
(Art. 5)Summary ofspecial
safeguards takenAnnual, endofMY (March 1996)
Agriculture
(Art. 18)Aggregate Measure of
SupportAnnual, endofMY (March 1996)
Agriculture
(Art. 18)Export subsidies
(outlays, quantities)Annual, endofMY (March 1996)
Subsidies
(Art. 25)Existing subsidy
programmesAnnual G/SCM/N/3/CZE,
December 1995Provides info. on11subsidy
programmes
Subsidies
(Art. 32)Laws &regs. Upon estab. oflaws
&regs.; changesG/SCM/N/1/CZE/1,
March 1995None inforce. Legislation isunder
preparation.
Subsidies
(Art. 25)Countervailing duty
actions takenEvery sixmonths G/SCM/N/4/Add.1,
July 1995Notification thatnoactions were taken
inthesecond halfof1994
Anti-dumping
(Art. 18)Laws &regs. Upon estab. oflaws
&regs.; changesG/ADP/N/1/CZE/1,
March 1995None inforce. Legislation isunder
preparation
Anti-dumping
(Art. 16)Anti-dumping actions
takenEvery sixmonths G/ADP/N/4/Add.1,
December 1995Notification thatnoactions were taken
inthefirsthalfof1995
Safeguards
(Art. 12)Laws &regs. Upon estab. oflaws
&regs.; changesG/SG/N/1/CZE/1,
May1995None inforce; legislation hadnotyet
beenadopted.
Tech. Barr.
toTrade
(Art. 15)Laws, regs. &admin.
arrangementsOnce, upon EIF G/TBT/2, Nov. 1995.
SeealsoG/TBT/CS/N/8Laws regs., procedures &WTO
Enquiry Point. Some material had
previously beennotified.
Tech. Barr.
toTrade
(Art. 2)Technical regulations Adhoc G/TBT/Notif. 95.286 Thirteen notifications during 1995
GATT 1947 State trading Every three years
(changes annually)G/STR/N/1/CZE, and
Corr.1, Oct.1995Notification oftheState Fund for
Market Regulation
GATT 1994
(Art. XXIV)Formation of,oran
agree. leading to,a
customs union orfree
trade areaAdhoc GATT L/7495,
June1994
(regarding CEFTA)Notifs. cover EFTA ('92),Slovenia
('94),Slovakia ('93)&EUInter.
Agree. ('92). TheEUAssoc. Agree.
hasnotbeennotified.
GATT CPs
dec.(BISD
32S/92-93)Complete
notifications onnon-
tariff measuresEvery twoyears,
beg.January 1996(January 1996)
GATT CPs
dec.(BISD
34S/66)Integrated database Annual Relevant info. submitted
in1995 during TPR
processIncludes (i)m.f.n. andpreferential
tariffs ineffect in1995, and(ii)trade
datafor1994
Rules of
Origin (RO)Nonpref. &pref. RO;
changesNonpref: Apr.
1995. Pref.:
promptly afterEIFG/RO/N/2, June1995
GATS
(Art. III)Neworchanged laws
&regs. affecting
trade covered by
specific commits.Annual (January 1996)
Sources: WTO documents G/NOP/W/2/Rev.1 andG/NOP/W/5, andtheWTO Agreements.
EIF-entry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement (January 1995); MY-marketing year.Czech Republic WT/TPR/S/12
Page 127
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