Slovak Republic WT/TPR/S/7
Page 115
VI. TRADE DISPUTES AND CONSULTATIONS
(1) Disputes andConsultations under theGATT
1. TheSlovak Republic hasnotbeenaparty toanydispute under theGATT ortheWTO.
2. Following anotification byAustria inMarch 1993thatitwould takeemergency action under
GATT Article XIXinrespect ofimports ofcement fromtheSlovak Republic andcertain othercountries,
theSlovak Republic requested Article XIXconsultations withAustria onthematter.1Slovakia also
requested consultations withAustria following thenotification byAustria inApril 1993 thatitwould
takeemergency action under GATT Article XIXinrespect ofimports offertilizer from theSlovak
Republic andcertain other countries.2Consultations wereheldonthese issues inJune1993andwere
heldagain inMarch 1994 forfertilizer only. Asaresult ofconsultations, Slovakia agreed tolimit
itsexports ofthese products toAustria. These agreements are,according totheauthorities, nolonger
ineffect.
(2) Dispute Settlement under Other Fora
3. Disputes between Slovakia andtheCzech Republic within thecontext oftheCustoms Union
aretobesettled byanArbitration Commission established onanadhocbasisforeachdispute; decisions
ofanArbitration Commission arebinding ontheparties (Chapter II(5)(i)). Nodisputes havebeen
brought toaCommission. Disputes between Slovakia andtheEuropean Union inthecontext oftheir
Association Agreement aretobereferred totheJoint Committee, which oversees theAgreement3;
intheevent thatadispute cannot beresolved bytheJoint Committee, anarbitration panel shallbe
appointed andthemajority voteofthepanel becomes binding ontheparties.4Under theterms ofthe
Agreement Between theEFTA States andtheSlovak Republic, ifanEFTA StateortheSlovak Republic
considers thattheother party hasfailed tofulfilanobligation under theAgreement, itmayfollow the
Agreement 'sprovisions forsafeguards, which require thatconsultations takeplace between theparties
intheJoint Committee.5Thedispute settlement provisions oftheCentral European FreeTrade
Agreement (CEFTA) andoftheFreeTrade Agreement Between theSlovak Republic andtheRepublic
ofSlovenia areidentical tothose under theSlovak-EFTA Agreement; nodisputes havebeenbrought
under theSlovak-EFTA Agreement.
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.
5The Joint Committee isthebody that supervises and administers theAgreement (GATT
document L/7041/Add.1).WT/TPR/S/7
Page 116Trade Policy Review
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Uruguay Round, General Agreement onTariffs andTrade, Geneva, April.
Hoekman, B.andP.Mavroidis (1994), "Linking Competition andTrade Policies inCentral andEastern
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