RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/L/54
20March 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-0590)
Original: Spanish
ACCESSION OFECUADOR
Communication from Ecuador
Thefollowing communication, dated 3March 1995, wasreceived fromthePermanent Mission
ofEcuador.
_______________
ThePermanent Mission ofEcuador totheEuropean Office oftheUnited Nations andOther
International Organizations atGeneva transmits herewith thenotesentbytheMinistry ofForeign Affairs
ofEcuador concerning thecompatibility ofEcuador 'sforeign traderegime withtheWTO Multilateral
Agreements, fordistribution atthenextmeeting oftheWorking Party ontheAccession ofEcuador
totheGATT/WTO, asrequested bytheSecretariat.
"1. From theoutset ofitsprocess ofaccession totheGATT/WTO, andwithalldue
transparency, Ecuador informed theGATT contracting parties about itsforeign trade regime andthe
relationship between thatregime andthenewsubjects which werebeing discussed intheUruguay Round
Negotiations atthetimewhen Ecuador began itsaccession process. Ecuador therefore included in
thememorandum onitsforeign traderegime specific chapters ontheregime inforcefortradeinservices
andmeasures relating totradeandintellectual property, investment andtheenvironment. Thisdocument
wascirculated on17May1993 under symbol L/7202.
2. Subsequently, during theprocess ofsubmission ofquestions andanswers onitsforeign
trade regime, Ecuador received anumber ofquestions onissues relating totheUruguay Round
MultilateralTradeNegotiations.ThesewereansweredsatisfactorilyandcirculatedindocumentsL/7301
andL/7301/Add.1. These issues weredealtwiththoroughly inthemeetings oftheWorking Party,
andattherequest ofcontracting parties interested inreceiving Ecuador 'sreplies tothese concerns
inwriting, Ecuador submitted additional information indocuments Spec(94)1 of4February 1994,
Spec(94)1/Add.1 of21February 1994 andSpec(94)1/Add.2 of21April 1994.
3. Inaddition, Ecuador submitted information forthecontracting parties concerning the
compatibility ofitsnational rules withthose oftheGATT/WTO intheareas covered bytheTRIPs
andTRIMsagreements.ThisinformationwascirculatedinGATTindocumentL/7488of22June1994.
4. EcuadorsubmittedthedocumententitledInformationConcerningtheUruguayRound
Multilateral Trade Agreements ,which wascirculated under symbol L/7523 on5August 1994. This
document explained indetail theconsistency ofnational legislation withtherulesoftheMultilateral
Trade Agreements oftheFinal Actwhich wereconsidered important forEcuador. Italsosubmitted
adocument withinformation onimport licensing procedures, which wascirculated under symbol
L/7523/Add.1 on23September 1994. Thisdocument includes adetailed summary ofthenational
legislation justifying thelicensing procedure inamanner thatisconsistent withthecorresponding
Uruguay Round Agreement.
5. Finally, Ecuador hasdealtwiththeseissues atallmeetings oftheWorking Party whose
draftreport fullysetsforth theexplanations given byEcuador withregard totheconsistency ofits
foreigntraderegimewiththeWTOMultilateralTradeAgreements.Thatreportwasoriginallycirculated
asdocument Spec(94)44; theRev.1 andRev.2 versions thereof include thechanges andclarifications
agreed upon bythecountries thatparticipated intheWorking Party."