WTO: 2006 NEWS ITEMS

30 October 2006
IMPORT LICENSING

2006 import licensing review completed

Motor vehicles, agricultural products, footwear, toys, steel, iron and copper ores, lithium carbonate and licensing regimes in general, were among the import licensing issues discussed when the committee handling this subject reviewed 46 information documents from members on 30 October 2006 and completed its latest biennial review.

The meeting also reviewed China’s implementation of the Import Licensing Agreement, the fifth of eight annual reviews as agreed in China’s membership deal. The committee’s biennial review  was the sixth for examining the agreement’s implementation. (A report covering 1 October 2004 to 30 October 2006 will soon be released and available here).

The committee’s main purpose is to ensure members’ licensing regimes are transparent. But once again, the chairperson commented that members are not meeting their obligations to keep each other informed — and up-to-date — about their import licensing rules and procedures: 20 members have never notified anything and in the past two years only 38 members (counting the EU as one) have submitted the replies to the questionnaire they are supposed to answer annually (the deadline was 30 September).

  

Details: notifications and review back to top

Most of the notifications were noted without comment. Some will be reviewed at the next meeting but the floor was open for questions and comments from delegations so as to allow the notifying members to respond when the committee next meets in March 2007. Among the handful of issues where members commented or asked additional questions were:

  • Indonesia’s import licensing regime: the US said Indonesia’s replies (Document G/LIC/Q/IDN/8) do not fully address its concerns that the regime distorts or impedes trade, and urged Indonesia to eliminate or modify the system

  • Guatemala’s regime for egg imports: Mexico asked Guatemala some additional questions about this

  • Malaysia’s regime: Australia referred to the questions it has asked Malaysia, which will be considered at the next meeting, pointing out that around 33% of Malaysia’s tariff lines require import licences, particularly on motor vehicles and agricultural products such as cabbages and coffee

  • Argentina’s regime for footwear and toys: the US remains concerned that licensing requirements are unjustified and the licences take too long to issue. It questioned whether the requirement for toys could be justified since producers in Argentina do not face the same requirements and asked for more information. Argentina told the committee that its replies to the annual questionnaire (Document G/LIC/N/3/ARG/3) does contain more information on this

  • Brazil’s requirements for lithium hydroxide and carbonate: the US said that after three years, Brazil still has not answered its questions on importing lithium hydroxide. Brazil said it has replied in Document G/LIC/Q/BRA/2 but promised to convey the new concerns to its capital

  • China’s regime for steel, iron and copper ores, and steel making inputs. China clarified its regime in reply to questions from the US and Australia under its transitional review. The questions are in documents G/LIC/Q/CHN/18 and G/LIC/Q/CHN/19. China’s information for the review is in G/LIC/W/28 

Members have to supply information in three categories set out in the Import Licensing Agreement:

  • Notifications of their published laws, regulations and other information (Document G/LIC/N/1/…)

  • Notifications of new or changed procedures (Document G/LIC/N/2/…)

  • Annual replies (Document G/LIC/N/3/…) to the questionnaire (annexed to G/LIC/3) on import licensing procedures

They also have a fourth obligation: to reply to questions from other members (Document G/LIC/Q/…)

Links to search for these documents can be found on the Import Licensing page.

  

Next meetings back to top

(Tentatively) 29 March and 9 October 2007

  

Chairperson back to top

Mr Evelio Alvarado Romero of Guatemala
(Vice chairperson: Mr Peter Govindasamy of Singapore)