Jordan

Jordan's Timeline

I. Overview
GATT application received	06/01/1994	L/7378
GATT Accession Working Party established	25/01/1994	SR.49/1 and L/7399
GATT Terms of reference & accession Working Party membership	08/02/1994	L/7404   (+  revisions)
WTO application received & WTO accession Working Party established	04/10/1995	WT/ACC/JOR/1 (Request to transform the Working Party on the Accession of Jordan to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1947 into a WTO accession Working Party. As per document WT/ACC/JOR/1 of 4 October 1995, the Working Party on the Accession of Jordan to the GATT 1947 was transformed into a WTO Accession Working Party, in accordance with the decision adopted by the General Council on 31 January 1995. Document WT/ACC/JOR/1 also reproduced the name of the Chairperson and the terms of reference of the Working Party.)
WTO terms of reference & accession Working Party membership	01/11/1996	WT/ACC/JOR/5  + ( revisions)
Chairperson of the Accession Working Party
1st	03/1994 - 11/1999	Ambassador K. KESAVAPANY (Singapore)
Formal Meetings of the Working Party	Date of the meeting	Convening notice	Statement(s) by the Head of the Delegation	Statement(s) by Working Party members	Delegation list	Other documents for the meeting	News item
1st	28/10/1996		—	—	WT/ACC/JOR/6	—	—
2nd	04/07/1997		—	—	—	—	—
3rd	22/07/1998		WT/ACC/SPEC/JOR/3	—	—	—	—
4th	22/10/1999		—	—	—	—	—
5th	24/11/1999	—	—	—	—	—	—
Informal Meetings of the Working Party	Date of the meeting	Convening fax	Statement(s) by the Head of the Delegation
	—	—	—
Plurilateral Meetings	Date of the meeting	Convening fax	Statement(s) by the Head of the Delegation
	—	—	—
II. Multilateral Negotiations
Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime (MFTR)	10/10/1994	L/7533
~updated	27/06/1996	WT/ACC/JOR/2
	06/11/1996	WT/ACC/JOR/3 (+  addendum & corrigenda)
Initial cycle(s) of Questions and Replies, following the circulation of the MFTR	04/06/1997	WT/ACC/JOR/8
	04/06/1997	WT/ACC/JOR/9
	19/06/1998	WT/ACC/JOR/13
	17/03/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/18
Factual Summary of Points Raised	—	—
Additional Questions & Replies	30/09/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/22
	25/11/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/32
Elements of a Draft Report of the Working Party	23/04/1999	WT/ACC/SPEC/JOR/6
Draft Report of the Working Party	08/10/1999	WT/ACC/SPEC/JOR/7  (+  revision & corrigendum)
Agriculture (WT/ACC/22/Add.1), including Questions and Replies	03/07/1998	WT/ACC/SPEC/JOR/2  (+  revisions & corrigenda)
SPS Checklist (WT/ACC/22/Add.2)	—	—
TBT Checklist (WT/ACC/22/Add.2)	—	—
TRIPS Questionnaire (WT/ACC/22/Add.2)	—	—
Import Licensing Procedures Questionnaire (WT/ACC/22 + revisions)	—	—
Customs Valuation Checklist (WT/ACC/22 + revisions)	—	—
State-Trading Questionnaire (WT/ACC/22 + revisions)	—	—
Draft Subsidies Notification (WT/ACC/22/Add.2)	—	—
Comprehensive Legislative Action Plan (LAP)	15/09/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/21  (+  corrigendum)
	01/10/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/24
Rule-specific Action Plans	—	—
Legislation and implementing regulations	Click for details Hide details	Legislation notice		Notified legislation
	08/11/1996	WT/ACC/JOR/4		Customs Law No. 16 of 1983  Income Tax Law No. 57 of 1985, Law No. 4 of 1992 and Law No. 14 of 1995  Investment Promotion Law No. 16 of 1995 and Regulations  Law No. 15 of Standards and Metrology, effective 16 January 1995 (unofficial translation)  Law No. 9 Amending the law on the Control of the Insurance Business and Regulation No. 33 of the Year 1995 on Insurance Companies (unofficial translation)
	10/07/1997	WT/ACC/JOR/11		Banking Legislations in Jordan (1994)  Commodities' Marks Act No. 19 of 1953  Telecommuniations Law of the Year 1995  Patents and Designs Law and Rules (1953)  Trade Mark Law and Regulations in Hashemite Jordan (1 July 1952)
	25/05/1998	WT/ACC/JOR/12		Companies Law No. 22 of 1977  Draft Amended Copyright Law No. 22 of 1992  Banking Legislation in Jordan (1994)  Instructions No. 4 for the Year 1995 - Preparation of Jordanian Standards  Tenders Regulation No. 1 of 1994  Securities Law of 1997 (unofficial translation)  Telecommunications Law No. 13 of 1995 (unofficial translation)
	16/09/1998	WT/ACC/JOR/15		Agricultural Law No. 20/1973
	09/12/1998	WT/ACC/JOR/16		National Production Law No. 4 of 1998 (Safeguards Law)
	12/03/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/17		Law No. 20 on Customs (1998)  Law No. 7 on Unifying Other Taxes and Fees (1997)
	30/04/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/19		Law no.14 for 1992, Import and Export Law  Regulation no. 74, 1993, Import and Export Regulation  Law no.6, 1994, General Sales Tax Law  Regulation no.32,1993, Government Procurement Regulation  Regulation no.39, 1997, Non-Jordanian Investments Promotion Regulation  Jordanian Standard no.288: 1994 – Shelf Life of Foodstuffs  Jordanian Standard no.401: 1997 – Shelf Life for Infants and Children's Foodstuffs
	01/10/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/23		Draft Law No. (…) for the year 1999 A Law Amending The Trademarks Law  Draft Law No. (…) for the year 1999 Patent Law  Draft Law on Standards and Metrology  Draft Law No. (…) for the year 1999 - A Law Amending The Copyright Protection Law  Quality Mark Regulations  Quality Mark Institutions
	20/10/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/29		A Law Amending the Customs Law - Law No. (__) of the Year 1999  Draft Law Amending the Unification of Fees and Taxes Imposed on Imported and Re-Exported Goods Law for the Year 1999 (11 October 1999)  Draft Law Amending the General Sales Tax Law – Law No. (__) of the year 1999 (30 September 1999)  Draft Law on Standards and Metrology Law No. (__) of the Year 1999 (11 October 1999)  Draft Law on Agriculture (30 September 1999)  Draft Law on Food Control Law No. (__) of the Year 1999 (11 October 1999)  Selected Articles from Specific Laws Related to the Implementation of TRIPS: - Code of Civil Procedure - No. 24 of 1988 - High Court of Justice Law - No. 11 of 1989 - Criminal Procedure Law - No. 9 of 1961 - Evidence Law - No. 30 of 1952 - Criminal Law - No. 16 of 1960 - Civil Code - No. 43 of 1976
Consultation documents	Click for details Hide details	Consultation notice		Notified consultation document
	15/11/1996	WT/ACC/JOR/3/Add.1		Major Economic Indicators
	18/11/1996	WT/ACC/JOR/7		Information Packet of the Investment Promotion Corporation dated October 1996
	06/06/1997	WT/ACC/JOR/10		Check List of Documents
	10/06/1997	WT/ACC/JOR/8/Add.1		Customs Tariff of Jordan in diskette form
	01/07/1998	WT/ACC/JOR/14		An Introduction to Jordan's Agriculture Sector and Agricultural Policies
	09/07/1998	WT/ACC/JOR/10/Rev.1		Check List of Documents
	06/01/1999	WT/ACC/SPEC/JOR/4		Information on Policy Measures Affecting Trade in Services
	06/05/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/10/Rev.2		Check List of Documents
	26/05/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/20		Import Statistics for the major trade partners of Jordan
	04/10/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/25		Report on the Right to Trade
	04/10/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/26		Report on State Trading
	04/10/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/27		Report on Fees/Charges
	04/10/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/28		Report on Import/Export Licensing - Proposal
	14/10/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/10/Rev.3		Check List of Documents
	20/10/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/29		TBT Conformity Table (11 October 1999) SPS Conformity Table – Food (11 October 1999) SPS Conformity Table – Agriculture (11 October 1999) TRIPS Copyright Conformity Table (11 October 1999) TRIPS Trademarks Conformity Table (11 October 1999) TRIPS Geographical Indications Conformity Table (11 October 1999) TRIPS Industrial Designs and Models Conformity Table (11 October 1999) TRIPS Unfair Competition and Trade Secrets Conformity Table (11 October 1999) TRIPS Patents Conformity Table (11 October 1999) TRIPS Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits Conformity Table (11 October 1999)
	23/11/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/30		Communication from Jordan
	16/11/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/31		Schedule of Notification Obligations of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan under the WTO Agreements
	17/01/2000	WT/ACC/JOR/36		List of Goods subject to Mandatory Standards
III. Bilateral Market Access Negotiations
Goods Offer(s)	03/07/1998	WT/ACC/SPEC/JOR/1  (+  addendum)
Services Offer(s)	07/01/1999	WT/ACC/SPEC/JOR/5  (+  revision and corrigendum)
Register of Bilateral Market Access Agreements
Draft Goods Schedule	24/11/1999	WT/ACC/SPEC/JOR/9
Draft Services Schedule	23/11/1999	WT/ACC/SPEC/JOR/8
Goods and Services Technical Verification Meetings	—	—
IV. Summary of Final Meeting of the Working Party
—	—	—
V. Accession Package (“Terms of Accession”, de-restricted)
Ministerial Conference/General Council Decision on the Accession	17/12/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/34			Minutes of Meeting of the General Council held on 17 December 1999, see WT/GC/M/52
Protocol of Accession	17/12/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/35
Report of the Working Party	03/12/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/33; WT/MIN(99)/9   (+  corrigendum)
Goods Schedule (Schedule of Concessions and Commitments Annexed to the GATT 1994)	03/12/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/33/Add.1;  WT/MIN(99)/9/Add.1
Services Schedule (Schedule of Specific Commitments Annexed to the GATS)	03/12/1999	WT/ACC/JOR/33/Add.2;  WT/MIN(99)/9/Add.2
VI. Accessions Commitments Database (ACDB)
Specific Accession Commitments	http://acdb.wto.org/ click on “Report by Member”, select “Jordan” in drop down list then click on “View Report”
VII. Instrument of Acceptance
Notification of Acceptance and Entry Into Force of the Protocol of Accession	12/03/2000	WT/LET/333
VIII. Date of Membership
	11/04/2000	136th Member			News item
IX. Since 1995, this is the…
8th economy that joined the WTO pursuant to Article XII of the Marrakesh Agreement.

Note:
The de-restriction of documents is a key component of the transparency obligations of the Multilateral Trading System.  Paragraphs 1 and 2(e) of the Ministerial Council Decision WT/L/452 of 14 May 2002 provide that “documents relating to working parties on accession shall be restricted and shall be automatically de-restricted upon the adoption of the report of the working party” by the Ministerial Conference/General Council.  The time of completion of the de-restriction process depends on the amount and complexities of the documents involved.  Prior to 2002, the de-restriction of accession-related documents was governed by a different set of rules (i.e. General Council Decision WT/L/160/Rev.1 of 26 July 1996), which only affect documents circulated prior to 2002.