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Members,
Having regard to the Multilateral Trade Negotiations;
Desiring to further the objectives of GATT 1994;
Taking into account the particular trade, development and
financial needs of developing country Members;
Recognizing the usefulness of automatic import licensing for
certain purposes and that such licensing should not be used to
restrict trade;
Recognizing that import licensing may be employed to administer
measures such as those adopted pursuant to the relevant provisions of
GATT 1994;
Recognizing the provisions of GATT 1994 as they apply to
import licensing procedures;
Desiring to ensure that import licensing procedures are not
utilized in a manner contrary to the principles and obligations
of GATT 1994;
Recognizing that the flow of international trade could be impeded
by the inappropriate use of import licensing procedures;
Convinced that import licensing, particularly non-automatic import
licensing, should be implemented in a transparent and predictable
manner;
Recognizing that non-automatic licensing procedures should be no
more administratively burdensome than absolutely necessary to
administer the relevant measure;
Desiring to simplify, and bring transparency to, the
administrative procedures and practices used in international trade,
and to ensure the fair and equitable application and administration of
such procedures and practices;
Desiring to provide for a consultative mechanism and the speedy,
effective and equitable resolution of disputes arising under this
Agreement;
Hereby agree as follows:
Article
1: General Provisions back to top
1. For the purpose of this Agreement, import licensing is defined as
administrative procedures (1)
used for the
operation of import licensing regimes requiring the submission of an
application or other documentation (other than that required for
customs purposes) to the relevant administrative body as a prior
condition for importation into the customs territory of the importing
Member.
2. Members shall ensure that the administrative procedures used to
implement import licensing regimes are in conformity with the relevant
provisions of GATT 1994 including its annexes and protocols, as
interpreted by this Agreement, with a view to preventing trade
distortions that may arise from an inappropriate operation of those
procedures, taking into account the economic development purposes and
financial and trade needs of developing country Members.(2)
3. The rules for import licensing procedures shall be neutral in
application and administered in a fair and equitable manner.
4. (a) The rules and all information concerning procedures for the submission
of applications, including the eligibility of persons, firms and
institutions to make such applications, the administrative body(ies)
to be approached, and the lists of products subject to the licensing
requirement shall be published, in the sources notified to the
Committee on Import Licensing provided for in Article 4 (referred
to in this Agreement as “the Committee”), in such a manner as to
enable governments(3) and traders to become acquainted
with them. Such publication shall take place, whenever
practicable, 21 days prior to the effective date of the
requirement but in all events not later than such effective date.
Any exception, derogations or changes in or from the rules concerning
licensing procedures or the list of products subject to import
licensing shall also be published in the same manner and within the
same time periods as specified above. Copies of these
publications shall also be made available to the Secretariat.
(b) Members which wish to
make comments in writing shall be provided the opportunity to discuss
these comments upon request. The concerned Member shall give due
consideration to these comments and results of discussion.
5. Application forms and, where applicable, renewal forms shall be as
simple as possible. Such documents and information as are
considered strictly necessary for the proper functioning of the
licensing regime may be required on application.
6. Application procedures and, where applicable, renewal procedures shall
be as simple as possible. Applicants shall be allowed a
reasonable period for the submission of licence applications.
Where there is a closing date, this period should be at least 21 days
with provision for extension in circumstances where insufficient
applications have been received within this period. Applicants
shall have to approach only one administrative body in connection with
an application. Where it is strictly indispensable to approach
more than one administrative body, applicants shall not need to
approach more than three administrative bodies.
7. No application shall be refused for minor documentation errors which
do not alter basic data contained therein. No penalty greater
than necessary to serve merely as a warning shall be imposed in
respect of any omission or mistake in documentation or procedures
which is obviously made without fraudulent intent or gross negligence.
8. Licensed imports shall not be refused for minor variations in value,
quantity or weight from the amount designated on the licence due to
differences occurring during shipment, differences incidental to bulk
loading and other minor differences consistent with normal commercial
practice.
9. The foreign exchange necessary to pay for licensed imports shall be
made available to licence holders on the same basis as to importers of
goods not requiring import licences.
10. With regard to security exceptions, the provisions of Article XXI
of GATT 1994 apply.
11. The provisions of this Agreement shall not require any Member to
disclose confidential information which would impede law enforcement
or otherwise be contrary to the public interest or would prejudice the
legitimate commercial interests of particular enterprises, public or
private.
Article
2: Automatic Import Licensing(4)
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1. Automatic import licensing is defined as import licensing where
approval of the application is granted in all cases, and which is in
accordance with the requirements of paragraph 2(a).
2. The following provisions(5), in addition to those in
paragraphs 1 through 11 of Article 1 and paragraph 1 of
this Article, shall apply to automatic import licensing
procedures:
(a) automatic licensing procedures shall not be administered in such a
manner as to have restricting effects on imports subject to automatic
licensing. Automatic licensing procedures shall be deemed to
have trade-restricting effects unless, inter alia:
(i) any person, firm or institution which fulfils the legal requirements
of the importing Member for engaging in import operations involving
products subject to automatic licensing is equally eligible to apply
for and to obtain import licences;
(ii) applications for licences may be submitted on any working day prior to
the customs clearance of the goods;
(iii) applications for licences when submitted in appropriate and complete
form are approved immediately on receipt, to the extent
administratively feasible, but within a maximum of 10 working
days;
(b) Members recognize that automatic import licensing may be necessary
whenever other appropriate procedures are not available.
Automatic import licensing may be maintained as long as the
circumstances which gave rise to its introduction prevail and as long
as its underlying administrative purposes cannot be achieved in a more
appropriate way.
Article
3: Non-Automatic Import Licensing back to top
1. The following provisions, in addition to those in paragraphs 1
through 11 of Article 1, shall apply to non-automatic import licensing
procedures. Non-automatic import licensing procedures are
defined as import licensing not falling within the definition
contained in paragraph 1 of Article 2.
2. Non-automatic licensing shall not have trade-restrictive or —distortive
effects on imports additional to those caused by the imposition of the
restriction. Non-automatic licensing procedures shall correspond
in scope and duration to the measure they are used to implement, and
shall be no more administratively burdensome than absolutely necessary
to administer the measure.
3. In the case of licensing requirements for purposes other than the
implementation of quantitative restrictions, Members shall publish
sufficient information for other Members and traders to know the basis
for granting and/or allocating licences.
4. Where a Member provides the possibility for persons, firms or
institutions to request exceptions or derogations from a licensing
requirement, it shall include this fact in the information published
under paragraph 4 of Article 1 as well as information on how
to make such a request and, to the extent possible, an indication of
the circumstances under which requests would be considered.
5. (a) Members shall provide,
upon the request of any Member having an interest in the trade in the
product concerned, all relevant information concerning:
(i) the administration of the restrictions;
(ii) the import licences granted over a recent period;
(iii) the distribution of such licences among supplying countries;
(iv) where practicable, import statistics (i.e. value and/or volume) with
respect to the products subject to import licensing. Developing
country Members would not be expected to take additional
administrative or financial burdens on this account;
(b) Members administering quotas by means of licensing shall publish the
overall amount of quotas to be applied by quantity and/or value, the
opening and closing dates of quotas, and any change thereof, within
the time periods specified in paragraph 4 of Article 1 and
in such a manner as to enable governments and traders to become
acquainted with them;
(c) in the case of quotas allocated among supplying countries, the Member
applying the restrictions shall promptly inform all other Members
having an interest in supplying the product concerned of the shares in
the quota currently allocated, by quantity or value, to the various
supplying countries and shall publish this information within the time
periods specified in paragraph 4 of Article 1 and in such a
manner as to enable governments and traders to become acquainted with
them;
(d) where situations arise which make it necessary to provide for an early
opening date of quotas, the information referred to in paragraph 4
of Article 1 should be published within the time-periods
specified in paragraph 4 of Article 1 and in such a manner
as to enable governments and traders to become acquainted with them;
(e) any person, firm or institution which fulfils the legal and
administrative requirements of the importing Member shall be equally
eligible to apply and to be considered for a licence. If the
licence application is not approved, the applicant shall, on request,
be given the reason therefor and shall have a right of appeal or
review in accordance with the domestic legislation or procedures of
the importing Member;
(f) the period for processing applications shall, except when not possible
for reasons outside the control of the Member, not be longer than 30
days if applications are considered as and when received, i.e. on a
first-come first-served basis, and no longer than 60 days if all
applications are considered simultaneously. In the latter case,
the period for processing applications shall be considered to begin on
the day following the closing date of the announced application
period;
(g) the period of licence validity shall be of reasonable duration and not
be so short as to preclude imports. The period of licence
validity shall not preclude imports from distant sources, except in
special cases where imports are necessary to meet unforeseen
short-term requirements;
(h) when administering quotas, Members shall not prevent importation from
being effected in accordance with the issued licences, and shall not
discourage the full utilization of quotas;
(i) when issuing licences, Members shall take into account the
desirability of issuing licences for products in economic quantities;
(j) in allocating licences, the Member should consider the import
performance of the applicant. In this regard, consideration
should be given as to whether licences issued to applicants in the
past have been fully utilized during a recent representative period.
In cases where licences have not been fully utilized, the Member shall
examine the reasons for this and take these reasons into consideration
when allocating new licences. Consideration shall also be given
to ensuring a reasonable distribution of licences to new importers,
taking into account the desirability of issuing licences for products
in economic quantities. In this regard, special consideration
should be given to those importers importing products originating in
developing country Members and, in particular, the least-developed
country Members;
(k) in the case of quotas administered through licences which are not
allocated among supplying countries, licence holders(6) shall
be free to choose the sources of imports. In the case of quotas
allocated among supplying countries, the licence shall clearly
stipulate the country or countries;
(l) in applying paragraph 8 of Article 1, compensating
adjustments may be made in future licence allocations where imports
exceeded a previous licence level.
Article
4: Institutions back to top
There is hereby established a Committee on Import Licensing composed
of representatives from each of the Members. The Committee shall
elect its own Chairman and Vice-Chairman and shall meet as necessary
for the purpose of affording Members the opportunity of consulting on
any matters relating to the operation of this Agreement or the
furtherance of its objectives.
Article 5:
Notification back to top
1. Members which institute licensing procedures or changes in
these procedures shall notify the Committee of such within 60 days of
publication.
2. Notifications of the institution of import licensing procedures
shall include the following information:
(a) list of products subject to licensing procedures;
(b) contact point for information on eligibility;
(c) administrative body(ies) for submission of applications;
(d) date and name of publication where licensing procedures are
published;
(e) indication of whether the licensing procedure is automatic or
non-automatic according to definitions contained in Articles 2
and 3;
(f) in the case of automatic import licensing procedures, their
administrative purpose;
(g) in the case of non-automatic import licensing procedures,
indication of the measure being implemented through the licensing
procedure; and
(h) expected duration of the licensing procedure if this can be
estimated with some probability, and if not, reason why this
information cannot be provided.
3. Notifications of changes in import licensing procedures shall
indicate the elements mentioned above, if changes in such occur.
4. Members shall notify the Committee of the publication(s) in
which the information required in paragraph 4 of Article 1
will be published.
5. Any interested Member which considers that another Member has
not notified the institution of a licensing procedure or changes
therein in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs 1 through 3
may bring the matter to the attention of such other Member. If notification is not made promptly thereafter, such Member
may itself notify the licensing procedure or changes therein,
including all relevant and available information.
Article 6:
Consultation and Dispute
Settlement
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Consultations
and the settlement of disputes with respect to any matter affecting
the operation of this Agreement shall be subject to the provisions of
Articles XXII and XXIII of GATT 1994, as elaborated and
applied by the Dispute Settlement Understanding.
1. The Committee shall review as necessary, but at least once
every two years, the implementation and operation of this Agreement,
taking into account the objectives thereof, and the rights and
obligations contained therein.
2. As a basis for the Committee review, the Secretariat shall
prepare a factual report based on information provided under Article
5, responses to the annual questionnaire on import licensing
procedures(7)
and other relevant reliable information which is available to it.
This report shall provide a synopsis of the aforementioned
information, in particular indicating any changes or developments
during the period under review, and including any other information as
agreed by the Committee.
3. Members undertake to complete the annual questionnaire on
import licensing procedures promptly and in full.
4. The Committee shall inform the Council for Trade in Goods of
developments during the period covered by such reviews.
Article 8:
Final Provisions
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Reservations
1. Reservations may not be entered in respect of any of the
provisions of this Agreement without the consent of the other Members.
Domestic
Legislation
2. (a) Each Member shall ensure, not later than the date of entry into
force of the WTO Agreement for it, the conformity of its laws,
regulations and administrative procedures with the provisions of this
Agreement.
(b) Each Member shall
inform the Committee of any changes in its laws and regulations
relevant to this Agreement and in the administration of such laws and
regulations.
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