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Ministers,
Noting that Articles XI and XIV of the Agreement Establishing
the World Trade Organization (hereinafter referred to as “WTO
Agreement”) provide that only contracting parties to the GATT 1947
as of the entry into force of the WTO Agreement for which schedules of
concessions and commitments are annexed to GATT 1994 and for which
schedules of specific commitments are annexed to the General Agreement
on Trade in Services (hereinafter referred to as “GATS”) may
accept the WTO Agreement;
Noting further that paragraph 5 of the Final Act Embodying the
Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations
(hereinafter referred to as “Final Act” and “Uruguay Round”
respectively) provides that the schedules of participants which are
not contracting parties to GATT 1947 as of the date of the Final Act
are not definitive and shall be subsequently completed for the purpose
of their accession to GATT 1947 and their acceptance of the WTO
Agreement;
Having regard to paragraph 1 of the Decision on Measures in
Favour of Least-Developed Countries which provides that the
least-developed countries shall be given an additional time of one
year from 15 April 1994 to submit their schedules as required in
Article XI of the WTO Agreement;
Recognizing that certain participants in the Uruguay Round
which had applied GATT 1947 on a de facto basis and became contracting
parties under Article XXVI:5(c) of the GATT 1947 were not in a
position to submit schedules to GATT 1994 and the GATS;
Recognizing further that some States or separate customs
territories which were not participants in the Uruguay Round may
become contracting parties to GATT 1947 before the entry into force of
the WTO Agreement and that States or customs territories should be
given the opportunity to negotiate schedules to GATT 1994 and the GATS
so as to enable them to accept the WTO Agreement;
Taking into account that some States or separate customs
territories which cannot complete the process of accession to GATT
1947 before the entry into force of the WTO Agreement or which do not
intend to become contracting parties to GATT 1947 may wish to initiate
the process of their accession to the WTO before the entry into force
of the WTO Agreement;
Recognizing that the WTO Agreement does not distinguish
in any way between WTO Members which accepted that Agreement in
accordance with its Articles XI and XIV and WTO Members which acceded
to it in accordance with its Article XII and wishing to ensure that
the procedures for accession of the States and separate customs
territories which have not become contracting parties to the GATT 1947
as of the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement are such as to
avoid any unnecessary disadvantage or delay for these States and
separate customs territories;
Decide
that:
1.
(a) Any Signatory of
the Final Act
—
to which paragraph 5 of the Final Act applies, or
—
to which paragraph 1 of the Decision on Measures in Favour of
Least-Developed Countries applies, or
—
which became a contracting party under Article XXVI:5(c) of the GATT 1947
before 15 April 1994 and was not in a position to establish a schedule
to GATT 1994 and the GATS for inclusion in the Final Act, and
any State or separate customs territory
—
which becomes a contracting party to the GATT 1947 between 15 April 1994
and the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement
may
submit to the Preparatory Committee for its examination and approval
a schedule of concessions and commitments to GATT 1994 and a schedule
of specific commitments to the GATS.
(b) The WTO Agreement
shall be open for acceptance in accordance with Article XIV of that
Agreement by contracting parties to GATT 1947 the schedules of which
have been so submitted and approved before the entry into force of the
WTO Agreement.
(c) The provisions of subparagraphs (a) and (b) of this paragraph
shall be without prejudice to the right of the least-developed
countries to submit their schedules within one year from 15 April
1994.
2.
(a) Any State or separate customs territory may request the Preparatory
Committee to propose for approval by the Ministerial Conference
of the WTO the terms of its accession to the WTO Agreement in
accordance with Article XII of that Agreement. If such a request
is made by a State or separate customs territory which is in the
process of acceding to GATT 1947, the Preparatory Committee shall, to
the extent practicable, examine the request jointly with the Working
Party established by the CONTRACTING PARTIES to GATT 1947 to examine
the accession of that State or separate customs territory.
(b)
The Preparatory Committee shall submit to the
Ministerial Conference a report on its examination of the request.
The report may include a protocol of accession, including a schedule
of concessions and commitments to GATT 1994 and a schedule of
specific commitments for the GATS, for approval by the Ministerial
Conference. The report of the Preparatory Committee shall be taken
into account by the Ministerial Conference in its consideration of any
application by the State or separate customs territory concerned to
accede to the WTO Agreement.
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