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WORLD TRADE RESTRICTED WT/ACC/LBN/3 13 June 2001 ORGANIZATION (01-2931) Working Party on the Original: English Accession of the Lebanese Republic ACCESSION OF THE LEBANESE REPUBLIC Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime In a communication received on 30 January 1999, the Government of the Lebanese Republic (hereinafter referred to as "Lebanon") applied for accession under Article XII of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO). The General Council established a Working Party (WT/ACC/LBN/2) on 14 April 1999 with the following terms of reference: "To examine the application of the Lebanese Republic to accede to the World Trade Organization under Article XII and to submit to the General Council recommendations which may include a draft Protocol of Accession." In accordance with the established procedures (WT/ACC/1), the Secretariat is circulating the attached Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime received from the Government of the Lebanese Republic. WTO Members wishing to submit questions on the Memorandum are invited to do so by 16 July 2001 for transmission to the Lebanese authorities. _______________ WT/ACC/LBN/3 Page i CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................1 II. ECONOMY, ECONOMIC POLICIES AND FOREIGN TRADE ......................................2 1. Economy ....................................................................................................................................2 (a) General description...................................................................................................................2 (b) Current economic situation......................................................................................................3 2. Economic Policies......................................................................................................................4 (a) Main directions .........................................................................................................................4 (b) Monetary and fiscal policies.....................................................................................................9 (c) Foreign exchange and payments system, relations with International Monetary Fund, application of foreign exchange controls, if any........................................................17 (d) Foreign and domestic investment policies ............................................................................18 (e) Competition policies ...............................................................................................................19 3. Foreign trade in goods and services ......................................................................................19 5. Information on financial movements related to nationals working abroad, remittances, etc........................................................................................................................20 6. Information on growth in trade in goods and services over recent years and forecasts for year to come.......................................................................................................20 III. FRAMEWORK FOR MAKING AND ENFORCING POLICIES AFFECTING FOREIGN TRADE IN GOODS AND TRADE IN SERVICES .........................................20 1. Powers of executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government..............................20 2. Government entities responsible for making and implementing policies affecting foreign trade ............................................................................................................................26 3. Division of authority between central and sub-central governments.................................27 4. Any legislative programmes or plans to change the regulatory regime.............................30 5. Laws and Legal Acts...............................................................................................................30 6. Description of judicial, arbitral or administrative tribunals or procedures, if any..........30 IV. POLICIES AFFECTING TRADE IN GOODS ...................................................................31 1. Import Regulation...................................................................................................................31 (a) Registration requirements for engaging in importing.........................................................31 (b) Characteristics of national tariff (the most recent edition of which should be supplied), customs tariff nomenclature (HS), types of duties, general description of the customs tariff structure, weighted average level of duties on main customs tariff groupings; application of m.f.n. tariff rates, tariff preferences ...............................33 (c) Tariff quotas, tariff exemptions.............................................................................................34 (d) Other duties and charges, specifying any charges for services rendered ..........................35 (e) Quantitative import restrictions, including prohibitions, quotas and licensing systems .....................................................................................................................................35 (f) Import licensing procedures (Annex 3 refers)......................................................................36 WT/ACC/LBN/3 Page ii (g) Other border measures, e.g. any other schemes that have border effects similar to those of the measures listed under (e) above....................................................................36 (h) Customs valuation (WTO Customs Valuation Agreement (Annex 4 refers), the Brussels Definition of Value, or any other system) whether used only for purposes of levying ad valorem rates of duty or for other purposes..................................38 (i) Other customs formalities ......................................................................................................38 (j) Pre-shipment inspection.........................................................................................................38 (k) Application of internal taxes on imports ..............................................................................38 (l) Rules of origin .........................................................................................................................42 (m) Anti-dumping regime .............................................................................................................44 (n) Countervailing duty regime ...................................................................................................44 (o) Safeguard regime ....................................................................................................................44 2. Export Regulation...................................................................................................................44 (a) Registration requirements for engaging in exporting and the right to export..................44 (b) Customs tariff nomenclature, types of duties, duty rates, weighted averages of rates..........................................................................................................................................45 (c) Quantitative export restrictions, including prohibitions, quotas and licensing systems .....................................................................................................................................45 (d) Export licensing procedures...................................................................................................46 (e) Other measures, e.g. minimum export prices, voluntary export restrictions, orderly marketing arrangements ..........................................................................................46 (f) Export financing, subsidy and promotion policies...............................................................46 (g) Export performance requirements........................................................................................46 (h) Import duty drawback schemes ............................................................................................46 3. Internal policies affecting foreign trade in goods.................................................................47 (a) Industrial policy, including subsidy policies.........................................................................47 (b) Technical regulations and standards, including measures taken at the border with respect to imports (Annex 5 refers) ..............................................................................48 (c) Sanitary and phytosanitary measures, including measures taken with respect to imports .....................................................................................................................................49 (d) Trade-related investment measures ......................................................................................50 (e) State-trading practices (Annex 6 refers)...............................................................................50 (f) Free zones ................................................................................................................................50 (g) Free economic zones ...............................................................................................................52 (h) Trade-related environmental policies ...................................................................................54