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WT/COMTD/RTA/10/2

8 2018

(18-7004) Page: 1/3

Committee on Trade and Development Original: English/Spanish Dedicated Session on Regional Trade Agreements

PARTIAL SCOPE AGREEMENT BETWEEN PANAMA AND THE DOMINICAN (GOODS)

QUESTIONS AND REPLIES

The following communication, received on 2 November 2018, is being circulated at the request of the Delegations of Panama and the .

The document reproduces the questions addressed to the Parties and the replies submitted.

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Question from the Delegation of the European Union

Page 21, Paragraph 4.12: "The Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments (APRPI) between the Dominican Republic and Panama was signed in on 6 February 2003. The exchange of letters for the entry into force took place on 15 2003 and 3 August 2006. The APRPI entered into force on 17 September 2006. To date, there are no other relevant bilateral agreements."

• Regarding the last sentence "To date, there are no other relevant bilateral agreements". Does this refer to relevant bilateral investment agreements (that each Party has concluded with third parties)?

Reply: In this case, the last sentence refers to bilateral agreements between Panama and the Dominican Republic. It refers to the fact that no other bilateral agreement has been concluded between these trading partners, and not to bilateral agreements with third parties.

Questions from the Delegation of the

3. Provisions on Trade in Goods

Question 1

3.1.1 General Provisions

Page 7, Paragraph 3.3: The Panama-Dominican Republic Agreement "foresees that quantitative measures, generally of a transitory nature, may be taken by a Party, under certain conditions and when facing certain difficulties in terms of competition from products imported by the other Party".

• Over the life the Agreement, have any quantitative restrictions been imposed by either Party?

Reply: To date, this provision has not been applied.

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Question 2

3.1.2 Liberalization of trade and tariff lines

Page 7, Paragraph 3.5: "The Agreement and the Regulation provide for the modification of the List, including through the addition of new products, through an amendment procedure that requires the adoption of such changes by the Commission."

• The Free Trade Agreement between Panama and the Dominican Republic entered into force on 8 June 1987 and fully implemented on 2 November 2003. Have the Parties undertaken any steps to liberalize further trade in goods beyond the commitments undertaken over 30 years ago?

Reply: In this regard, it is important to point out that the List of Goods, the Annex on rules of origin, and the corresponding Regulation entered into force in 2003. Recently, steps have been taken to initiate a review of the List of Goods, with a view to increasing access for both Parties.

4. General Provisions of the Agreement

Page 22, Table 4.1 lists multiple FTAs that the Parties have not notified as required under WTO rules.

Question 3

Can Panama please explain why its accession to the LAIA Agreement has not been notified to WTO Members? Can Panama please provide an update on when it intends to notify the preferences it is extending to other LAIA Members under this agreement?

Reply: The Republic of Panama, in compliance with the transparency commitments undertaken in the framework of the Trade Organization, has discussed this notification within the context of LAIA. However, to date, it has not been determined whether the annual reports under the Enabling Clause comply with the commitments undertaken.

Question 4

Similarly, Panama appears to be a party to two additional preferential agreements as part of its participation in the LAIA regional grouping, AAP.CE N.71 and AAP.A25TM N.29. Can Panama provide an update on when it may be submitting its required notifications for these agreements?

Reply: Indeed, we signed the Economic Complementarity Agreement with the Republic of and the Partial Scope Agreement with within the framework of the Treaty of Montevideo. However, as stated in our reply above, it has not been determined whether the annual reports are in conformity with the commitments undertaken. Therefore, once we have resolved this situation, we will make the notification in question.

Question 5

The table indicates that the Colombia-Panama Agreement (AAP.A.25TM N29) is part of the LAIA regional network, with an entry into force date of 1 January 1995. However, the table indicates that Panama did not accede to the LAIA agreement until 3 May 2012.

Reply: Indeed, the Republic of Panama joined LAIA on 3 May 2012 after the bilateral negotiations with the Republic of Colombia had taken place in 1995.

Question 6

Can Panama please explain the relationship between the Colombia-Panama agreement and the LAIA agreement?

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Reply: Within the LAIA framework, these agreements differ in terms of access for goods and their respective preferential treatment. In the case of the Partial Scope Agreement between Panama and Colombia, the percentage is higher than under the LAIA Regional Preference Agreement, as it is determined on the basis of country status according to the classification, in which the rate is applied equally to these countries.

Question 7

Can Panama provide an update on the status of the required notification for the Panama-Israel agreement and the Panama- agreement?

Reply: For both of these agreements, we are in contact with the Parties and are reviewing the procedure to be followed in order to make the relevant notification.

Question 8

The table indicates that the Dominican Republic-CARICOM agreement entered into force on 5 February 2002. Can the Dominican Republic provide an update on the notification for this agreement?

Reply: Transparency provisions of the WTO rules on regional trade agreements require the notification of such agreements to the WTO. In keeping with those provisions, during the fifth Joint Council Meeting CARICOM and DR agreed to have the FTA notified to the WTO under the Enabling Clause.

We are currently undertaking discussions to coordinate the process to duly notify it with the intervention of the CARICOM Coordinator in Geneva and the mission of the Dominican Republic in Geneva.

Question 9

4.8 Government Procurement

Page 23, Paragraph 4.15: The Secretariat's report states that there are no provisions on government procurement in the Agreement. Have the parties established any bilateral procurement practices that provide preferential or reciprocal access?

Reply: To date, this possibility has not been examined and no such access has been granted.

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