WORLD TRADE RESTRICTED WT/ACC/TJK/3 21 February 2003 ORGANIZATION (03-1106) Working Party on the Original: English Accession of the Republic of Tajikistan ACCESSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF TAJIKISTAN Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime In a communication circulated in document WT/ACC/TJK/1 on 29 May 2001, the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Tajikistan applied for accession under Article XII of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO). The General Council established a Working Party (WT/ACC/TJK/2) on 26 July 2001 with the following terms of reference: "To examine the application of the Government of Tajikistan to accede to the WTO Agreement 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 Council of Ministers of the Republic of Tajikistan. WTO Members wishing to submit questions on the Memorandum are invited to do so by 24 March 2003 for transmission to the Republic of Tajikistan's authorities. _______________ WT/ACC/TJK/3 Page i TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................1 II. ECONOMY, ECONOMIC POLICIES AND FOREIGN TRADE ......................................1 1. Economy ....................................................................................................................................1 (a) General description...................................................................................................................1 (b) Current economic situation......................................................................................................3 2. Economic policies....................................................................................................................11 (a) Main directions of the ongoing economic policies................................................................11 (b) Monetary and fiscal policies...................................................................................................14 (c) Foreign exchange and payments system ...............................................................................19 (d) Foreign and domestic investment policies ............................................................................21 (e) Competition policies ...............................................................................................................22 3. Foreign trade in goods and services ......................................................................................23 4. Domestic trade in services......................................................................................................26 5. Information on financial movements related to nationals working abroad ......................35 6. Information on growth in trade in goods and services over recent years and forecasts for years to come.....................................................................................................35 III. FRAMEWORK FOR MAKING AND ENFORCING POLICIES AFFECTING FOREIGN TRADE IN GOODS AND TRADE IN SERVICES .........................................38 1. Powers of executive, legislative and judicial branches of government...............................38 2. Government entities responsible for making and implementing policies affecting foreign trade ............................................................................................................................41 3. Division of authority between central and sub-central governments.................................41 4. Any legislative programmes or plans to change the regulatory regime.............................42 5. Laws and Legal Acts...............................................................................................................43 6. Description of judicial, arbitral or administrative tribunals or procedures .....................43 IV. POLICIES AFFECTING TRADE IN GOODS ...................................................................44 1. Import Regulation...................................................................................................................44 (a) Registration requirements for engaging in importing.........................................................44 (b) Characteristics of national tariff ...........................................................................................45 (c) Tariff quotas, tariff exemptions.............................................................................................48 (d) Other duties and charges........................................................................................................48 (e) Quantitative import restrictions............................................................................................49 (f) Import licensing procedures ..................................................................................................50 (g) Other border measures ..........................................................................................................50 (h) Customs valuation...................................................................................................................53 WT/ACC/TJK/3 Page ii (i) Other customs formalities ......................................................................................................53 (j) Pre-shipment inspection.........................................................................................................54 (k) Application of internal taxes on imports ..............................................................................54 (l) Rules of origin .........................................................................................................................54 (m) Anti-dumping regime .............................................................................................................55 (n) Countervailing duty regime ...................................................................................................56 (o) Safeguard regime ....................................................................................................................56 2. Export Regulation...................................................................................................................56 (a) Registration requirements for engaging in exporting .........................................................56 (b) Customs tariff nomenclature, types of duties, duty rates, weighted averages of rates..........................................................................................................................................56 (c) Quantitative export restrictions.............................................................................................56 (d) Export licensing procedures...................................................................................................57 (e) Other measures .......................................................................................................................57 (f) Export financing, subsidy and promotion policies...............................................................57 (g) Export performance requirements........................................................................................57 (h) Import duty drawback schemes ............................................................................................57 3. Internal policies affecting foreign trade in goods.................................................................58 (a) Industrial policy, including subsidy policies.........................................................................58 (b) Technical regulations and standards ....................................................................................59 (c) Sanitary and phytosanitary measures...................................................................................60 (d) Trade-related investment measures ......................................................................................61 (e) State-trading practices ...........................................................................................................61 (f) Free zones ................................................................................................................................62 (g) Free economic zones ...............................................................................................................63 (h) Trade-related environmental policies ...................................................................................63 (i) Mixing regulations .................................................................................................................63 (j) Government-mandated counter-trade and barter...............................................................63 (k) Trade agreements leading to country-specific quotas allocation........................................64 (l) Government procurement practices .....................................................................................64 (m) Regulation of trade in transit.................................................................................................65 4. Policies affecting foreign trade in agricultural products.....................................................66 (a) Imports.....................................................................................................................................67