. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SCM/Q3/PAN/6
6 March 2002
(02-1126)
Committee on Subsidies
and Countervailing MeasuresOriginal:  English
SUBSIDIES
Requests Pursuant to Article 27.4 of the Agreement
on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures
Questions Posed by the United States
The following communication, dated 4 March 2002, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of the United States.
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The following questions are submitted in respect to the request for extension of the transition
period for export subsidies under Article 27.4 of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing
Measures (ASCM).  These questions are preliminary in nature and are submitted without prejudice to
our final position.  We reserve the right to ask further questions.
PANAMA - G/SCM/N/74/PAN/1+2
Exemptions Granted to Enterprises Located in the Export Processing Zones
1. Please indicate whether the legal instruments establishing the EPZs also establish a
termination date.  If so, when are the EPZs scheduled to lapse?
2. Please explain what criteria are used by the Technical Secretariat of the National Commission
on Export Processing Zones to evaluate a formal application for a license to set-up operations in an
export processing zone.
3. Are all exporters in Panama eligible for rebates of customs duties, import taxes and VAT
upon exportation of finished products?
Exemptions Granted to Enterprises Included in the Official Industry Register4. Apart from the export requirement, are there any other eligibility requirements for companies
to be included in the official industry register?
5. By “special funding programmes on a preferen tial basis”, do you mean preferential loan
programmes?  If so, please indicate at what interest rates funding is provided under this programme.
6. Please indicate whether the legal instruments establishing the Official Industry Register also
establish a termination date.G/SCM/Q3/PAN/6
Page 2
7. Please provide the value of tax exemptions fo r enterprises included in the OIR for the years
1998 and 2000.
Granting of Tax Credit Certificates
8. Please explain how non-traditional goods are defined.
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