. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/ACC/ALB/30
30 March 1999
(99-1294)
Working Party on the
Accession of AlbaniaOriginal:  English
ACCESSION OF ALBANIA
Memorandum on Conformity with Trade-Related Investment Measures
The Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Trade of the Republic of Albania has submitted
the following Memorandum on Conf ormity with Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs), with
the request that it be circulated to members of the Working Party.
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Memorandum on Compliance with Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs)
The Government of the Republic of Albania recognises that WTO rules are based on national
treatment and against the use of quantitative restrictions.  The Albanian Investment Law is compatible
with the national treatment requirements of the WTO.  In particular,
- There are no provisions in the Law stating local content requirements.  That is, it is not
imposed upon foreign firms to purchase or use products of Albanian origin or from anyAlbanian source.
- There are no provisions in the Law stating trade-balancing requirements.  It is not imposed
upon foreign enterprises that its purchases or use of imported products be limited to an
amount related to the volume or value of the local products it exports.  There are no exportperformance requirements of any sort.
Albanian law does not violate the rules against the use of quantitative restrictions as they
relate to foreign investment in Albania.
- There are no provisions that restrict imports to an amount related to the quantity or value of
the product exported.  There is no trade-balancing requirement in the Law, neither in its
intention nor in practice.
- There are no restrictions on the access to foreign exchange to an amount of foreign exchange
attributable to a foreign enterprise.  That is, there are no provisions in the Law that restrict
exchange such that imports are, in effect, restricted.  Foreign exchange controls do not exist
as a means to restrict or limit imports.
- There are no provisions which specify exports in terms of the volume or value of local
production.  There are no domestic sales performance requirements of any sort.  Hence,WT/ACC/ALB/30
Page 2
Albania does not have domestic sales requirements which could result in a direct or an
indirect means of restricting exports.
The list of relevant Albanian laws is:
"On Foreign Investment", No. 7764, dated 11 February 1993.
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