WORLD TRADE WT/BOP/N/19
29April 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-1862)
Original: English Committee onBalance-of-Payments Restrictions
NOTIFICATION UNDER PARAGRAPH 9OFTHE UNDERSTANDING
ONTHE BALANCE-OF-PAYMENTS PROVISIONS OFTHE
GENERAL AGREEMENT ONTARIFFS AND TRADE 1994
Thefollowing communication, dated 23April, hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent Mission
oftheCzech Republic.
____________________
Thedelegation oftheCzech Republic, acting inconformity withthenotification requirement
ofArticle XII:4 oftheGeneral Agreement onTariffs andTrade andpursuant totherelevant provisions
oftheUnderstanding onBalance-of-Payments Provisions oftheGATT 1994, hereby wishes tonotify
totheWTO Members that,byaDecree oftheMinistry ofIndustry andTrade thetextofwhich is
attached hereto, theCzech Republic introduced atemporary import deposit scheme.
According tothescheme, imports ofmostconsumer goods andfoodstuffs are,witheffect from
21April 1997, subject toasix-month non-interest bearing import deposit equivalent to20percent
oftheinvoiced priceoftheproducts tobeimported. Thelodging ofthedeposit isobligatory forreleasing
ofgoods inquestion intofreecirculation intheCzech Republic. Itapplies onanon-discriminatory
basistoimports, irrespective oftheirorigin. Thedeposit scheme covers products which, overall, account
forsome 30percentoftotalimports oftheCzech Republic.
Theimport deposit scheme isanintegral partofawide-ranging setofmonetary, fiscal and
income policy measures adopted recently bytheGovernment. Theaimofthispackage istoreduce
thedeficit inthecurrent account, improve public sector finance, revive thegrowth oftheCzech economy
andtointroducelegislativechangestoimproveitslegalframework.Besidestheseobjectives,thepackage
isactively addressing other short-term andlonger-term systemic andinstitutional issues ofvital
importance forthecompletion ofthetransformation process intheCzech Republic, inparticular in
theareaofprivatization, increased transparency ofcapital markets andimproved entrepreneurial
conditions.
Thepurpose ofthedeposit scheme istoobtain animmediate effect onthecurrent account deficit,
which surged tosome 8,6percentofGDP, intheperiod before otherpartsoftheGovernmental package
ofeconomic measures haveproduced theireffects. Thescheme isexpected tocontribute toforestall
animminent threat ofaserious decline intheforeign exchange reserves.
Compared toother possible measures, thedeposit scheme islessrestrictive initseffects on
trade thanother measures which could havebeenjustifiable under theGATT balance-of-payments
provisions. Thescheme iswarranted byitstemporary nature. TheGovernment willconsider its
elimination depending onthedevelopments inthebalance-of-payments situation.
TheCzech Republic isready toenterintoconsultation intheBalance-of-Payments Committee
onthebasis ofArticle XII:4 andinaccordance withtherelevant provisions andprocedures.WT/BOP/N/19
Page2
Decree
oftheMinistry ofIndustry andTrade oftheCzech Republic,
dated April 21,1997, ontheintroduction ofanimport deposit
Pursuant toArticle 56,Paragraph 1,Subparagraph (b)ofActNo.42/1980 oftheLawGazette, on
Economic Relations withForeign Countries, inthewording ofActNo.102/1988 oftheLawGazette,
ActNo.113/1990 oftheLawGazette, ActNo.513/1991 oftheLawGazette, ActNo.228/1992 of
theLawGazette, andActNo.223/1994 oftheLawGazette, theMinistry ofIndustry andTrade hereby
issues thefollowing decree:
Article 1
(1) Imported goods listed inAnnex tothisDecree shallbereleased intofreecirculation ifthe
declarant orhisrepresentative1submit adocument proving thelodging ofanimport deposit.
(2) Goods shallbereleased intofreecirculation without thesubmission oftheabove document,
iftheirinvoiced price oranequivalent thereof arelower thanCZK 5000,-, orthegoods in
question arenotimported forcommercial purposes2,orthegoods inquestion areprovided
freeofcharge, orthegoods inquestion areimported tosettle receivables payable tothe
Government, orthegoods inquestion areexempt from customs duties3.
Article 2
Forthepurposes ofthepresent Decree, thefollowing terms shallhavethemeanings defined below:
(a) Theterm"import deposit" shalldenote anamount intheCzech currency, equal to20%of
theinvoiced priceofthegoods tobeimported, deposited foraperiod ofsixmonths andbearing
nointerest (hereinafter "import deposit").
(b) Theterm"receivable payable tothegovernment" shalldenote anaccount receivable which
theMinistry ofFinance oftheCzech Republic registers among financial assets oftheCzech
Republic andwhich hasresulted fromcredit linesandother forms offoreign tradetransactions
funded bythestatebudget onthebasis of:
1Article 107ofAct.No13/1993 oftheLawGazette (Customs Act), inthewording ofActNo.35/1993
oftheLawGazette.
2Article 2,Subparagraph g)ofAct.No.13/1993 oftheLawGazette (Customs Act), inthewording ofAct
No.35/1993 oftheLawGazette.
3Articles 204,234and237ofAct.No13/1993 oftheLawGazette (Customs Act), inthewording ofAct
No.35/1993 oftheLawGazette.WT/BOP/N/19
Page3
1. intergovernmental credit agreements thattheCzech Republic isbound by,or
2. international agreements onclearing systems ofpayments, or
3. international barter agreements, or
4. loans provided inthepastfrom Central foreign exchange funds togovernments ortobanks
ofother actions.
(c) Theterm"invoiced price" shall denote theactual price paid, orpayable, forthegoods in
question.
Article 3
(1) Theimport deposit shallbedeposited withKomer_ní banka a.s.,Investi_ní aPoštovní banka
a.s.,_eskoslovenská obchodní banka a.s.,Union banka a.s.or_eská spo_itelna a.s.(hereinafter
"thebank"). Thebankshallissue adocument proving thedeposition tothedeclarant orhis
representative.
(2) Theabove document shallcontain, inparticular, thefollowing:
a) identification dataofthebank,
b) identification number ofthedocument,
c) identification dataofthedeclarant orhisrepresentative, i.e.thename, seatandIDforlegal
persons, andthename, surname, birthregister number andpermanent residence fornatural
persons,
d) amount ofthedeposit, including thedeposition date,
e) additional information specifying thepurpose ofthedocument,
f) dateofissue, stamp, signature.
Article 4
(1) Forthepurposes ofthisDecree, theconversion offoreign currencies intoCzech Koruna shall
bebased ontheexchange rateoftheCzech National Bank ineffect onthedeposition date.
Theconverted amount shallberounded down towhole Czech Koruna.
(2) Insofar goods imported tosettle receivables payable totheGovernment areconcerned, their
purpose shallbeconfirmed byacertificate issued bytheMinistry ofFinance oftheCzech
Republic.WT/BOP/N/19
Page4
Article 5
Theperson wholodged thedeposit mayaskthebanktorelease andreturn theimport deposit before
theexpiry ofthesix-month period, if:
a) thegoods inquestion havenotbeenreleased intofreecirculation, or
b) afterbeing released intofreecirculation thegoods inquestion havebeenexported because
ofbeing defective ornotincompliance withcontract specification, ofwhich apositive prove
canbefurnished.
Article 6
ThisDecree shallbecome effective onthedateofitspublication.
Minister ofIndustry andTrade
Ing.Vladimír Dlouh ý,CSc.WT/BOP/N/19
Page5
Annex totheDecree oftheMinistry ofIndustry andTrade No.90/1997
dated April 211997
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HS/CN HS/CN
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0102 except for0102 10 2710 0067
2710 0068
2710 0071
2710 0072
2710 0074
2710 0076
2710 0077
0103 except for0103 10 2710 0078
2710 0081
02 2710 0083
03 2710 0085
04 2710 0087
05 2710 0088
06 except for0601 2710 0089
0602 2710 0092
2710 0094
2710 0096
07 2710 0098
08 except for0803 00 3102
0805 3208
3209
3213
0909 2000 3214 9000
0909 40 3303 00
11 3304
12 except for1209 3305
3306
3307
13 3401 1100
14 3402
15 3403
16 3405
17 3406 00
18 3505 10
19 36
20 3701 except for3701 10
21
22
23 except for2301 3702 2000
2306 3702 31
3702 32
3702 3900WT/BOP/N/19
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HS/CN HS/CN
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24 3702 5100
2710 0061 3702 5300
2710 0065 3702 5400
2710 0066
3702 91 4815 0000
3702 93 4817
3703 except for3703 1000 4818 except for 4818 10
4818 40
3706 90
3707
3809 10 4819
3917 4820 except for4820 20
3918
3919 4821
3922 4823 60
3923 4908
3924 4909 00
3926 4910 0000
4011 1000 4911
4011 20 57
4011 40 58
4011 50 5903
4012 5904
4013 except for4013 2000 5905 00
5906
60
4016 61 except for6111
42 except for4204
62 except for6209
4303
4304 0000
4401 63
4402 0000 64 except for6406
4414 00
4415
4416 00 6503 00
4417 00 6504 0000
4419 00 6505
4420 6506
4421 except for4421 9010 66 except for6603
4503 67
4504 10 6801 0000
46 6802
4813 6803 00
4814 6804WT/BOP/N/19
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HS/CN HS/CN
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6805 8304 0000
6810 8305
6907 8306
6908 8308
6910 8309
6911 8310 0000
6912 00 8403
6913 8407 21
6914 8413 20
7009 8414 51
7010 except for7010 1000 8419 1100
8419 1900
7013 8421 1200
7018 10 8422 1100
7113 8423 10
7114 8433 11
7116 8433 19
7117 8450 except for 8450 2000
7118 8450 9000
7315 2000
7317 00
7318 8452 10
7319 8484
7320 8507
7321 8508
7322 8509
7323 8511 except for 8511 9000
7324
7415
7417 0000 8512 except for 8512 9000
7418
7615
8201 8513 1000
8202 8516 except for 8516 80
8203 8516 9000
8204
8205
8206 0000
8211 8518
8212 8519
8213 0000 8520
8214 8521
8215 8523
8301 8524
8302 8528WT/BOP/N/19
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HS/CN HS/CN
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8539 except for 8539 4100 9404
8539 4910 9405 except 9405 60
8539 4930 9405 91
8539 90 9405 99
8701
8703
8704
8711
8712 00 9504
8716 10 9505
8801 9506
8802 2010 9507
8903 9508 0000
9005 96
9006 5100 97
9006 5200
9006 53
9006 5900
9007 except for 9007 2000
9007 9100
9007 9200
9008 except for 9008 9000
9009 except for 9009 90
9101
9102
9103
9104 00
9105
9106
9113
92 except for 9209
9302 00
9303
9304 0000
9305
9307 0000
9401
9403