RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/ACC/ECU/8
20February 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-0679)
Original: Spanish
ECUADOR: WTO ACCESSION COMMITMENT
Report byEcuador
ThePermanent Mission ofEcuador hassubmitted information withregard tothespecific
commitments contained inparagraphs 9,19,34,48,59,75,77and78oftheReport oftheWorking
Party ontheAccession ofEcuador totheWTO (Document WT/L/77).
________________
On21January 1997, Ecuador completed itsfirstyearasanofficial member oftheWorld Trade
Organization (WTO). Under itsprotocol ofaccession, Ecuador istonotify theSecretariat annually
oftheimplementation ofthecommitments referred toinparagraph 9,19,34,48,59,75,77and78
andtoidentify anydelays inimplementation together withthereasons therefor.
Accordingly, Ecuador herewith notifies theSecretariat asfollows:
Paragraph 9.Asannounced during theWTO accession process, Ecuador canconfirm thattheforeign
exchange system contained inRegulation No.904-94 of1November 1994 ofthe
Monetary Board ofEcuador, relating tothepurchase offoreign exchange inthecase
ofPETROECUADOR, expired asscheduled on1July1995, inother words some
months before Ecuador officially joined theWTO. Consequently, asthisRegulation
hasnotbeenrenewed bytheMonetary Board concerned, thecommitment hasbeen
fulfilled.
Paragraph 19.TheSpecial Consumption Tax(ICE) isaninternal andindirect taxbearing onthe
consumption ofasmall number ofproducts, whether domestic orimported.
TheWTOwasdulyinformedthat,inaccordancewithArticle53oftheConstitution,theNational
Congress hasresponsibility forenacting lawsgoverning anytaxmatters. TothisendEcuador has
spared noeffort, although 1996presented some difficulties forpursuing initiatives ofthiskind, being
ayearinwhich thesearch forpre-andpost-election balances wasveryimportant, asisnormally the
caseinalldemocratic regimes.
Nevertheless,on30December1996EcuadorimplementedtheamendmentsadoptedbyCongress,
which gointheappropriate direction, withaview tothespeedy implementation oftheaccession
commitment made inthisregard.
Thedelay stemmed fromtheneedtodefine anappropriate formula toavoid fiscal repercussions
andimbalances intheState budget.
AcopyofthecorrespondinginformationcontainedintheLawReformingtheLawontheInternal
TaxSystem published intheSupplement toOfficial Register No.98of30December 1996isattached.WT/ACC/ECU/8
Page2
Paragraph 34.Ecuador undertook thecommitment thatmeasures governing imports ofusedclothing,
usedvehicles andusedtyres would beadministered inaccordance withtheWTO
provisions.
Itshould bepointed outthat,following itsaccession totheWTO, Ecuador sought reference
information toestablish certain rules andthusacquired information onthenumber ofmembers
maintaining measures ofthiskind. Itfound thatnotafewofthemdo,andthatthereissome similarity
between themeasures theyhaveadopted andEcuador 'smeasures.
Despite considering thatEcuador 'smeasures onimports ofusedgoods donotaffect substantive
aspects oftrade, owing totheverynature ofthese goods anddomestic consumer preference, Ecuador
initiated theprocess bywhich itsprovisions willbebrought intolinewiththose oftheWTO. Tothe
enditissued Ministerial Decisions Nos.241and242of6August 1996, published inOfficial Register
No.1008 of10August 1996.
These Ministerial Decisions establish compatible criteria fortheimportation ofusedvehicles,
based ontheneedtoprotect human health andsafety andtheenvironment. Itshould alsobenoted
thatlocal usedvehicles arealsosubject tosimilar regulations, which areimplemented byvarious
municipal andpolice authorities thatcontrol theconditions ofvehicles andtransport inthecountry.
Failure tocomply withtherelevant provisions isseverely punished.
AcopyoftheMinisterial Decisions inquestion isattached.
Ecuador willcontinue deploying itsbestefforts tofulfil thiscommitment intheremaining
used-goods sectors mentioned intheReport, forwhich purpose itwilltakeintoconsideration theterms
referred tointheaccession documents, therelevant WTO Agreements and,where appropriate, the
elements thathaveserved tojustify theregimes ofother WTO members.
Paragraph 48. Inorder tocomply withtheprovisions oftheAgreement onAgriculture, Ecuador
undertook thecommitment tophase outtheprice bandsystem overaseven-year
period inaccordance withthetimetable annexed toitsProtocol ofAccession. Under
thattimetable there isnopending reduction commitment atthisdate.
Paragraph 59. Ecuador hasamply fulfilled thisaccession commitment relating toexport subsidies.
Themeasure provided forinDecree 2327 of26November 1994 towhich the
accession commitment relates infactcame toanendon29June1995 pursuant
toDecree 2842, published intheSupplement toOfficial Register No.728of
30June1995, thatistosay,fivemonths before thedategiven inthecommitment
setforth intheProtocol ofAccession.
Paragraph 75. EcuadorhasimplementeditscommitmentwithrespecttoArticle6oftheAgreement
onTrade-RelatedInvestmentMeasures(TRIMs).Itnotifieditsmeasureasprovided
forintheAgreement. That information waspublished bytheSecretariat as
Annex IIIWT/L/77, page43oftheEnglish version. Asprovided forintheTRIMs
Agreement, Ecuador hadalsocomplied withitsobligation nottomodify itsregime.
Paragraph 77/78. Along withother WTO Members thatarealsoparties totheAndean subregional
integration agreement, Ecuador hasapplied since wellbefore itsaccession tothe
WTO acommon legislation thatconstitutes abroad baseforadequately protecting
intellectual property rights. Thatlegislation hasincorporated anappreciable area
covered bythemain international conventions inthisfield.WT/ACC/ECU/8
Page3
Inorder toincorporate intothenational legalisation theobligations andrights stemming from
theprovisions oftheWorld Trade Organization andtheMultilateral Trade Agreements, including the
TRIPS Agreement, Ecuador published thisinstrument intheSupplement toOfficial Register No.977
of28June1996, andthusconsiders thatithascomplied withitsaccession commitment.
Inthissame spirit, Ecuador iscurrently intheprocess ofimplementing certain supplementary
measuresinordertoregulatevariousdomesticaspectsrelatingtotheTRIPSAgreement.Thecompletion
ofthisprocess isclosely linked withthedevelopment oftechnical cooperation programmes that
governments andinternational organizations areprepared tooffer Ecuador.
Ecuador cangivetheassurance that,inthose circumstances andthanks tosuchcooperation,
itwould notneed, inthisparticular case,toavailitselfofitsrights asadeveloping country asreflected
intheReport oftheWorking Party onitsaccession totheWTO.
_________________
Thefollowing documents areavailable forconsultation intheSecretariat (Accessions Division,
Office 1126):
- LawReforming theLawontheInternal TaxSystem published intheSupplement toOfficial
Register No.98of30December 1996;
- Ministerial Decisions Nos. 241and242of6August 1996 published inOfficial Register
No.1008 of10August 1996;
- Decree No.2842 of29June1995 published intheSupplement toOfficial Register No.728
of30June1995;
- Supplement toOfficial Register No.977of28June1996incorporating theWTO Agreements
intonational legislation.