WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/LIC/N/3/SVK/1
25 October 2002
(02-5873)
Committee on Import Licensing Original:  English
REPLIES TO QUESTIONNAIRE ON IMPORT LICENSING PROCEDURES
Notification under Article 7.3 of the
Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures1
SLOVAK REPUBLIC
The following notification, dated 20 October 2002, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of the Slovak Republic.
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Outline of system
1. The import licensing system of the Slovak Republic is based on the premise that imports into
the Slovak Republic are free except where specific products are subject to automatic or non-automatic
import licences. This system is maintained under the Decree of the Ministry of Economy of the
Slovak Republic 15/1998 Coll. “On the Conditions of  the Issuance of an Official Licence for the
Export and Import of Goods and Services”, as amended, published in the Collection of Laws of the
Slovak Republic.
Activities related to the operation of the import licensing system fall under the responsibility
of the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic. The rules for import licensing procedures are
neutral in application and administered in a fair and equitable manner.
I. PRODUCTS SUBJECT TO AUTOMATIC IMPORT LICENSING
Purposes and coverage of licensing
2. Automatic import licensing is applied for statistical and monitoring purposes.
3. It applies to products originating in and coming from all countries.
4. The licensing is not intended to restrict the quantity or value of imports.5. Products subject to automatic import licensing are contained in Annex A Part II to the Decree
of the Ministry of Economy 15/1998 Coll., as ame nded, and are used only for monitoring of imports
of some agricultural and food products, tobacco and substitutes of tobacco products, raw materials, oil
products, gas and electrical energy, products of ch emical industry, wood and wooden products, textile
products, footwear, ceramic products, metals and metal products.  The list of products is covered by
                                                     
1 See document G/LIC/3, Annex, for the Questionnaire.G/LIC/N/3/SVK/1
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the notification made by the Slovak Republic pursuant to Articles 1.4 (a) and 8.2 (b) of the Agreement
on Import Licensing Procedures2.
Procedures
6. Not applicable (no quantitative restrictions).7.(a) Generally, the application for a licence is not restricted in time, unless otherwise provided in
the implementing legislation. According to the Decree of the Ministry of Economy 15/1998 Coll., as
amended, the Ministry of Economy has 14 calendar days to process the application for a licence for
products subject at present to automatic licensing.
(b) The licence can be granted immediately on request, however vast majority of automatic
licences is granted within two or three calendar days.
(c) There are no limitations as to the period of the year during which the applications can be
made.
(d) Only the Ministry of Economy has the authority to issue licences on imports of goods.8. The application for a licence shall be refused if it does not meet the set requirements. The
reasons for any refusal are communicated to the applicant, who has a right of appeal to the Ministry ofEconomy and, at a second instance, to the court.
Eligibility of importers to apply for a licence
9. All natural persons or legal entities domiciled in the Slovak Republic, irrespective of
nationality or origin, are eligible to apply for a licence, provided that their economic activities have
been registered in the Slovak Republic.
Documentational and other requirements for application for licence
10. The application for a licence contains the usual information regarding the importer, product(s)
in question, country of origin and proposed period of validity.A (sample) specimen of the application is contained in Annex F-I to the Decree of the Ministry of
Economy 15/1998, as amended.
2
The following documents have to be annexed to the application:
- extract from the commercial register or trad e licence, which could not be older than 1
year,
- other documents as set forth in the Decree of the Ministry of Economy 15/1998, as
amended (for example sanitary or phytosanitary certificates to import of the
agricultural products).
11. No further documents are required.12. The administrative fee is set at the level of 0.1% from the value of  imported goods , at least
1.000 SKK.
13. No deposit or advance payment is required in connection with the issue of licences.
                                                     
2 Available for consultation in the Secretariat (Market Access Division) (in English only).G/LIC/N/3/SVK/1
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Conditions of licensing
14. A licence is generally valid for a calendar year.
15. There is no penalty for the non-utilization of a licence.16. Licences are not transferable among importers.17. No.Other procedural requirements
18. There are no other administrative procedures required to importation apart from health,
veterinary, sanitary and quality regulations.
19. The foreign exchange is automatically provided for goods to be imported and a licence is not
a condition for obtaining foreign exchange.
II. PRODUCTS SUBJECT TO NON - AUTOMATIC LICENSING
Purposes and coverage of licensing
2. Non-automatic import licences are applied to restrict the quantity of imports. The products
subject to quantitative restrictions cover sugar( import from all countries), non-alcoholic beverages,
meat tinned goods, feed oil (all originated in Czech Republic), footwear (import from China) and
diamonds (import from Sierra Leone and Liberia) . The purpose of the licensing of sugar, non-
alcoholic beverages, meat tinned goods, feed oil and footwear is to safeguard domestic industry
against increased imports. As for the imports of diamonds from Sierra Leone and Liberia, an embargo
is in force in order to meet the obligations arising under international commitments.
3. The licensing regime applies equally to imports from all countries.4. Only some agricultural products are subjected to non-automatic licensing. The purpose of the
licensing is to fulfil the commitments undertaken by the Slovak Republic regarding preferential orfree trade agreements in accordance with the Article XXIV GATT 1994.
5. Products subject to non-automatic import licensing are contained in the Annex A Part I of the
Decree of the Ministry of Economy 15/1998 Coll., as amended.
Procedures
6. For products under restrictions:
I. All relevant information related to import quotas, including an application form and
requirements which must be met by the applicant for licence, is published in the Decree of the
Ministry of Economy 15/1998, as amended as well as on the homepage of the Ministry of Economy.
No maximum amount allotted to each importer is being set. Information about licences granted and
about utilization of import quotas is on websites.
II. In general the size of the quotas is determined on a yearly basis. Licence for the above
mentioned products is granted for a period of three months. If the applicant needs  to prolong the
licence also for the following period of the year, he has to apply for it again.G/LIC/N/3/SVK/1
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III. Each applicant has an equal right to obtain a licence. There are no differences if the applicant
is a natural person or legal entity. This applies to all goods under licensing requirements. The Ministry
of Economy is in permanent contact with the customs authorities with a view to having updated
information on actual utilization of allotted licences. In case of non-utilization of a licence before itsexpiry, the authorities may take this fact into account when deciding on a licence for the  importer
concerned for the next period. Unused allocations are added to quotas for succeeding period.
IV. Application for license must be submitted not later than 15 days prior to the period in
question. In case the quota for the respective period has not been fully utilised, it is possible to accept
also applications received after the 15
th day before the beginning of the relevant period.
V. The Ministry of Economy  has maximum 30 calendar days to process the application of the
non-automatic licence for products specified in the Annexes I- A.
VI. The importation is possible immediately after date of granting the licences.   
VII. License applications are registered and the licences are granted only by a single
administrative body – the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic.
VIII. The Ministry of Economy decides on applica tion for a non-automatic licence in order in
which applications have been received pursuant to their registration date and number and as long asthe size of the quota has not been used. In allocating quotas, past performance  principle is also taken
into account. The system enables new importers to participate in the market. Traditional importers are
not given a preference.
IX. Not applicable.X. Not applicable.XI. No.7. Not applicable.
8. See reply I.8.
Eligibility of importers to apply for a licence
9. See reply I.9.Documentational and other requirements for application for licence
10. See reply I.10.
11. See reply I.11.
12. See reply I.12.
13. See reply I.13.G/LIC/N/3/SVK/1
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Conditions of licensing
14. Non-automatic licence is valid one-quarter year or half-year from the date of issuance. If the
importer proves that it was not his fault that the quantity stated in the licence was not utilised and
wants to import also during the following period, th e validity of licence can be extended for the
following period.
15. There is no penalty for the non-utilisation of a licence.16. Licences are not transferable between importers.17. There are no other conditions for issuance of a licence.Other procedural requirements
18. There are no other administrative procedures, apart from import licensing required prior to
importation.
19. The foreign exchange is automatically provided for goods to be imported and a licence is not a
condition for obtaining a foreign exchange.
III. PRODUCTS SUBJECT TO SECURITY NON-AUTOMATIC LICENSING
Purposes and coverage of licensing
2. These import licences are prescribed for the purpose of ensuring state security, protection of
human, animal and plant health and protection of environment.
3. It applies to products originating in and coming from all countries.4. The licensing regime is not intended to restrict the quantity or value of imports but to protect
national security, health and environment.
5. Products subject to security licensing are contained in the Annexes D and E to the Decree of
the Ministry of Economy 15/1998 Coll., as amended.
The licences are issued by the Ministry of Economy, which is also the licensing authority for
imports of extra dangerous poisons, narcotics, psychotropic substances, precursors and subsidiary
chemical substances, radioactive material as well as substances affecting the ozone layer.
Procedures
6. There are no quantitative or value limitations applied for imports of goods included in this
group.G/LIC/N/3/SVK/1
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7. Where there is no quantitative limit on importation of a product or on imports from particular
country:
(a) The application for a licence has to be submitted not later than 30 days prior to the
importation. For the products covered under the Annex E the Ministry of Economy haspossibility to decided within 30 calendar days since the application is submitted. This period
could be extended up to 60 calendar days in very specific cases.
(b) Licence can not be granted immediately on request.
(c) There are no limitations as to the period of the year during which application for licence may
be made. Application can be submitted during the whole year.
(d) Applications for licences are registered and licences are granted by a single administrative
body – the Ministry of Economy. Applications  for imports of narcotics and psychotropic
substances are also considered by the Ministry of Health and applications for imports of
radioactive materials are also considered by the Nuclear regulatory Authority.
8. The applications for a licence may be refused if it does not meet the set requirements. It may
be also refused when the security or other major interest or commitments of the Slovak Republic so
requires. The reasons for any refusal are communicated to the applicant, who has a right of appeal tothe Ministry of Economy and, at a second instance, to the court.
Eligibility of importers to apply for a licence
9. See reply I.9.Documentational and other requirements for application for licence
10. A sample of the application is contained in Annex F-I to the Decree of the Ministry of
Economy 15/1998, as amended.
The following documents have to be annexed to the application.
- extract from the commercial register or trade licence,
- other documents according to special regulations,
- contract for the importation of the products in question,
- other documents as set forth in the Decree No. 15/1998, as amended.
11. In addition to the security non-automatic licence, the documents usually required by the
customs services have to be submitted.
12. See reply I.12.
13. See reply I.13.
Conditions of licensing
14. Licence is valid for period settled in the appropriate contract, but not longer than 1 callendar
year. If the importer proves that it was not his fault that the quantity stated in the licence was not
utilised and wants to import also during the following period, the validity of licence can be extended
for the necessary period.
15. There is no penalty for the non-utilisation of a licence or a portion of it.G/LIC/N/3/SVK/1
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16. Licences are not transferable between importers.
17. There are no other conditions for issuance of a licence. In some cases approval for trading
with goods in question is required by the Ministry of Economy.
Other procedural requirements
18. There are no other administrative procedures required to importation apart from security,
technical, health and quality regulations.
19. The foreign exchange is automatically provided for goods to be imported and a licence is not
a condition for obtaining a foreign exchange.
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