RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/STR/Q1/BRB/3
20September 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-3707)
Original: English Working Party onState Trading Enterprises
QUESTIONS POSED BYTHE UNITED STATES CONCERNING
THE ARTICLE XVII NOTIFICATION OFBARBADOS1
Thefollowing communication, dated 11September 1996, hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent
Mission oftheUnited States.
_______________
1. WenotethattheBarbados Agricultural Development Corporation (BADMC) hasamonopoly
right toimport chicken, andthat"poultry products, particularly chicken andturkey wings arenot
produced insufficient quantities tomeetdomestic requirements. Asaconsequence, thisshortfall is
compensated byimports. Thelevel ofimports issuchthatitdoesnotimpact onthesales oflocal
products".
Would Barbados explain thefactors determining thequantity ofpoultry imports bytheBADMC.
Forexample, doestheBADMC planwellinadvance forimports ordetermine theneedtoimport on
anadhocbasisduetoadverse weather conditions? HowdoesBADMC determine when toissuetenders
tooverseas supplies forlong-term contracts? Forwhattimeperiods?
2. WenotethattheBADMC hasthemonopoly righttoimport sugar, that"having mettheEU
quota requirements, thequantity ofsugar isdetermined bytheamount ofsugar required tosatisfy
domestic demand" andthat"theenterprise imported rawsugar duetotheshortfall innational
production".
Would Barbados explain thefactors determining thequantity ofsugar imports bytheBADMC?
Ourunderstanding ofthestatements above isthatBADMC firstfillstheECrawsugar import quota
andthendetermineswhetherdomesticdemandrequirestheBADMCtosupplementtheremainingdomestic
sugar supplies withimports. Please clarify howtheBADMC determines demand andimports.
3. WenotethattheBADMC hasthemonopoly righttoimport onions, butit"only imports this
commodity during theoff-season when there isashortfall ofnational production".
Could Barbados explain thefactors determining whenthereisashortfall ofnational production,
andwhatmarket access opportunities existduring theproduction seasons foronions?
1G/STR/N/1/BRB.
./.G/STR/Q1/BRB/3
Page2
4. WenotethattheBarbados Dairy Industries Limited (BDIL) hasthemonopoly righttoimport
dairy products, andthatthequantities tobeimported aredetermined onthebasisofdomestic demand
andsupply".
Could Barbados explain thecriteria usedtodetermine thequantity tobeimported?
5. WenotethatBarbados didnotsupply statistical information onimports orexports ofdairy
products andnational production ofchicken andturkey meat.
Could Barbados provide thisinformation?
6. Please clarify thestatistical datasubmitted tosupplement thenotification. Aretheexport and
import unitvalues inBarbadian orUSdollars?