WORLD TRADE WT/REG56/1
WT/REG57/1
ORGANIZATION 30March 1998
(98-1256)
Original: English Committee onRegional Trade Agreements
FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS BETWEEN ISRAEL AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC
AND ISRAEL AND THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC
Communication from theParties
Thefollowing communication, dated 19March 1998, hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent
Mission ofIsrael (alsoonbehalf ofthePermanent Mission oftheCzech Republic andSlovak Republic)
withtherequest thatitbecirculated totheWTO Members.
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Summary oftheIsrael -Czech FreeTrade Agreement
andoftheIsrael -Slovak FreeTrade Agreement
Thekeyfeature oftheIsrael -Czech FreeTrade Agreement andtheIsrael -Slovak FreeTrade
Agreement istheextensive elimination oftariffs onsubstantially alltheir bilateral trade by
1January 1999. Remaining tariffs onindustrial products willbeeliminated by1September 2000on
theIsraeli sideandby1July2000 ontheCzech andSlovak sides.
Tariff concessions intheagri-food sector covers awiderange ofproducts ofexport interest
totheParties, involving substantially alltheircurrent bilateral trade.
TheAgreements contain alsoprovisions dealing withother areas oftrade. These include non-
tariffbarriers, anti-dumping, technical barriers, sanitary andphytosanitary measures, statemonopolies,
rules ofcompetition, stateaid,balance ofpayments measures, safeguard measures andintellectual
property. Where appropriate, reference ismade toWTO rights andobligations.
TheAgreement between Israel andtheCzech Republic wassigned on20May1996, applied
onaprovisional basis since 1January 1997 andentered intoforce on1December 1997.
TheAgreement between Israel andtheSlovak Republic entered intoforce on1January 1997.
Tariffs: Industrial Products
- TheAgreements provide fortheimmediate elimination ofcustoms duties upontheirentry into
force onawiderange ofproducts, involving mostofthecurrent bilateral tradebetween Israel
andtheCzech Republic andbetween Israel andtheSlovak Republic.WT/REG56/1
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- Tariff duties onalimited number ofproducts willbeeliminated by1January 1999. These
include, interalia,certain chemicals, paper products, textiles, footwear, glass, jewellery, metal
andelectrical products andvehicles ontheCzech andSlovak sides; andcertain wood and
paper products, footwear, ceramic products, jewellery, metal products andelectrical equipment
ontheIsraeli side.
- Tariff duties ontextiles andaverylimited number ofotherproducts willbegradually eliminated
until1July2000 bytheCzech andSlovak sides anduntil1September 2000 bytheIsraeli
side. These products include, interalia,certain rubber products, wood andpaper products,
certain articles ofglass, furniture andcertain electrical products forimports totheCzech and
Slovak Republics; forimports toIsrael, theyinclude certain ironpipes, electronic motors,
transformers andelectric cables.
Tariffs: Agricultural andFisheries Products
- TheAgreements provide forduty-free orreduced rates ofduty, within aquota ornot,on
agricultural products which areofexport interests toeachparty, among them: plants and
flowers, certain dairy products, frozen anddried vegetables, citrus andother fruits, spices,
wheat, sugar confectionery, chocolate, bakers 'wares, preserved fruitandjuices, jams, sauces,
soups, icecream andalcoholic beverages.
- TheParties willperiodically examine thepossibilities forfurther liberalization oftheagri-food
trade.
Rules ofOrigin
- Therulesoforigin arebased onchanges intariff classification under theHarmonized System
fortariff classification.
- Thespecific rulesoforigin perproduct areidentical tothenewEuropean rulesoftheEuropean
Community, inorder tofacilitate cumulation oforigin withtheEuropean Community andwith
othercountriesmaintainingfree-tradeareaagreementswithIsraelandwiththeCzechandSlovak
Republics.
- Therulesoforigin provide forupto10percenttolerance foruseofnon-originating materials
andforoutward processing inanon-member country.
- Since theCzech Republic andtheSlovak Republic haveaCustom Union Agreement, therules
oforigin provide forcumulation oforigin among thethree countries.
- TheAgreements provide forprohibition ofdrawback asof31December 2000.
Competition Policy
TheAgreements include provisions todealwithanti-competitive andmonopolistic actions by
public andprivate undertakings.WT/REG56/1
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Public Procurement
Each Party willgrant suppliers oftheother Party, bytheendof1998 atthelatest, access to
public procurements according totheprovisions oftheWTO Agreement onGovernment Procurement.
Dispute Settlement
TheAgreements include abinding dispute settlement process.
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