Page139
AGREEMENT ONTRADE-RELATED INVESTMENT MEASURES
Members,
Considering thatMinisters agreed inthePunta delEsteDeclaration that"Following an
examination oftheoperation ofGATT Articles related tothetrade restrictive anddistorting effects
ofinvestment measures, negotiations should elaborate, asappropriate, further provisions thatmaybe
necessary toavoid suchadverse effects ontrade";
Desiring topromote theexpansion andprogressive liberalisation ofworld tradeandtofacilitate
investment across international frontiers soastoincrease theeconomic growth ofalltrading partners,
particularly developing country Members, while ensuring freecompetition;
Taking intoaccount theparticular trade, development andfinancial needs ofdeveloping country
Members, particularly those oftheleast-developed country Members;
Recognizing thatcertain investment measures cancause trade-restrictive anddistorting effects;
Hereby agree asfollows:
Article 1
Coverage
ThisAgreement applies toinvestment measures related totrade ingoods only(referred toin
thisAgreement as"TRIMs").
Article 2
National Treatment andQuantitative Restrictions
1. Without prejudice toother rights andobligations under GATT 1994, noMember shallapply
anyTRIM thatisinconsistent withtheprovisions ofArticle IIIorArticle XIofGATT 1994.
2. Anillustrative listofTRIMs thatareinconsistent withtheobligation ofnational treatment
provided forinparagraph 4ofArticle IIIofGATT 1994 andtheobligation ofgeneral elimination
ofquantitative restrictions provided forinparagraph 1ofArticle XIofGATT 1994 iscontained in
theAnnex tothisAgreement.
Article 3
Exceptions
AllexceptionsunderGATT1994shallapply,asappropriate,totheprovisionsofthisAgreement.Page140
Article 4
Developing Country Members
Adeveloping country Member shallbefreetodeviate temporarily from theprovisions of
Article 2totheextent andinsuchamanner asArticle XVIII ofGATT 1994, theUnderstanding on
theBalance-of-Payments Provisions ofGATT 1994, andtheDeclaration onTrade Measures Taken
forBalance-of-Payments Purposes adopted on28November 1979 (BISD 26S/205-209) permit the
Member todeviate from theprovisions ofArticles IIIandXIofGATT 1994.
Article 5
Notification andTransitional Arrangements
1. Members, within 90daysofthedateofentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement, shallnotify
theCouncil forTrade inGoods ofallTRIMs theyareapplying thatarenotinconformity withthe
provisions ofthisAgreement. SuchTRIMs ofgeneral orspecific application shallbenotified, along
withtheirprincipal features.1
2. EachMember shalleliminate allTRIMs which arenotified under paragraph 1within twoyears
ofthedateofentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement inthecaseofadeveloped country Member,
within fiveyears inthecaseofadeveloping country Member, andwithin seven years inthecaseof
aleast-developed country Member.
3. Onrequest, theCouncil forTrade inGoods mayextend thetransition period fortheelimination
ofTRIMs notified under paragraph 1foradeveloping country Member, including aleast-developed
country Member, which demonstrates particular difficulties inimplementing theprovisions ofthis
Agreement. Inconsidering sucharequest, theCouncil forTrade inGoods shalltakeintoaccount
theindividual development, financial andtrade needs oftheMember inquestion.
4. During thetransition period, aMember shallnotmodify theterms ofanyTRIM which itnotifies
under paragraph 1fromthose prevailing atthedateofentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement soas
toincrease thedegree ofinconsistency withtheprovisions ofArticle 2.TRIMs introduced lessthan
180daysbefore thedateofentryintoforceoftheWTO Agreement shallnotbenefit fromthetransitional
arrangements provided inparagraph 2.
5. Notwithstanding theprovisions ofArticle 2,aMember, inorder nottodisadvantage established
enterprises which aresubject toaTRIM notified under paragraph 1,mayapply during thetransition
period thesameTRIM toanewinvestment (i)where theproducts ofsuchinvestment arelikeproducts
tothose oftheestablished enterprises, and(ii)where necessary toavoid distorting theconditions of
competition between thenewinvestment andtheestablished enterprises. AnyTRIM soapplied to
anewinvestment shallbenotified totheCouncil forTrade inGoods. Theterms ofsuchaTRIM
shallbeequivalent intheircompetitive effect tothose applicable totheestablished enterprises, and
itshallbeterminated atthesame time.
1InthecaseofTRIMs applied under discretionary authority, eachspecific application shall benotified. Information
thatwould prejudice thelegitimate commercial interests ofparticular enterprises need notbedisclosed.Page141
Article 6
Transparency
1. Members reaffirm, withrespect toTRIMs, theircommitment toobligations ontransparency
andnotification inArticle XofGATT 1994, intheundertaking on"Notification" contained inthe
Understanding Regarding Notification, Consultation, Dispute Settlement andSurveillance adopted on
28November1979andintheMinisterialDecisiononNotificationProceduresadoptedon15April1994.
2. Each Member shallnotify theSecretariat ofthepublications inwhich TRIMs maybefound,
including those applied byregional andlocalgovernments andauthorities within theirterritories.
3. Each Member shallaccord sympathetic consideration torequests forinformation, andafford
adequate opportunity forconsultation, onanymatter arising from thisAgreement raised byanother
Member. Inconformity withArticle XofGATT 1994noMember isrequired todisclose information
thedisclosure ofwhich would impede lawenforcement orotherwise becontrary tothepublic interest
orwould prejudice thelegitimate commercial interests ofparticular enterprises, public orprivate.
Article 7
Committee onTrade-Related Investment Measures
1. ACommittee onTrade-Related Investment Measures (referred tointhisAgreement asthe
"Committee") ishereby established, andshallbeopentoallMembers. TheCommittee shallelect
itsownChairman andVice-Chairman, andshallmeetnotlessthanonceayearandotherwise atthe
request ofanyMember.
2. TheCommittee shallcarry outresponsibilities assigned toitbytheCouncil forTrade inGoods
andshall afford Members theopportunity toconsult onanymatters relating totheoperation and
implementation ofthisAgreement.
3. TheCommittee shallmonitor theoperation andimplementation ofthisAgreement andshall
report thereon annually totheCouncil forTrade inGoods.
Article 8
Consultation andDispute Settlement
Theprovisions ofArticles XXII andXXIII ofGATT 1994, aselaborated andapplied bythe
Dispute Settlement Understanding, shallapply toconsultations andthesettlement ofdisputes under
thisAgreement.Page142
Article 9
Review bytheCouncil forTrade inGoods
Notlaterthanfiveyears afterthedateofentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement, theCouncil
forTrade inGoods shallreview theoperation ofthisAgreement and,asappropriate, propose tothe
Ministerial Conference amendments toitstext. Inthecourse ofthisreview, theCouncil forTrade
inGoods shallconsider whether theAgreement should becomplemented withprovisions oninvestment
policy andcompetition policy.Page143
ANNEX
Illustrative List
1. TRIMs thatareinconsistent withtheobligation ofnational treatment provided forinparagraph 4
ofArticle IIIofGATT 1994 include those which aremandatory orenforceable under domestic law
orunder administrative rulings, orcompliance withwhich isnecessary toobtain anadvantage, and
which require:
(a) thepurchase orusebyanenterprise ofproducts ofdomestic origin orfromanydomestic
source, whether specified interms ofparticular products, interms ofvolume orvalue
ofproducts, orinterms ofaproportion ofvolume orvalue ofitslocal production;
or
(b) thatanenterprise 'spurchases oruseofimported products belimited toanamount
related tothevolume orvalue oflocalproducts thatitexports.
2. TRIMs thatareinconsistent withtheobligation ofgeneral elimination ofquantitative restrictions
provided forinparagraph 1ofArticle XIofGATT 1994 include those which aremandatory or
enforceable under domestic laworunder administrative rulings, orcompliance withwhich isnecessary
toobtain anadvantage, andwhich restrict:
(a) theimportation byanenterprise ofproducts usedinorrelated toitslocalproduction,
generally ortoanamount related tothevolume orvalue oflocal production thatit
exports;
(b) theimportation byanenterprise ofproducts usedinorrelated toitslocalproduction
byrestricting itsaccess toforeign exchange toanamount related totheforeign exchange
inflows attributable totheenterprise; or
(c) theexportation orsaleforexport byanenterprise ofproducts, whether specified in
terms ofparticular products, interms ofvolume orvalue ofproducts, orinterms of
aproportion ofvolume orvalue ofitslocalproduction.