RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/TPR/G/7
7November 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-3518)
Original: English
TRADE POLICY REVIEW
THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC
Report bytheGovernment
Inpursuance oftheAgreement establishing theTrade Policy Review Mechanism (Annex 3ofthe
MarrakeshAgreementEstablishingtheWorldTradeOrganization),theinitialpolicystatementsubmitted
bytheSlovak Republic isattached.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Note:Thisreport issubject torestricted circulation andpress embargo untiltheendofthemeeting
oftheTrade Policy Review Body oftheSlovak Republic.TheSlovak Republic WT/TPR/G/7
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CONTENTS
Page
A.TRADE POLICIES AND PRACTICES 1
I.TRADE POLICY OBJECTIVES 1
Introduction 1
a/Foreign Trade andMacroeconomic Linkages 2
b/Trade Policy 2
c/ThePolicy ofTransport Infrastructure 3
d/Financial Policy 4
e/Price Policy 4
f/Monetary Policy 4
g/Protection ofIntellectual Property 5
II.IMPORT AND EXPORT SYSTEMS AND IMPLEMENTATION OFTRADE POLICY 5
a/Import Régime 6
i/ Tariff Structure 7
ii/ Import Surcharge 7
iii/ GSPScheme 7
iv/ Customs Administration 7
v/ Rules ofOrigin 8
vi/ Licensing 8
vii/ Tariff Quotas 8
viii/ State Trading 8
ix/ Taxes 9
x/ Anti-Dumping andSafeguard Measures 9
b/Export Régime 9
i/ Export Tariffs, Taxes 9
ii/ Export Restrictions andLicensing 9
iii/ Export Monopolies 9
iv/ Export Promotion 9
v/ Export Subsidies 10
III.TRADE POLICY FRAMEWORK 10
a/Domestic Laws andRegulations Governing theApplication ofTrade Policy 10
i/ Basic Acts concerning Trade Policy 10
ii/ National Legal Framework 11
iii/ TheLegislative Process 11
b/Institutional Framework 11
c/Trade Agreements 12
i/ Multilateral Trade Agreements 12
ii/ Regional Agreements 12
iii/ Bilateral Agreements 15
B.BACKGROUND FOR THE ASSESSMENT OFTRADE POLICIES 15
I.RECENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS 15
a/Some Macroeconomic Indicators 15
b/Privatization 16
c/Foreign Direct Investment 16WT/TPR/G/7 Trade Policy Review
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II.EXTERNAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 17
a/Major Trends inImports andExports 17
i/ Imports 17
ii/ Exports 17
iii/ Development inForeign Trade Structure 18
b/Balance ofPayments 18
c/Exchange Rate 19
d/Foreign Exchange Reserves 19
e/Foreign Debt 19TheSlovak Republic WT/TPR/G/7
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A.TRADE POLICIES AND PRACTICES
I.TRADE POLICY AND OBJECTIVES
Introduction
TheSlovak Republic became asovereign State on1January 1993 afterthedissolution oftheCzech
andSlovak Federal Republic. Asoneofthetwosuccessor States theSlovak Republic continued the
process oftheeconomic transformation, thebasis ofwhich waslaiddown in1989 forthecommon
Czech andSlovak economic space. Basic pillars ofeconomic reform introduced in1991 were:
privatization andde-monopolization ofState-owned companies, restructuring oftheeconomy, price
liberalization, foreign tradeliberalization, introduction ofinternal convertibility ofthecurrency, support
oftheprivate sector intheframework ofmacroeconomic measures andcreating newconditions for
economic development inaninternational competitive environment.
Thefastimplementation oftheeconomic reform, thedisintegration oftheCOMECON withthe
consequent collapse oftheEastern European markets aswellastheglobal economic recession ofthe
world economy together hadsome negative consequences. These elements caused major disruption
toeconomic andtraderelations andprocesses, andtotraditional tradeflows andchanges inthesystem
ofpayments. They alsoledtothedeepening oftheSlovak economic recession: decline inproduction;
lowlevel ofproduction capacity utilization; obsolete technological equipment; highgrowth of
unemployment; increase ofinflation ratemainly caused byprice liberalization; decline incurrency
andforeign exchange reserves; anddecline ofexports withtheconsequent decline ofdomestic
production. In1991GDPdecreased by14.5percent,in1992by7percentandin1993by4.1percent.
Thissituation required substantial changes inthestructure ofindustry, tradeandservices; continuous
solutions totheconsequences ofthefastconversion inthemachinery industry (armament industry);
creation ofaneweconomic, financial, andmonetary policy; andtheadoption offundamental legislation
measures toovercome theeconomic transformation process.
Economic transformation necessarily needs tobestructured todiminish, totheextent possible, its
negative effects ontheliving standards ofthepopulation andtopreserve social harmony.
Inspiteoftheunfavourable startin1993andthebeginning of1994, theSlovak Republic iscontinuing
theprocess ofeconomic transformation andtheresults of1994andthefirsthalfof1995illustrate the
gradual revival oftheSlovak economy. Thepositive impact ofthemeasures adopted bytheGovernment
andtherecovery from theworld economic recession canbeproven bythelowrateofinflation, the
stable leveloftheunemployment rate,thegrowth ofGDP andincreasing exports.
TheGDP inconstant prices asof1January 1994 wasUS$5.88 billion andincomparison with1993
increased by4.8percent. Theopenness oftheSlovak economy (theshare ofexports inGDPincurrent
prices) reached 53.8percentin1994, while in1993 itwas49.3percent. In1994 incomparison
to1993 Slovak exports increased by27.8percentandimports by8.6percent. Therateofinflation
declined from 23.2percentin1993 to13.4percentin1994. Therateofunemployment reached
12.2percentin1993 and13.3percentin1994.
Inthefirsthalfof1995 theSlovak Republic continued economic development; GDP increased by
6.2percentincomparison tothefirsthalfof1994. Thisgrowth wasduetoincreased domestic demand.
Therateofinflation reached 11percentandtheslowdown inthegrowth oftherateofinflation was
duetothepositiverelationshipbetweentheincreaseoflabourproductivityandtheincreaseoftheaverageWT/TPR/G/7 Trade Policy Review
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nominal salary, thesmall increase ofloans indomestic currency andbythestable level offoreign
exchange stocks. Inthefirsthalfof1995 therateofunemployment reached 13.7percent, exports
increased by22.8percentandimports by24.6percentresulting inabalance ofUS$18.75 million,
andopenness oftheSlovak economy reached 54.5percent.
a/Foreign Trade andMacroeconomic Linkages
Foreign trade plays avitalrôleintheeconomic development oftheSlovak Republic. Consequently
tradepolicy forms anintegral partoftheglobal economic strategy oftheSlovak Republic, having regard
tothefactthateconomic growth canbeachieved onlyifSlovak exports arecompetitive. Measures
serving thisaimarebeing taken inthemacroeconomic environment andinthemicroeconomic
environment, including measures fortheintensification ofexports, promotion offoreign investment,
etc. TheSlovak Republic hasplayed anactive rôleintheliberalization process andsupported
international efforts toliberalize global trade intheframework oftheUruguay Round ofGATT on
amultilateral basis. Thisprocess isbeing further supported byregional agreements.
Trade policy isformulated inaccordance withthepossibilities ofeconomic growth. Thelegislation
creating theframework forthispolicy isthemost important instrument along withtheresponsible
ministries andinstitutions thatparticipate intheimplementation ofthispolicy according totheirpowers.
Thebasic objective ofthetrade policy oftheSlovak Republic istopromote theeconomic growth of
Slovakia andtopromote thecreation ofnewjobsbased onthedevelopment ofexports. These objectives
canberealized onlyinanopen international trading system without barriers andanyform of
discrimination. Thefundamentals oftheforeign-trade policy oftheSlovak Republic andthestarting
points forfurther development offoreign trade inthenextfewyears wereestablished considering the
above-mentioned factsandinthecontext ofthecontinued process ofliberalization anddemonopolization
ofallactivities, particularly inforeign trade.
Thefactthatthestability ofconditions intheforeign trade environment influences toahighdegree
theformation ofexport-import proportions andrelations hasbeenconfirmed especially inthefirsttwo
years oftheexistence ofthesovereign Slovak Republic. In1993GDPdeclined by4.1percentcompared
with1992, andindustrial production by3.8percentcompared with1992, butunlike in1992thisdecline
wasmainly duetothereduction inexports. Theinfluence ofunstable conditions inforeign trade was
reflected instructural, territorial andglobal indicators.
Thecreation ofstable relations inforeign tradeandtheestablishment ofnewexport-import proportions
isalong-term process. TheSlovak Republic isstrongly committed tothecreation anddevelopment
ofsuchrelations withallcountries oftheworld. Thedefined trade relations oftheSlovak Republic
withindividual territories, written down inAgreements, increase therateofstability intheareaof
foreign trade.
b/Trade Policy
Considering theneeds oftheSlovak economy forthenexttwoyears, thetradepolicy aimsatmaintaining
apositive balance inforeign trade; maintaining thedegree ofopenness oftheSlovak economy atthe
level ofapproximately 55percentandtheimprovement ofthecommodity structure oftheexports
infavour ofthecommodity groups withhigher value added; andthecreation ofnewjobsbymeansTheSlovak Republic WT/TPR/G/7
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oftheexport promotion inthose branches withexisting capacities andcompetitive products. These
aimsaredeclared intheconception oftheforeign trade, including theinstruments toachieve them.
Theconcept oftheforeign tradeoftheSlovak Republic isbased onandcorresponds withforeign policy
andcomplies withitspriorities. Thefirstpriority istheintensification oftheexisting policy ofcloser
relations withtheEuropean Union. Theaimistheintegration oftheSlovak Republic totheEUand
theintensificationofrelationswithallneighbouringcountries,i.e.theCzechRepublic,Poland,Hungary,
Austria andUkraine anddevelopment ofeconomic relations based onmutual benefit withalmost all
countries oftheworld.
Theindustrial policy oftheSlovak Republic contributes totheachievement ofthese aims. Itisbased
ontheidentification ofinternal andexternal problems, itdetermines theprinciples ofcreation ofthe
basic conditions forsuccessful development oftheindustry andprivate enterprises. Atthesame time
measures aretaken toensure therealization ofthepolicy.
Astheindustrial policy isinterrelated withtheforeign tradepolicy itisimportant thatthesetwopolicies
areco-ordinated inorder tocreate acompetitive environment through theliberalization ofthetrade
policy. Thiswillcontribute todeveloping thecompetitiveness ofdomestic products.
Theconcept oftheforeign-trade policy oftheagricultural sector isoriented towards theimplementation
ofinstruments typical forthisspecific trade complying withtheAgreement onAgriculture inthe
framework oftheWTO. Other objectives aretoincrease therateofliberalization oftradeandtoremove
barriers totradeinagricultural products, toimprove theexploitation oftheconcessions based onregional
andbilateral agreements andtoincrease theexports ofthose commodities where domestic production
willexceed demand onthedomestic market.
Thetrade policy isalsoco-ordinated withtheanti-monopoly policy astheyareclosely interrelated
anddirectly influence trade. Judgement ofrestrictive tradepractices isconsidered inaccordance with
thelegislation, which corresponds toanti-monopoly legislation indeveloped market economies. Special
attention isgiven toexport andimport cartel agreements, voluntary export restraints, market access
barriers, supranational mergers andstrategic dumping, where theyhaveadirect influence onthetrade
structure oftheSlovak Republic anditscompetition environment.
c/ThePolicy ofTransport Infrastructure
Theacceleration andrationalization ofthetransport ofgoods plays animportant rôleinforeign trade.
Therefore theconcept ofthepolicy oftransport infrastructure aimstoaccelerate thedevelopment of
theinfrastructure withtheparallel adaptation ofthetransport sector totheconditions ofafreemarket
andtheharmonization oftechnical andeconomic conditions withthose oftheEU.Theconcept proceeds
ontheassumption thatcomparable conditions fortheSlovak forwarders willbeestablished based on
mutual benefit. When creating infrastructure connections tothecontinental andregional European
transport networks itisnecessary toincrease thetechnical standards andthestateofmeans oftransport,
tomodernize theequipment ofstations andtransit points toneighbouring countries andtocomplete
andconnect theinternational motorway network.WT/TPR/G/7 Trade Policy Review
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d/Financial Policy
With regard totheobjectives oftheforeign trade policy, thepriority taskofthefinancial policy is
tocreate conditions forinvestment promotion, thedevelopment ofscience andtechnology andtoensure
apositive trade balance. Themain financial instruments aretaxation, taxexemptions andtariff
reductions. Theactivities forthepromotion ofthecapital market, prepared intheframework ofnew
legislation,andthecontinuoustransformationofthebankingsector,enhancedbythepreparedamendment
totheLawontheNational BankoftheSlovak Republic andActonBanks, should contribute toarevival
oftheeconomy.
e/Price Policy
After comprehensive liberalization ofprices in1991andfurther deregulation ofprices inthefollowing
years onlyapproximately 5percentoftheprices ofgoods andservices isregulated inretail trade.
These areprices forpublic services, prices ofenergy, gas,heatandelectricity, which areregulated
forprivate consumers. These prices donotcover thecosts. Thegovernment ispreparing aprogressive
adaptation ofprices ofnatural gasandelectricity inorder tocover thecosts. These adaptations are
prepared verycarefully inrelation tothesocial programme.
f/Monetary Policy
Theestablishment ofanindependent monetary system intheSlovak Republic afterseparation from
theCzechoslovak currency required anindependent monetary policy. Thebasic aimsweretostabilize
thenational currency, tominimize theinflationary tendencies, tomaintain thebalance ofpayments,
tostrengthen theforeign exchange reserves andtomaintain theinternal convertibility ofthecurrency.
Theinternal convertibility ofthecurrency wasintroduced from1January 1991 intheformer Czech
andSlovak Federal Republic. Thiswasmaintained alsointheSlovak Republic until1October 1995.
Theinternal convertibility régime oftheSlovak Crown made itpossible forentrepreneurs tomake
theirpayments totheirforeign partners inforeign currencies. These currencies could bepurchased
from thecommercial banks intheSlovak Republic forSlovak Crowns. Ontheother hand the
entrepreneurs wereobliged toselltothebankallforeign currency reserves, except forthecapital share
ofaforeign subject inajoint-venture, ordonations, inheritance ordevise.
Following thegradual programme toachieve thefullconvertibility oftheSlovak Crown, thefactthat
Foreign Exchange ActNo.528/1990 hasnotfullyreflected thestage ofeconomic transformation of
theSlovak Republic, andtocontinue theliberalization offoreign economic relations, anewForeign
Exchange Actcame intoforce on1October 1995. ThisnewActbrings intoeffect theconvertibility
oftheSlovak Crown onthecurrent account ofthebalance ofpayments. Transactions oncapital account
aresubject toNBS'sforeign exchange permission. ThenewForeign Exchange Actallows non-residents
tocarry outfinancial transfers pertaining tocurrent account transactions andalsoallows residents to
carry outpayments abroad. TheForeign Exchange Actequalizes theposition oflegal andnatural
persons, whoareresidents, inexecuting transactions oncurrent account. Trading inforeign securities,
purchase offoreign exchange incash, granting financial credits andguarantee instruments for
non-residents, acceptance offinancial credits from abroad, export/import ofdomestic andforeignTheSlovak Republic WT/TPR/G/7
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currency andopening bankaccounts inforeign currency (except certain exemptions) is,according to
thenewForeign Exchange Act,subject toforeign exchange permission. TheForeign Exchange Act
concerns thefollowing:
-rights andduties ofresidents andnon-residents: trading inforeign exchange assets, acquisition
ofrealestate fornon-residents, acceptance offinancial credits from abroad, investment abroad,
reporting andsurrender requirements, dutytotransfer financial funds, dutytodeposit, operations
oncapital andmoney markets andother foreign exchange relations;
-sphere ofactivity offoreign exchange authorities;
-sphere ofactivity ofcustoms authorities according tothisAct;
-foreign exchange control.
ThenewForeign Exchange Actfulfils theprovisions ofArticle VIIIoftheIMFArticles ofAgreement.
g/Protection oftheIntellectual Property
TheIndustrial Property Office hasbeenestablished toprotect intellectual property rights.
TheSlovak Republic hassigned allimportant multilateral agreements concerning theprotection of
intellectual property. These agreements include theParis, Bern andRome Conventions (with their
revised andamended wordings), aswellastheMadrid, Lisbon andLocarno Agreements andother
bilateral andmultilateral agreements setting therulesfortheprotection ofintellectual property inthe
framework oftheWorld Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Thelegislation oftheSlovak Republic isfullycompatible withthoseagreements andwiththeagreements
concluded intheframework oftheWIPO andtheWTO. TheSlovak Republic guarantees efficient
protection ofintellectual property. IntheSlovak legislation covering thesector ofintellectual property
noregulations areincluded which would notcomply withtheAgreement onTrade-Related Aspects
ofIntellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
II.IMPORT AND EXPORT SYSTEMS AND IMPLEMENTATION OFTRADE POLICY
During thelastfouryears theStatemonopoly inthesector offoreign trade anddomestic supply was
completely dismantled according totheCommercial Code adopted in1991 aswellastoother laws,
andasaconsequence oftheprocess ofprivatization anddemonopolization. State-owned companies
orcompanies withaStateshare, aswellasprivate companies andentrepreneurial subjects, enjoy the
same conditions intheirforeign trade activities. Thetrading system incentrally-planned economies
wasbased onanumber ofState-owned companies withpractically monopoly positions inforeign trade
activities, which werethebridge andatthesame timetheobstacle between domestic producers and
foreign consumers. Atpresent according totheCommercial Code anynatural orjuridical person,
Slovak orothernationality, registered intheRegister ofCompanies maycarryonforeign tradeactivities.
TheSlovakRepublichasnotyetadoptedlegalregulationsforanti-dumpingprocedures,forcountervailing
duties orfortheimplementation ofsafeguard measures. These legalinstruments arebeing prepared
atpresent. Thelegislation inpreparation isbased ontheprinciples oftherespective Agreements under
theWorld Trade Organization.WT/TPR/G/7 Trade Policy Review
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Commitments intheUruguay Round
Pursuing theprinciple oftheopeneconomy, theSlovak Republic supported theliberalization process
intheframework oftheUruguay Round negotiations andparticipated actively inthesuccessful
completion oftheRound; thisisreflected intheSlovak Schedule ofSpecific Commitments andin
theSlovak Schedule. Asfrom 1January 1995 theSlovak Republic became aMember oftheWorld
TradeOrganizationandbeganfulfillingitscommitmentsarisingfromtheUruguayRound.Inaccordance
withthecommitments declared initsSchedule ofTariff Concessions, Slovakia started toreduce the
customs duties forindustrial andagricultural goods. Upon fullimplementation ofSlovakia 'stariff
commitments thesimple average m.f.n. tariff rateforindustrial andagricultural goods willfallto
6.3percent.
Slovakia participated actively intheUruguay Round negotiations ontheliberalization process oftrade
inservices. Obligations oftheSlovak Republic included intheSchedule oftheSpecific Commitments
represent ahighdegree ofliberalization, partly because ofthenumber ofliberalized services andpartly
duetothenumber ofbinding obligations andtheopenmarket approach. In1995 Slovakia actively
participated innegotiations onfinancial services andelaborated anewoffer intheareaoffinancial
services. AnewForeign Exchange Actcontributes totheliberalization intheareaoffinancial services
beyond thecommitments intheSlovak schedule. Slovakia alsoactively participated intheinternational
liberalization process andprepared aconditional offer inthesphere oftelecommunication services.
TheSlovak Republic collects duties inaccordance withm.f.n. treatment towards allWTO Members
andGATT contracting parties andalsotowards those countries where m.f.n. treatment hasbeenagreed
bilaterally. There areonly10countries towhich general tariffs areapplied andfiveofthose receive
preferential treatment according totheGeneral System ofPreferences (GSP).
Exceptions from most-favoured-nation treatment areapplied togoods:
-according totheAgreement establishing theCustoms Union between theCzech Republic and
theSlovak Republic (hereinafter referred toas"theCustoms Union Agreement ”)
-accordingtotheFreeTradeAgreementswiththeEU,EFTA,CEFTA,theRepublicofSlovenia,
andRomania
-according totheGSPscheme
a/Import Régime
Allgoods imported intotheSlovak Republic aresubject tocustoms procedures andaredutiable or
aredutyfreeaccording totheirclassification which isconsistent withtheHarmonized System and
Combined Nomenclature usedbytheEuropean Union (CN).
Ingeneral theimport régime oftheSlovak Republic canbecharacterized byarelatively lowtariff
incidence, 100percenttariff bindings onindustrial goods andagricultural goods, andduetothefact
thatimport licences arerequired onlyforafewimported goods, asarégime withahighlevelofthe
liberalization.
Thisopen import régime isapplied inthesame wayasintheCzech Republic duetotheexistence
oftheCustoms Union.TheSlovak Republic WT/TPR/G/7
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i/Tariff structure
Thetariff structure in1995 ischaracterized byasimple average m.f.n. rateof8percentincluding
agriculture (5.6percentforindustrial products).
However, theweighted average rateforimports ofindustrial products onanm.f.n. basiswasslightly
above 2percentin1994. Thisweighted average willbefurther reduced afterimplementation of
Uruguay Round commitments.
Lowcustoms tariffs aretheresult ofthemanagement offoreign trade inaplanned economy where
tariffs didnothavethefunction ofprotecting domestic production. Although according toawaiver
based onanGATT Article XXVIII, granted bythecontracting parties totheformer CSFR in1992,
some changes weremade incustoms tariffs especially incaseofthemostsensitive products andthe
average customs incidence increased onlyby1percent. TheSlovak Republic hasoneofthelowest
customs tariffs. Allduties areadvalorem.
Seasonal tariffs areapplied intheagricultural sector on12types offruitandvegetables andoncut
flowers. During thegrowing period when theinternal market isnotsupplied bydomestic products
tariff ratesarelowandinmany cases evenzero.
ii/Import surcharge
Asfrom1March 1994atemporary 10percentimport surcharge hasbeenapplied onimports offood
andconsumer goods. Ministry ofFinance Decree No.45/1994 determines exactly onwhich imports
thesurcharge istobeapplied andhowitistobecollected. Theimport surcharge isapplied ina
non-discriminatory manner toallimports irrespective ofthesource ofsupply. Theimport surcharge
hasbeenintroduced incompliance withtheprinciples ofGATT/WTO duetobalance-of-payments
difficulties. Consultations intheBalance-of-Payments Committee regarding theimport surcharge took
place inJune1995 (WTO document WT/BOP/W/5).
iii/GSPScheme
Slovakia currently grants preferential tariffratesunder theGSPScheme toimports from104developing
andother countries and47least-developed countries. Imports ofindustrial aswellasagricultural
products fromtheleast-developed countries aredutyfree.Imports fromdeveloping andother countries
uptothevalue ofUS$2 million foreachunder theGeneral System ofPreferences aresubject to
preferential tariffs onanon-discriminatory basis, andimports exceeding US$2 million aresubject to
them.f.n. tariff rate. Theimplementation oftheGSPisregulated byGovernment Regulation No.
371ofDecember 1994.
iv/Customs Administration
Thecustoms administration isdirected bytheCustoms ActNo.618/1992 Coll. AnewCustoms Act
hasbeenformulated andprepared forapproval inParliament, andisfullyconsistent withtheconclusions
oftheUruguay Round. Administration procedures under theCustoms Actareidentical withthose
oftheCzech Republic andareharmonized withtheEuropean Union. Thecustoms value isdetermined
bythelaw,which isincompliance withtheGATT Customs Value Code aswellaswithrespective
WTO Agreements.WT/TPR/G/7 Trade Policy Review
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v/Rules ofOrigin
TheRules ofOrigin ofthegoods arecontained intheCustom Act,according towhich anon-preferential
andpreferential origin ofthegoods hasbeenspecified. Thepreferential origin ofthegoods isapplied
toimports according totheCustoms Union Agreement, according totheabove mentioned FreeTrade
Agreements andaccording tothescheme oftheGeneral System ofPreferences.
vi/Licensing
Non-automaticimportlicencesarerequiredonlyforafewgoodsparticularlyforreasonsofenvironmental
protection. Automatic import licences areissued forthereason ofmonitoring imports. Licences are
issued bytheMinistry ofEconomy oftheSlovak Republic.
Aspecial licensing system hasbeenintroduced according tointernational conventions fortheexport
andimport of:especially dangerous poisons, toxic substances, psychotropic substances, precursors
andadditional chemical substances, radioactive substances, substances damaging theearth'sozone layer,
armaments, munitions, explosives, armaments andsecurity technology.
vii/Tariff Quotas
Tariff quotas areusedforagricultural products under threedifferent régimes: thetariffquotas resulting
fromtheWTO Agreement onAgriculture, applied onanm.f.n. basis; other m.f.n tariffquotas applied
temporarily where reductions intariffs havebeenagreed; andquotas granted according tocertain
regional agreements.
viii/State Trading
With regard tothespecific situation inagricultural trade, theState Fund ofMarket Regulation has
beenestablished. SFMR mayqualify under theprovisions ofGATT Article XVII. For1995theFund
mayprovide support amounting US$20.31 million anddeals mainly withthese commodities: grains,
sugar, milk, poultry meatandpork. Themainpurpose ofSMFR istosupport andprovide forsmooth
adjustment ofagricultural products, based onthebalance ofproduction andconsumption, tothechanged
market conditions. SMFR doesnotconduct directly anyforeign tradeoperations onitsown. Foreign
tradetransactions undertaken onbehalf oftheFund conform tonormal commercial terms, conditions,
andpractices, including price, profit margins, quality, availability andother regulations. TheSMFR
hasnomonopolistic orexclusive position onthemarket since other traders remain freetoexport or
import oncompetitive terms andunder normal conditions.
ix/Taxes
Inthetaxsystem, which wasreformed in1993according toEuropean standards, theSlovak Republic
applies value added tax(VAT) at6percentonbasic foodstuffs andrawmaterials, medical drugs,
books, spectacles, etc.andalsoforthemajor partofservices. 25percentischarged onother goods
andsome services, e.g.repairing, maintaining, lending. Thevalue added taxisanindirect tax,applied
within thesaleofgoods andwithin provision oftheservices, anditisapplied equally forbothdomestic
andimported products. Theexport ofgoods isnotsubject tothistax.Theprinciples arethesame
asthose inmostEuropean countries. Anamendment tothisAct,prepared bytheGovernment oftheTheSlovak Republic WT/TPR/G/7
Page 9
Slovak Republic, istobeadopted towards theendof1995andincludes adecrease inthetaxratewith
theaimofagradual harmonization withtheEUcountries.
Theexcise taxisapplied tothefollowing domestic orimported goods: hydrocarbon fuelsandlubricants,
beer, wine, spirits andtobacco andtobacco products. Theexcise taxisdetermined byafixed price
foraquantity unit. Itispaidonceupon delivery oftheproduct orupon import anditisincluded in
thebasis forthecalculation ofVAT.
x/Anti-Dumping andSafeguard Measures
TheSlovak Republic hasnotyetintroduced anyanti-dumping investigation procedure, doesnotcollect
countervailing duties, anddoesnotapply anysafeguard measures, which would asaconsequence
complicate access totheSlovak market.
b/Export Régime
Thecontinuous development ofthecompetitiveness ofdomestic production isoneofthemostimportant
rôles oftheSlovak trade policy, taking intoaccount thattheSlovak economy isverysensitive tothe
balance oftrade relations. Theforeign trade isconcentrated ontheincreasing volume ofexports in
GDPwhileincreasingoftheshareofcommoditieswithhighervalueaddedinthestructureoftheexports.
i/Export Tariffs andTaxes
TheSlovak Republic doesnotapply tariffs, taxes orother charges onexports.
ii/Export Restrictions andLicensing
Theexport ofmeat, vegetable products, rawandsawn wood, some foodproducts, rawminerals and
productsofthechemicalindustryincludingpharmaceuticalproducts(liveanimals,milkproducts,cereals,
sugar andmolasses, human blood etc.)isregulated bynon-automatic licences. These areeither basic
foodproducts, goods which areinshort supply domestically, orexhaustible resources. Automatic
licences areapplied tomonitor exports.
There aresome limits posed onexports based onbilateral agreements. Theexport oftextiles andtextile
products fromtheSlovak Republic islimited according tobilateral agreements concluded onthebasis
oftheTextile Agreement withtheUnited States, Canada andNorway. According totheEurope
Agreement establishing anAssociation between theEUandtheSlovak Republic theexport ofthese
products totheEUisalsolimited. These exports aresubject toquotas under thelicensing system.
iii/Export Monopolies
There arenoexport monopolies intheSlovak Republic forexporting orState-owned companies.
iv/Export Promotion
Work hasbeenstarted onascheme forthedevelopment oftheexports, themeasures applied willbe
incompliancewiththeWTOagreements,asforexampleinsuranceoftheexportedgoods,advertisement,
information system, etc.WT/TPR/G/7 Trade Policy Review
Page 10
v/Export Subsidies
Export subsidies wereusedonlytoaminimal extent in1994i.e.onlyforafewagricultural products:
beef,milkandmilkproducts, poultry andeggs, apple concentrate, natural honey, canned meat, starch
andmalt, toatotalvalue ofaround US$9.7 million. Thevolume ofexport subsidies provided during
1995 corresponds tothecommitments made bytheSlovak Republic intheUruguay Round.
III.TRADE POLICY FRAMEWORK
a/Domestic Laws andRegulations Governing theApplication oftheTrade Policy
i/Basic Actsconcerning Trade Policy
Themost important legalinstruments regulating theimplementation ofthetrade policy are:
-Commercial Code andCivil Code
-Customs Act
-Anti-Monopoly Act
-Foreign Exchange Act
-ActontheNational Bank oftheSlovak Republic
-Small-Scale Privatization ActandLarge-Scale Privatization Act
-TheValue Added TaxAct
-TheExcise Duty Act
-LawonBankruptcy
Thebasic legislation iscomplemented bydecrees oftheGovernment oftheSlovak Republic and
regulations oftherelated ministries issued onthebasis oftheirlegalmandate.
ii/National Legal Framework
TheSlovak Republic isasovereign democratic State. Thebasic constitutional principles arecovered
bytheConstitution oftheSlovak Republic, adopted bytheNational Council oftheSlovak Republic
on1September 1992 andannounced intheCollection ofActsunder No.460/1993.
TheHead ofStateisthePresident, elected bytheNational Council forafive-year period. ThePresident
isentitled incaseofdisagreement orobjections toanadopted lawtoreturn thislawbacktotheNational
Councilforfurthernegotiation;appointsandrecallsthePrimeMinisterandmembersoftheGovernment;
gives mandates tomembers oftheGovernment tomanage theministries; andalsoappoints andrecalls
theChairman oftheConstitutional Court andjudges oftheother Courts.
Theonlylegislative body istheNational Council oftheSlovak Republic. The150members of
Parliament areelected ingeneral elections forafour-year period. TheNational Council oftheSlovak
Republic isentitled to:
-passlaws;
-electandrecall thePresident;
-giveapproval tointernational agreements before theirratification bythePresident;
-debate theProgramme oftheGovernment andtoexamine itsfulfilment;TheSlovak Republic WT/TPR/G/7
Page 11
-adopt theState Budget;
-express confidence orlackofconfidence intheGovernment anditsmembers.
TheGovernment oftheSlovak Republic isthesupreme executive body andisentitled to:
-giveapproval tobillsandsubmit them totheNational Council;
-prepare andsubmit theproposed State Budget totheNational Council;
-prepare anddecide oninternational agreements under themandate given bythePresident;
-decide onimportant measures ofeconomic andsocial, internal andforeign policy;
-appoint andrecall Civil Servants.
iii/Legislation Process
TheConstitution isthesupreme lawoftheSlovak Republic. According toArticle 11oftheConstitution
theInternational Agreements onHuman Rights andBasic Freedoms published intheCollection of
Laws oftheSlovak Republic andratified bytheGovernment oftheSlovak Republic constitute the
onlyexception.
TheGovernment astheSupreme Executive Body isentitled tosubmit billstotheNational Council.
Theprocess ofpreparation andreview ofabillisregulated bythelegislative rulesoftheGovernment.
Thebasic principles ofabillandthebillsthemselves arenormally prepared bytheministries. The
billsaredebated andevaluated bytheLegislation Council oftheGovernment prior totheiradoption
bytheGovernment. Thebillapproved bytheGovernment ispresented totheNational Council by
thePrime Minister. During thefirststage thebillisexamined bytheparliamentary Committees and
thenitispresented totheplenary session oftheParliament. Passed billsareendorsed bythePresident,
theChairman oftheParliament andbythePrime Minister andtheyarepublished intheCollection
ofLaws. TheGovernment isentitled toissue regulations fortheimplementation ofthelaw. These
regulations areendorsed bythePrime Minister andtheyarepublished intheCollection ofLaws of
theSlovak Republic (decrees, orders). They become legally valid onlyupon theirpublication inthe
Collection ofLaws. Therepeal ofalawimplies therepeal ofalldecrees issued fortheimplementation
ofthelaw.
International agreements aresubject toratification bytheNational Council, theyarepublished inthe
Collection ofLaws andendorsed bythePresident. Inter-governmental agreements areendorsed by
thePrime Minister andpublished intheCollection ofLaws. Thejudicial administration intheSlovak
Republic ishandled byindependent andneutral Courts. Thejudiciary isonalllevels independent
fromanyother public body. Thesupreme body inthejudicial structure istheSupreme Court ofthe
Slovak Republic.
TheConstitution oftheSlovak Republic guarantees, inArticle 144,fullindependence ofjudges and
courts. Itstipulates thatthejudges areindependent andcommitted onlytothelaws, i.e. the
Constitution, constitutional Actsandother laws. According toArticle 11,ortotheindividual law,
judges arecommitted alsotointernational agreements.
b/Institutional Framework
According tothelawoftheNational Council oftheSlovak Republic ontheorganization ofministries
andotherbodies ofpublic administration, thepreparation andimplementation oftheforeign tradepolicyWT/TPR/G/7 Trade Policy Review
Page 12
isinthecompetenceoftheMinistryofEconomy,whichshallco-operatewithotherrespectiveministries.
TheMinistry ofFinance covers finance, priceandcustoms policy, insurance andsavings, thebanking
sector, foreign exchange policy andcontrol. TheMinistry ofAgriculture covers agricultural trade
policy; theMinistry ofForeign Affairs covers foreign policy andrelations andinternational agreements;
theNational Bank oftheSlovak Republic covers thebanking sector andforeign exchange policy; the
Ministry forAdministration andPrivatization oftheNational Property oftheSlovak Republic monitors
theprivatizationofState-ownedcompanies;theAntimonopolyOfficecoversprotectionofthecompetitive
environment; theSlovak National Agency forForeign Investment andDevelopment ischarged with
thepromotion oftheforeign investment.
c/Trade Agreements
i/Multilateral Trade Agreements
TheSlovak Republic iscontracting party totheGATT 1947aswellasfourTokyo Rounds Agreements
(Anti-Dumping Code, Agreement onImport Licensing Procedures, Customs Valuation Code and
Agreement onTechnical Barriers toTrade). TheSlovak Republic isanoriginal Member oftheWTO
asfrom 1January 1995.
ii/Regional Agreements
ThefactthattheSlovak Republic ishighly interrelated economically withitsneighbours andhasa
highdegree ofopenness ofitseconomy, makes itobvious thatastable andliberalized economic
environment isvitalfortheSlovak Republic. Integration groups areconsidered asafactor forthe
achievement ofsustainable economic growth, growth ofemployment, increase incompetitiveness and
forefficient allocation ofresources intheprocess ofeconomic transformation. Forthese reasons the
Slovak Republic plays anactive rôleatabilateral andmultilateral leveltoachieve anopen, liberalized
andnon-discriminatory trade environment.
TheSlovak Republic hasconcluded intheframework oftheprocess ofintegration sixfree-trade
agreements which comply withArticle XXIV ofGATT 1994. Exports ofgoods totheterritories of
theparties tothese agreements in1994 represented 83percentoftotalexports, while imports from
these territories represented only70percentoftotalimports.
Thefollowing agreements were concluded:
a)Agreement establishing theCustoms Union between theCzech andSlovak Republics
TheCustoms Union Agreement between theCzech Republic andtheSlovak Republic wasconcluded
incompliance withGATT Article XXIV andentered intoforce inJanuary 1993. TheAgreement is
important formaintaining traditional traderelations between thesetworepublics. Themaininstrument
isthefreemovement ofindustrial andagricultural goods andservices intheterritories ofbothrepublics.
Thepowers oftheCouncil oftheCustoms Union are:
-co-ordination offoreign trade andcustoms policy;
-dealing withtheprocedural questions ofthefunctioning oftheCustoms Union;
-implementation ofcommon customs tariffs andtrade measures;TheSlovak Republic WT/TPR/G/7
Page 13
-preparation oftheAnnual Report ontheimplementation oftheAgreement;
Theexecutive body oftheCouncil oftheCustoms Union isthePermanent Secretariat withthe
headquarters inBratislava, capital oftheSlovak Republic. Thetrade inagricultural products within
theCustoms Union isregulated bytheAgreement onCooperation inAgriculture.
b)TheEurope Agreement
TheEuropeAgreementestablishinganAssociationbetweentheEuropeanUnionandtheSlovakRepublic
wasconcluded on4October 1993 andentered intoforce on1February 1995 afterthecompletion of
theratification process. Inthepolitical partoftheAgreement itisstressed thatbythesignature of
theAgreement theParties totheAgreement expressed theircommon willingness tocontinue theprocess
offurther harmonization inpolitical dialogue andco-operation inthesector ofculture, science and
technology.
Thecommercial partoftheEurope Agreement includes theInterim Agreement onTrade andTrade
related Matters. ThisInterim Agreement entered intoforce in1992. Itcreates aFreeTrade Zone
foratransition period oftenyears. During thistransition period tariff andnon-tariff barriers totrade
willbeeliminated. Thecommercial partoftheAgreement setsquotas forsensitive products, tariff
ratesandtariff ceilings. From 1January 1995 exports ofindustrial goods totheEUaredutyfree.
Textile products constitute anexception, thedutyonwhich shallbeeliminated by1January 1997.
TheAgreement setsconcessions onareciprocal basis foragricultural products. These concessions
arenowbeing revised withregard totherealization oftheconclusions oftheUruguay Round.
c)TheFreeTrade Agreement withtheEFTA Countries
TheAgreement onfreetrade withtheEFTA countries wassigned inMarch 1992 andentered into
force on1July1992. TheSlovak Republic, asoneofthesuccessor countries oftheCzech andSlovak
Federal Republic, tookovertheobligations andrights arising fromthisAgreement ongrounds oflegal
succession. TheProtocol onSuccession wassigned on19April 1994 afteramending thetextofthe
Agreement inrelation totheSlovak Republic asaParty totheAgreement. Thesuccession tothe
Agricultural Agreements concluded between former CSFR andtheEFTA countries onabilateral level
wascompleted bytheexchange ofVerbal Notes in1993.
Thetransition period shalllasttenyears. Upon entry intoforce oftheAgreement tariffmeasures were
considerably liberalized andthequantitative restrictions totradewereeliminated except forafewspecial
cases.TheAgreementalsoregulates,asintheEuropeAgreement,mattersofadministrativeco-operation
intheareas ofcustoms procedures; rules oforigin; technical barriers totrade andtheirelimination
through theharmonization ofstandards andtesting procedures; issues ofcompetition andState aid;
intellectual property rights; andthepromotion ofstructural changes intheSlovak economy. Asin
theEurope Agreement thisAgreement keeps some elements ofasymmetry inopening markets tothe
advantage ofSlovakia.
Theremaining EFTA countries, except forNorway, eliminated by1January 1995 themajority of
tariffs andquantitative restrictions forSlovak imports. InthecaseofNorway there arequantitative
restrictions forfourcategories oftextile. Asfrom 1January 1995 many changes intrade relations
withtheEFTA countries haveoccurred. Three former member countries oftheEFTA arenowmembersWT/TPR/G/7 Trade Policy Review
Page 14
oftheEU,which hashadaneffect ontrade relations. Theshare oftheremaining EFTA countries
ontheforeign trade turnover oftheSlovak Republic in1994 amounted toapproximately 3percent.
d)Central European FreeTrade Agreement
TheCEFTA wassigned inKrakow on21December 1992 andentered intoforce on1March 1993.
TheSlovak Republic 'sforeign-trade turnover withtheParties totheCEFTA amounted to40percent
ofthetotalturnover. Therepresentatives oftheParties totheAgreement, atthesametime, alsosigned
theJointDeclaration, inwhich theyexpressed theirinterests infurther negotiations aiming atcontinued
liberalization oftrade andtheshortening ofthetransition period from 8to5years. Theobjective
ofthisstepwastoimprove themutual conditions oftrade bymeans oftheelimination oratleast
reduction oftrade barriers through theextension oftariff concessions. During further negotiations
thetransition period wasshortened, theprocess oftariffelimination wasaccelerated andtheconcessions
wereextended. Asfrom 1January 1997 almost allduties inmutual trade inindustrial products will
beeliminated. Inafewexceptional casesthedutywillbeeliminated by1January 2001. TheAgreement
contains concessions onareciprocal basisforagriculture products. These concessions arenowunder
consideration forfurther liberalization, according totheDeclaration ofMinisters ofAgriculture of
theCEFTA countries which deals withtheprogressive liberalization ofagriculture products.
e)FreeTrade Agreement withtheRepublic ofSlovenia
TheAgreement wassigned inBratislava inDecember 1993andentered intoforce on1January 1994.
Theobjective oftheAgreement istocreate afree-trade zoneduring atwo-year transition period. On
1January 1994 themajority ofduties onindustrial products wereeliminated. Theremaining duties
willbeeliminated during thetwo-year transition period. Inthefirstyearofthetransition period the
duties were reduced to50percentofthebasic tariff rate,inthesecond yeartheywere reduced to
25percentandbythebeginning ofthethirdyeartheduties willbeeliminated. Private carsconstitute
theonlyexception among industrial products. Inthiscaseasix-year transition period fortheelimination
ofduties hasbeenagreed.
Thehighdegree ofsensitivity oftheagricultural andfoodmarket isreflected intherelatively lowlevels
ofmutual concessions offered. However, according totheCEFTA Declaration, which deals withthe
progressive liberalization ofagricultural products, thissector isalsotobeliberalized.
f)TheFreeTrade Agreement withRomania
TheAgreement wassigned inBucharest inNovember 1994andentered intoforce on1January 1995.
Theobjective oftheAgreement istocreate afree-trade zoneforindustrial products. Thisobjective
hastobeachieved during athree-year transition period asfrom1January 1998. AsintheAgreement
withSlovenia private carsconstitute theonlyexception intheliberalization process. Thefullelimination
ofduties isexpected for2002. Freetrade inagricultural products isnotexpected andtheextent of
mutual concessions foragricultural products isquitelimited. Atthetimeofsigning oftheAgreement
theParties totheAgreement expressed theirinterest infurther liberalization oftrade inagricultural
products.TheSlovak Republic WT/TPR/G/7
Page 15
ii/Bilateral Trade Agreements
TheSlovak Republic hasacceded toorsigned approximately 40bilateral agreements generally based
onproviding reciprocal m.f.n. treatment.
B.BACKGROUND FORTHEASSESSMENT OFTRADE POLICIES
I.RECENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS
a/Some Macroeconomic Indicators
TheGDPamountedtoUS$5.88billion(constantprices)in1994,whichconstitutesanincreaseof4.8per
centcompared with1993. Therateofinflation declined to13.4percentcompared with23.2percent
in1993; therateofunemployment increased by1.9points andstood at14.8percenton31December
1994, which represents 363,000 people. Withavalue ofexports ofUS$6.7 billion andanactive balance
for1994, theopenness oftheSlovak economy (theshare ofexports inGDPatcurrent prices) achieved
53.8percentin1994. In1993theratewas49.3percent. TheStatebudget deficit in1994amounted
toUS$0.71 billion, which is5.8percentofGDP.
Favourable developments inthenational economy havealsobeenrecorded during thefirsthalfof1995.
RealGDP growth hasreached anaverage of6.2percentandpredictions indicate thatthistrend will
continue throughout theyear. Therateofinflation fellbelow 10percentforthefirsttimeinJuly
1995 andtheaverage rateisoscillating slightly above 11percent. Theunemployment rateisstill
relatively highbutsome signs ofstabilization below thelevelof14percenthavebeenrecorded. In
spiteofthefactthatthetrade balance hasrecorded aslight deficit (Sk$-0.6 billion) during thefirst
halfoftheyear, export performance measured byshare ofGDP increased to54.5percent. Aslight
surplus intheState budget wasalsorecorded inJune.
Amacroeconomic framework hasbeenadopted for1995 which seeks tomaintain andprogressively
dynamize productivity inorder toachieve a5percentannual growth ofGDPinconstant prices. The
rateofunemployment should bereduced tolessthan13percent,therateofinflation should notexceed
10percentandtheshare oftheState budget deficit inGDP (according toIMFmethods) should not
exceed 3percent.
Demand forinvestment increased continuously during 1994. Thetotalvalue ofinvested capital reached
US$3.9 billion in1994, anincrease of7.6percentincurrent price terms compared with1993, and
arealvolume growth of2.1percent. Intheprivate sector thedevelopment ofinvestment activities
wasmore intensive. Thevolume ofinvested capital increased by39.2percentinconstant prices
compared with1993. Material investment accounted for97.4percentofthetotalvolume. Compared
to1993 investment inconstruction, machinery andequipment decreased.
Private consumption in1994decreased by3.4percent(constant prices) andby13.4percent(current
prices) compared with1993. Theresults ofeconomic organizations in1994 confirm thefirstsigns
ofarevival intheeconomy, thatcanbesummarized asfollows:
-theshare oftheprocessing industry, oftradeandofrealestate inthestructure ofprofits increased
-themajor partofprofits -77.9percent-wasmade intheenergy sector (electricity, water, gas)WT/TPR/G/7 Trade Policy Review
Page 16
-arevival ofproduction wasobserved inthechemical industry, pharmaceutical industry, paper
andprinting industry, aswellasinmetal production
-income from tourism increased.
Theforeign policy, thetrade policy, theindustrial policy, theagricultural policy, thetransport and
infrastructure policy, financial andmonetary policy withtheir instruments aimatachieving these
objectives.
b/Privatization
Privatization isoneofthekeyelements inthetransformation process andasabasic condition ofthe
realtransition fromthecentrally-planned economy toamarket economy. Abasic strategy inthisarea
hasbeenformulated inrespective legislation.
Thetransfer ofState-owned enterprises toprivate ownership hasbeenperformed intwoways: Small-
Scale andLarge-Scale privatization.
Small-Scale privatization started attheendof1990 andwasorganized mainly intheform ofpublic
auctions. Thisprocess resulted inthecreation ofalmost 10,000 privatized enterprises atavalue of
US$500 million. Themajor partofprivatized enterprises werebusiness unitsinbranches ofservices,
tradeandsmall-scale production units, small andmedium-sized shops, small andlargestores, tourism
andtransportation facilities. Thesmall-scale privatization wasfinished inMarch 1994.
TheActNo.92/1991 Coll. oftheNational Council oftheSlovak Republic withrespective amendments,
regulates thecourse oftransferring theStateproperty totheownership ofdomestic andforeign legal
ornaturalpersons.Large-ScaleprivatizationcoveringthepropertyoftheStateenterprises,Statefinancial
institutions, Stateinsurance companies, foreign tradecompanies andotherStateorganizations isalong-
termprocess andmuch more demanding. Therefore, ithasbeendivided intoseveral stages orwaves.
Each stage, being continuously linked, canbecharacterized bytheprevailing privatization method.
Thefirstwave preferred avoucher method respecting mainly thesocial aspect, aiming atpartial
compensation ofthepopulation aswellasthecreation ofapositive environment forprivatization.
However, thismethod hadnotsufficiently reflected thespecification ofindividual branches. Thefirst
wave ofprivatization wasfinished inOctober 1993 andatotalnumber of678State enterprises ata
value ofUS$5.3 bil.were privatized.
Thesecond wave, being currently implemented, prefers standard methods andnon-standard method
isapplied asasupplementary element only. Theconcept ofcontinuing privatization contains
676enterprises atthevalue US$6 billion.
c/Foreign Direct Investment
Given thelimited internal capital resources, thedevelopment ofacompetitive, prosperous andefficient
Slovak economy requires theparticipation offoreign capital.
Thevolume offoreign capital investment intheSlovak Republic iscontinuously increasing. On30June
1995 itamounted toUS$585.1 million. Foreign capital hadbeeninvested in8,079 organizations in
theSlovak Republic. Germany stillholds firstplace asthecountry withthemajor share ofinvestedTheSlovak Republic WT/TPR/G/7
Page 17
capital; followed byAustria, theCzech Republic, theUnited States andFrance. Investors from
85countries haveinvested intheSlovak Republic. Theforeign capital isallocated mainly toindustrial
production, trade andservices andtothebanking sector. Thebasic principle isthecreation ofa
comprehensive system andequal conditions fornational andforeign subjects. International agreements
onprotection andpromotion offoreign investment anddouble taxation agreements areimportant
instruments forthepromotion offoreign investment. TheSlovak Republic hassigned suchagreements
with27countries (seeannex).
II.THE EXTERNAL ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
a/Major Trends inForeign Trade
Theforeign-trade turnover in1994 increased by17.7percentcompared totheprevious yearand
amounted toUS$13.34 billion. Acharacteristic feature inthedevelopment oftrade relations wasthe
reorientation ofexports andimports tothemarkets ofdeveloped countries. Ofthetotalincrease in
theforeign-trade turnover thedeveloped countries accounted for79percentandtheeconomies in
transition accounted foronly17percent(including trade withtheCzech Republic). Thedeveloping
countries accounted for4percent.
i/Imports
Thevalue ofimports totheSlovak Republic increased in1994 by8.6percentcompared withthe
previous yearandamounted toUS$6.6 billion. Asignificant characteristic ofthese imports isthat
there wasanabsolute decrease ofimports from transition economies byUS$0.14 billion, butatthe
sametimeimportsfromdevelopedeconomiesincreasedbyoverfourtimesinabsolutevalue,andimports
from developing countries showed arelatively moderate increase.
Theimportsfromdevelopedeconomiesincreasedin1994byUS$0.62billioncomparedwiththeprevious
year, imports fromtheEUmade up77percentofthisincrease, imports fromtheUnited States made
up13percentandtheshare ofEFTA was7percent. Imports fromdeveloping countries increased
in1994 byUS$0.03 billion compared withtheprevious year. TheAmerican developing countries
made up51percent, theAsian developing countries made up34percentandtheAfrican countries
made up15percentofthisincrease.
ii/Exports
Thevalue ofSlovak Republic exports in1994 amounted toUS$6.7 billion, which constitutes a
27.8percentincrease compared withtheprevious year. Theabsolute increase inexports in1994
amounted toUS$1.47 billion, 64percentofwhich wasdirected tothemarkets ofthedeveloped
economies, 32percentwasexported totheeconomies intransition (ofwhich 18.6percenttotheCzech
Republic) and4percenttothedeveloping countries. Theincrease inexports oftheSlovak Republic
tothecountries withdeveloped market economies amounted toUS$0.91 billion. Themajority ofthese
exports -77percentwasdirected totheEU,7percenttoEFTA and16percenttoother developed
countries, ofwhich 10percentwasexported totheUnited States andCanada. Exports tothetransition
economies increased in1994 byUS$0.45 billion. Theshare oftheCzech Republic inthese exports
was63percent, Hungary accounted for26.8percentandPoland for7.7percent. Theremaining
3.5percentwereexported toother transition economies. Theshare oftheRussian Federation inthe
increase ofexports oftheSlovak Republic in1994 was6.4percent.WT/TPR/G/7 Trade Policy Review
Page 18
Theforeign tradebalance oftheSlovak Republic in1994waspositive withasurplus ofUS$80 million,
which meant animprovement incomparison with1993. Trade turnover increased byUS$2 bil.in
1994. Trade withthetransforming economies accounted for63percentofthisincrease (ofwhich
theCzech Republic accounted for52percent); trade withthedeveloped economies accounts for
34percent. Germany, Austria, ItalyandCanada hadthelargest shares inthisincrease. Trade with
developing countries accounted for3percentoftheincrease.
From thepoint ofview ofcommodity structure, trade insemi-finished products accounted for
40percent,chemicals for21percent,machines andtransport devices for17percentandindustrial
products accounted for11percentoftheabove-mentioned increase.
iii/Development inForeign Trade Structure
Thecommodity structure ofexports andtheimports hasnotsubstantially changed compared withthe
previous years. Thesurplus in1994 wasmainly supported bysemi-finished products classified by
thematerials andbyindustrial consumer goods. Allother SITC commodity groups recorded adeficit.
These weremainly mineral fuelsandlubricants (mineral oils,natural gas,coal)machines andtransport
equipment (boilers forcentral heating, gasgenerators andturbines, aircraft engines, pumps, sewing
machines, office machines andtoolmachines, motor vehicles andaircraft), food(rice, oils,sugar,
milkandcreampowder,butter,coffee,margarine,yoghurt,fishfillets),liveanimals,beverages,tobacco.
Thus, foreign tradein1994wasinfluenced mainly bysemi-finished products classified bythematerials
andtherôleofmachinery andtransport equipment isbecoming more important.
Analysis ofthecommodity structure shows thattheincrease inassets, realized through exports ofsemi-
finished products andproducts withalower value added tothedeveloped countries ofEurope butalso
totheUnited States andJapan, wascompensated byimports ofmachines andtransport equipment and
ofmineral fuelsespecially from theRussian Federation.
b/Balance ofPayments
In1993thedevelopment ofthetradebalance andofthebalance ofpayments wasnegative. Theforeign
exchange reserves oftheNational Bank oftheSlovak Republic showed afalling tendency anddespite
foreign loans andrestrictive measures didnotachieve asatisfactory level. Thistendency continued
inthefirstmonths of1994. Therefore theGovernment oftheSlovak Republic decided tointroduce
a10percentimport surcharge toprotect thebalance ofpayments. Thismeasure hadapositive influence
oneconomicdevelopmentin1994,itinfluencedpositivelythebalanceofpaymentsandthetradebalance.
Thebalance ofpayments achieved asurplus ofUS$0.8 billion. Theimprovement wasmainly due
tothedevelopment ofservices (theshare ofservices inthetotalbalance ofpayments was49percent)
andduetothedynamic growth ofexports. Thedrawing offoreign credits andthespreading outof
foreign debtinstalments alsocontributed totheimprovement. Despite theabove mentioned positive
developments continuing alsoin1995, theSlovak Government considers theresults asfragile. As
acertain acceleration intherecovery process oftheindustrial production ispredicted, theGovernment
alsoexpects ahigher rateofinvestment, andchanges intheexport structure totheadvantage ofproducts
withhigher value added. Consequently itisexpected thatimport demand willincrease in1995,
especially theimports forinvestments, technological restructuring, etc.,which willputpressure on
theforeign exchange reserves.TheSlovak Republic WT/TPR/G/7
Page 19
c/Exchange Rate
TheSlovakkorunaispeggedtoacurrencybasketcomprisingtheUSdollar(40percent)andtheGerman
Mark (60percent). Following a10percentdevaluation inJuly1993, theKoruna value against the
basket remained unchanged. AttheendofSeptember 1995, theexchange ratewasSk$29.52 perUS$1.
d/Foreign Exchange Reserves
Apattern ofstabilization inforeign exchange reserves hasbeenrecorded. Official reserves reached
US$2.5 billion attheendofJune1995, equal to3.1months ofgoods andservices.
e/Foreign Debt
Slovakia ´sexternal debtattheendofJune1995 wasequal toUS$5 billion.WT/TPR/G/7 Trade Policy Review
Page 20TheSlovak Republic WT/TPR/G/7
Page 21
Table 1 Sectoral structure oftheSlovak Foreign Trade in1994
Exports Imports Balance
SkMn US$Mn%of
totalSkMn. US$Mn.%of
totalSkMn. US$Mn.
Total 214,375 6,727 100 211,811 6,601 100 2,564 80
Agriculture 4,111 129 1.91 6,677 208 3.16 -2,566 -80
Food-processing industry 9,320 292 4.32 14,306 446 6.76 -4,986 -156
Chemical industry 36,661 1,150 17.01 27,136 846 12.83 9,524 298
Pharmaceutical industry 3,943 124 1.83 5,254 164 2.48 -1,312 -41
Forestry 1,124 35 0.52 172 5 0.08 953 30
Wood-processing industry 7,288 229 3.38 1,598 50 0.76 5,690 178
Paper andpulpindustry 8,344 262 3.87 4,510 141 2.13 3,834 120
Printing 2,289 72 1.06 1,426 44 0.67 864 27
Textiles industry 6,443 202 2.99 7,033 219 3.32 -590 -18
Ready-made clothing 5,787 182 2.69 1,277 40 0.6 4,511 141
Leather industry 4,904 154 2.28 2,158 67 1.02 2,746 86
Glass, ceramics andporcelain 3,789 119 1.76 1,443 45 0.68 2,345 73
Fuel 9,903 311 4.6 41,414 1,291 19.57 -31,511 -985
Energy 0 0 0 315 10 0.15 -315 -10
Ferrous metalurgy 38,650 1,213 17.93 13,204 411 6.24 25,445 795
Non-ferrous metalurgy 5,154 162 2.39 5,363 167 2.53 -209 -7
Metal-processing industry 10,189 320 4.73 7,420 231 3.51 2,770 87
Machinery 39,727 1,247 18,43 45,787 1,427 21.64 -6,060 -189
Electrical engineering 9,952 312 4.62 19,524 608 9.23 -9,572 -299
Building materials 6,087 191 2.82 2,330 73 1.1 3,757 117
Other industrial production 710 22 0.86 3,464 108 1.52 -2,754 -86
1993 1994 1995
Export: US$1 = Sk30.79 31.87 31.87
Import: Sk30.79 32.09 32.09
Middle: Sk30.79 32.00 32.00Table 2 Foreign Trade oftheSlovak Republic bySITCWT/TPR/G/7 Trade Policy Review
Page 22
1993 1994 January-July 1995 Index 1994/93
SkMn. % US$Mn. SkMn. % US$Mn. SkMn. % US$Mn.
Imports 195,034 100 6,334 211,811 100 6,601 144,153 100 4,492 108.6
Food andliveanimals 14,293 7.3 464 14,696 6.9 458 10,177 7.1 317 102.8
Beverages andtobacco 2,839 1.5 92 2,734 1.3 85 1,669 1.2 52 96.3
Crude materials 10,054 5.2 327 11,175 5..3 348 8,391 5.8 261 111.1
Fuels andrelated products 40,770 20.9 1,324 40,796 19.3 1,271 25,997 18.0 810 100.1
Animal andplant oils,fats,etc. 481 0.2 16 608 0.3 19 277 0.2 9 126.4
Chemicals andrelated products 22,168 11.4 720 27,928 13.2 870 20,772 14.4 647 126.0
Intermediate manufactured products 29,457 15.1 957 35,681 16.8 1,112 25,318 17.6 789 121.1
Machinery andtransport equipment 57,049 29.3 1,853 58,609 27.7 1,826 40,502 28.1 1,262 102.7
Miscellaneous manufactured articles 17,585 9.0 571 19,216 9.1 599 10,893 7.6 339 109.3
Other commodities andproducts oftrade 338 0.2 11 368 0.2 11 157 0.1 5 108.9
Exports 167,724 100 5,447 214,375 100 6,727 143,669 100 4,508 127.8
Food andliveanimals 9,216 5.5 299 9,717 4.5 305 5,930 4.1 186 105.4
Beverages andtobacco 1,480 0.9 48 2,011 0.9 63 1,038 0.7 33 135.9
Crude materials 8,251 4.9 268 10,974 5.1 344 7,543 5.3 237 133.0
Fuels andrelated products 8,254 4.9 268 9,944 4.6 312 6,367 4.4 200 120.5
Animal andplant oils,fats,etc. 172 0.1 6 218 0.1 7 123 0.1 4 126.7
Chemicals andrelated products 20,155 12.0 655 27,625 12.9 867 19,513 13.6 612 137.1
Intermediate manufactured products 64,999 38.8 2,111 84,385 39.4 2,648 58,418 40.7 1,833 129.8
Machinery andtransport equipment 32,560 19.4 1,057 40,735 19.0 1,278 26,886 18.7 844 125.1
Miscellaneous manufactured articles 22,493 13.4 731 28,634 13.4 898 17,812 12.4 559 127.3
Other commodities andproducts oftrade 146 0.1 5 132 0.1 4 39 0.0 1 90.4
Turnover 362,758 100 11,782 426,186 100 13,318 287,822 100 8,994 117.5
Food andliveanimals 23,509 6.5 764 24,412 5.7 763 16,107 5.6 503 103.8
Beverages andtobacco 4,319 1.2 140 4,745 1.1 148 2,707 0.9 85 109.9
Crude materials 18,305 5.0 595 22,149 5.2 692 15,934 5.5 498 121.0
Fuels andrelated products 49,024 13.5 1,592 50,740 11.9 1,586 32,364 11.2 1,011 103.5
Animal andplant oils,fats,etc. 652 0.2 21 826 0.2 26 400 0.1 13 126.7
Chemicals andrelated products 42,324 11.7 1,375 55,553 13.0 1,736 40,285 14.0 1,259 131.3
Intermediate manufactured products 94,456 26.0 3,068 120,066 28.2 3,752 83,737 29.1 2,617 127.1
Machinery andtransport equipment 89,609 24.7 2,910 99,344 23.3 3,105 67,388 23.4 2,106 110.9
Miscellaneous manufactured articles 40,077 11.0 1,302 47,850 11.2 1,495 28,705 10.0 897 119.4
Other commodities andproducts oftrade 484 0.1 16 500 0.1 16 196 0.1 6 103.3TheSlovak Republic WT/TPR/G/7
Page 23
Table 3 Balance bySITC
1993 1994 January-July 1995
SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn US$Mn.
Balance (Total) -27,310 -887 2,564 80 -484 -15
Food andliveanimals -5,077 -165 -4,979 -156 -4,247 -133
Beverages andtobacco -1,360 -44 -724 -23 -631 -20
Crude materials -1,803 -59 -201 -6 -847 -26
Fuels andrelated products -32,517 -1,056 -30,852 -964 -19,629 -613
Animal andplant oils,fats,etc. -309 -10 -390 -12 -153 -5
Chemicals andrelated products -2,013 -65 -303 -9 -1,259 -39
Intermediate manufactured products 35,543 1,154 48,703 1,522 33,100 1,034
Machinery andtransport equipment -24,489 -795 -17,874 -559 -13,617 -426
Miscellaneous manufactured articles 4,908 159 9,419 294 6,920 216
Other commodities andproducts oftrade -193 -6 -234 -7 -120 -4WT/TPR/G/7 Trade Policy Review
Page 24
Table 4 Balance oftheForeign Trade oftheSlovak Republic
1993 1994 January-July 1994 January-July 1995
SkMn. US$Mn SkMn.US$
Mn.SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn.US$
Mn.
Total balance -27,310 -887 2,564 80 533 17 -484 -15
Share of:
CEFTA: 7,015.3 227.8 25,957.4 811.2 13,336.3 416.8 15,237.7 476.2
Czech Republic 1,089.1 35.4 17,424.4 544.5 8,817.9 275.6 10,016.7 313.0
Hungary 5,011.5 162.8 8,169.6 255.3 4,620.1 144.4 3,524.1 110.1
Poland 1,100.4 35.7 1,018.0 31.8 268.0 8.4 2,104.6 65.8
OECD (total): -9,935.9 -322.7 -375.4 -11.7 1,387.6 43.4 752.2 23.5
EU: -4,920.3 -159.8 4,137.0 129.3 3,488.4 109.0 4,818.1 150.6
Belgium -17.1 -0.6 146.2 4.6 166.4 5.2 -299.2 -9.4
Germany 3,217.3 104.5 8,196.5 256.1 4,755.2 148.6 7,122.9 222.6
Denmark -593.0 -19.3 -667.9 -20.9 -332.9 -10.4 -407.7 -12.7
Spain -242.2 -7.9 -8.6 -0.3 -46.7 -1.5 258.1 8.1
France -273.6 -8.9 -1,100.4 -34.4 -601.0 -18.8 -243.6 -7.6
United Kingdom -753.7 -24.5 -642.9 -20.1 -59.0 -1.8 -424.5 -13.3
Greece 126.7 4.1 344.4 10.8 158.4 5.0 266.8 8.3
Ireland -187.2 -6.1 -283.9 -8.9 -159.1 -5.0 -94.9 -3.0
Italy -1,269.5 -41.2 -42.5 -1.3 228.2 7.1 350.0 10.9
Luxembourg 8.5 0.3 -77.5 -2.4 35.3 1.1 6.5 0.2
Netherlands 93.2 3.0 285.2 8.9 303.1 9.5 5.7 0.2
Portugal 31.8 1.0 139.0 4.3 109.7 3.4 103.6 3.2
Austria -3,808.8 -123.7 -966.5 -30.2 -386.9 -12.1 -635.1 -19.8
Finland -914.1 -29.7 -1,070.5 -33.5 -607.0 -19.0 -510.7 -16.0
Sweden -338.6 -11.0 -113.4 -3.5 -75.2 -2.4 -679.8 -21.2
EFTA: -1,715.8 -55.7 -1,528.0 -47.8 -842.6 -26.3 -1,183.7 -37.0
Switzerland -1,374.5 -44.6 -1,564.2 -48.9 -809.4 -25.3 -1,215.9 -38.0
Iceland 7.9 0.3 24.6 0.8 12.3 0.4 9.6 0.3
Liechtenstein -26.1 -0.8 37.2 1.2 -2.2 -0.1 62.1 1.9
Norway -323.1 -10.5 -25.6 -0.8 -43.3 -1.4 -39.5 -1.2
Other OECD
countries:
Australia -207.3 -6.7 -241.6 -7.6 -171.2 -5.4 -228.0 -7.1
Canada -283.4 -9.2 822.9 25.7 279.0 8.7 101.8 3.2
Japan -2,014.5 -65.4 -2,414.1 -75.4 -1,166.1 -36.4 -1,893.2 -59.2
Mexico -4.3 -0.1 846.8 26.5 820.8 25.7 -18.1 -0.6
NewZealand -15.0 -0.5 -11.4 -0.4 -3.9 -0.1 -4.3 -0.1
United States -1,586.7 -51.5 -2,548.4 -79.6 -1,184.2 -37.0 -1,134.7 -35.5
Turkey 812.4 26.4 561.4 17.5 167.3 5.2 294.2 9.2
Countries in
transition :
Bulgaria 189.0 6.1 42.4 1.3 -32.5 -1.0 44.6 1.4
Romania 520.8 16.9 609.6 19.1 315.2 9.9 559.8 17.5
Russia -30,192.1 -980.6 -29,259.7 -914.4 -17,600.6 -550.0 -19,680.7 -615.0
Ukraine -386.0 -12.5 -60.5 -1.9 -93.6 -2.9 581.4 18.2
Croatia 1,055.4 34.3 1,387.3 43.4 773.5 24.2 935.6 29.2
Slovenia 350.8 11.4 519.4 16.2 163.9 5.1 467.6 14.6
Other developed
countries :
South Africa -102.4 -3.3 -425.7 -13.3 -211.6 -6.6 -393.5 -12.3
Israel 128.8 4.2 328.7 10.3 99.2 3.1 175.0 5.5
Selected countries with
planned economies:
China 1,097.3 35.6 -466.3 -14.6 -256.2 -8.0 -546.2 -17.1
Cuba 53.4 1.7 53.8 1.7 34.7 1.1 21.7 0.7
VietNam 1.5 0.0 38.1 1.2 22.8 0.7 195.7 6.1
Table 4(cont'd)TheSlovak Republic WT/TPR/G/7
Page 25
1993 1994 January-July 1994 January-July 1995
SkMn. US$Mn SkMn.US$
Mn.SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn.US$
Mn.
Asian developing
countries (total)2,977.7 96.7 3,793.7 118.6 2,335.7 73.0 648.7 20.3
Share ofselected
countries:
Indonesia 362.3 11.8 122.2 3.8 142.9 4.5 -39.8 -1.2
India 158.2 5.1 1,389.5 43.4 681.0 21.3 783.1 24.5
Iran 332.6 10.8 176.6 5.5 128.5 4.0 76.1 2.4
Malaysia -131.7 -4.3 384.0 12.0 133.3 4.2 9.7 0.3
Syria 1,451.9 47.2 762.1 23.8 510.4 16.0 194.6 6.1
Thailand 2,295.4 74.6 1,448.4 45.3 839.7 26.2 161.1 5.0
African developing
countries (total)847.5 27.5 1,067.1 33.3 498.5 15.6 924.7 28.9
Share ofselected
countries:
Egypt 526.6 17.1 531.8 16.6 340.1 10.6 241.2 7.5
American developing
countries (total)-1,097.8 -35.7 -1,112.0 -34.8 -669.7 -20.9 -318.2 -9.9
Share ofselected
countries:
Argentina -270.6 -8.8 137.9 4.3 -16.6 -0.5 193.8 6.1
Chile -1.7 -0.1 23.9 0.7 0.6 0.0 40.6 1.3
Brazil -196.9 -6.4 -393.3 -12.3 -222.4 -7.0 -64.0 -2.0
Peru -100.8 -3.3 -121.4 -3.8 -67.2 -2.1 -92.9 -2.9Table 5 Slovak Republic Imports byTerritoryWT/TPR/G/7
Page261993 1994 January-July 1994 January-July 1995 %oftotal
imports in
1sthalf1995Index
1995/94
(Jan-July)Index
1994/
93SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn. US$Mn.
Total imports 195,034 6,334 211,811 6,601 117,343 3,657 144,153 4,492 100 123 109
Share of:
CEFTA 76,622.6 2,488.6 72,054.8 2,245.4 40,348.5 1,257.4 48,401.9 1,508.3 33.6 120.0 94.0
Czech Republic 70,035.1 2,274.6 62,729.1 1,954.8 35,514.8 1,106.7 40,849.5 1,273.0 28.3 115.0 89.6
Hungary 2,603.0 84.5 3,548.4 110.6 1,710.1 53.3 3,153.3 98.3 2.2 184.4 136.3
Poland 3,792.2 123.2 5,046.9 157.3 2,752.4 85.8 3,933.8 122.6 2.7 142.9 133.1
OECD (total): 64,481.9 2,094.2 83,990.3 2,617.3 45,029.5 1,403.2 58,592.4 1,825.9 40.7 130.1 130.3
EU: 54,467.9 1,769.0 70,821.0 2,206.9 38,032.1 1,185.2 49,439.9 1,540.7 34.3 130.0 130.0
Belgium 1,596.5 51.9 2,431.7 75.8 1,242.4 38.7 1,776.2 55.4 1.2 143.0 152.3
Germany 22,272.7 723.4 28,453.3 886.7 15,171.0 472.8 20,280.3 632.0 14.1 133.7 127.7
Denmark 856.1 27.8 1,296.9 40.4 658.2 20.5 876.6 27.3 0.6 133.2 151.5
Spain 799.4 26.0 1,282.8 40.0 705.7 22.0 959.8 29.9 0.7 136.0 160.5
France 2,940.3 95.5 4,730.2 147.4 2,778.1 86.6 3,342.8 104.2 2.3 120.3 160.9
United Kingdom 2,452.9 79.7 3,385.9 105.5 1,616.2 50.4 2,166.1 67.5 1.5 134.0 138.0
Greece 475.9 15.5 300.1 9.4 201.0 6.3 184.1 5.7 0.1 91.6 63.1
Ireland 265.9 8.6 446.2 13.9 242.6 7.6 187.1 5.8 0.1 77.1 167.8
Italy 5,840.2 189.7 9,280.1 289.2 5,148.3 160.4 6,635.3 206.8 4.6 128.9 158.9
Luxembourg 42.1 1.4 222.6 6.9 90.2 2.8 59.2 1.8 0.0 65.6 528.7
Netherlands 2,554.3 83.0 3,526.5 109.9 1,837.1 57.2 2,519.5 78.5 1.8 137.1 138.1
Portugal 46.5 1.5 86.7 2.7 48.6 1.5 58.7 1.8 0.0 120.8 186.5
Austria 12,144.8 394.4 12,224.6 380.9 6,614.9 206.1 7,516.4 234.2 5.2 113.6 100.7
Finland 1,222.6 39.7 1,767.2 55.1 932.9 29.1 1,188.8 37.0 0.8 127.4 144.5
Sweden 957.6 31.1 1,386.2 43.2 744.8 23.2 1,689.0 52.6 1.2 226.8 144.8
EFTA: 2,949.2 95.8 3,336.1 104.0 1,882.3 58.7 2,484.9 77.4 1.7 132.0 113.1
Switzerland 2,424.0 78.7 3,045.5 94.9 1,720.8 53.6 2,192.3 68.3 1.5 127.4 125.6
Iceland 2.2 0.2 2.2 0.1 2.2 0.1 1.6 0.0 0.0 72.7 100.0
Liechtenstein 96.5 3.1 71.2 2.2 54.1 1.7 44.1 1.4 0.0 81.5 73.8
Norway 426.4 13.8 217.2 6.8 105.2 3.3 246.9 7.7 0.2 234.7 50.9
Other OECD countries:
Australia 303.4 9.9 352.9 11.0 235.4 7.3 293.1 9.1 0.2 124.5 116.3
Canada 551.0 17.9 371.2 11.6 194.6 6.1 308.9 9.6 0.2 158.7 67.4
Japan 2,253.6 73.2 2,613.4 81.4 1,252.0 39.0 2,272.3 70.8 1.6 181.5 116.0
Mexico 35.3 1.1 84.2 2.6 42.8 1.3 101.5 3.2 0.1 237.1 238.5
NewZealand 21.0 0.7 19.9 0.6 10.2 0.3 5.2 0.2 0.0 51.0 94.8
United States 3,439.8 111.7 6,014.6 187.4 3,190.0 99.4 3,294.8 102.7 2.3 103.3 174.9
Turkey 460.8 15.0 376.9 11.7 190.3 5.9 391.8 12.2 0.3 205.9 81.8
Table 5(cont'd)1993 1994 January-July 1994 January-July 1995 %oftotal
imports in
1sthalf1995Index
1995/94
(Jan-July)Index
1994/
93SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn. US$Mn.
Countries intransition:
Bulgaria 323.0 10.5 330.8 10.3 230.3 7.2 214.7 6.7 0.1 93.2 102.4
Romania 220.0 7.1 245.5 7.7 92.0 2.9 182.2 5.7 0.1 198.0 111.6
Russia 38,078.2 1,236.7 38,152.9 1,188.9 22,337.6 696.1 24,589.3 766.3 17.1 110.1 100.2
Ukraine 4,686.4 152.2 3,799.7 118.4 2,375.3 74.0 2,038.2 63.5 1.4 85.8 81.1
Croatia 421.3 13.7 555.7 17.3 293.2 9.1 320.5 10.0 0.2 109.3 131.9
Slovenia 811.6 26.4 947.6 29.5 519.0 16.2 784.4 24.4 0.5 151.1 116.8
Other developed countries:
South Africa 191.7 6.2 531.4 16.6 244.8 7.6 534.9 16.7 0.4 218.5 277.2
Israel 124.7 4.1 242.7 7.6 165.3 5.2 184.4 5.7 0.1 111.6 194.6
Selected countries with
planned economies:
China 919.3 29.9 1,205.7 37.6 581.4 18.1 863.0 26.9 0.6 148.4 131.2
Cuba 11.9 0.4 5.4 0.2 4.3 0.1 1.0 0.0 0.0 23.3 45.4
VietNam 32.9 1.1 38.7 1.2 16.4 0.5 31.5 1.0 0.0 192.1 117.6
Asian developing countries
(total):3,905.3 126.8 4,284.6 133.5 2,288.4 71.3 3,600.4 112.2 2.5 157.3 109.7
Share ofselected countries:
Indonesia 112.1 3.6 274.9 8.6 132.2 4.1 211.4 6.6 0.1 159.9 245.2
India 289.1 9.4 571.7 17.8 256.4 8.0 519.7 16.2 0.4 202.7 197.8
Iran 32.8 1.1 37.7 1.2 21.0 0.7 35.9 1.1 0.0 171.0 114.9
Malaysia 192.5 6.3 270.5 8.4 174.7 5.4 377.0 11.7 0.3 215.8 140.5
Syria 10.3 0.3 24.5 0.8 3.8 0.1 5.2 0.2 0.0 136.8 237.9
Thailand 147.6 4.8 248.7 7.8 125.8 3.9 206.9 6.4 0.1 164.5 168.5
African developing countries
(total):414.9 13.5 565.6 17.6 310.4 9.7 464.3 14.5 0.3 149.6 136.3
Share ofselected countries:
Egypt 52.6 1.7 71.7 2.2 34.8 1.1 98.5 3.1 0.1 283.0 136.3
American developing
countries (total):1,672.9 54.3 2,227.7 69.4 1,209.4 37.7 1,367.6 42.6 0.9 113.1 133.2
Share ofselected countries:
Argentina 364.9 11.9 203.6 6.3 156.3 4.9 82.4 2.6 0.1 52.7 55.8
Chile 10.0 0.3 16.9 0.5 11.2 0.3 11.2 0.3 0.0 100.0 169.0
Brazil 264.8 8.6 501.1 15.6 265.3 8.3 234.4 7.3 0.2 88.4 189.2
Peru 105.3 3.4 151.6 4.7 81.1 2.5 113.3 3.5 0.1 139.7 144.0WT/TPR/G/7
Page27Table 6 Slovak Republic Exports byTerritoryWT/TPR/G/7
Page281993 1994 January-July 1994 January-July 1995 %oftotal
imports in
1sthalf1995Index
1995/94
(Jan-July)Index
1994/
93SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn. US$Mn.
Total exports 167,724 5,447 214,375 6,727 117,876 3,699 143,669 4,508 100 122 128
Share of:
CEFTA 83,637.9 2,716.4 98,012.3 3,075.4 53,684.8 1,684.5 63,639.6 1,996.8 44.3 118.5 117.2
Czech Republic 71,124.1 2,310.0 80,153.5 2,515.0 44,332.7 1,391.0 50,866.2 1,596.1 35.4 114.7 112.7
Hungary 7,614.5 247.3 11,718.0 367.7 6,330.2 198.6 6,677.4 209.5 4.6 105.5 153.9
Poland 4,892.5 158.9 6,064.9 190.3 3,020.4 94.8 6,038.4 189.5 4.2 199.9 124.0
OECD (total): 54,546.0 1,771.5 83,614.9 2,623.6 46,417.1 1,456.5 59,344.6 1,862.1 41.3 127.9 153.3
EU: 49,547.5 1,609.2 74,957.9 2,352.0 41,520.5 1,302.8 54,257.9 1,702.5 37.8 130.7 151.3
Belgium 1,579.4 51.3 2,577.9 80.9 1,408.8 44.2 1,476.9 46.3 1.0 104.8 163.2
Germany 25,490.0 827.9 36,649.8 1,150.0 19,926.2 625.2 27,403.1 859.8 19.1 137.5 143.8
Denmark 263.1 8.5 629.0 19.7 325.4 10.2 468.9 14.7 0.3 144.1 239.1
Spain 557.3 18.1 1,274.2 40.0 659.1 20.7 1,217.9 38.2 0.8 184.8 228.6
France 2,666.7 86.6 3,629.8 113.9 2,177.0 68.3 3,099.3 97.2 2.2 142.4 136.1
United Kingdom 1,699.2 55.2 2,743.0 86.1 1,557.2 48.9 1,741.6 54.6 1.2 111.8 161.4
Greece 602.6 19.6 644.5 20.2 359.4 11.3 450.9 14.1 0.3 125.5 107.0
Ireland 78.7 2.6 162.3 5.1 83.5 2.6 92.2 2.9 0.1 110.4 206.2
Italy 4,570.7 148.4 9,237.5 289.8 5,376.5 168.7 6,985.3 219.2 4.9 129.9 202.1
Luxembourg 50.6 1.6 145.1 4.6 125.4 3.9 65.6 2.1 0.0 52.3 286.8
Netherlands 2,647.5 86.0 3,811.7 119.6 2,140.2 67.2 2,525.3 79.2 1.8 118.0 144.0
Portugal 78.2 2.5 225.7 7.1 158.3 5.0 162.3 5.1 0.1 102.5 288.6
Austria 8,336.0 270.7 11,258.0 353.2 6,228.1 195.4 6,881.3 215.9 4.8 110.5 135.1
Finland 308.5 10.0 696.7 21.9 325.8 10.2 678.1 21.3 0.5 208.1 225.8
Sweden 619.2 20.1 1,272.8 39.9 669.6 21.0 1,009.2 31.7 0.7 150.7 205.6
EFTA: 1,233.4 40.1 1,808.2 56.7 1,039.7 32.6 1,301.1 40.8 0.9 125.1 146.6
Switzerland 1,049.5 34.1 1,481.4 46.5 911.4 28.6 976.4 30.6 0.7 107.1 141.2
Iceland 10.1 0.3 26.8 0.8 14.5 0.5 11.2 0.4 0.0 77.2 265.3
Liechtenstein 70.4 2.3 108.4 3.4 51.9 1.6 106.1 3.3 0.1 204.4 154.0
Norway 103.4 3.4 191.6 6.0 61.9 1.9 207.4 6.5 0.1 335.1 185.3
Other OECD countries
Australia 96.1 3.1 111.3 3.5 64.2 2.0 65.1 2.0 0.0 101.4 115.8
Canada 267.5 8.7 1,194.1 37.5 473.7 14.9 410.8 12.9 0.3 86.7 446.4
Japan 238.1 7.7 199.3 6.3 85.9 2.7 379.1 11.9 0.3 441.3 83.7
Mexico 31.0 1.0 931.1 29.2 863.6 27.1 83.4 2.6 0.1 9.7 3,003.5
NewZealand 6.0 0.2 8.5 0.3 6.3 0.2 0.9 0.0 0.0 14.3 141.7
United States 1,853.1 60.2 3,466.2 108.8 2,005.8 62.9 2,160.2 67.8 1.5 107.7 187.0
Turkey 1,273.1 41.3 938.3 29.4 357.5 11.2 686.0 21.5 0.5 191.9 73.7
Table 6(cont'd)1993 1994 January-July 1994 January-July 1995 %oftotal
imports in
1sthalf1995Index
1995/94
(Jan-July)Index
1994/
93SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn. US$Mn.
Countries intransition
Bulgaria 512.0 16.6 373.2 11.7 197.8 6.2 259.3 8.1 0.2 131.1 72.9
Romania 740.7 24.1 855.1 26.8 407.2 12.8 742.0 23.3 0.5 182.2 155.4
Russia 7,886.1 256.1 8,893.2 279.0 4,737.0 148.6 4,908.6 154.0 3.4 103.6 112.8
Ukraine 4,300.4 139.7 3,739.2 117.3 2,281.7 71.6 2,619.6 82.2 1.8 114.8 87.0
Croatia 1,476.7 48.0 1,943.0 61.0 1,066.7 33.5 1,256.2 39.4 0.9 117.8 131.6
Slovenia 1,162.4 37.8 1,467.0 46.0 683.0 21.4 1,252.1 39.3 0.9 183.3 126.2
Other developed countries:
South Africa 89.4 2.9 105.7 3.3 33.2 1.0 141.4 4.4 0.1 425.9 118.2
Israel 253.6 8.2 571.4 17.9 264.5 8.3 359.4 11.3 0.3 135.9 225.3
Selected countries with
planned economies:
China 2,016.6 65.5 739.4 23.2 325.2 10.2 316.8 9.9 0.2 97.4 36.7
Cuba 65.3 2.1 59.1 1.9 39.0 1.2 22.7 0.7 0.0 58.2 90.5
VietNam 34.4 1.1 76.7 2.4 39.2 1.2 227.2 7.1 0.2 579.6 223.0
Asian developing countries
(total):6,883.0 223.5 8,078.4 253.5 4,624.1 145.1 4,249.1 133.3 3.0 91.9 117.4
Share ofselected countries:
Indonesia 474.4 15.4 397.1 12.5 275.1 8.6 171.6 5.4 0.1 62.4 83.7
India 447.3 14.5 1,961.2 61.5 937.4 29.4 1,302.8 40.9 0.9 139.0 438.5
Iran 365.4 11.9 214.3 6.7 149.6 4.7 112.0 3.5 0.1 74.9 58.6
Malaysia 60.8 2.0 654.5 20.5 308.0 9.7 386.7 12.1 0.3 125.6 1,076.5
Syria 1,462.2 47.5 786.6 24.7 514.2 16.1 199.8 6.3 0.1 38.9 53.8
Thailand 2,442.9 79.3 1,697.1 53.3 965.5 30.3 368.0 11.5 0.3 38.1 69.5
African developing countries
(total):1,262.4 41.0 1,632.6 51.2 808.9 25.4 1,389.0 43.6 1.0 171.7 129.3
Share ofselected countries:
Egypt 579.2 18.8 603.6 18.9 374.8 11.8 339.6 10.7 0.2 90.6 104.2
American developing
countries (total):575.1 18.7 1,115.7 35.0 539.7 16.9 1,049.4 32.9 0.7 194.4 194.0
Share ofselected countries:
Argentina 94.2 3.1 341.5 10.7 139.7 4.4 276.2 8.7 0.2 197.7 362.5
Chile 8.3 0.3 40.7 1.3 11.9 0.4 51.8 1.6 0.0 435.3 490.4
Brazil 67.9 2.2 107.8 3.4 42.9 1.3 170.5 5.3 0.1 397.4 158.8
Peru 4.5 0.1 30.2 0.9 13.9 0.4 20.4 0.6 0.0 146.8 671.1WT/TPR/G/7
Page29Table 7 Turnover oftheForeign Trade oftheSlovak RepublicWT/TPR/G/7
Page30
1993 1994 January-July 1994 January-July 1995%oftotal
imports in
1sthalf1995Index
1995/94
(Jan-July)Index
1994/
93SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn. US$Mn
Total turnover 362,758 11,782 426,186 13,318 235,218 7,351 287,822 8,994 100 122 118
Share of:
CEFTA 160,260.6 5,205.0 170,067.1 5,314.6 94,033.3 2,938.5 112,041.5 3,501.3 38.9 119.2 106.1
Czech Republic 141,159.2 4,584.6 142,882.6 4,465.1 79,847.5 2,495.2 91,715.7 2,866.1 31.9 114.9 101.2
Hungary 10,217.5 331.8 15,266.4 477.1 8,040.3 251.3 9,830.7 307.2 3.4 122.3 149.4
Poland 8,684.7 282.1 11,111.7 347.2 5,772.9 180.4 9,972.3 311.6 3.5 172.7 127.9
OECD (total): 119,027.8 3,865.8 167,605.2 5,237.7 91,446.6 2,857.7 117,937 3,685.5 41.0 129.0 140.8
EU: 104,015.4 3,378.2 145,778.9 4,555.6 79,552.6 2,486.0 103,697.8 3,240.6 36.0 130.4 140.2
Belgium 3,175.9 103.1 5,009.6 156.6 2,651.2 82.9 3,253.1 101.7 1.1 122.7 157.7
Germany 47,762.7 1,551.2 65,103 2,034.5 35,097.2 1,096.8 47,683.4 1,490.1 16.6 135.9 136.3
Denmark 1,119.2 36.3 1,925.9 60.2 983.6 30.7 1,345.5 42.0 0.5 136.8 172.1
Spain 1,356.7 44.1 2,557 79.9 1,364.8 42.7 2,177.7 68.1 0.8 159.6 188.5
France 5,607 182.1 8,360.1 261.3 4,955.1 154.8 6,442.1 201.3 2.2 130.0 149.1
United Kingdom 4,152.2 134.9 6,128.9 191.5 3,173.5 99.2 3,907.7 122.1 1.4 123.1 147.6
Greece 1,078.6 35.0 944.5 29.5 560.5 17.5 635 19.8 0.2 113.3 87.6
Ireland 344.6 11.2 608.5 19.0 326.2 10.2 279.3 8.7 0.1 85.6 176.6
Italy 1,041.1 338.1 18,517.6 578.7 10,524.8 328.9 13,620.6 425.6 4.7 129.4 177.9
Luxembourg 92.7 3.0 367.7 11.5 215.6 6.7 124.8 3.9 0.0 57.9 396.7
Netherlands 5,201.8 168.9 7,338.1 229.3 3,977.3 124.3 5,044.8 157.7 1.8 126.8 141.1
Portugal 124.7 4.1 312.5 9.8 206.9 6.5 221 6.9 0.1 106.8 250.6
Austria 20,480.8 665.2 23,482.6 733.8 12,843 401.3 14,397.7 449.9 5.0 112.1 114.7
Finland 153.1 49.7 2,463.9 77.0 1,258.7 39.3 1,866.9 58.3 0.6 148.3 160.9
Sweden 1,576.7 51.2 2,659 83.1 1,414.4 44.2 2,698.2 84.3 0.9 190.8 168.6
EFTA: 4,182.6 135.8 5,144.2 160.8 2,921.9 91.3 3,786.1 118.3 1.3 129.6 123.0
Switzerland 3,473.6 112.8 4,526.9 141.5 2,632.3 82.3 3,168.7 99.0 1.1 120.4 130.3
Iceland 12.4 0.4 29.0 0.9 16.7 0.5 12.8 0.4 0.0 76.6 233.9
Liechtenstein 166.9 5.4 179.5 5.6 105.9 3.3 150.2 4.7 0.1 141.8 107.5
Norway 529.8 17.2 408.8 12.8 167 5.2 454.4 14.2 0.2 272.1 77.2
Other OECD countries:
Australia 399.5 13.0 464.2 14.5 299.6 9.4 358.2 11.2 0.1 119.6 116.2
Canada 818.5 26.6 1,565.3 48.9 668.3 20.9 719.7 22.5 0.3 107.7 191.2
Japan 2,491.8 80.9 2,812.8 87.9 1,337.9 41.8 2,651.4 82.9 0.9 198.2 112.9
Mexico 66.4 2.2 1,015.3 31.7 906.3 28.3 184.9 5.8 0.1 20.4 1,529.1
NewZealand 26.9 0.9 28.4 0.9 16.4 0.5 6.1 0.2 0.0 37.2 105.6
United States 5,292.9 171.9 9,480.8 296.3 5,195.8 162.4 5,455 170.5 1.9 105.0 179.1
Turkey 1,733.9 56.3 1,315.2 41.1 547.8 17.1 1,077.7 33.7 0.4 196.7 75.9
Table 7(cont'd)1993 1994 January-July 1994 January-July 1995%oftotal
imports in
1sthalf1995Index
1995/94
(Jan-July)Index
1994/
93SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn. US$Mn. SkMn. US$Mn
Countries intransition:
Bulgaria 835 27.1 704 22.0 428.2 13.4 474 14.8 0.2 110.7 84.3
Romania 960.7 31.2 1,100.6 34.4 499.1 15.6 924.2 28.9 0.3 185.2 114.6
Russia 45,964.3 1,492.8 47,046.2 1,470.2 27,074.5 846.1 29,497.9 921.8 10.2 109.0 102.4
Ukraine 8,986.7 291.9 7,538.9 235.6 4,657.1 145.5 4,657.8 145.6 1.6 100.0 83.9
Croatia 1,898 61.6 2,498.7 78.1 1,359.9 42.5 1,576.7 49.3 0.5 115.9 131.6
Slovenia 1,974 64.1 2,414.6 75.5 1,202 37.6 2,036.5 63.6 0.7 169.4 122.3
Other developed countries:
South Africa 281.1 9.1 637.1 19.9 278 8.7 676.3 21.1 0.2 243.3 226.6
Israel 378.3 12.3 814.1 25.4 429.8 13.4 543.8 17.0 0.2 126.5 215.2
Selected countries with
planned economies:
China 2,935.9 95.4 1,945 60.8 906.6 28.3 1,179.8 36.9 0.4 130.1 66.2
Cuba 77.2 2.5 64.5 2.0 43.3 1.4 23.7 0.7 0.0 54.7 83.5
VietNam 67.3 2.2 115.4 3.6 55.6 1.7 258.8 8.1 0.1 465.5 171.5
Asian developing countries
(bold):10,788.3 350.4 12,363 386.3 6,912.5 216.0 7,849.6 245.3 2.7 113.6 114.6
Share ofselected countries:
Indonesia 586.4 19.0 672 21.0 407.2 12.7 383.1 12.0 0.1 94.1 114.6
India 736.4 23.9 2,532.9 79.2 1,193.9 37.3 1,822.4 57.0 0.6 152.6 344.0
Iran 398.2 12.9 252 7.9 170.6 5.3 147.9 4.6 0.1 86.7 63.3
Malaysia 253.3 8.2 925 28.9 482.6 15.1 763.7 23.9 0.3 158.2 365.2
Syria 1,472.5 47.8 811.1 25.3 518.1 16.2 205 6.4 0.1 39.6 55.1
Thailand 2,590.5 84.1 1,945.7 60.8 1,091.3 34.1 575 18.0 0.2 52.7 75.1
African developing countries
(total):1,677.4 54.5 2,198.2 68.7 1,119.3 35.0 1,853.4 57.9 0.6 165.6 131.0
Share ofselected countries:
Egypt 631.8 20.5 675.3 21.1 409.6 12.8 438.1 13.7 0.2 107.0 106.9
American developing
countries (total):2,248.1 73.0 3,343.4 104.5 1,749.1 54.7 2,417 75.5 0.8 138.2 148.7
Share ofselected countries:
Argentina 459.1 14.9 545 17.0 296 9.3 358.6 11.2 0.1 121.1 118.7
Chile 18.2 0.6 57.6 1.8 23.1 0.7 63 2.0 0.0 272.7 316.5
Brazil 332.7 10.8 608.9 19.0 308.2 9.6 404.9 12.7 0.1 131.4 183.0
Peru 109.8 3.6 181.8 5.7 95 3.0 133.8 4.2 0.0 140.8 165.6WT/TPR/G/7
Page31WT/TPR/G/7 Trade Policy Review
Page 32
Investment Protection andSupport Agreements (stillinforce) between theCSFR and:
France -valid from 27.9.91
Austria -valid from 1.10.91
Switzerland -valid from 4.8.91
Finland -valid from 23.10.91
Sweden -valid from 23.9.91
Canada -valid from 9.3.92
Norway -valid from 6.8.92
Netherlands -valid from 1.10.92
Germany -valid from 2.8.92
Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union -valid from 13.3.92
Denmark -valid from 19.9.92
United Kingdom -valid from 26.10.92
Spain -valid from 28.11.91
United States -valid from 19.9.92
China -valid from 1.12.92
Investment Protection andSupport Agreements (inprocess ofratification) between theSRand:
Hungary
Slovenia
Russian Federation
Tajikistan
Romania
Ukraine
Indonesia
Bulgaria
Poland
Turkmenistan
Double Taxation Agreements between theSRand:
Netherlands -since 1994
France -since 1975
Finland -since 1976
Belgium -since 1978
Japan -since 1979
Austria -since 1979
SriLanka -since 1979
Norway -since 1980
Sweden -since 1981
Cyprus -since 1981
Spain -since 1982
Denmark -since 1983
former Yugoslavia -since 1983
Germany -since 1984
Italy-since 1985
India -since 1987
China -since 1988
Greece -since 1989
Brazil -since 1991
Nigeria -since 1991
United Kingdom -since 1992
former CMEA countries -since 1979
Tunisia -since 1992
Canada -since 1992
Luxembourg -since 1993
Czech Republic -since 1993
United States -since 1994