RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/ACC/3
28June1995
ORGANIZATION(95-1751)
Original: English
EUROPEAN FREE TRADE ASSOCIATION
Request forObserver Status inAccession Working Parties
Thefollowing communication hasbeenreceived fromtheEuropean FreeTrade Association.
_______________
Iamwriting toyouinorder tobring toyourattention theinterest oftheEuropean FreeTrade
Association inparticipating asanobserver insome oftheworking parties onWTO Accession. As
youarewellaware, theEFTA States have, during thepastfouryears, beenactively developing their
co-operation andtradelinkages withanumber ofeconomies intransition, mainly those intheCentral
andEastEurope, aswellaswithsome other third countries (Israel, Turkey). Thishasresulted in
conclusion offreetradeagreements andimplementation oftechnical co-operation programmes intrade-
related fields. Thissame applies alsowithrespect totheBaltic States, withwhom aCo-operation
Agreements havebeen concluded andindividual EFTA States havenegotiated bilateral freetrade
agreements. Currently theEFTA States arepreparing fornegotiations onmultilateral freetrade
agreements between EFTA andeachoftheBaltic States, eventually aiming toconclude suchagreements
before theendofthisyear.
Ihavementioned these EFTA activities inorder toillustrate toyoutheprofound interest and
highlevelofactivities between theEFTA States andsome ofthecountries which arecurrently inthe
process toaccede totheWTO. TheEFTA Secretariat hasbeenfollowing inparticular theaccession
process ofAlbania, theBaltic States andBulgaria totheGATT andwould beinterested tocontinue
todosoalsonow under theWTO. Unfortunately theobserver status ofinternational and
intergovernmental organizations intheWTO isstillsubject toagreement ongeneral guidelines, and
pending onsuchdecision itwould seem tobenecessary torequest observer status onanadhocbasis.
Forthisreason, Iwould request thatEFTA willbegranted anobserver status onanadhoc
basisinthefollowing working parties: Albania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia andLithuania. TheEFTA
States arealsolooking forward toapossibility toestablish sometime infuture theirtraderelations with
Russia atparallel levelwiththose oftheEuropean Union, andwiththisinmind itwould beofinterest
fortheEFTA Secretariat tohaveanobserver status intheworking party examining Russia 'srequest
forWTO membership. Iwould hopethattheobserver status could begranted soastoallow EFTA
toattend already inthenextround ofworking party meetings. These adhocarrangements should
notbeprejudged asaprecedent totheeventual observerships invarious working parties subject to
theagreement ongeneral guidelines.
Please findattached foryourinformation afactsheet about EFTA 'srelations andtechnical
co-operation activities withtheabove-mentioned countries.WT/ACC/3
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Technical Assistance toThird Countries
Overview byCountry
Below isanoverview bycountry ofalltechnical assistance projects under taken byEFTA in
thepartner countries from 1991 untilSpring 1995. Projects already approved bytheCouncil, but
notyetimplemented, arementioned aswell. Only thetitlesoftheprojects arelisted andforfurther
details thespecific project descriptions, work programmes andreports willhavetobeconsulted. The
projects areingeneral listed inchronological order within thethree categories:
I EFTA-EU projects
II EFTA trade policy projects
III Other subjects forco-operation
_______________
Albania
* PHARE regional programme instandardization.
* Co-financed byEFTA 1992-94.
* PHARE extended regional programme onorigin andcustoms matters. Co-financed byEFTA
1994-.
* EFTA-EU Statistical co-operation project, 1994.
* Trade policy seminar, September 1993.
* Two-stage trade policy project (April/Autumn 1994).
* Booklets ontrade facilitation procedures, 1994.
* Scholarship programme (10students) 1993-95.
* Market economy course, April/May 1993.
* 3Parliamentary Colloquium, Geneva, October 1993.
* Translation/printing ofbasic market economy textbook, 1994.
* 4.Parliamentary Colloquium, December 1994.
Bulgaria
* PHARE regional programme instandardization.
* Co-financed byEFTA 1992-94.
* PHARE extended regional programme onorigin andcustoms matters. Co-financed byEFTA
1994-.WT/ACC/3
Page3
* EFTA-EU Statistical Co-operation project, 1994.
* Trade policy seminar, September 1992.
* Seminar/study visitregarding competition rules, JuneandNovember 1993.
* Seminar onrules oforigin, September 1993.
* Seminar onTBTs, June1994.
* Training stayatanEFTA Patent office, November 1994.
* Booklets ontrade facilitation procedures, 1994.
* Expert mission onprice compensation systems, 1994.
* Workshop onpatters ofproduction andtrade inthenewEurope, Geneva, October 1992.
* 2.Parliamentary Colloquium, Geneva, April 1993.
* Economic Committee meeting, May1993.
* High-level workshop (economy/trade policy) June1994.
* 4.Parliamentary Colloquium, December 1994.
Estonia
* PHARE regional programme instandardization. Co-financed byEFTA 1992-94.
* PHARE programme onorigin andcustoms matters. Co-financed byEFTA 1992-94.
* EFTA-EU statistical co-operation programme, 1992-94.
* Trade policy seminar, May1992.
* Consultant onpublic procurement legislation, 1994.
* Workshop onState aid,Tallinn, September 1994.
* Training stayatanEFTA Patent office, November 1994.
* Workshop onState aidrules, September 1994.
* Booklets ontrade facilitation procedures, 1994.
* Scholarship programme (5students peryear) 1992-95.
* CSCseminar forsocial partners, Helsinki, June1992.
* Workshop onpatterns ofproduction andtrade inthenewEurope, Geneva, October 1992.
* Market economy course, May-September 1993.
* 3Parliamentary Colloquium, Geneva, October 1993.
* Economic Committee meeting, Brussels, February 1994.
* Course ontransition toamarket economy, April 1994.
* 4.Parliamentary Colloquium, December 1994.
* Course ontransition toamarket economy, May1995.WT/ACC/3
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Latvia
* PHARE regional programme instandardization. Co-financed byEFTA 1992-94.
* PHARE programme onorigin andcustoms matters. Co-financed byEFTA 1992-94.
* EFTA-EU statistical co-operation programme, 1992-94.
* Trade policy seminar, May1992.
* Consultant onpublic procurement legislation, 1994.
* Workshop onState aid,September 1994.
* Study visittocompetition authorities inNorway andSweden, September 1994.
* Seminar onTBTs, September 1994.
* Training stayatanEFTA Patent office, November 1994.
* Booklets ontrade facilitation procedures, 1994.
* Legislative support public procurement, 1994-.
* Scholarship programme (5students peryear) 1992-95.
* CSCseminar forsocial partners, Helsinki, June1992.
* Market economy course, August 1992.
* Workshop onpatterns ofproduction andtrade inthenewEurope, Geneva, October 1992.
* 3.Parliamentary Colloquium, Geneva, October 1993.
* Economic Committee meeting, Brussels, February 1994.
* 4.Parliamentary Colloquium, December 1994.
Lithuania
* PHARE regional programme instandardization. Co-financed byEFTA 1992-94.
* PHARE programme onorigin andcustoms matters. Co-financed byEFTA 1992-94.
* EFTA-EU statistical co-operation programme, 1992-94.
* Trade policy seminar, May1992.
* Consultant onpublic procurement legislation, 1994.
* Workshop onState aid,September 1994.
* Study visittocompetition authorities inNorway andSweden, September 1994.
* Seminar onTBTs, November 1994.
* Training stayatanEFTA Patent office, November 1994.
* Booklets ontrade facilitation procedures, 1994.
* Legislative support public procurement, 1994-.
* Scholarship programme (5students peryear) 1992-95.WT/ACC/3
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* Market economy course, June1992.
* CSCseminar forsocial partners, Helsinki, June1992.
* Workshop onpatterns ofproduction andtrade inthenewEurope, Geneva, October 1992.
* 3.Parliamentary Colloquium, Geneva, October 1993.
* Economic Committee meeting, Brussels, February 1994.
* 4.Parliamentary Colloquium, December 1994.WT/ACC/3
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EFTA 'SRELATIONS WITH THIRD COUNTRIES
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
Joint declaration on
cooperation signed on:Signed on: Entered intoForce:
Albania 10December 1992 - -
Bulgaria 10December 1991 29March 1993 1July1993
Czech Republic 13June1990120March 199211July19921
Estonia 10December 1991 - -
Hungary 13June1990 29March 1993 1October 1993
Israel - 17September 1992 1January 1993
Latvia 10December 1991 - -
Lithuania 10December 1991 - -
Poland 13June1990 10December 1992 1September 19942
Romania 10December 1991 10December 1992 1May1993
Slovak Republic 13June1990120March 199211July19921
Slovenia 20May1992 13June199531July19953
Turkey - 10December 1991 1October 19924
1Signed withtheformer CSFR. Protocols onsuccession signed withtheCzech Republic and
theSlovak Republic on19April 1993
215November 1993 (applied onaprovisional basis)
3Foreseen dates
4Applied since 1April 1992