November 2000 News

OECD Antibribery Convention: Polish Implementing Legislation Approved

As reported on September 29, legislation implementing the OECD Antibribery Convention passed the Polish Sejm (lower house of parliament) on September 9. This legislation was signed by the president on October 17. The bill was published in the "Journal of Laws" on November 3, and becomes effective February 3, 2001.

Egypt Makes Tariff Adjustments

On November 1, Egyptian Minister of Finance Medhat Hassanein announced the issuance of a Presidential decree changing tariff rates. The 55 items named in the decree include raw materials, food items, finished goods, electronics, and some "luxury" items. Among those items for which the tariff was reduced, refined sugar went from 26 percent to 10 percent, raw sugar from 24 to 5, material for animal feed from 20 to 5, and gold from 1 to 0. Increased tariffs were applied to a variety of items. The tariff on pipes used in the petroleum sector was set at 15 percent; many categories of fresh vegetables now draw 24 percent duty; chinaware, videos, projectors, and citrus fruits went to 33 percent; and crystal objects, refrigerators, ovens, satellite antennas, and televisions are all at 43 percent. Hassanein stated that the increased tariffs were primarily on items that can be produced locally and were expected to help domestic industrial and agricultural production. There was mixed reaction to the tariff adjustments-- some industry associations praised the increases, but some said they were not broad enough to protect local production against cheap imports.

WTO Completes the Second Triennial Review of the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement.

On November 10, 2000 the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade adopted the report of its Second Triennial Review of the TBT Agreement (no longer available). Also Available at www.wto.org (offsite link) as G/TBT/9 (13 Nov 2000). The U.S. Government was able to achieve consensus on one of its key objectives a Committee Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards (Annex 4), which includes openness, transparency, impartiality and consensus in an effort to encourage wide participation and in the end standards that are relevant, effective and less likely to create unnecessary barriers to trade. Another successful result of the Second Triennial Review was to achieve recognition that there are a variety of approaches to facilitate the acceptance of conformity assessment and adopted the indicative list contained in Annex 5. Issues raised by developing countries are addressed throughout the report. If you have any comments, please email Heather Grell, Standards/Technical Barriers to Trade Specialist in the Trade Compliance Center. Heather_Grell@ita.doc.gov

Korean Standardization and KS Marking Certification Regulations Available in English.

A copy of the current Korean Standardization and KS Marking Certification Regulations for the following products: Mechanical Products ( machine tools, equipment of measurement, calculation, and industrial machines, farming instruments and equipment using heat and gas), Electrical and Electronic Products Electrical (machinery used for measurements, and testing electrical materials including wire and cable, vacuum tube, light bulbs and illumination, wiring, electrical appliance machines), Metals, Mining, Civil Engineering (structure and inspection measurements, materials and auxiliary materials for construction), Household Goods, Food Products, Textiles, Ceramics, Chemical Products (general and industrial oil, fat and mineral oil, plastics, photo materials, dyestuff, explosives, fuel, paint, ink, rubber, leather, paper, pulp and reagent), Medical Equipment, Transportation Machinery, Shipbuilding, Aircraft and Aviation and Information Industry is available in English from the Department of Commerce. With these regulations, the Korean government seeks to ensure the safety and quality of the listed products when sold in the Korean market. The Korean Government hopes that the KS system will simplify transactions needed, such as special inspections to certify the safety and quality of products. To obtain a copy of the regulations please contact Bill Golike, Korea Desk, Department of Commerce, William_Golike@ita.doc.gov.

WTO General Council Approves Oman Accession

On October 10, 2000, the World Trade Organizations General Council approved the accession of the Sultanate of Oman to the WTO. Following the General Council's approval, Maqbool Ali Sultan, Oman's Minister of Commerce and Industry, accompanied by WTO Director-General Mike Moore, signed the Protocol of Accession thereby completing the process of the Sultanate to become the 139th Member of the WTO on 9 November 2000.

Qatar: New Investment Law

The Government of Qatar issued a new investment law on October 16, 2000. It will take effect within the next two weeks, when it is published in the Official Gazette. The law provides, for the first time, for foreign investors to own up to 100 percent of projects in the tourism, education, industry, health and natural resources sectors. It also gives foreign investors the right to lease land for up to 50 years renewable, subject to prior approval from the GOQ. The new law will annul provisions of Law No. 25 (1990), which restricts foreign ownership of limited liability business concerns to a maximum of 49 percent.

Invitation for Comments: Nat'l Trade Estimates Foreign Barrier Reports

Preparations are underway for the 2001 National Trade Estimates Foreign Trade Barriers Report. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is looking for comments and submissions from you. This is your opportunity to report any foreign barriers to trade in goods, services, investment or intellectual property that you have encountered. Submissions are due to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative by November 27, 2000. More information