Ukraine: Import duty surcharges up to 13% to restore balance-of-payments are largely eliminated
Description
On 4 March 2009, Ukraine has notified to the WTO that it will introduce a temporary (up to six months) surcharge up to 13% of the customs value of goods brought into the customs territory of Ukraine as imports, except for critical imports*, on the basis of Paragraph 9 of the Understanding on the Balance-of-Payments Provisions of GATT 1994. Under these provisions, governments may act on international trade flows if their balance of payments is in a critical state.
The Ukranian Law calls for an "international methodolgy" to be used to identify this critical state for the balance of payments. It also provides room for WTO consultations after emergeny measures have been implemented.
In a second communication circulated among WTO-members on 18 May 2009, the Ukranian government anounced the removal of the import duty surcharges on all uncrtical tariff lines with the exception of tariff lines 8414 and 8703.
*The Ukranian Law enumerates the uncritical tariff lines to be:
0202, 0203, 0206 - 0210, 0504 - 0506, 0509, 0511 (except item 0511 10 00 00), 0808, 1601 - 1605, 1701, 1702 (except for starch treacle in item 1702 30 99 00), 2204 - 2208, 2701, 4203, 4303, 57, 60 - 65, 6806, 6901, 7201, 7301, 7321, 8401, 8414, 8418, 8501, 8516, 8702, 8703, 8704.
Any Evidence-Based Deliberation:
| Question | Result |
|---|---|
| Is there anything in the public record to suggest that evidence of the effectiveness of the proposed measure was considered during official deliberations? | Yes |
| Is there any evidence that alternatives to the proposed measure were considered? | Yes |
| Is there anything in the public record that suggests that empirical evidence informed the comparison across the alternatives available to government? | Don't Know |
| Was such evidence identified? | Don't Know |
| Is such evidence publicly available? | Don't Know |
| Did the official decision-maker in question provide an explanation as to why a chosen measure was favoured over alternatives? | Yes |
| Is there any evidence to suggest that potentially affected trading partners were consulted before the measures were taken? | No |
| Is there any evidence that safeguards have been put in place to ensure that implementation of the initiative is transparent and non-discriminatory? | Yes |
| Did the government state its intention to review the measure within one year of implementation? | Yes |
Date Discovered: 30/06/2009
Implemented: No
Date of inception: 7 Mar 2009
Duration: 6 months
GTA Evaluation: Red
Source:
1)Measure listed as verified, see Annex I, WTO monitoring report 26 March 2009.
2) Measure listed as verified, see Annex I, WTO monitoring report 1 July 2009
3) WTO document WT/BOP/N/68 and WT/BOP/N/66
Government Response:
- 1294 reads
