Goods Council supports waiver for EC's trade scheme

18 Jul '06

3 min read

The Council agreed to revert to Canadian request and to the following items at its next meeting:
United States' request for waivers for the African Growth and Opportunity Act, the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act and the Andean Trade Preference Act. Many beneficiaries of these programmes again urged immediate approval but some other members maintained their opposition to the US request.

EC's request for an extension of waiver for the tariff rate quota for bananas of ACP (Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific) countries. The Chairman, Amb. Yonov Frederick Agah (Nigeria), concluded there were clearly diverging views on this issue.

Panama's concerns about Colombia's indicative prices and minimum values for certain products, including footwear and textiles. Panama expressed concern that Colombia had adopted further restrictions. Colombia maintained that customs measures were part of its fight against the narcotics trade, and were consistent with the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement.

Turkey's proposal for a work programme on the textiles and clothing sector. Many delegations again expressed support for the proposal but some members maintained their opposition. Turkey objected to Pakistan's proposal to delete this item from the Council's agenda.

Brazil reiterated its joint proposal with India for a WTO Secretariat study on the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs). The Council agreed to revert to the proposal at a future meeting.

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