|
FTA FOREIGN TRADE ASSOCIATION |
|
|
FTA Bulletin The voice of the
Foreign Trade Association |
|
|
April
2002 Volume
2, Number 1 |
|
|
Avenue de Janvier 5 - 1200
Brussels Belgium Tel : +32.2.762.05.51 - Fax : +32.2.762.75.06 e-mail :
info@fta-eu.org |
|
|
1 |
|
|
2 |
|
|
3 |
|
|
4 |
|
|
5 |
|
|
6 |
|
|
7 |
|
|
8 |
|
Jan Eggert
Secretary-General
Dear Reader,
This
is the first FTA Bulletin in 2002 – time to look ahead what European trade can
expect from trade policy this year.
The
4th WTO Ministerial in Doha decided on a new world trade round on a broad base
of issues. This is a big success for the multilateral trading system after the
failure of Seattle. Another success for the multilateral trading system is the
positive decision on the accession of China (and Taiwan) to the WTO – a result
which has not been self-evident after all the years of difficult negotiations.
Also
the fact that the interests and needs of the developing countries have been
focussed in Doha, not only in general but also in the context of many concrete
issues is an important step forward. World trade can only grow if the
developing countries become better integrated into the multilateral trading
system responding more to their needs. This is as well the basis for growing
wealth in the developing countries. No development aid can achieve for the
developing world what can be achieved by market opening and the reduction of
tariffs and non-tariff-barriers. This holds especially true for the sectors
agriculture and textiles where developing countries normally have to offer most
of their export products. So both sectors are in the focus of trade policy.
In
textile trade policy the signs are set for the end of the year 2004 when the
Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) will end and the free rules for trade
in goods will also apply to textile products. Unfortunately, for the issue of
textiles there has been made no progress in Doha. For European trade it would
be favourable to get further rise of quota respectively abolishment of quota
before the end of 2004. So we urge the European Commission to make serious
efforts to bring the running bilateral negotiations to a success. But we also
pledge to other trading partners like the US to prepare seriously for the end
of the ATC as of January 2005. The special safeguard mechanism vis-à-vis China
which has been established with the WTO accession and will be in place until
2008 is not a good sign.
The
time to get results in the new World Trade Round is very short: The Round is
designed to last until 1 January 2005. This is a very short period of time
regarding the number of issues to be discussed and the fact that there are not
very many agreed positions. Moreover, on difficult issues like investment,
competition and environment negotiations will only start (officially) with the
next WTO Ministerial which will take place in Mexico in June 2003. It is
unlikely that the negotiations on these issues can be terminated in a
satisfactory way until the beginning of 2005.
So
much has to be done and all trading partners have to use the short time period
as good as possible to turn the fundamental declarations and proposals from
Doha into concrete agreements. The European Union as one of the biggest
economic powers should play a leading role to bring the negotiations forward.
The FTA will participate in the dialogue on the EU positions in a constructive
way and present the views and interests of European trade.
Back to contents
On
5 June 2002 the FTA will celebrate its 25th anniversary in Brussels.
With Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy as one of our keynote speakers, the theme
of the celebration will be “25 Years FTA
– 25 Years for Free Trade”. Our guests will be representatives from the
European Parliament, the Commission and the Council as well as national
government officials and trade and business people from all over Europe. You
will receive further information on the event within due course.
Back to contents
Further to the publication of the Regulations that suspend the duties against India and Egypt and terminate the case against Pakistan, the FTA is currently evaluating the opportunity to plan an action for reimbursement of the duties paid.
As you may recall, the Council of the European Union
imposed in 1997 a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of cotton-type
bedlinen originating in Egypt, India and Pakistan. In 2001, the Dispute
Settlement Body of the World Trade Organisation adopted an Appellate Body
report. The Commission reassessed
findings by taking account of the recommendations set out in the Reports on the
basis of information which was collected in the original investigation that
took place in 1996/97.
As a result of this reassessment:
Duties on imports
from INDIA have been suspended (since August 14th 2001).
A request for a partial
interim review has been published on the OJ C39/17. The Commission has also given notice
that, unless an expiry review is initiated, the duties will expire on 5th December 2002.
This rather complicated legal
structure may also lead, before the expiry of the duties, i.e. in December
2002, to the opening of a so-called “sunset review”. The Commission may thus be
able to re-enforce antidumping duties on bedlinen imported from India; duties
that are currently suspended and that must remain suspended all along the
review period, pursuant to the wording of the Regulation that implemented the
WTO panel results.
Duties on imports
from EGYPT were suspended in January 2002 and expired on 28th
February 2002.
The case against PAKISTAN
has been terminated in January 2002.
More than three years after the case was filed with the
EC Court of First Instance, the Court finally rendered its judgment in the case
concerning the AD duties on shoes imported from China. (Case T-598/97, BSC and others vs. Council of the
European Union).
The
Court has decided not to divert from the path traced by the previous
jurisprudence, and has dismissed the application as inadmissible.
The
Judges observe that the applicants
(European Importers) do not belong to any of the three categories which are
recognized in the case-law as having a direct right of action against
regulations imposing an anti-dumping duty. According to the Court, the
applicants are “unrelated importers” and it is clear from the contested
regulation that the existence of dumping was established not by reference to
their resale prices but by reference to the prices actually paid or to be paid
on export.
The
Court also recalls that the jurisprudence may provide a basis for the
applicants' case only if they had established the existence of a set of factors
constituting a situation peculiar to them and distinguishing them, as regards
the measure in question, from all other traders. In the present case, the Court
points out firstly that the applicants, even when taken collectively, accounted
for only approximately 9.5% of all imports of the product at issue and secondly
that, although expressly invited to do so by the Court in written questions and
also at the hearing, the applicants have not proved that they were affected to
any substantial degree by the contested regulation.
According
to the Court, the applicants have not proved that the contested regulation
affected them other than in their objective capacity as importers of the
products in question, just as it did any other trader finding himself in the
same situation. On those grounds the Court has dismissed the application
as inadmissible
This recent judgment confirms the unacceptable status
provided by the European Institutions to the trade community. The wording of
the verdict reflects a limitative approach to the defence of the importers’
rights. In order to be able to contest the Commission findings, the importer
must be in a “unique position”, which distinguish him from the other importers.
The Statistical Office of the European Communities has recently published a comprehensive study on the European distribution sector.
With around 5 million enterprises in the EU and more than 22 million people employed in 1999, the distributive trades sector plays an important role in the economy. In the EU, the distributive trades accounted for about 13% of total value added in 1997 and employed nearly 16% of total employment.
In 1999, retail trade accounted for
almost 60% of all businesses in the distributive trades, half of all jobs, and
around 30% of total turnover. Wholesale trade represented 27% of all
businesses, one third of total employment but was the most important activity
with regard to turnover (around 55% of the total). Within the distributive trades, retailing is
the activity that records the highest level of self-employment: 27.1% in the EU
in 1999. In retail trade, the proportion of self-employment varied strongly
among the Member States between 12.2% in Denmark to 58.9% in Italy and 60.2% in
Greece.
These figures confirm the key role of the distribution sector within the European economy and are of utmost importance in our combat for a better representation of the interests of the sector in the antidumping procedure.
Under the Community interest
heading (Article 21), the Antidumping Basic Regulation states that the
Community institutions have to balance the interests of all market players: the
complainants, other Community producers, users, consumers, importers and
traders and the like. Users of the
allegedly dumped imports - who will end up paying a higher price if AD duties
are imposed - have an important role to play here. Measures, as determined on the basis of the dumping and
injury found, may not in fact be applied, where the authorities, on the basis
of all the information submitted, can clearly conclude that it is not in the
Community interest to apply such measures
On the basis of the figures above, the FTA considers that the practical application of the rules which is currently made by the EU institutions, mainly the Commission and the Court of Justice, is far from being acceptable. While the Commission shall perform a wider effort to keep into account the distribution sector concerns in the opening of a new proceeding and in the determination of the Community interest, the European Judges shall find the audacity to amend its current approach, finally allowing the importers to challenge antidumping duties before the Court. (For a sample of the current EU Court approach, see above, “the shoe case”).
Thailand has requested consultations with the EU with regard to the latter’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) scheme. The scheme contains a special regime that extends market access benefits beyond the ordinary GSP concessions to countries fighting illegal drugs production and exports. According to Thailand, the program unfairly affects Thai exports and violates GATT Article III (most-favored-nation treatment) and the Enabling Clause, i.e. 1979 GATT Decision on Differential and More Favorable Treatment of Developing Countries, which requires GSP benefits to the ‘generalized’ and ‘non-discriminatory’ and ‘not to raise undue difficulties for trade of any other contracting parties’. Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Colombia have requested to be joined in the consultations as third parties.
If the dispute settlement procedure concludes, it would be the first time that the WTO would have ruled on the compatibility of any Member’s GSP with global trade rules. Many countries have preferential programs that contain conditionalities and whose benefits can be unilaterally granted, as well as withdrawn. In July 2001, the EU settled a similar case with Brazil, which had alleged that its soluble coffee exports to European markets had been adversely affected by the preferences extended to countries of the Andean Community and the Central American Common Market under the drug fighting program. Pakistan was admitted to the scheme in December 2001.
EU adopts temporary measures
to guard against floods of US steel imports
The Bush administration has rebutted The Bush administration has rebutted EU demands for immediate compensation from the United States for imposing new tariffs on steel imports. President Bush decided on 5 March to impose temporary tariffs of up to 30 percent on some imports to give the U.S. steel industry time to restructure. Immediately following Bush's announcement, the EU signaled it could seek compensation or retaliate under WTO rules. The EU argued that the U.S. was violating the WTO Safeguards Agreement by not demonstrating how either an absolute or relative increase in steel imports injured or threatened U.S. industry.
On 27 March the EU adopts safeguard measures on steel. The measures have been drawn up with scrupulous
attention to WTO rules. The safeguard establishes a generous level of imports -
within which the measures will not apply - based on the highest recent level of
imports (2001). Beyond these levels,
tariffs will apply varying from 14.9% to a maximum 26%. These temporary measures,
due to enter into force in the coming days, will last for a maximum of 6
months. During this time, a thorough investigation of the effects of the US
measures will be carried out. Developing countries will be effectively excluded
from the measures, in line with WTO rules.
EU vs US extraterritorial
income exclusion act
The arbitrator’s decision on the amount of trade sanctions the EU may impose on the United States in the corporate tax regime dispute is due on 29 April. The EU has estimated the damage caused to member countries’ economies at US $ 4.043 billion, while the US claims the proper amount to be US $ 956 million. Bush administration officials have now admitted that a significant reform of the tax system is likely to be only way of complying with the WTO ruling although this opinion presents serious political difficulties.
The FTA recalls that the history of this case goes back to 1971, and successive US export promotion schemes. The FSC scheme's predecessor, the Domestic International Sales Corporation (DISC) scheme, was declared an illegal export subsidy by a GATT panel in 1976 (the GATT adopted the panel ruling in 1981). The US replaced the DISC with the FSC in 1984. The EU contested the legality of the FSC when it was adopted, but did not pursue it at the time due to the opening of the Uruguay Round trade negotiations.
EU Concerned about US
decision to impose protective duties in uranium
The EU expressed its serious concern over the United States
International Trade Commission (ITC) decision on 21 January to impose
definitive duties on EU exports of enriched uranium. The ITC argued that EU
imports were causing injury to the US petitioner, United States Enrichment
Company (USEC). It ignored evidence and arguments that the EU and the European
industry put forward during the investigation. EU exports worth $ 500 million
would be heavily hit by duties once this measure is implemented.
The FTA recalls
that on 27
December 2000, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) initiated an anti-dumping
and countervailing duty investigation against imports of low enriched uranium
from France, Germany, Netherlands and UK. This followed a complaint lodged by
the recently privatised United States Enrichment Company. Following the
initiation, the DOC conducted an investigation, which led to the preliminary
countervailing findings on 7 May 2001, and anti-dumping findings on 7 July
2001. On 14 December 2001, DOC issued its definitive findings. The
International Trade Commission found in January 2002 that the exports are
causing injury and the DOC will shortly impose definitive duties at the level
of the dumping and subsidisation found - 32.78% for France and 2.26% for
Germany, Netherlands and UK.
Back to contents
On 3 February 2002, WTO Members reached agreement on how to conduct the negotiations launched at the Doha Ministerial Conference in November 2001. The Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC), whose role is to ‘monitor and supervise the negotiations’, will be chaired by the WTO Director-General in his official capacity, i.e. Mike Moore until September 2002 and his successor Panitchpakdi Supachai until the end of his term in 2006. The TNC will, however, remain under the authority of the General Council, the chair of which rotates on an annual basis between Geneva-based ambassadors from developed and developing countries.
New negotiating groups were established on WTO Rules
(i.e. anti-dumping and subsidies as well as regional trade agreements) and
market access for non-agricultural goods.
Negotiations
on agriculture and services will continue in Special Sessions of the Committee
on Agriculture and Council for Trade in Services. Special Sessions were also
agreed for the following:
The
chairmanship of existing WTO bodies has been split into two: one for the
regular sessions and another for the special negotiating sessions. The former
will rotate annually according to standard WTO practice while the latter will
stay in their posts until the fifth WTO Ministerial Conference, when their
terms may be extended.
The
schedule of the regular and special sessions has been finalised at the end of
March 2002.
The
Cotonou Waiver: An unlikely Doha deal maker
An unexpected deal-breaker arose at the Doha WTO Ministerial Meeting with the surprise inclusion on the agenda of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement’s waiver request. The final consensus to grant the waiver, after more than a year’s delay and arduous negotiations in Doha, is seen as a significant victory for the ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) group. Although the actual trade gains remain elusive, the success of the ACP countries in obtaining the waiver illustrates their political ‘coming of age’ as trade negotiators. The ACP arrived in Doha significantly better prepared than in previous WTO Ministerial Meetings. From now on, their challenge will be to capitalise on their weight as a group within the WTO, and begin to actually influence the making of global rules.
The FTA recalls that unilateral preferences granted by the EU to its ACP partners – which include 77 developing countries, 54 of which are WTO Members – have been an essential pillar of their co-operation for over 25 years. Under the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement (commonly referred to as the Cotonou Agreement) signed in June 2000, preferences were extended until the beginning of 2008, at which time they should be replaced by new WTO-compatible trade arrangements between ACP and the EU.
As for all trade preferences discriminating between Members, a WTO ‘waiver’ is necessary to maintain preferences that violate the non-discrimination obligation under GATT Article I. A request for such a waiver was put by the EU to the WTO’s Council on Trade in Goods in March 2000 (the previous waiver for the Lomé Convention had expired on 29 February 2000). For over a year, Latin American banana producing countries effectively blocked consideration of the waiver, on largely procedural grounds due to their objections to the EU’s proposed new banana import regime.
EU tables proposals on access to medicines for
developing countries with no drug production
On 5 March the EU tabled its first proposals in Geneva on ensuring access to medicines in developing countries with no domestic drug production. At a meeting of the WTO Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property rights (TRIPS) Council, the EU put forward options to address a key issue that remained unresolved with the landmark Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial last November in Doha. Now negotiators under the auspices of the WTO need to work out how to make sure that countries which cannot themselves produce essential drugs may still fully benefit from the TRIPS Agreement. The EU believes the issue can be solved within a year.
EU and Russia talks on WTO accession of
Russia
As announced at the EU/Russia summit in October 2001, the EU has now put all its negotiating positions on the table for discussion with Russia. They reflect the market access interests of the EU but take account of the progress of economic reform in Russia. Where Russia has specific concerns, for example about structural adjustment or the pace of Russia's future implementation of its economic reform programme, the EU is prepared to discuss timing aspects for the implementation of Russia's WTO obligations. The EU welcomes the progress already made, for example in the area of negotiations on industrial tariffs and the adoption of new legislation covering Intellectual Property Rights. More efforts are needed in other areas, such as services, to ensure that they also reach a level commensurate with the rights and obligations of existing WTO Members.
The FTA recalls that for WTO accessions negotiations are held both multilaterally and bilaterally, e.g. with the European Union, the United States, etc. When joining the WTO each candidate country benefits from a number of important rights vis-à-vis all existing Member of the organisation. At the same time, like other WTO Members, it undertakes a number of obligations. Accession negotiations cover both aspects and ensure that all sides are satisfied with the terms of entry. The results of this work are then codified in a multilaterally agreed set of terms and conditions for accession in the Protocol of Accession and Working Party Report. The EU is taking a leading role in both exercises.
WTO and international agencies boost
technical assistance budget
The WTO’s General Council approved the organisation’s most ambitious budget to date and established the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund with a proposed core budget of 15 million Swiss francs. The fund will serve for the implementation of commitments on technical assistance as mandated in the Doha Ministerial Declaration.
The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has launched a capacity-building and technical assistance programme, which the organisation’s Executive Secretary Rubens Ricupero called ‘demand driven’ and tailor-made’, based on consultations with developing countries. Among other assistance, UNCTAD stands ready to support the active participation of developing countries in issues such as trade, debt and finance as well as trade and technology transfer, on which WTO working groups were established in Doha.
In addition to that, the six core international agencies (ITC, IMF, UNCTAD; UNDP, World Bank and WTO) agreed at a meeting in Washington in February 2002 to provide support to help Developing and Least-Developed Countries (LDCs) take part in the current trade negotiations and draw on the benefits of the open trading system.
Restart negotiations for EU-GCC Free Trade
Agreement
In March 2002, the EU restarted the negotiations on a
Free Trade Agreement between the EU and the countries of Gulf Co-operation
Council (GCC). The proposed agreement
would provide for a progressive and reciprocal liberalisation of trade aiming
at assuring a comparable level of market access opportunities, consistent with
the relevant provisions of the WTO and taking into account the level of
development of the GCC countries. The Free Trade Agreement therefore ultimately
aims at fostering economic integration between the parties, with a view to
diversifying and increasing the mutual trade in a sustainable manner.
Discussions covered all aspects of the future agreement, with a view to finding a common understanding of the nature and level of commitments in the FTA. Discussions on concessions on both sides on the level of customs duties and market access are foreseen to follow in consequent negotiation rounds that will address specific areas of the FTA. The Commission expects rapid progress now that the timetable for the future meetings can be set and the draft for an agreement have been put on the negotiating table. The next full negotiating round is foreseen to take place in Riyadh in May.
Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on
Trade
The first meeting
of the Euro-Mediterranean Ministers for Trade, held on 29 May 2001 in Brussels,
gave a new impetus to the regional dimension of the trade aspects of the
Barcelona process. The Ministers for Trade recognised the need to intensify
efforts in the economic and trade fields of the partnership in order to
complete the establishment of the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area and to
contribute to the sustainable development of the region. At Toledo, Euromed
Trade Ministers met for the second time on 19 March 2002. They noted that
important progress had been made since their last meeting and that the
pragmatic approach they had adopted was fruitful. Concrete results in the field
of rules of origin were obtained within a few months time. They thus decided to
pursue further their strategy of developing concrete measures complementary to
tariff dismantling aimed at achieving an effective Euro-Mediterranean Free
Trade Area.
The Ministers
stressed the very positive signal for the Barcelona process that the grid of
Association Agreements between the EU and its Mediterranean partners was about
to be completed with the exception of Syria with which negotiations are still
ongoing. Important steps were indeed accomplished. The Association Agreement
with Egypt was signed in June 2001, while that with Algeria was initialled in
December 2001 and that with Lebanon in January 2002. The Agreements with
Algeria and Lebanon should be signed at the Valencia Conference of Euromed
Foreign Affairs Ministers in April. Association Agreements are now in force
with Cyprus, Israel, Malta, Morocco, Tunisia, as well as a customs union with
Turkey and an Interim Co-operation Agreement with the Palestinian Authority.
The entry into force of the Association Agreement with Jordan is expected in
the coming weeks as well as the signature of an interim agreement with Lebanon.
Back to contents
The environmental
significance of the Doha Declaration
The Doha Ministerial Declaration contains far more language regarding the environment than was predicted a week before the meeting. There are two key environmental achievements. First, the Declaration designates environment as an agenda item in the new trade round. Second, the ministers are encouraging efforts to promote co-operation between the WTO, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and other international environmental and development organisations. This may set in motion a WTO contribution to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, to be held in September in Johannesburg.
Sustainability challenges of paragraph 51 of
the Doha Declaration
In the adopted Doha Ministerial Declaration, WTO ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the objective of sustainable development as contained in the Preamble to the 1994 Marrakesh Agreement. In what could be a significant first step to the realisation of this commitment, paragraph 51 of the Declaration requires that the WTO Committee on Trade and Development and the Committee on Trade and Environment “shall, within their respective mandates, each act as a forum to identify and debate development and environmental aspects of the negotiations, in order to help achieve the objective of having sustainable development appropriately reflected”.
The FTA states that with the adoption of this paragraph, the WTO has, for the first time, put in place a mechanism to evaluate the negotiation of trade rules and their possible impacts on the environment and development. While the paragraph could contribute to the integration of social and environmental concerns into the trade regime and thus contribute to sustainable development, the real indicator of progress lies in the process that will be adopted by the two committees in carrying out their new mandate.
ILO World Commission on the social dimension
of globalisation
On March 1 2002, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) announced the establishment of a World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalisation, which is to ‘examine ways in which all international organisations can contribute to a more inclusive globalisation process that is acceptable and fair to all’. The blue-ribbon Commission is seen as a compromise solution for addressing, inter alia, the relationship between trade liberalisation and core labour standards, which developing countries have staunchly resisted in the context of WTO talks. Dutch Minister for Development Co-operation Evelyne Herfkens, former Uruguayan President Julio Sanguinetti and Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz are among the eminent personalities who make up the 21-member body, which will be jointly chaired by President Tarja Halonen of Finland and Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania. All will act on their personal capacities.
Back to contents
The European Commission has recently proposed new competition rules for the motor vehicle sector. The new draft regulation is designed to increase competition and bring tangible benefits to European consumers for both vehicle sales and servicing. The regulation will open the way to greater use of new distribution techniques such as Internet sales. It will lead to more competition between dealers, make cross-border purchases of new vehicles significantly easier, and lead to greater price competition.
The proposal is intended to replace the regime established in 1995, which is due to expire on 30 September 2002 (Regulation 1475/95). If the Commission simply let this Regulation lapse, the car sector would automatically fall under the general competition rules for distribution agreements.
The new Regulation will be applicable to the sale and after-sales services of all motor vehicles (passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, trucks and buses).
Set a part the technical legislative details, this proposal contain provisions that may lead to important development for the retail sector. Studies have shown that many consumers would value the in-store choice and comparability available in multi-brand outlets. This "multi-branding" reinforces dealers' commercial independence vis-à-vis their suppliers and also enables dealers in sparsely populated areas to keep their businesses profitable. The new draft regulation therefore gives retailers a genuine choice as to whether they sell more than one brand.
Moreover, whereas under the current system, every car dealer is forced to invest in facilities to carry out repairs and maintenance on the vehicles they sell, under the new draft, dealers may choose whether they wish to carry out repairs themselves, or sub-contract them to another authorised member of the manufacturer's network, be it another dealer/repairer or a repairer only. This provision may easily allow superstores to become cars retailers, without being obliged to invest in highly expensive after-sales facilities.
Under Regulation 1475/95, when a consumer wants to buy a car cheaply in another Member State, it is mainly up to the individual concerned or his intermediary to try to locate dealers willing to sell to this person. The new draft Regulation not only makes shopping abroad easier, but also contains measures to allow those dealers who wish to sell to consumers in other areas of the European Union to be more pro-active. Dealers may set up a secondary sales outlet or a delivery point in another part of their own country or in another Member State of the European Union.
The draft regulation will now be submitted to the Advisory Committee on Restrictive Practices and Dominant Positions and sent for consultation to the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee. After its discussion in the Advisory Committee, the draft will then be published in the Official Journal in order to give interested parties the opportunity to comment. After further consideration by the Commission of all the views expressed during the consultation period, the draft will be submitted to the Advisory Committee once more and should formally be adopted by the Commission before the summer break. The new regulation is to come into force on 1 October 2002. There will be a transition period (probably one year) during which all distribution agreements existing as of that date will have to be brought in line with the new rules.
As announced in our previous Bulletin, the E.P. draft Report (“the Mayer Report”) issued in February 2001 perfectly represented the FTA position. The Draft Report advocated a properly thought out transition from Community-wide exhaustion to international exhaustion, and called on the Commission to submit legislative proposals to this effect.
Unfortunately, the European Parliament was not in a measure to adopt a clear final position, in favor or against, on the current legislation. The Final Report, adopted in October 2001 on the basis of a compromise amendment, asks the Commission to deepen the question of trademark exhaustion through the elaboration of different studies analyzing the possibilities and the consequences of a modification of the current system. The Commission is called to produce and to submit to the Parliament, by 31 December 2002, a detailed study of the implications of a possible transition to the principle of international exhaustion for European manufacturers and consumers as well as for jobs.
The FTA wishes to express its complete availability
to assist the Commission in the drafting of this new Report. The new document,
which will serve as a basis for the final decision of the European Institutions
on this delicate subject, shall consider the needs, the experience and the
knowledge of Traders, and shall take into account the specific characteristics
of a market that is quickly evolving.
Back to contents
|
9 – 10 April 2002 |
Málaga (Spain) |
Euromed: “Innovation and competitiveness in the Mediterranean region” Conference of industry ministers |
|
10 April 2002 |
Brussels (Belgium) |
European Policy Center: “Competition: US and EC Competition Law – are there more differences than we care to admit?” |
|
15 – 16 April 2002 |
Trier (Germany) |
ERA Conference: “Free Movement of Services: ‘Third Generation’ Case Law |
|
22 – 23 April 2002 |
Valencia (Spain) |
Euromed Conference |
|
29 April – 1 May 2002 |
Geneva (Switzerland) |
WTO Symposium: “The Doha Development Agenda and Beyond” |
|
7 – 10 May 2002 |
Brussels (Belgium) |
EuroConference: “The Challenge of Change in EU Business Associations” |
|
9 May 2002 |
Brussels (Belgium) |
Europe Day: EU-wide events to mark the anniversary of French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman’s landmark speech which layed the foundations of the European Union (www.europa.eu.int). |
|
13 – 15 May 2002 |
Geneva (Switzerland) |
WTO General Council |
|
16 – 17 May 2002 |
Maastricht (Netherlands) |
European Institute of Public Administration: “A Roadmap for Candidate Countries; How to steer Eurozone Integration economically” |
|
17 – 18 May 2002 |
Madrid (Spain) |
EU-Latin America-Caribbean Summit |
|
23 – 24 May 2002 |
Maastricht (Netherlands) |
European Institute of Public Administration: “The Presidency Challenge – The Presidency of the Council of the EU: Practical and Managerial Aspects” |
|
5 June 2002 |
Brussels (Belgium) |
25th Anniversary Celebration of the FTA |
|
6 – 7 June 2002 |
Lanzarote (Canaries) |
Asia-Europe Ministerial |
|
6 – 8 June 2002 |
Brussels (Belgium) |
European Business Summit: “Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development in an Enlarged Europe” |
Back to contents
|
TRADE SAFEGUARD MEASURES |
Lifting of AD duties on
fax machines (FTA Circ. N°7) |
|
Review of the AD duties on bedlinen from India (FTA Circ. N°6) |
|
|
Termination of the AD duties on bedlinen
from Egypt (FTA Circ. N°6) |
|
|
Antidumping on microdisks from Hong Kong, Korea
Japan, China and Taiwan (FTA Circ. N°5) |
|
|
Expiry of the AD duties on Footwear
from China and Indonesia (FTA Circ.
N°4) |
|
|
|
|
|
FOREIGN TRADE LAW AND CUSTOMS POLICY
|
Escalation of steel dispute between the US
and the EU (FTA Circ. N°8) |
|
FTA talks with Commissioner Pascal Lamy
about ‘Trade Facilitation’ (FTA Circ. N°8) |
|
|
Transfers of quantitative
limits (textile and clothing) from China (FTA Circ. N°7) |
|
|
Vietnam – dramatic quota utilisation concerning Cat.
4 and Cat. 6 (FTA Circ. N°7) |
|
|
GSP rules of origin for Cambodia, Laos and Nepal (FTA Circ. N°5) |
|
|
Bangladesh – Remission /
Repayment of duties at importation (FTA Circ. N°5) |
|
|
|
|
|
COMPETITION AND TRADE MARK LAW |
National customs blocking DVD-players from
China (FTA Circ. N°6) |
|
SEB buys Moulinex (FTA Circ. N°2) |
|
|
|
|
|
ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL STANDARDS: |
Exchange of views on Green Paper
concerning ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ (FTA Circ. N°6) |
|
Ban of dangerous substances – Azo-Dyes
(FTA Circ. N°6) |
|
Back to contents