WORLD TRADE WT/BOP/N/28
30July1997
ORGANIZATION(97-3219)
Original: English Committee onBalance-of-Payments Restrictions
NOTIFICATION UNDER PARAGRAPH 9OFTHE UNDERSTANDING
ONTHE BALANCE-OF-PAYMENTS PROVISIONS OFTHE
GENERAL AGREEMENT ONTARIFFS AND TRADE 1994
Thefollowing communication, dated 21July1997, wasreceived fromthePermanent Mission
oftheSlovak Republic.
____________________
With reference tothenotification from theSlovak Republic ontheimport deposit scheme,
circulatedunderParagraph9oftheUnderstandingontheBalance-of-PaymentsProvisionsoftheGeneral
Agreement onTariffs andTrade 1994inWTO documents WT/BOP/N/21 andWT/BOP/N/21/Corr.2,
Iwishtoinform WTO Members ofthefollowing:
Theimport deposit scheme asaBOPmeasure, adopted under Article XIIoftheGATT 1994,
wasreplaced on21July1997 byanimport surcharge. Thelegalbasis fortheimplementation ofthe
temporary import surcharge isDecree No.197oftheMinistry ofFinance, which isattached.
Thisstephasbeentaken afterreconsideration oftheefficiency, transparency andoverall impact
oftheimport deposit scheme aimed at,among theother monetary, fiscal andincome policy measures,
addressing current negative developments oftheexternal position oftheSlovak economy.
Theimport surcharge of7percentisapplied onanMFN basistothevastmajority ofproducts.
From across-the-board application, onlysome agricultural items, basic rawmaterials andinputs have
beenexcluded (i.e.black coal, crude oil,natural gas,ironoreandsome basic inputs forthetextile
andtanning industry). Theimport surcharge willbereduced asthebalance-of-payments situation
improves andtheexact timetable willbespecified intheBasic Document fortheconsultations with
theSlovak Republic on29-30 September 1997.
TheSlovak Republic isready toenter intoconsultations under Article XIIoftheGATT 1994
asoriginally planned fortheprevious measure.WT/BOP/N/28
Page2
TheMinistry ofFinance oftheSlovak Republic
IMPORT SURCHARGE DECREE
17July1997
TheMinistryofFinanceoftheSlovakRepublicaccordingtoArticle56oftheForeignEconomic
Relationships ActNo.42/1980 ofColl. inthewording oftheActNo.102/1988 ofColl. andAct
No.113/1990 ofColl. hasenacted thefollowing:
Article 1
(1) Theimport surcharge isimposed forimported goods, except thegoods listed inparagraph (2).
(2) Theimport surcharge isnotimposed onthegoods covered under paragraph (1)inthefollowing
cases:
(a) Imported goods ofcommercial character listed intheAnnex ofthisDecree
(b) Imported goods listed inthespecific regulation1
(c) Documented re-import2
(d) Goods sentbytheforeign supplier asaremedy forthegoods reclaimed.
(3) Forthepurposes ofthisDecree itisunderstood thatimported goods are:
(a) goods released intofreecirculation3
(b) goods released intotheinward processing within thedrawback system4
(c) re-imported goods released intofreecirculation from outward processing5
(d) unlawful imported goods andgoods removed from customs supervision.
Article 2
Thebasefortheimport surcharge isthecustoms value ofgoods. Therateoftheimport
surcharge ongoods quoted inArticle 1,paragraph (1)is7percentofthebasis.
1Articles2to36,49to67,70to106,108,109,112to118oftheMinistryofFinanceoftheSlovakRepublic
No.17/1994 ofColl. onExemption ofGoods fromtheImport Duty. Slovak Republic Ministry ofFinance Decree
No.261/1993 ofCollonReliefs ofNon-Cash Contributions from theImport Duty inwording oftheDecree
No.295/1995 ofColl.
2Articles 193to195oftheNational Council oftheSlovak Republic No.180/1996 ofColl. theCustoms Act.
3Article 95to98oftheCustoms Act.
4Article 122andfurther oftheCustoms Act.
5Article 157andfurther oftheCustoms Actinwording oftheActoftheNational Council oftheSlovak
Republic No.386/1996 ofColl.WT/BOP/N/28
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Article 3
Theadministrationoftheimportsurchargeisgovernedbytheprovisionsofaseparateregulation.6
Article 4
Forimported goods thathavereceived acustoms declaration before thisDecree enters into
effect current regulation areapplied.
Article 5
TheSlovak Republic Ministry ofFinance Decree No.45/1994 ofColl.ontheimport surcharge
inthewordingofDecreeNo.189/1995ofColl,DecreeNo.191/1996ofColl.andDecreeNo.362/1996
ofColl. arecancelled.
Article 6
ThisDecree enters intoeffect from thedateofdeclaration.
Sergej Kozlik
Vice-premier oftheGovernment andMinister ofFinance
oftheSlovak Republic
6TheCustomsActinwordingoftheActoftheNationalCounciloftheSlovakRepublicNo.386/1996ofColl.WT/BOP/N/28
Page4
ANNEX TODECREE NO.197/1997 OFCOLL.
ListofTrading Commodities Exempt from theImport Surcharge
Customs tariff
itemno.Description
010210 Beefcattle -pedigree cattle
010511 to19 Pure-bred poultry
03 Fishandcrustacea, mollusc, andother water invertebrates
04022911 Special types ofmilkfortoddlers, hermetically sealed invessels whose net
contents donotexceed 500g. withthefatcontent notmore than10%
12010090 Other soyabeans
12050010 Rapeseed forseeding purposes only
12060010 Sunflower seeds forseeding purposes
1604 Preparations andcansoffishcaviar andsubstitute fisheggs
1605 Crustacea, molluscs andother water invertebrates processed orcanned
2301 Powder, drillings andagglomerated products ofcylindrical shape, bean
andsimilar produced shapes ofmeat, mince, fishorcrustacea orother
water invertebrates, unfitforhuman consumption, greaves
23040000 Pressed residue andother solid waste, alsocrushed oragglomerated ina
small cylindrical shape, beanorsimilar shapes aftertheextraction ofsoya
oil
230990 Other preparations usedforthenutrition ofanimals
25010031 Salt(including tablesaltanddenatured salt)andpuresodium chloride, also
dissolved, usedtoproduce thechemical reaction forpreparation ofother
products (separation Nafrom Cl)
250300 Sulphur ofanykind, other thansublimated, precipitated andcolloid
25041000 Natural graphite inpowder orflakes
2505 Natural sandofanykind, alsodyed, except sandcontaining metals of
Chapter 26
25070020 Clay
25292100 Fluorspar containing 97%orlessweight ofcalcium fluoride
2601 Ironoresandtheirconcentrates including roasted pyrite
26020000 Manganese oresandtheirconcentrates including iron-manganese oresand
concentrates containing 20%manganese ormore, calculated forthedry
weight
26030000 Copper oresandtheirconcentrates
26100000 Chrome oresandtheirconcentrates
(cont'd)WT/BOP/N/28
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Customs tariff
itemno.Description
2613 Molybdenum oresandtheirconcentrates
2701 Black coal, briquette, bullet andsimilar solid fuelprocessed from black
coal
270900 Mineral oilandoilofbitumen mineral, raw
27112100 Earth gasingaseous form
271220 Paraffined waxcontaining lessthan0.75% ofoileight
28046900 Silicon -others
280700 Sulphuric acid, oleo
2809 Phosphorus oxide, phosphoric acidandmulti-phosphoric acids
2810000 Boron oxides, boron acids
2814 Ammonia, undiluted ordiluted withwater
28182000 Aluminium oxide, other thanartificial corundum
29022090 Benzine forother purposes
29031500 1,2dichloride-ethane
29051100 Methanol
29051300 Butanol
29152100 Acetic acid
29173700 Dimethyl-tereftalate
29213010 Cyclohexylamine andcyclohexyldimethylamine andtheirsalts
29214100 Aniline anditssalts
30 Pharmaceutical products
390120 Polyethylene withadensity of0.94ormore
3903 Polymers ofstyrene inprimary form
4001 Natural rubber, balata, gutta-percha, guajal, chicle andsimilar natural
types ofrubber, inprimary form, orboards, sheet orband
4002 Synthetic rubber andfaktis (oilrubber) inprimary form orboards, sheet
orband, mixture ofproducts ofitem4001 withthese product categories in
primary form orboards, sheet orband
4101 Unprocessed leather ofbovine, equine andother ungulate species, fresh or
salted, dried, limed, pickled orotherwise preserved butnotuntanned,
unprocessed intoskinparchment norotherwise prepared) alsodehaired or
split
4103 Other unprocessed leather (fresh orsalted, dried, limed, pickled or
otherwise preserved butun-tanned, notprocessed intoskinparchment, nor
otherwise prepared) alsodehaired orsplit, other thanexcluded withthe
note1b)orc)from thisChapter
(cont'd)WT/BOP/N/28
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Customs tariff
itemno.Description
4501 Natural cork, raworsimple prepared, corkwaste, crushed, granulated or
minced
45020000 Natural corkde-barked orsimple roughly cut,orinrectangular (orsquare)
cubicle, board, sheet orband(including semi-products withsharp edges
intended forcaps)
5101 Wool, non-carded andnon-teased
5105 Wool andfineorrough hairofanimals, carded orteased (including strips
ofcarded wool)
520100 Cotton non-carded andnon-teased
5301 Linen, rough orprocessed butnotshinned, linen tow,linen waste
(including waste ofyarnandcutmaterial)
5302 Truehemp, rough orprocessed, butnon-twisted, towandwaste from true
hemp (including waste ofyarnandcutmaterial)
5303 Juteandother stalkfibres (except linen, truehemp, andramie) rough,
unprocessed butnon-twisted, towandwaste from suchfibres (including
waste ofyarnandcutmaterial)
5304 Sisalandother textile fribres ofAgave species, rough orprocessed but
untwisted, towandwaste from suchfibres (including waste ofyarnandcut
material
7004 Flatglass drawn orblown, alsowithreflection orabsorption layer,
otherwise non-processed
7005 Table floatglass andtableglass flatted orglazed, alsowithasurface of
absorption reflection ornon-reflection layer, otherwise unprocessed
7201 Rough ironandfurnace spiegel castironinloaf,block orother basic
forms
7202 Ferro-alloy
7301 Sheet pileofironorsteel, alsodrilled orcutorproduced from assembled
elements, welded angles, shaped pieces andprofiles ofironorsteel
730210 Rails
76061191 Aluminium sheet withathickness lessthan3mm.
76071190 Aluminium foilwithout support, rolled, butnotfurther processed witha
thickness from 0.021 m.to0.2m.
79011210 Zincunrefined containing zincweight from 99.995% to99.99%
81041100 Rough (unprocessed) magnesium containing atleast99.8% weight of
magnesium
84013000 Non-spent (non-irradiated) fuelelements (cans) (Euraton)
(cont'd)WT/BOP/N/28
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Customs tariff
itemno.Description
9018 Medical, surgical, dental orveterinary instruments andtools, including
scinti-graphic instruments, other electric treatment instruments aswellas
sigh-testing instruments
9021 Orthopeadic aidsandinstruments, including crutches, treatment and
surgical bands andmedical support bandages; splints, walking callipers,
andother aidsandinstruments fortreatment offractures; prosthetic
appliances andinstruments; hearing aidsandother instruments carried in
handorontheperson orimplanted intotheorganism forcompensation
impacts ofanyfailure ordisability