Korea - Laws, Regulations and Practices in the Telecommunications Procurement Sector - Request for Consultations by the European Communities
- Korea
- 2004/08/30
- 已被閱讀 841次
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RESTRICTED
World Trade WT/DS40/1
G/L/74
G/STR/D1/1
Organization 20 May 1996
(96-1905)
Original: English
KOREA - LAWS, REGULATIONS AND PRACTICES IN THE
TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROCUREMENT SECTOR
Request for Consultations by the European Communities
The following communication, dated 9 May 1996, from the Permanent Delegation of the European Commission to the Permanent Mission of Korea, is circulated in accordance with Article 4.4 of the DSU.
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On behalf of the European Community, I hereby request consultations with Korea under Article XXIII:1 of the GATT 1994 and Article 4 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (hereinafter also referred to as the "Understanding") with respect to Korean laws, regulations and practices in the telecommunications procurement sector.
According to the Basic Telecommunications Act (hereafter: "Telecom Act"), the Minister of Communications (MoC) is responsible for developing and executing a plan for the promotion of telecommunications technology (Article 8), including, for instance, the establishment and financing of research institutes (Article 10). The MoC can require network operators to make financial contributions to these institutes and to spend a certain ratio of annual revenues on R&D investments (Article 12). According to Article 6 of the Enforcement Decree, the MoC can select research subjects for these institutes which include the promotion of domestic production of telecommunications equipment. The Korean government has applied these provisions to promote the build-up of a domestic industry in telecommunications network equipment.
The Government Procurement Fund Act (hereafter: "Procurement Act") regulates the procurement of government agencies. It covers government and local agencies as well as "other agencies" as described in the Presidential Decree for the Enforcement of the Procurement Fund Act (hereafter: "Presidential Decree"). The latter establishes