NOTIFICATION UNDER PARAGRAPH 9 OF THE UNDERSTANDING
ON THE BALANCE-OF-PAYMENTS PROVISIONS OF THE
GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE 1994

COMMUNICATION FROM ECUADOR

The following communication, dated 26 January 2016, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Ecuador.

_______________

RESOLUTION NO. 001-2016

THE FOREIGN TRADE COMMITTEE IN PLENARY SESSION

WHEREAS:

Article 261, paragraph 5, of the Constitution of the Republic provides that the central State shall have exclusive jurisdiction over, inter alia, economic, tax, customs, tariff and foreign trade policies;

Article 276, paragraph 2, of the Constitution of the Republic establishes that one of the objectives of Ecuador's development structure is to build a fair, democratic, productive, mutually supportive and sustainable economic system;

Pursuant to Article XVIII, Section B, of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994), a developing country Member may, if experiencing balance-of-payments difficulties and needing to maintain the implementation of its programme of economic development, restrict the quantity or value of merchandise permitted to be imported, provided that the import restrictions instituted do not exceed those necessary to forestall the threat of, or to stop, a serious decline in its monetary reserves; that is, it may control the general level of its imports in order to safeguard its external financial position and to ensure a level of reserves adequate for the implementation of its programme of economic development;

The Understanding on the Balance-of-Payments Provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 of the World Trade Organization (WTO) clarifies the provisions of Articles XII and XVIII:B of the GATT 1994 and of the 1979 Declaration on Trade Measures Taken for Balance‑of‑Payments Purposes, procedures for consultations, notification and documentation, and conclusions of consultations;

Paragraph 1 of this Understanding provides that Members confirm their commitment to announce publicly, as soon as possible, time-schedules for the removal of restrictive import measures taken for balance-of-payments purposes, and that such time-schedules may be modified as appropriate to take into account changes in the balance-of-payments situation;

Article 71 of the Organic Code of Production, Trade and Investment (COPCI), published in the Supplement to Official Journal No. 351 of 29 December 2010, created the Foreign Trade Committee (COMEX) as the body entrusted with approving national public trade policies and consequently responsible for the reform thereof;

Article 72(e) of the COPCI provides that the COMEX, as the governing body for trade policy, shall be responsible for regulating, facilitating or restricting the export, import, movement and transit of goods that have not been inward cleared or are not Ecuadorian, in the cases provided for in the Code and in the international agreements duly ratified by the Ecuadorian State;

Article 78(f) of the COPCI provides that the COMEX shall be responsible for applying temporary measures to remedy balance-of-payments imbalances;

Article 88 of the COPCI provides that the Ecuadorian State, through the governing body for trade policy, may adopt trade defence measures that restrict imports of products for balance‑of‑payments protection, such as safeguard measures and any other mechanism recognized by the international treaties duly ratified by Ecuador;

Executive Decree No. 25, published in the Supplement to Official Journal No. 19 of 20 June 2013, created the Ministry of Foreign Trade as the State body responsible for trade policy and, in its Third Amending Provision, provided that it should preside over the COMEX;

In the framework of the multilateral trade rules of the World Trade Organization, the COMEX, meeting in plenary session on 6 March 2015, adopted Resolution No. 011-2015, published in the Supplement to Official Journal No. 456 of 11 March 2015, approving the application of a temporary and non-discriminatory tariff surcharge, calculated as an ad valorem percentage, to imports for consumption under the subheadings listed in the Annex to the above-mentioned Resolution, in order to safeguard the balance-of-payments equilibrium;

The COMEX, meeting in plenary session on 8 April 2015, adopted Resolution No. 016-2015, published in the Supplement to Official Journal No. 483 of 20 April 2015, and decided to amend Resolution No. 011-2015, adopted by the COMEX in plenary session and published in the Supplement to Official Journal No. 456 of 11 March 2015, in accordance with the provisions of the said Resolution;

By means of document WT/BOP/G/23, published on 26 October 2015, the Republic of Ecuador officially notified to the Committee on Balance-of-Payments Restrictions the timetable for the dismantling of the measure restricting imports because of the disequilibrium in Ecuador's balance of payments, in which it undertook to reduce from 45% to 40%, in January 2016, the surcharge on the tariff subheadings listed in the Single Annex to Resolution No. 011-2015, adopted by the COMEX in plenary session and published in the Supplement to Official Journal No. 456 of 11 March 2015, and amendments thereto;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 046-2015, which was adopted by the COMEX in plenary session on 11 December 2015 and entered into force on 16 December 2015, the COMEX decided to amend the Annex to Resolution No. 011-2015, adopted by the COMEX in plenary session and published in the Supplement to Official Journal No. 456 of 11 March 2015, in respect of the subheadings listed in this Annex;

The COMEX, meeting in plenary session on 21 January 2016, examined and approved Technical Report No. 018-BOP-AI-2015 of 23 December 2015 and the additional information contained in Technical Report No. 019-BOP-AI-2015 of 24 December 2015, issued by the Inter-Institutional Technical Committee on Balance-of-Payments Safeguards, which recommends implementing the first phase of the timetable for the dismantling of the measure by reducing the 45% surcharge rate for the subheadings listed in the Single Annex to Resolution No. 011-2015;

Pursuant to Resolution No. MCE-DM-2015-0003-R of 12 August 2015, Mr Xavier Rosero Carrillo, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, was appointed Technical Secretary of the Foreign Trade Committee (COMEX);

Pursuant to Decision No. MCE-DM-2015-0002 of 18 June 2015, the Minister of Foreign Trade appointed the Vice-Ministers of Foreign Trade Policies and Services and of Negotiations, Integration and Trade Defence to serve as Chairs of the Foreign Trade Committee meeting in plenary session in his absence, and established that, in the event of both Vice-Ministers attending such plenary sessions, the role of Chair shall be performed by the Vice-Minister of Foreign Trade Policies and Services;

In exercise of the powers conferred upon it under Article 70 of the COMEX Operating Regulations, established pursuant to Resolution No. 001-2014 of 14 January 2014, and in accordance with the other applicable regulations:

HEREBY DECIDES:

Article 1.- To amend the tariff surcharge on the tariff subheadings listed in the Single Annex to Resolution No. 011-2015, adopted by the COMEX in plenary session and published in the Supplement to Official Journal No. 456 of 11 March 2015, and amendments thereto by reducing it from 45% to 40%, in accordance with the timetable for the dismantling of the measure submitted to the Committee on Balance-of-Payments Restrictions of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

FINAL PROVISION

The Technical Secretariat of the COMEX shall forward this Resolution to the Official Journal for publication.

This Resolution was adopted on 21 January 2016. It shall enter into force on 31 January 2016, without prejudice to its publication in the Official Journal, and shall be implemented in accordance with Article 112 of the Organic Code of Production, Trade and Investment (COPCI).

Alejandro Dávalos                                                                  Xavier Rosero

CHAIRMAN                                                                            SECRETARY

__________