Agreement On Import Licensing Procedures

First article

General provisions

1. for the purposes of this agreement, the import license is defined as the administrative procedure 1 for the implementation of the import licensing system. The system requires that an application or other document be submitted to the relevant administrative organ (except for the required documents for customs declaration), as a prerequisite for the import of goods into the customs territory of the importing Member.

2. members shall ensure that the administrative procedures for the implementation of the import licensing system comply with the relevant provisions of GATT 1994 as explained in this agreement, including their annexes and protocols, with a view to preventing trade distortions arising from improper implementation of these procedures, taking into account the economic development goals and financial and trade needs of developing country members.

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3. the implementation of import licensing rules should be neutral and managed in a fair and impartial manner.

4. (a) rules and all information relating to the procedures for submission of applications, including the qualifications of individuals, companies and institutions, the admissibility of one or more administrative organs, and the list of products restricted by the licensing requirements, shall be published in the information source notified to the Fourth Committee of the licensing Committee on import licensing procedures (referred to in this Agreement as "committee"), so as to make known to the government 3 and traders.

As long as practicable, such publication shall be made 21 days before the effective date of the request, but it must not be later than the commencement date.

Any exceptions, derogation or modification of the rules relating to licensing procedures or the list of products subject to import licensing shall also be published in the same manner within the same time limit.

Copies of these publications should be available to the Secretariat.

(b) at the request, members of the committee who wish to submit written comments should be given the opportunity to discuss these views, and the members concerned should give due consideration to these observations and the outcome of the discussions.

5. application forms and application forms under application should be as simple as possible.

Documents and information that are absolutely necessary for the normal operation of the license system are required to be provided at the time of application.

6. the application procedure and the application procedure under application should be as simple as possible.

Applicants should be allowed to submit a permit application for a reasonable period.

If there is a deadline, the period shall be at least 21 days, and it shall be stipulated that the period can be extended if sufficient application is not received within this period.

Applicants should only contact an administrative organ concerned with the application.

If it is unavoidable to contact more than one administrative organ, the applicant should not have to contact three or more administrative organs.

7. any application shall not be rejected because of minor errors in the documents that have not changed the basic data.

For any omissions or errors arising in documents or procedures which are apparently not caused by deceptive intent or gross negligence, the penalties given shall not exceed the limits required to warn.

8. the permitted import products shall not be rejected because of the discrepancy in the pportation process, the discrepancy between the discrepancies in the loading of the bulk cargo and other minor differences with the normal business practices, resulting in a slight difference in the value, quantity or weight of the goods with the amount specified in the license.

9. the foreign exchange necessary for the permit holder to pay for the licensed import products shall be obtained on the same basis with the importer who does not need to import the license goods.

10. for safety exceptions, the provisions of GATT 1994 twenty-first shall apply.

11. the provisions of this Agreement shall not require any member to disclose confidential information that will impede law enforcement or violate public interest or damage the legitimate commercial interests of a particular public or private enterprise.

Second article

Automatic import license 4

1. the automatic import license is defined as an application for approval under all circumstances and is in accordance with the import license stipulated in the second paragraph (a).

2. except for the first paragraphs first to eleventh and the provisions of the first paragraph of this article applicable to automatic import licensing procedures, 2 of the following provisions apply to the procedure:

(a) the management of automatic licensing procedures shall not be restricted to imported products subject to automatic license management.

Unless the following conditions are met, the automatic licensing procedure should be regarded as having a restrictive effect on Trade:

(E) any individual, company or organization is eligible to apply for and obtain import license as long as it satisfies the legal requirements of importing members involved in the import operation of products subject to automatic license management.

(2) the permit application can be submitted on any working day before the goods are cleared.

(III) a permit application submitted in an appropriate and complete form shall, within the limits of management feasibility, be approved immediately after receipt, not exceeding 10 working days at most.

(b) members realized that automatic import licensing procedures might be necessary provided that other appropriate procedures could not be obtained.

The automatic licensing procedure can be maintained as long as there is a case of automatic import licensing and if the purpose of its management can not be implemented in a more appropriate manner.

Third article

Non automatic import license

1. in addition to the provisions of the first paragraphs first to eleventh applicable to non automatic import licensing, the following provisions also apply to the procedure.

Non automatic import licensing procedures are defined as import licenses that are not defined in the second first categories.

2. in addition to trade restrictions or trade distortions caused by restrictions, non automatic licensing shall not have such effect on imported products.

The scope and time limit for non automatic licensing procedures shall be in line with the measures implemented by the procedure, and the administrative burden thereof shall not exceed the absolute limit necessary for the management of the measures.

3. when the purpose of the licensing requirement is not to implement quantitative restrictions, members should publish sufficient information to enable other members and traders to understand the basis for issuing and / or distributing permits.

4. if a member requires an individual, a company or an institution to request exceptions or deviations from the permit requirements, the member shall include the fact in the information published under the first fourth paragraph, and shall include information on the request, and where possible, the request should be considered in what circumstances.

5. (a) any member who is interested in the trade of products shall provide all relevant information on the following:

(b) the management of restrictions;

(II) import licences issued recently;

(III) distribution of permits between suppliers:

(E) import statistics, i.e. value and / or quantity, of products subject to import licensing, if feasible.

Members of developing countries do not need to incur additional administrative or financial burden.

(b) the members who have permitted the quota to be allocated through the license shall, within the time limit specified in the first and fourth paragraphs, publish the total quota, the issuance and expiration date of the quota, as well as any changes thereof, in the manner in which the government and traders are aware of it.

(c) for the allocation of quotas between suppliers, the restricted members should promptly inform all other members who are interested in the supply of the products concerned in the current allocated quotas to the quantity or value of each supplier, and shall publish this information in a manner known to the government and traders within the time limit specified in the first fourth paragraph.

(d) if there is a need for the issuance of the quota in advance, the information referred to in the first fourth paragraphs shall be published in the manner specified by the government and traders in the specified period of time.

(E) any person, company or institution that satisfies the legal and regulatory requirements of the importing Member is equally eligible for the permit and takes it into account.

If the permit application is not approved, the applicant shall be informed of the reason and the applicant shall have the right to appeal or examine in accordance with the domestic legislation or procedure of the importing Member.

(f) in addition to the failure to do so because of the reasons beyond which the member is unable to control, the application shall be considered, that is, a first come, first served management. The time limit for processing the application shall not exceed 30 days. If all applications are considered at the same time, the time limit for processing the application shall not exceed 60 days.

In the latter case, the time limit for processing the application shall be deemed to start on the next day after the deadline of the declared application period.

(g) the validity period of the permit shall be reasonable and not too short to impede imports.

The validity period of the permit shall not hinder imports from distant sources, except that the imported products have to meet unforeseen short-term requirements.

(H) in the management of quotas, members shall not prohibit the importation of licences under their licences, nor obstruct the full use of quotas;

(I) when issuing permits, members should consider issuing licenses for products that achieve economic quantities.

(J) when assigning permits, members should consider the applicant's import performance.

In this regard, consideration should be given to whether the permits previously issued to applicants are fully utilized in the most recent representative period.

If the permit is not fully utilized, the member shall examine the reasons for it and take account of these reasons when distributing the new permit.

Consideration should also be given to ensuring that the permit is reasonably allocated to new importers, while considering the need to issue permits to products that achieve economic quantities.

In this regard, special consideration should be given to importers from importing products from developing countries, especially members of the least developed countries.

(k) permit holders 6 have the right to choose the source of imported products when the quota is passed through the licensing management which is not allocated between the suppliers.

For distribution of quotas between suppliers, the permit should clearly specify the country (one country or many countries);

(L) when the provisions of the first subsection 8 are applied, if the import exceeds the level of the previous permit, a compensatory adjustment may be made in the later allocation of the permit.

Fourth article

mechanism

The Committee on import licensing procedures is hereby established, consisting of representatives of each member.

The committee shall elect its own Chairman and vice chairmen and, when necessary, hold meetings to provide members with the opportunity to negotiate on any matters related to the application of the agreement or to the achievement of its objectives.

Fifth article

notice

1. members who make licensing procedures or change these procedures should inform the committee within 60 days after the announcement.

2. the notice on the establishment of import licensing procedures should include the following information:

(a) a list of products managed by licensed procedures;

(b) contact points for eligibility information;

(c) one or more administrative organs submitted by the application;

(d) such as the publication of the licensing procedures, the date of publication and the name of the publication;

(E) indicates that the license procedure is defined as an automatic licensing procedure or a non automatic licensing procedure under the definitions of second and third.

(f) the purpose of the automatic import licensing procedure;

(g) for non automatic import licensing procedures, indicating measures implemented through licensing procedures;