Originially from: World Arbitration and Mediation Review (WAMR)

A Critical View of the Dispute Settlement Mechanism
Under the Turkey-Israel Free Trade Agreement
by
Tankut Aydin
Foreign Trade Expert, Turkish Prime Ministry; Lt., Military
Academy, Turkey, 1988; J.D., Ankara University, Turkey, 1993;
LL.M., Tulane University, 2000
Introduction
The Turkey-EEC Association Agreement, known as the "Ankara
Agreement," was signed on September 12, 1963 and—following its ratification by
the Parties—entered into force on December 1, 1964. It established an
association between the EEC and Turkey in accordance with Article 238 of the
Treaty of Rome, and envisaged three progressive stages for Turkey to achieve
association with the EC: preparatory, transitional, and final. As an executive
arrangement for the implementation of the Ankara Agreement, the Additional
Protocol foresaw the establishment of the Customs Union between Turkey and the
EC by the end of 1995. In accordance with the provisions of the Protocol, during
the transitional stage, the Parties eliminated—on a reciprocal basis—a range of
customs duties and charges having equivalent effect, as well as quantitative
restrictions applied on bilateral trade.
Turkey aligned the tariffs it applied to imports from third-countries with
the Common Customs Tariff of the EC, and—for the proper functioning of the
Customs Union—Turkey enacted legislation compatible with the EU's Common
Commercial and Competition Policies. After a transitional period of twenty-two
years, the parties established the Customs Union as of January 1, 1996, in
accordance with the provisions of the Turkey-EU Customs Union Decision No:
1/95.
According to the Article 16 of the Association Council Decision
establishing the Customs Union, Turkey shall align itself progressively with the
preferential customs regime of the EU, which rests on the sets of autonomous
regimes and preferential agreements, within five years beginning on January 1,
1996. Article 16 of the Association Council Decision No:1/95 and its Annex 10