WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/C/W/477
10 December 2003
(03-6532)
Council for Trade in Goods
INTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 2002   CHANGES INTO
WTO SCHEDULES OF TARIFF CONCESSIONS
Decision of [date]1
The General Council,
Having regard  to Articles IV:2 and IX:3 of the Ma rrakesh Agreement establishing the World
Trade Organization (the "WTO Agreement");
Considering that the General Council, by its Decisions of 13 May 20022 and 8 July 20023,
acting pursuant to the provisions of Articles IV:2  and IX:3 of the WTO Agreement, suspended the
application of the provisions of Article II of GATT 1994 for certain Members for periods up to one year
for each respective Member to the extent necessary  to implement domestically the "HS2002 changes"4
pending incorporation of such changes into thei r Schedules of Concessions, subject to certain
conditions;
Considering that the General Council, by its Decision of 12 December 20025, acting pursuant to
the provisions of Articles IV:2 and IX:3 of th e WTO Agreement, suspended the application of the
provisions of Article II of GATT 1994 for a further period until 31 December 2003 for those Members
listed in Annexes A and B to that Decision, and any other Member who fulfilled certain conditions6, to
the extent necessary to implement domestically  the HS2002 changes pending incorporation of such
changes into their Schedules of Concessions, subject to certain conditions;
Noting  that the same Members, who are listed in the Annex to the present Decision, have
requested an extension of their respective waivers;
Considering  that the Members listed in the Annex to the present Decision would need more
time to proceed with consultations and/ or possible Article XXVIII negotiations;
Considering that other Members not listed in the A nnex to this Decision may already have
implemented domestically the HS2002 changes, or ma y intend to do so, pending incorporation of such
changes into their Schedules of Concessions, and ma y also desire to be covered by this waiver;
                                                     
1 Adopted in accordance with the Decision-Making Procedures under Articles IX and XII of the WTO
Agreement agreed by the General Council in November 1995 (WT/L/93).
2 WT/L/469 in respect of 23 Members.
3 WT/L/477 in respect of Romania.
4 "HS2002 changes" are defined as the amendments to the Harmonized Commodity Description and
Coding System recommended by the Council of the World Customs Organization in its Recommendationadopted on 25 June 1999 which came into force on 1 January 2002.  "Harmonized System" refers toHarmonized Commodity Description and Coding System.
5 WT/L/511.
6 See in this regard the notification by Brazil in document G/SECRET/HS02/BRA/1.G/C/W/477
Page 2
Decides, in view of the exceptional circumstances, to  suspend the application of the provisions
of Article II of GATT 1994:
(a) for those Members listed in the Annex for a further year until 31 December 2004; and
(b) for any other Member not listed in the Annex who desires to be covered by the
present waiver and who implements domestically the HS2002 changes, and notifies
the Committee on Market Access accordingly, for the period from the date of
implementation of the HS2002 changes for that Member until 31 December 2004;
to the extent necessary for the purpose of enablin g such Members to implement domestically the
recommended amendments to the Harmonized System  nomenclature pending incorporation of such
changes into their Schedules of Concessi ons, subject to the following conditions:
(i) Members not listed in the Annex to this Decision wishing to be covered by this
waiver shall submit the documentation required under paragraph 1 of the Procedures
in Attachment B (read along with Section 2 of Attachment A) adopted by the General
Council to implement HS2002 changes to Schedules of Concessions7, prior to
submitting their respective notification to the Committee on Market Access of their
desire to be covered by the present  waiver;
(ii) Members covered by paragraphs (a) and (b) of this Decision shall, where necessary,
promptly enter into negotiations and/or consultations with interested Members
pursuant to paragraphs 1-3 of Article XXVIII of GATT 1994;
(iii) The negotiations and/or consultations mentioned above shall, to the extent possible,
be completed by 31 December 2004; and
(iv) In accordance with the provisions of Article XXVIII:3 of GATT 1994, applied
mutatis mutandis  to the present waiver, pending the en try into force of the results of the
negotiations and/or consultations mentioned above, the other Members will be free to
suspend concessions initially negotiated with  the Member concerned to the extent that
they consider that adequate compensation is not offered by the Member concerned.
                                                     
7 WT/L/407.G/C/W/477
Page 3
ANNEX
Members covered by the waiver granted in this Decision
1. Argentina
2. Australia
3. Brazil
4. Bulgaria
5. Canada
6. China
7. Croatia
8. Czech Republic
9. Estonia
10. European Communities
11. Hong Kong, China
12. Hungary
13. Iceland
14. India
15. Republic of Korea
16. Latvia
17. Lithuania
18. Macao, China
19. Mexico
20. Nicaragua
21. Norway
22. Romania
23. Singapore
24. Slovak Republic
25. Slovenia
26. Switzerland
27. Thailand
28. United States
29. Uruguay
__________