WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/MA/61
23 March 1999
(99-1170)
Committee on Market Access
PERIODIC REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE TO THE
COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS
1. The Committee met on 11 March 1999 and examined the following issues:
2. On 13 December 1995, several Members were granted individual waivers for the introduction
of HS96 changes (WT/L/124 + Corr.1); for operational reasons the waivers were grouped into one
single decision.  These waivers were extended by successive decisions by the General Council until
30 April 1999 (WT/L/281).  At its meeting of 11 March 1999, the Committee took note of the
requests for further extension of, or inclusion in, the waiver to carry out possibleconsultations/negotiations under Article XXVIII after the introduction of HS96 changes in national
tariffs.  This information is summarized in Annex I of the report.
3.  The Committee took note of the factual info rmation provided by the Members under waivers
regarding the transposition into the Harmonized System  or the renegotiation of their schedules. At the
meeting of 11 March 1999, the Committee took note of th e requests for extension of the waivers.  This
information is summarized in Annex II of this report.
4. At the meeting of 11 March 1999, the Committee examined the situation related to the
submission of HS96 documentation set out in documen t G/MA/TAR/2/Rev.18.  It was noted that out of
the thirty-seven Members under waivers, the schedul es of only five Members had been finalized and
that eight Members had not yet submitted the required documentation.
5. With reference to the modalities and operation of the Integrated Data Base, the Committee
examined the status of IDB submissions on the basis of the document G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.4. As of
3 March 1999, fifty-two Members and three acceding countries had provided IDB submissions.
6. The Secretariat presented an oral report on the status of processing of IDB submissions, the
status of software development and the technical assistance activities that had been carried out thusfar.  On the status of processing of IDB submissions , the Secretariat indicated that it had converted the
national submissions of forty countries into a common format and to assist this process, the
Secretariat had developed the PC conversion facility.  With respect to the development of IDB
software, the Secretariat reported that the IDB Internet File Transfer Facility was now technically
operational.  On the IDB CD-ROM, the Secretariat informed the Committee that, as a result of
technical difficulties, the production of the CD-ROM would be delayed by a few weeks.  With regard
to technical assistance, the Secretariat reported that the results of the five-regional IDB seminars hadbeen encouraging.  Additionally, many requests for technical assistance, both of a formal and informal
nature, had been received.
7. The Chairman,  reporting on the open-ended consultations he had undertaken on the matter of
the submission to and dissemination of the IDB, stat ed that they had been fruitful. One outcome of the
consultations would be another Chairman's letter, following up on his earlier letter of last year, of amore pedagogical and informative nature, that he intended to send to Members not having made IDB
submissions to find out about the difficulties enco untered in the preparation of IDB submissions and
to inform them of technical assistance availabilities. He indicated that, during the consultations, manyG/MA/61
Page 2
proposals had been put forward in a constructive spirit. At the same time, he underlined the
importance of Members making the required submissions pursuant to the General Council decision.
He proposed to pursue consultations.
8. On the Loose-Leaf Schedule pilot project  which was undertaken to analyse the feasibility of
constructing a Consolidated Tariff Schedules (CTS) Database, the Secretariat reported that the pilotproject had been finalized.  The CTS project would cover the formatting and consolidation of the
tariff schedules of about 100 developing country Members (the SACU Members counted as one). The
result would be a database containing the consolidated draft tariff schedules. The CTS database would
include Part I, Section 1A and Part I, Secti on 2 of the Loose-Leaf Schedules, and would be
established as a working tool only, without implications as to the legal status of the information stored
therein.  The project was now being presented to potential donors to obtain the necessary funds.
9. The Committee took note of the tariff information available in the Secretariat as contained in
document G/MA/TAR/3/Rev.4.G/MA/61
Page 3
ANNEX I
REQUESTS FOR INCLUSION IN AND EXTENSION OF THE HS96 WAIVERS
Country Document
(G/SECRET/HS96 series)Reservations
(Number of
countries)Reasons for requesting waiver
or extension of waiver
ARGENTINA /30 4 Extension needed to finalize consultations and
negotiations under Article XXVIII.
AUSTRALIA /19 + Corr.1 2 Extension required as still engaged in Article
XXVIII consultations/negotiations on this
matter.
BOLIVIA Extension needed to finalize documentation
BRAZIL /36 + Corr.1 + 2 4 Extension needed to conclude consultations.
BRUNEI
DARUSSALAM/14 + Rev.1 2 Extension needed to conclude consultations.
BULGARIA Extension needed to finalize documentation and
to allow for consultations.
CANADA /7 1 Extension needed to enable Member holding
reservation to conclude consideration of
Canada's response.
COSTA RICA /37 2 Extension needed to conclude consultations with
two Members.
EGYPT G/MA/TAR/RS/50/Rev.112 Extension needed to continue the process of
consultations with Members having submitted
questions and comments.
EL SALVADOR Extension needed as certain technical problems
have been encountered in the presentation of the
documentation.
HONDURAS Extension needed to finalize documentation,
which has not been submitted due to technical
problems.
ICELAND /38 + Corr.1 +  Add.1 2 Extension needed  to conclude consultations and
possible negotiations under Article XXVIII, and
because additional documentation was submitted
only recently.
INDIA /8 + Corr.1 1 Extension needed to conclude consultations.
ISRAEL /26 +  Add.1 4 Extension needed to complete necessary
procedures.
MALAYSIA /31 + Rev.1 3 Extension needed to conclude consultations.
                                                     
1 Contains also rectifications to the schedule.G/MA/61
Page 4
Country Document
(G/SECRET/HS96 series)Reservations
(Number of
countries)Reasons for requesting waiver
or extension of waiver
MALDIVES Waiver requested for the purpose of introducing
HS96 changes.
MALTA /39 + Rev.1 + 2 1 Extension requested to complete procedures
following submission of revised documentation.
MEXICO Extension requested due to technical difficulties
in completing documentation and to conclude
relevant consultations or  negotiations.
MOROCCO Extension requested as technical difficulties
have been encountered in the implementation of
the procedures for the introduction of HS96changes. Documentation is under preparation.
NEW ZEALAND /20 + Corr.1 2 Extension requested to allow more time to
resolve questions raised on New Zealand's
schedule by two Members.
NORWAY /11 2 Extension requested to complete procedures and
consultations.
PAKISTAN /40 3 Extension needed to complete necessary
procedures.
PANAMA Extension requested because HS96 implemented
in February 1998 and Government has not yet
been able to submit the necessary
documentation.
PARAGUAY /29 3 Extension requested to conclude negotiations.
SLOVENIA /23 + Corr.1 1 Extension needed to conclude consultations and
negotiations with one Member.
SOUTH AFRICA /15
(preliminary information)2 Extension needed to finalize the preparation of
the documentation.
SWITZERLAND /10 1 Extension needed to conclude ongoing
consultations.
THAILAND /17 + Rev.1 2 Extension needed as there are still on-going
consultations with two Members.
TUNISIA /25 1 Extension needed to conclude negotiations with
one Member.
UNITED STATES /9 2 Extension needed to conclude consultations.
URUGUAY /28 1 Extension needed to conclude consultations and
negotiations.
VENEZUELA /12 + Rev. 1 1 Extension needed to conclude negotiations with
one Member.G/MA/61
Page 5ANNEX II
FACTUAL INFORMATION RELATED TO THE EXTENSION OF WAIVERS
RELATED TO THE TRANSPOSITION OF SCHEDULES INTO THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM
Country Date of
original
waiverDate of
submission of HS
documentationN° of
extensions and
datesN° of countries
with which
Article XXVIII
negotiations have
been initiatedN° of countries with
which
Article XXVIII
negotiations have
been concludedStatus of
outstanding
Article XXVIII
negotiationsOutlook for
concluding the
processRequest for
extension and draft
decision
1.  Bangladesh 18.07.199806.12.1990
SECRET/HS/29Nineteen:
24.07.1989
05.12.1989
16.07.199013.12.1990
12.08.1991
04.12.199120.07.1992
03.12.1992
19.07.199317.01.1994
21.07.1994
09.12.1994
31.08.1995
13.12.199518.07.1996
24.04.1997
22.10.199724.04.1998
14.10.1998Four Three Response awaited
from one Member.Working to conclude
negotiations as soonas possibleExtension requested
G/L/298G/C/W/142
2. Nicaragua 26.01.199828.06.1995
G/SECRET/HS/3Seven:
09.12.1994
13.12.199518.07.1996
24.04.1997
22.10.199724.04.1998
14.10.1998Two One Still awaiting a
substantiated
request from one
Member.- Extension requested
G/L/297
G/C/W/141G/MA/61
Page 6
Country Date of
original
waiverDate of
submission of HS
documentationN° of
extensions and
datesN° of countries
with which
Article XXVIII
negotiations have
been initiatedN° of countries with
which
Article XXVIII
negotiations have
been concludedStatus of
outstanding
Article XXVIII
negotiationsOutlook for
concluding the
processRequest for
extension and draft
decision
3. Sri Lanka 08.11.198812.01.1990
SECRET/HS/26Eighteen:
24.07.198916.07.1990
07.12.1990
01.07.199104.12.1991
20.07.1992
03.12.199219.07.1993
17.01.1994
21.07.199409.12.1994
31.08.1995
13.12.199518.07.1996
16.07.1997
22.10.199724.04.1998
14.10.1998Five One Is continuing to
make every effort to
conclude
negotiations underArticle XXVIII.  It
has made offers to
two Membersrecently in the
interest of finalizing
negotiations.Intends to conclude
negotiations as soon
as possible.Extension requested
G/L/296
G/C/W/140
4. Zambia 26.11.199312.03.1996
G/SECRET/HS/8Six:
13.12.199518.07.1996
24.04.1997
22.10.199724.04.1998
14.10.1998Two None Negotiations were
held with the
Members concerned.Outlook is good for
concluding  the
process.Extension requested
G/L/295G/C/W/139
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