RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TCA/M/18 
19 July 2004 
 (04-3103) 
Committee on Trade in Civil Aircraft  
 
 
 
MINUTES OF THE MEETING  
HELD ON 9 JUNE 2004 
 
Chairperson:  Mr. Didier Chambovey 
 
1. The Committee on Trade in Civil Aircraft (the  "Committee") held a regular meeting on 
9 June 2004. 
2. The Committee adopted the following agenda: 
A. CONSIDERATION  OF THE  STATUS  OF THE  1979  AGREEMENT  ON TRADE  IN 
CIVIL  AIRCRAFT  UNDER  THE  WTO ....................................................................................1  
B. "END-USE"  CUSTOMS  ADMINISTRATION .........................................................................2  
1. Updating information regarding civil/military identification for customs 
purposes ....................................................................................................................... ..............2  
2. Military vs. Non-military Definition...... .............................. .................... ................ ................2  
C. MATTERS  CONCERNING  IMPROVED  OPERATION  OF ARTICLE  4 ...............................3  
D. ENLARGEMENT  OF THE  EU AND  ARTICLE  9 OF THE  AGREEMENT ............................4  
E. OTHER  BUSINESS ...................................................................................................................4  
F. DATE  OF NEXT  REGULAR  MEETING ..................................................................................4  
 
 
 
A. CONSIDERATION  OF THE  STATUS  OF THE  1979  AGREEMENT  ON TRADE  IN CIVIL  
AIRCRAFT  UNDER  THE  WTO 
3. The Chairperson  recalled that in April 1999 he had sent to Signatories a draft protocol 
concerning technical rectifications needed to brin g the Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft (the 
"Agreement") into the WTO framework.  Since then, certain Signatories had remained unable to adopt this draft protocol but had indicated the utility of con tinuing to revert to this item in the Committee.  
The Chairperson had stated on previous occasions hi s willingness to hold consultations if Signatories 
consider such consultations useful and if they felt that consultations might lead to an agreement on the 
proposed amendments.  Since the last meeting of th e Committee, he had not received any indication 
that such consultations would be useful.  The Ch airperson therefore urged all Signatories to work 
together to discuss amongst themselves ways in which these amendments might be adopted and 
reiterated his willingness to hold consultations if, and only if, Signatories considered that such 
consultations would prove to be useful.   TCA/M/18 
Page 2  
 
4. The Committee took note
 of the statements made and agreed to revert to this matter at its next 
regular meeting.  
B. "END-USE"  CUSTOMS  ADMINISTRATION 
1. Updating information regarding civil/military identification for customs purposes 
5. The Chairperson  noted that no new information had been  received from Signatories since the 
last regular meeting of the Committee.  
2. Military vs. Non-military Definition 
6. The Chairperson  recalled that Canada had made a propos al concerning the definition of civil 
aircraft for the purposes of the Agreement which wa s circulated in document TCA/W/4.  He recalled 
that at the November 2002 meeting of the Committee,  Canada had circulated as a room document a 
revised wording of its proposal and that at the last  meeting of the Committee, Signatories had agreed 
to revert to this item.  
7. The representative of Canada recalled that the central proble m with the current Agreement 
was that the benefits of the Agr eement were not applied to all purc hasers of civil aircraft. In his 
delegation's view, any new method for classifying an ai rcraft as civil should ensure that civil aircraft 
are treated equally regardless of the purchaser. His de legation was not in a position to table anything 
new on this definition at this meeting. He further no ted that the previous agenda item on the status of 
the Agreement could present an obstacle in moving forward on the matter. 
8. The representative of the European Communities  agreed with Canada that progress needed to 
be made on how this new proposal would be integrated into the existing Agreement and the WTO 
system at large.  His delegation would appreciate it if Canada could put down in writing the ideas 
Canada mentioned at the last meeting for excl uding converted military aircraft, because the 
introduction of such an exemption would lead to legal uncertainty. His delegation reiterated its 
willingness to continue discussing the issue further together with Signatories. 
9. The representative of the United States stated that his delegation had again reviewed Canada's 
proposal for a new definition for civil aircraft and continued to have some concerns related to the proposed changes. He explained that, as Canada's  proposal was based on an aircraft's initial design, 
his delegation had found some examples of civil aircraft that would fall outside this definition basis.  
He mentioned that, for example, the C-130 US m ilitary cargo plane received FAA certification a few 
years after it was initially designed as a military pl ane.  He noted that the C-17 US military cargo 
plane was also under consideration for FAA certifica tion. His delegation had also seen press articles 
reporting that Airbus was interested in certifyi ng the A400M European military cargo plane after it 
goes into service.  These were just some examples. 
10. The representative of the United States thus c oncluded that the proposed definition could lead 
to the inclusion of military aircraft because it was based on initial design, rather than on final configuration of an aircraft as delivered to the end-user and on how it would be used. Canada's 
proposal could also inadvertently l ead to the inclusion of military aircraft historically excluded from 
this and other WTO Agreements. 
11. He finally noted that it would not be realistic to consider this or other proposals for changes in 
the substantive provisions of the Agreement until th ere would be agreement on  technical rectification 
of the current Agreement. In his view, this unde rlined the necessity of Signatories who have 
difficulties with the Chairperson's rectification prop osal to clarify for the Committee their objections 
and, more importantly, to offer language that would, in their view, resolve their problems.  TCA/M/18 
 Page 3 
 
 
12. The representative of th e European Communities  intervened to clarify that, for technical 
reasons, there existed practically no possibility that the A400M aircraft referred to by the 
United States' representative would be proposed or certif ied for civil use. In his view, this aircraft was 
thus not an entirely appropriate example.  
13. The Committee took note  of the statements made and agreed  to revert to the matter at its next 
regular meeting.  
C. MATTERS  CONCERNING  IMPROVED  OPERATION  OF ARTICLE  4 
14. The Chairperson  recalled that at the last meeting of the Committee in November, the 
United States had made some informal proposals suggesting ways to identify factors which might 
improve the operation of Article  4.  He recalled that a document had been submitted by the 
United States in order to stimulate discussion within  the Committee on certain specific questions to do 
with improved operation of Article 4,  and that Signatories had agreed to  revert to this matter at this 
spring meeting. 
15. The representative of the United States  stated that his delegation wanted to revert to the 
discussion of ways of improving the operation of Article 4 and invited comments on inter alia  the 
ideas contained in the informal discussion paper circ ulated as a table document at the last meeting. 
His delegation continued to be concerned about alle gations of inducements by Signatories to the sale 
of civil aircraft, and had in the past noted reports of inducements in public documents.  While he did 
not want to raise any specific airc raft competitions at this point, he  noted that the US government does 
not pressure foreign governments or airlines with regard to aircraft purchases and does not make 
positive or negative linkages to other US government actions related to aircraft purchase decisions, 
consistent with its obligations under the Agreement. He expressed the hope that all Signatories would 
do likewise and that governments of airlines purchasing aircraft would resist any representations 
inconsistent with Article 4 of the Agreement an d the commercial interests of their airlines. 
16. In order to avoid any future misunderstandings, his delegation had suggested that the 
Committee discuss ways to avoid even the appearance of actions inconsistent with Article 4, and ways 
to quickly resolve allegations and press reports that ma y, in fact, be false. In light of the fact that 
Signatories had agreed to abide by the obligations contained in Article 4, and had asserted to the 
Committee that they were in fact fully meeting thos e obligations,  his delegation was of the view that 
improved transparency could be one mechanism for demonstrating such adherence. 
17. The representative of the European Communities  stated that, likewise, the European 
Communities does not engage in inducements and acts in full conformity with its obligations under 
Article 4.  His delegation had examined the ideas of the United States and, as stated at the last 
meeting, its concern was that any new mechanis m had to provide added value to the possibilities 
already foreseen in the Agreement, otherwise such a mechanism would risk adding a procedural and 
administrative burden without facilitating the resolution of issues arising out of Article 4.  He recalled 
that, as the United States had also noted at the last meeting, the Agreement already provided for 
consultations and Signatories in the past had used th at possibility. His delegation was of the view that 
in case Signatories were willing to use that channel, the new mechanis m foreseen by the United States 
would not add much.  On the other hand, he noted, in case Signatories were reluctant to use the 
Article 4 channel, his delegation very much doubte d that the new proposal would be of assistance. 
While this was the position of his delegation, he noted that the European Communities was 
nevertheless on principle always in favour of exploring new ways of increasing transparency. 
18. The representative of Japan noted that as it appeared difficu lt to establish a definition of the 
concept of inducements, the establishment of improved communication could be a positive thing.  
However, his delegation agreed w ith the European Communities that  any new mechanism should add 
some value to the current system. In this respect, hi s delegation considered particularly interesting for TCA/M/18 
Page 4  
 
example the idea contained at the end of page 2 of  the United States proposal relating to the 
development of common principles or factors that might assist in evaluating the information.  His 
delegation was of the view that this kind of elemen t would be necessary for such mechanisms to be 
workable and add value to the current system. 
19. The representative of Canada
 recalled that in the past his delegation had expressed the view 
that it would be useful to improve the Agreement by elaborating and clarifying Article 4. In this 
regard, and while viewing the United States initiative as  a positive step, his delegation wanted to have 
a closer look at how such improvements would be applied in practice. 
20. The Committee took note  of the statements made and agreed  to revert to this issue at the next 
regular meeting.  
D. ENLARGEMENT  OF THE  EU AND  ARTICLE  9 OF THE  AGREEMENT   
21. The Chairperson  recalled that at the Committee's last meeting on 12 November 2003, the 
issue of the European Union's enlargement acquiring  ten new member States as well as the possible 
accession of those new members to the Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft was raised, and 
Signatories had agreed to revert to this matter at this spring meeting.  
22. The representative of the European Communities  confirmed that the 10 countries which had 
become members of the European Union on 1 May 2004, were automatically linked by the 
Agreement on Civil Aircraft as of that day and by  means of the extension of the territory of the 
European Union.  He stated that the application of the Trade in Civil Aircraft  Agreement by and to the 
new member States therefore took  place as of 1 May 2004. 
23. The Committee took note  of the statement made.   
E. OTHER  BUSINESS 
24. No items of "Other Bu siness" were raised.  
F. DATE  OF NEXT  REGULAR  MEETING 
25. The Chairperson  proposed that the date of the next regular meeting be Wednesday, 
10 November 2004.  
26. The Committee so agreed.  
27. The meeting was adjourned . 
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