WORLD TRADE G/L/138
14January 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-0096)
ESTABLISHMENT OFCONSOLIDATED LOOSE-LEAF SCHEDULES
ONGOODS
Decision of29November 1996
Members ,
Having regard toArticles XI,XIIandXIVoftheAgreement Establishing theWTO,Articles II
andXXVIII ofGATT 1994,andtheDecision onMeasures inFavour ofLeast-Developed Countries ;
Recalling theproposal bytheDirector-General adopted bytheCONTRACTING PARTIES
ofGATT 1947on26March 19801concerning theIntroduction ofaLoose-Leaf System fortheSchedules
ofTariff Concessions (BISD 27S/22);
Recalling further themodifications proposed bytheDirector-General adopted bythe
CONTRACTING PARTIES ofGATT 1947 on6November 19862(BISD 33S/135);
Considering thedevelopments which tookplace inthecontext oftheintroduction ofthe
International Convention ontheHarmonized Commodity Description andCoding System bytheWorld
Customs Organization anditssubsequent changes;3
Noting thattheCommittee onMarket Access, atitsmeeting of22November 1995, hasaccepted
therevised proposals bytheChairman withregard tothepreparation ofconsolidated schedules in
loose-leaf format asincluded indocument G/MA/TAR/W/4/Rev.2;
Agree asfollows:
Objectives
1. Theconsolidated loose-leaf schedules ongoods asdescribed intheAnnex tothisDecision shall
bebinding instruments, replacing allprevious schedules forallpurposes relating toaMember 'srights
andobligations under theWTO, except withrespect tohistorical Initial Negotiating Rights (INRs).
Theschedules therefore shallcontain allnecessary information inorder toreflect theexact situation
inrespect ofeachtariff concession andcommitment.
1C/107/Rev.1 andL/4821 +Add.1-2.
2C/107/Rev.1/Add.1 andC/M/204.
3L/6905 andL/5470/Rev.1.G/L/138
Page2
Coverage ofUnbound Items
2. Itisunderstood thatWTO schedules donotcreate obligations withrespect tounbound items,
andthatMembers arenotrequired toinclude unbound items intheirschedules.
3. Notwithstanding paragraph 2,withaviewtoensuring thecomplete coverage ofalltariffitems,
Members mayinclude allitems intheirloose-leaf schedule, including anyunbound items.
4. WhereaMemberdecidestoincludeunbounditems,"U"(unbound)shallbeindicatedincolumn3
"Rate ofduty". Noobligations shallthereby becreated withrespect tosuchunbound items.
Description ofbound items
5. Inthecaseofconcessions thathavebeenbound onthebasis of"ex-out" items, acomplete
description oftheconcession shallbeprovided. Where necessary, inorder toprovide acomplete
description ofabound item, aMember shallinclude inthedescription anyrelevant unbound items.
Inthecasewhere onlyasub-item isbound, thedescription provided incolumn 2shallensure that
asmany elements ofthedescription asnecessary areprovided asdescribed inparagraphs 3and4of
Document G/MA/TAR/W/4/Rev.2.
Advalorem, specific andmixed duties
6. Where bothadvalorem andspecific duties areshown inaMember 'sschedule, bothshallbe
indicated intheloose-leaf schedule. Inthatcase, specific ratesmaybeshown inbrackets. However,
itispreferable toindicate bothratesinanidentical manner. Where necessary, Members shallindicate
howadvalorem, specific andmixed ratesaretobeapplied. Members maydoso,interalia,through
aheadnote.
Baseandfinaltariff rates andstaging
7. With aviewtoreflecting fullyMembers 'Uruguay Round schedules, theloose-leaf schedule
shallcontain incolumn 3bothbaseandfinalUruguay Round rates, along withanynecessary information
onstaging. Supplementary information onstaging maybeprovided intheschedules orinanannex
totheschedules. Theschedule shallalsoinclude unbound baseratesforproducts thathavebeenbound
inaMember 'sUruguay Round schedule, andthatwillbesubject tostaging. Inthecaseoffinalbound
ratesthatentered intoeffect onJanuary 1,1995, andthatarenotsubject tostaging, onlythefinalbound
rateshallbeshown.
Other duties andcharges (ODCs)
8. Members shallindicate ODCs incolumn 8oftheirloose-leaf schedule. Where aMember 's
schedule doesnotcontain anyODCs, itmaysoindicate atthebeginning ofitsschedule anddispense
withcolumn 8.Members whose ODCs cover alimited number ofproducts,4andMembers thatapply
4Itisunderstood thata"limited number ofproducts" shallmean 10to20tariff linesunder theHarmonized System.G/L/138
Page3
acommon ODC toallproducts, mayprovide suchinformation either through aheadnote orappropriate
footnotes totheirschedule.
Treatment ofagriculture
9. AnyMember whose Uruguay Round schedule contains specific commitments inagriculture
shall indicate suchcommitments initsloose-leaf schedule. Agricultural tariffs shall beindicated
separately from those ofnon-agricultural products. Tariff andagricultural commitments (i.e.tariff
quotas andthedomestic support andexport subsidy commitments) shallfollow thesame format as
intheUruguay Round schedules.
Initial negotiating rights (INRs)
10. EachMember shallinclude initsschedule allINRs atthecurrent bound rate. Other Members
mayrequest theinclusion ofanyINRthathadbeengranted tothem. Historical INRs different from
thecurrent bound ratenotspecifically identified shall remain valid where aMember modifies its
concession ataratedifferent from therateatwhich theINRwasgranted.
Dateoffirstinstrument including aconcession
11. Members shallinclude incolumn 6oftheirloose-leaf schedule thedateofthelegalinstrument
bymeans ofwhich theconcession wasfirstincorporated inaGATT schedule.
Verification
12. Until amethodology fortheverification ofconsolidated loose-leaf schedules isagreed upon
bytheMarket Access Committee, existing procedures willcontinue toapply.
Modification andRectification
13. With respect tomodifications andrectifications ofloose-leaf schedules, theProcedures for
Modification andRectification ofSchedules ofTariff Concessions5shallapply. Arequest forthe
correction ofminor clerical errors thathaveoccurred inthetransposition ofexisting schedules into
loose-leaf schedules through these Procedures maybesubmitted atanytime.
5Decision of26March 1980, GATT Document L/4962 (BISD 27S/25).G/L/138
Page4ANNEX
SCHEDULE (number -country)
Dateofloose leaf
Thisschedule isauthentic onlyin...
PartI/II
Most-favoured-nation tariff/Preferential tariff
Tariff
item
numberDescription of
productRateofduty
Present
concession
establishedInitial
negotiating
right (INR) on
theconcessionConcession
first
incorporated
inaGATT
ScheduleINRs on
earlier
concessionOther duties
andcharges
(ODCs)Base
rateBound
rate
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8