. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONTN/MA/4
26 September 2002
(02-5184)
Negotiating Group on Market Access
REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN TO THE TRADE NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE
1. Since the last meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee on 19 July 2002, the Negotiating
Group has met three times: on 19 July,  2 August and 12-13 September 2002.
2. At its resumed meeting on 19 July 2002, the Negotiating Group adopted its Programme of
Meetings for the Negotiations on Market Access for Non-Agricultural Products (TN/MA/3).
3. At its formal meeting on 2 August 2002, the Negotiating Group had a good discussion on the
agenda items (i) tariffs (ii) non-tariff barriers and (iii) other matters. A  number of delegations took
the floor in order to introduce their papers, to react to the various submissions1 or statements made
and/or to give their views on how market acce ss negotiations should move forward. One issue that
was raised under "tariffs" and on which there was agreement was the need to have a complete tariff
and trade data set for the negotiations. Several delegations also made references to the type of
modality they would like to see used in these negotiations. In this connection, references were made
to inter alia  product coverage, base rates and reference years. The point was made that modalities
should incorporate the principle of special and differential treatment.   On non-tariff barriers there was
a positive reaction to New Zealand's paper on the “Scope of Negotiation on Non-Tariff Barriers”.
Most delegations were willing to explore further the ideas contained in this paper.  On environmental
goods, there was discussion as to the criterion to be used to define this group of products and whether
such an exercise of definition should take place at this stage of the negotiations and in this Negotiating
Group.  On studies, the Secretariat reported on the progress made on the studies requested at the first
meeting of the Negotiating Group.
4. At the Negotiating Group meeting of 12-13 September 2002, some forty delegations
intervened in order to introduce their papers, react to papers which had been tabled at the meeting2
and/or state their positions on various aspects of the negotiations.   The agenda items (i) tariffs(ii) non-tariff barriers and (iii) other matters were considered.  In the area of tariffs, participants went
into some detail regarding the various elements of the negotiations including base rates, nomenclature,
modalities, and staging. On tariff and trade data, the Negotiating Group agreed that the Chairman
should send a letter to all participants requesting them to authorize the transfer of relevant data from
other databases. In the area of non-tariff barriers, the Negotiating Group agreed with the Chairman's
proposal that he write to participants requesting them to start notifying, within a certain time frame,
non-tariff barriers which their economic operators were encountering when exporting to variousmarkets. In the area of environmental goods, the Negotiating Group agreed that: 1) the Chairman, on a
more formalized basis, would keep the Chairperson of the Committee on Trade and Environment
(CTE) in Special Session informed of the ongoing discussions in the Negotiating Group concerning
environmental goods.  The Chairman in turn would report to the Negotiating Group any information
of relevance provided to him by the Chairperson of the CTE in Special Session; 2) papers relating toenvironmental issues submitted in this body were also to be submitted to the CTE in Special Session
to enhance transparency; and 3) the Secretariat would circulate the APEC and OECD list of
environmental goods.   On special and differential treatment, concerns were once again raised about a
                                                     
1 European Communities, United States and New Z ealand circulated in documents TN/MA/W/1 to 4.
2 Japan, Korea, Norway, Singapore circulated in documents TN/MA/W/5 to 8, respectively.TN/MA/4
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possible categorization of developing country Members. The importance of addressing tariff and non-
tariff barriers in South-South trade was emphasized by some participants.  However, certain other
participants were of the view that the emphasis by Ministers in Doha was on a development
dimension to this Round, which implied a focus on North-South trade, if any.  The studies/papers
produced by the Secretariat entitled 1) "Data Availability and Software Tools for Tariff Negotiations"(TN/MA/S/2); 2)  "WTO Members' Tariff  Profiles"  (TN/MA/S/4); 3)  "Formula Approaches to
Tariff Negotiations"  (TN/MA/S/3) and 4) "Annotated Selective Bibliography of Research on Market
Access" (TN/MA/S/1/Add.1) were considered useful inputs to the process.  The Chairman urged
participants to submit their proposals on modalities as quickly as possible so that a substantive
discussion could be held at the next meeting of the Negotiating Group scheduled for
4-6 November 2002.
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