WORLD TRADE G/TMB/N/206/Add.2
26August 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-3479)
Original: French Textiles Monitoring Body
AGREEMENT ONTEXTILES AND CLOTHING
Notification under Articles 2.8(a) and2.11
SWITZERLAND
Addendum
TheTextiles Monitoring Body hasreceived afurther notification from Switzerland pursuant
toparagraphs 8(a)and11ofArticle 2.
TheTMB, inaccordance withparagraph 11ofArticle 2,iscirculating thisnotification to
WTO Members.G/TMB/N/206/Add.2
Page2
Permanent Mission ofSwitzerland
totheWTO andEFTA
Geneva, 16June1997
Notification under Articles 2.8(a) and2.11oftheATC -Swiss clarifications
Sir,
Further toyourcommunications of27January and30May1997, wehavethehonour tosubmit
forcommunication totheTextiles Monitoring Body thefollowing clarifications:
1. Total volume ofSwiss imports in1990 foralltheheadings intheAnnex tothe(Agreement
onTextiles andClothing ATC)
In1990, thetotalvolume ofimports ofproducts included intheAnnex totheATC amounted
to291,579,626 kg.Asalready notified, thetotalvolume of1990imports corresponding totheheadings
intheAnnex totheATC integrated inthefirststage amounted to47,204,894 kg.,or16.185 percent.
Theequivalent totalforthesecond stageofintegration amounts to51,935,998 kg.,or17.811 percent.
2. Heading 4203.30
IntheinitialSwissofficialnotification,dated16December1996,wementionedheading4203.32
incorrectly numbered 4203.30 inthefurther notification dated 24January 1997. After checking, we
findthattherewasatypographical error inourinitial notification. Theheading integrated is4202.32
(andnot4203.32). In1990, theimport volume forheading 4202.32 wasindeed 307,065 kg.(0.105 per
cent). Theheading 4202.32 isincluded intheAnnex totheATC.
3. Listofproducts ofChapters 30to49and64to96relating tothefirstandsecond stages
ofintegration
Theimport volume andthecorresponding percentage foreachheading doinfactrelate tothe
six-digit tariff heading asawhole, asindicated bythefactthatthere isnomention of"ex"inthe
notification. Ascorrectly pointed outinyourletter of30May1997, theheadings incategories 30
to49and64to96arenotfullycovered bytheAnnex totheATC.
After adetailed study ofthequestion, wecannowprovide thefollowing information:
Theheadings oftheSwiss Customs Tariff mentioned inparagraph 4ofyourletter of30May
contain products whose material ispartly "textile" andpartly "other thantextile". Asthe1990Swiss
Customs Tariff hadsubheadings oran"ex"heading forhardly anyofthesix-digit headings concerned,
ourCustoms Services areunable todifferentiate between whatconstitutes "textiles", inaccordance
withtheAnnex totheATC, andtherest. Onlytwosix-digit headings (4202.22 and4202.32) contain
twosubheadings which, however, donotmake itpossible todistinguish between "textile" and
"non-textile" products.G/TMB/N/206/Add.2
Page3
TheAnnex totheATC, andinparticular the"ex"headings mentioned inyourletter of30May,
wasfinalized intheconcluding phase oftheUruguay Round Negotiations. Thedescriptions agreed
forthese headings donotcorrespond tothestructure oftheSwiss Customs Tariff inforce in1990
onwhich theSwiss Integration Programme isbased, asrequired byArticle 2oftheATC. Consequently,
wedonotseehow, inthese circumstances, itwould bepossible, retrospectively andintheabsence
ofrelevant statistical data, todetermine theimport volumes oftheproducts asdefined intheAnnex
totheATC, other thanbytaking intoaccount alltheproducts covered bythesix-digit headings of
the1990 Swiss Customs Tariff andassuming thattheycanbetreated astextile products.
Inviewoftheabove, the1990import levels fortheproducts concerned notified bySwitzerland
should beconsidered tocorrespond tothedescriptions contained intheAnnex totheATC.
Consequently, thepercentages mentioned intheSwiss notifications forthefirstandsecond stages of
integration remain valid.
Itshould bekeptinmind thatthegeneral levelofthecustoms tariffs applied bySwitzerland
totheproducts covered bytheAnnex totheATC islowandthatSwitzerland, which hasadmittedly
reserved itsright tomake useoftheprovisions ofArticle 6oftheATC, hasnotsofarjudged it
necessary toemploy thesafeguard mechanism provided bythatArticle.
Feeling surethatthese clarifications willenable theTMB toproceed withtheverification of
thestatistical information supplied bySwitzerland forthefirstandsecond stages ofintegration, we
begyouto,Sir,toaccept theassurance ofourhighest consideration.
Deputy Permanent Representative ofSwitzerland totheWTO
(Signed) Willhelm Meier
Minister
Mr.András Szepesi
Chairman, TMB
WTO Secretariat
Centre William Rappard
1211 Geneva 21