WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONTN/MA/W/14
19 November 2002
(02-6415)
Negotiating Group on Market Access Original:  English
MARKET ACCESS FOR NON-AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
Contribution from Oman
The following statement was made by the representative of Oman at the meeting of the
Negotiating Group on Market Access held on 4 November 2002 with the request that it be circulated.
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The delegation of the Sultanate of Oman attaches high priority to the work of the Negotiating
Group on Market Access.  Negotiation on tariffs a nd non-tariff measures on non-agricultural products
has been a traditional and a successful area of work in past rounds of multilateral trade negotiations.
However, despite past successes, problems remain in this area.
The Ministers in their Declaration at the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference held in Doha
agreed to include Market Access for Non-Agricultural Products as one of the subjects for immediate
negotiations.  The mandate of negotiations in this area is broad and ambitious.  The Ministers agreed
to:
• Reduce or eliminate tariffs.
• Reduction or elimination of tariff peaks, high tariffs and tariff escalation.
• Reduce or eliminate non-tariff barriers.
• That the product coverage shall be comprehensive and without a priory exclusions.
• That tariffs and non-tariff measures will be reduced or eliminated in particular on products of
export interest to developing countries.
• That the special needs and interests of developing and least-developed countries shall be taken
fully into account, including through less than full reciprocity.
The Doha Ministerial Declaration also noted the extensive market access commitments
already made by the newly acceding countries, including the Sultanate of Oman.
The modalities for negotiations on non-agricultural products to be agreed upon by this Group
should flow from and fully take into account the mandate I have just referred to.  That means, in our
view, that there cannot be one set of modalities for all participants.  The delegation of Oman believes
that there should be at least two sets of modaliti es for negotiations: one, for developed countries, and
the second, for developing countries.  And perhaps, a third for newly acceding countries.
The delegation of the Sultanate of Oman presents the following preliminary ideas on
modalities for negotiations.TN/MA/W/14
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Modalities for developed countries
Developed countries participating in the negotiations should reduce their tariffs on the basis
of a formula approach.  The formula to be used should be a harmonization formula.
The Swiss formula is a good basis.  This envisages greater reduction for higher tariffs and
lesser reduction for lower tariffs.
Before the formula is applied, developed countries should reduce their high tariffs and tariff
peaks to a target tariff rate.  We would suggest a target tariff rate of 10%.  That means that developed
countries should first reduce their existing high tariffs and tariff peaks to 10% and then apply the
agreed formula to this 10% rate.  And, of course, the formula applies to rates lower than 10%.
Developed countries should also eliminate nuisance tariffs.  Rates of 2.5% or lower should be
reduced to 0%.
 There should be no exceptions.  The formula and target rates should apply to all
non-agricultural products, without exceptions.  In pa st negotiations there had been exceptions which
eroded the effectiveness of the formula.
Developed countries have been asking developing countries not to use specific duties.  They
should themselves set an example by converting all specific duties to ad valorem  tariffs.  The
reduction formula should apply to the converted ad valorem  rates.
The base rates should be the target rates of 10% or the bound rates, whichever is lower.
Tariffs on all non-agricultural items should be bound.  Those developed countries that have not bound
tariffs on all items, especially items of export interest to countries like Oman, should agree to bind
these during the negotiations.
As for non-tariff measures, developed countries should reduce or eliminate high internal taxes
and charges, especially those applicable to products of export interest to developing countries.
The Sultanate of Oman strongly believes that the adoption of modalities outlined by this
delegation would lead the Negotiating Group to achieving the objectives laid down by the Ministers.
Modalities for developing countries
Developing countries Members of the WTO are at different stages of economic development.
It is not reasonable and equitable to expect to apply a single modality to all developing countries.  Infact, different modalities may be considered for developing countries at different stages of
development and in different situations.  The delegation of Oman is attracted by the idea of using the
so-called cocktail approach by developing countries.  Some may use the request-and-offer,
item-by-item approach, while some others may apply the formula approach, but a different formula
than the one used by developed countries, or a combination of the formula and item-by-itemapproach.
The base rates for developing countries should be the bound rates.It may be a surprise for participants in this meeting if the delegation of Oman does not speak
about newly acceding countries.
The Sultanate of Oman held market access negotiations on non-agricultural products in the
process of its accession to the WTO.  These negotiations were held after the Uruguay RoundTN/MA/W/14
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negotiations.  We ended up making much more extensive concessions and commitments than most
countries did in the Uruguay Round.  For example, Oman bound its tariffs on all, I repeat all,
non-agricultural products, which even some developed countries have not done.  We joined the
Chemical Harmonization and the ITA initiatives although these were essentially
developed-country-oriented initiatives.  We also bound our tariffs at relatively very low levels.  Wewent much farther than the Uruguay Round standards.
The sultanate of Oman proposes that the general modalities should not be applicable to newly
acceding countries. They may consider making concessions and commitments on tariffs during the
negotiations on a voluntary, autonomous basis, as their contribution to the negotiations.  But they
should neither be expected nor forced to make new commitments.
It is important for this Group to reach an early decision on modalities for negotiations.  We
agree with some other delegations that the target date for reaching decisions on modalities should be
the Fifth Ministerial Conference.
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