RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/MA/M/11
3November 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4800)
Market Access Committee
MINUTES OFTHE MEETING OF29SEPTEMBER 1997
Chairman: Mr.Moha Ouali Tagma (Morocco)
Agenda oftheMeeting Page
1. Adoption oftheagenda ............................... 1
2. Periodic Report oftheCommittee onMarket Access totheCouncil
forTrade inGoods, including factual information onwaivers
expiring on31October 1997 ............................ 1
3. Submission ofdocumentation related totheHS96 ............... 6
4. Integrated Database (IDB) .............................. 6
5. Quantitative restrictions ............................... 9
6. Future work oftheCommittee ........................... 9
7. Other business ..................................... 11
7.1 Intention oftheKorean Government toincrease applied
tariff rates .................................. 11
7.2 Vice-chairperson oftheCommittee ................... 12
7.3 Tariff information available intheSecretariat ............. 12
7.4 Dateofthenextmeeting .......................... 12
1. Adoption oftheagenda
1.1 Theabove agenda, which appeared indocument WTO/AIR/617 of13June1997, wasadopted
withtheaddition ofitems 7.1to7.4.
2. Periodic Report oftheCommittee totheCouncil forTrade inGoods, including factual
information onwaivers expiring on31October 1997
2.1 TheChairman introduced document G/MA/SPEC/5, which contained asummary ofthe
Committee 'sactivities since theprevious Mayaswellassummary tables showing factual information
submitted bydelegations oncurrent waivers. Herecalled thatthese waivers fellintotwogroups:
(1)those related totheintroduction on1January 1996 ofchanges totheHarmonized System and
(2)those concerning therenegotiation orthetransposition intotheHarmonized System ofpre-Uruguay
Round schedules ofconcessions; allthesewaivers wereduetoexpire on31October 1997. Withregard
tothefirst group, adraft decision seeking afurther extension hadbeen circulated in
document G/MA/W/14 of23September 1997. TheChairman noted thatalthough several delegations
hadendeavoured toliftthereservations thattheyhadmade, 37ofthe39Members covered bytheG/MA/M/11
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aforementioned waiver extension hadsubmitted adetailed request forextension totheSecretariat,
generally owing tothevarious objections raised bysome delegations. Hepointed outthatthemain
changes inthetextofthedraftdecision inrelation tothepreceding texthadtodowithreference dates
andthelistofMembers concerned. Inthatregard heobserved thattwomore countries hadrequested
tobeincluded under thewaiver, thusbringing to39thetotalnumber ofdelegations covered bythe
newextension. Thetextofthisdecision would beontheagenda ofthenextmeeting oftheCouncil
fortheTrade inGoods on6October andwould bereferred totheGeneral Council fordecision.
2.2 Therepresentative ofBulgaria confirmed thathiscountry would beapplying forinclusion under
thewaiver because ofthetechnical difficulties facing itsauthorities inpreparing thedocumentation.
2.3 TherepresentativeoftheCzechRepublicaskedthattheSecretariatdocumentshouldbecorrected,
ashiscountry hadreceived specific reservations withrespect toitsschedule.
2.4 Therepresentative ofSwitzerland expressed dissatisfaction regarding theimplementation of
HS96 changes. Thepractice bysome delegations toraise what hadbeen referred toasgeneral
reservations andwhich seemed toimpede thecertification ofthose changes was,intheviewofhis
delegation, notinconformity withexisting rulesinWTO. Thissituation wasdetrimental tothelegal
security andundermined thecredibility oftheWTO asaruledriven organization. Inthiscontext,
herecalled thatthequestion ofthepossible extension oftheindividual waivers, which were for
operational reasons grouped intoonesingle decision, wasanissue which waspresently being dealt
withintheCouncil forTrade inGoods andthatitsChairman wasstillholding informal consultations
onthismatter. Headded thatforthetimebeing, hisauthorities were notinaposition tocomment
onthepossible extension ofthewaivers ortopresent arequest forapossible extension oftheindividual
waiver originally granted toSwitzerland bytheGeneral Council on13December 1995 (WT/L/124).
2.5 Therepresentative ofCanada informed theCommittee thathisdelegation would shortly lift
itsreservation onThailand 'sdocumentation andwould alsospecify itsconcerns regarding the
documentation from theCzech Republic andTurkey. Canada wasalsomeeting shortly withECon
eachother'sreservations. Canada wasalsoworking toclearaway itsother reservations. However,
thisdidnotmean thatCanada would beabletowithdraw itsrequest forextension since itwould not
bepossible toconclude alloutstanding discussions withtrading partners before thedeadline. Headded
thatCanada would approach thismatter inapractical manner inthisCommittee andintheinformal
consultations.
2.6 Therepresentative oftheCommission oftheEuropean Communities saidthathisdelegation
wasworking fasttoclearaway anyproblem withthirdcountries 'schedules andwould communicate
specific comments tosome ofthecountries inthecoming days.
2.7 Therepresentative ofThailand thanked theCanadian delegate forhisinformation; hisdelegation
wasstillwaiting toreceive specifications from twoMembers.
2.8 Therepresentative ofNorway pointed outthathisdelegation 'sviewonthequestion ofextension
ofwaivers waswellknown anddidnotneed toberepeated. Some progress withrespect tothe
verification andcertification ofschedules hadbeenregistered butthesituation wasstillfarfrombeing
satisfactory. Regarding Norway 'sschedule, anextension ofthewaiver wasnecessary inviewofthe
factthattwoMembers stillmaintained reservations. OneofthesetwoMembers hadrecently submitted
specific requests andtheNorwegian delegation would respond shortly. With respect totheother
reservation noprogress hadbeennoted andtheMember concerned wasurged todevote thenecessary
resources inorder tofinalize thecertification.G/MA/M/11
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2.9 Replying toarequest bythedelegate ofthePhilippines tothedelegation oftheUnited States
astowhyithadrequested anextension ofitswaiver, therepresentative oftheUnited States saidthat
itwasbecause ofthereservations raised toitsschedule.
2.10 Therepresentative ofIndia supported whatwassaidbytheSwiss delegate andsaidthathis
delegation wasoftheviewthatraising general reservations washarmful tothebroad policy objective
thatthisCommittee wastrying tofollow and,inpursuance ofthis,India hadeither converted allits
general reservations intospecific onesorlifted thereservations. However, onIndia'spart,therewere
stillsome reservations andhisdelegation wastrying toresolve them quickly.
2.11 Therepresentative oftheUnited States added thathisGovernment wasintheprocess ofclearing
awaythewaivers asquickly aspossible andheexpected thisprocess tocontinue andthatallthenecessary
work would beachieved inareasonably short period oftime.
2.12 Therepresentative ofJapan expressed concern attherepeated prolongation ofextensions of
waivers andhoped thatthissituation would becorrected shortly.
2.13 TheChairman stressed thatthenumber ofwaivers inthesecond group haddiminished even
further since thepreceding occasion: twodelegations (Bolivia andSenegal) were about tocomplete
theirArticle XXVIII negotiations andhadnotrequested anewextension oftheirwaiver. Thedetails
concerning those countries thathadrequested anextension were alsogiven inAnnex IIof
document G/MA/SPEC/5. Those requests would beontheagenda oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods,
which wastoreferthem totheGeneral Council fordecision. TheChairman called onthecountries
concerned tomake thenecessary efforts toconclude thewaiver process asquickly aspossible.
2.14 Therepresentative ofNewZealand referred totherequest forextension ofwaiver bySriLanka
andpointed outthat(1)thefactual information contained inthereport reflected onlytheview of
SriLanka andwasnotreflecting other countries 'views since forNewZealand, thedifficulties in
concluding thenegotiations were notduetothepolitical situation inthecountry butwasduetothe
position taken bytheTariff Commission setupbytheSriLankan Government; (2)itwasnotthe
expectation ofNewZealand, atthemoment, toconclude thenegotiations atanytimesoon; hereported
thatasfarashiscountry wasconcerned, itwould beimpossible toconclude thenegotiations theway
theywereproceeding atthemoment; (3)inthepresent circumstances, thedelegation ofNewZealand
hadtoreserve itsposition ontherequest forextension ofthewaiver.
2.15 Thedelegate ofNicaragua informed theCommittee thattheMember thathadmade areservation
onNicaragua 'sschedule hadwritten toherdelegation thisweek andshewashoping tomake progress
intheverynearfuture.
2.16 Thedelegate ofCanada confirmed thathisdelegation hadalmost concluded itsnegotiations
withBolivia onthetransposition ofitsschedule intotheHarmonized System.
2.17 Therepresentative ofSriLanka, inreplytothestatement made bythedelegate ofNewZealand,
agreed thattheSecretariat 'ssummary should becorrected toreflect thattherewasmorethanthepolitical
situation which prevented theconclusion ofthenegotiations andthatSriLanka 'srequest forextension
ofthewaiver highlighted anumber ofother concerns thathiscountry wasfacing. Hereassured Sri
Lanka 'strading partners thatitwould doitsutmost tofulfil itsmultilateral commitments asearly as
possible.
2.18 Therepresentative ofGuatemala reported totheCommittee thatherdelegation wasincontact
withtheMembers thatstillhadreservations onGuatemala 'sschedule andwashoping toterminate
theconsultations before 31October 1997.G/MA/M/11
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2.19 TheChairman thensuggested toexamine thedraftreport contained indocument G/MA/SPEC/5
paragraphbyparagraphbeingunderstoodthatthereportwouldbecompletedinthelightofthediscussion
thatwould takeplace atthemeeting.
2.20 Paragraph 3ofthereport: therepresentative ofSwitzerland suggested adding anewsentence
afterthefirstsentence, toread: "Anumber ofdelegations expressed concerns about theuse,bysome
Members, ofgeneral reservations which seemed toimpede thecertification ofschedules presented
toimplement HS96 changes". Healsosuggested toaddasecond element inthesame paragraph in
thesentence reading "Intheshort term Members should pursue thework ontheverification and
certification ofHS96 documentation without delay andonthebasis ofexisting rules andprocedures "
inorder toreflect oneofthebasic principles agreed uponinthecontext oftheChairman oftheCTG's
consultations.
2.21 Therepresentative oftheUnited States noted thatwithrespect tothefirstaddition proposed
bySwitzerland hisdelegation would havenoproblem. However, asconcerned thesecond proposal,
inoneoftheinformal consultations hisdelegation hadspecifically stated thatitviewed theoriginal
HSrulesasamistake, thatinsome cases these ruleswerenotworking well, andthattheUSwasnot
willing toexplicitly endorse those rulesagain. Therefore, hisdelegation wasnotprepared atthispoint
toagree tothesecond addition proposed bySwitzerland.
2.22 Thedelegate oftheEuropean Communities supported theUSposition. Hisdelegation also
feltthatthose rules needed changing, inorder toprovide forfulldetails tobemade available. Ifthe
Swiss phrase were tobeinserted, hisdelegation would wanttoinsert acounter-balancing phrase.
2.23 Therepresentative ofCanada saidthatthefirstsentence suggested bySwitzerland wasfactually
correct. Asfarasthesecond Swiss proposal wasconcerned, inorder tobalance whathadbeensaid,
hisdelegation would want toobserve thatother Members emphasized thepractical approach ina
constructive andcooperative fashion interms ofproviding therequested information such as
concordances. Hisdelegation could notsupport theproposed words "andonthebasis ofexisting
rulesorprocedures" or,iftheyweretobeaccepted, itwould benecessary tohaveadditional sentences
tocounterbalance thelanguage ofthetext.
2.24 Therepresentative ofNorway, referring tothefirstamendment asexpressed bytheSwiss
delegate, feltthatitwasacorrect reflection ofthediscussion thathadtaken place intheMarket Access
Committee andassuchsupported itsinclusion inthereport. With respect tothesecond amendment,
hisdelegation agreed withSwitzerland thatsuchanaddition would correctly reflect consultations that
tookplace under theChairman oftheCTG. However, recognizing other delegations 'need to
counterbalance thetextwhere thisamendment wastobeincluded, hepreferred that,onthispoint,
itremained asitwas.
2.25 Therepresentative ofMexico saidthatwithrespect tothefirstamendment suggested by
Switzerland, hisdelegation hadnodifficulty inhaving thisamendment included inthetext.With
reference tothesecond suggestion, heindicated fortherecord thatinthecaseofMexico, hisauthorities
hadbeenworking tosubmit thedocumentation ontheHarmonized System andhadreferred tothe
Decision established inthatrespect aswelltotheagreed procedures. Toraise doubts about these
procedures thathadbeenagreed would create uncertainties astowhat would happen inthefuture.
Ifthose agreed procedures werenottoberespected, thenthequestion ofwhether thetextsuggested
bySwitzerland should beincluded ornotwould berelevant. Itwould seemthattherewasnoconsensus
ontheSwiss proposal. However, hisdelegation wanted tobeabsolutely clearthat,intheforeseeable
future, when Mexico would submit itstransposition intoHS96, thepresently applied procedures would
bethose thathadbeenagreed upon andnotothers.G/MA/M/11
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2.26 Therepresentative ofBulgaria associated hisdelegation withtheviews expressed byMexico.
2.27 Summing upthesituation, theChairman noted thattherewasconsensus onthefirstamendment
proposed bytheSwiss delegation, butnotwithrespect toitssecond proposal, which hadmetwith
some opposition. Under thecircumstances, hesuggested thattheoriginal wording oftheremainder
oftheparagraph should bemaintained.
2.28 Thedelegate ofSwitzerland noted thecomments made bytheother delegations, particularly
onthesecond proposal which intheviewoftheSwiss delegation, wasaperfectly factual reflection
ofthecontent ofAmbassador Johanessen 'ssumming upoftheconstituent elements ofwhatwascalled
theshorttermsolution. Unfortunately theredidnotseemtoexistaconsensus astoadding theproposed
words totheexisting sentence. While taking aconstructive andflexible attitude, theSwiss delegation,
intheabsence ofconsensus inthatcontext, requested theChairman andtheSecretariat toreflect fully
thecontents ofthedebate andtheviews expressed byalldelegations, particularly onthesecond element
proposed bytheSwiss delegation, inthereport ofthemeeting.
2.29 TheChairman thanked theSwiss delegation foritsflexibility andconfirmed thattheminutes
ofthemeeting would, asfaraspossible, include thefulltextofallinterventions.
2.30 Paragraph 4ofthereport: therepresentative ofSwitzerland suggested tomodify slightly the
firstsentence oftheparagraph toread: "On13December 1995 several Members were granted
individual waivers, foroperational reasons grouped intoonesingle decision ,fortheintroduction
ofHS96 changes ...". Thechanges proposed were basically todelete "onacollective basis" inthe
present textandtoaddtheword"individual" before "waivers" andthentoaddincomas "foroperational
reasons grouped intoonesingle decision".
Itwassoagreed.
2.31 Referring toparagraph 8ofthereport, onIDB, thedelegate ofJapan wished toensure that
IDBdatawould beonlyfortheuseofWTO Members andinternational organizations.
2.32 TheChairman confirmed theinterpretation ofthedelegation ofJapan, pointing outthatthe
Decision ontheimplementation oftheIDBdidindeed stipulate thatitsusewould belimited toWTO
Members andother international organizations thathadanagreement withtheWTO.
2.33 TheCanadian delegate, reverting toparagraph 3suggested thatthefollowing sentence beadded:
"Anumber ofMembers emphasized theimportance ofproviding information tofacilitate theprocess
ofverification suchasconcordances". Headded thatifnoconsensus could bereached onthissentence,
hewould notinsist.
2.34 Therepresentative ofMexico stated thatinthiscontext several consultations hadtaken place
under theauspices oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods andtheCanadian proposal reflected thediscussions
there. Itappeared however tohisdelegation thattherewasnoneedtocounterbalance theSwiss proposal
because, asheunderstood, theSwiss sentence would notbeincluded inthetext.
2.35 TheChairman asked theCanadian delegate whether hewould insist onincluding hisproposal
inparagraph 3andreminded theCommittee thatithadnotaccepted thesecond proposal bySwitzerland,
which meant thatitwould notappear inthetext.
2.36 TheCanadian delegate, confident thattheminutes would reflect theCanadian concern that
countries should provide information tofacilitate theprocess ofverification, withdrew hisproposal.G/MA/M/11
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2.37 After thedetailed examination ofthereport, theChairman suggested thattheCommittee should
adopt thedraftreport totheCouncil forTrade inGoods, naturally including alltheamendments that
hadbeenapproved, andcompleted inthelightofthemeeting 'sdeliberations.
2.38 Therepresentative oftheUnited States saidthathisdelegation hadnothadsufficient timeto
review thecontents ofthedraftreport andwasnotwilling togivetheSecretariat theauthority toissue
afinaldocument fortransmission totheCTG thatwould differ fromthepresent one. Itwould want
toseethefinaldocument andwould communicate hisapproval totheSecretariat.
2.39 Itwasagreed thattheSecretariat would circulate arevision ofthedraftreport inEnglish only,
which would beputintheboxes ofthedelegations thefollowing dayandthatthedelegations would
have24hours tocommunicate totheSecretariat anycomments theywould haveonthereport.
3. Submission ofdocumentation related totheHS96
3.1 TheChairmanremindedtheCommitteethattheDecisionoftheGeneralCouncilof24April1997
(document WT/L/216) extending to31October 1997 thetime-limits ofwaivers granted toMembers
which hadsorequested hadenvisaged thatbythatdatetheMembers concerned would submit complete
documentation concerning theintroduction oftheHS96 changes totheirWTO schedules or,incase
ofspecial circumstances, thattheywould seektechnical assistance from theSecretariat. Hepointed
outthatdocument G/MA/TAR/2/Rev.10 reflected thecurrent situation ofsubmissions oftherequested
documentation. Theaforementioned document showed thatofthe39Members under current waivers,
eight hadsubmitted onlypreliminary information ornoneatall.Since thedateofthatdocument, the
documentation concerning Brunei Darussalem hadbeencirculated. Theother countries concerned
wereEgypt, ElSalvador, Honduras, Mexico, Pakistan, South Africa andZimbabwe. Three ofthem,
however, (Egypt, ElSalvador andHonduras), hadrequested technical assistance fromtheSecretariat
inthepreparation oftherequired documentation anditwasexpected thatthisdocumentation would
becirculated intheverynearfuture. Itwastobenoted thatsofarthere hadbeen38submissions,
twoofwhich hadbeencertified while oneremained pending astheCouncil forTrade inGoods studied
certain procedural matters, andreservations hadbeenmade regarding 35submissions. Inthelight
ofthatsituation, theChairman onceagain called onthecountries concerned byanextension ofwaiver
tosubmit thenecessary documentation asrapidly aspossible, iftheyhadnotyetdoneso.
4. Integrated Database
4.1 TheChairman recalled thatatitsmeeting of24June1997, theCommittee hadapproved a
draftdecision ontheSupply ofInformation totheIntegrated Database forPersonal Computers which
hadbeenforwarded totheGeneral Council andadopted on16July1997 (document WT/L/225). As
indicated intheannotated agenda, there werefourpoints fordiscussion regarding IDB: thecurrent
status ofsubmissions, thestatus ofimplementation oftheproject, thedeadline forsubmissions and
themodalities oftechnical assistance. TheChairman gavethefloortoMrs.J.deVerteuil oftheSystems
Development andProduction Section oftheSecretariat toreport totheCommittee onthetwofirst
points, i.e.thestatus ofsubmissions andofimplementation oftheproject.
4.2 Mrs. deVerteuil informed theCommittee thatanewrelease oftheIDBCD-ROM hadbeen
distributed toWTO Members inJune1997, containing IDBinformation for130country-periods and
aPCapplication fortheiranalysis. Copies oftheCD-ROM could beobtained fromtheStatistics and
Information Systems Division.
4.3 Concerning thestatus ofsubmissions, shereported thatsince 1June1997 anumber ofIDB
submissions hadbeenreceived. Tariffs for1995 or1996 andtheircorresponding imports hadbeen
submitted bythree countries. Seven other countries hadsubmitted imports for1996andonecountryG/MA/M/11
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hadsubmittedimportsfor1995.Oftheseimportsubmissions,thecorrespondingtariffsforfourcountries
werealready available intheIDBorhadbeenprepared bytheSecretariat. The1997 tariffs forsix
countries hadbeensubmitted toother WTO Divisions. TheSecretariat hadcompleted theprocessing
offoursubmissions forwhich bothtariffs andimports wereavailable, aswellasthe1997 tariff for
oneother country. Theother submissions were being analyzed orprocessed, orawaiting the
corresponding tariff submissions.
4.4 Regarding thestatus ofimplementation ofthePCIDB,shenoted thattheproject development
schedule for1997 wascontained indocument G/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1. Shethenreported onthework
accomplished todate. Theequipment andsoftware forthePCIDBhadbeeninstalled withtheexception
ofbackupequipmentwhichhadnotyetarrived.TheIDBstatisticianshadundertakenbasicandadvanced
traininginMicrosoftAccess.OneprogrammerhadfollowedinitialtraininginVisualBasicandadvanced
training would beundertaken bythedevelopment teamlaterthatweek. Thedatabase design hadbeen
finalized andatestdatabase hadbeenestablished withinformation forseveral markets. Some work
would stillberequired toestablish thesystem reference files. Thegeneral-purpose formatting and
conversion modules hadbeenwritten. These would bepackaged asanapplication inOctober when
thedataverification modules werecompleted. ThePCIDBConversion Facility wasscheduled tobe
operational attheendofOctober. Duetounforeseen contingencies, theprograms totransform the
PCIDBformat totheIDBCD-ROM format hadonlybeenstarted inmid-September andwould be
ready sometime inNovember. Thespecifications were being prepared fortheIDBInternet sitefor
filedistribution toMembers. Arequest would shortly bemade totheInternational Computing Centre
tocarry outthiswork. Themainframe IDBdatabase filesintheoldIDBformat hadbeentransferred
toPCandarchived. Other mainframe fileswerebeing examined todetermine whether theyshould
bearchived ordeleted. Guidelines forthecontents ofIDBsubmissions werebeing prepared. These
would becompleted anddistributed toMembers oncetheCommittee haddecided onthedeadlines
forsubmissions. Insummary, theproject wasadvancing andfullimplementation ofthebasic system
wasforeseen fortheendoftheyear, unless there wereproblems inestablishing theIDBInternet site
bythattime.
4.5 Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities requested thatthedetails oftheSecretariat 's
report bereflected infullintheminutes ofthemeeting because hisdelegation wastaking akeeninterest
intheprogress oftheIDB.
4.6 Therepresentative oftheUnited States thanked theSecretariat forallitswork ontheIDBwhich
appeared tobeoncourse. Hisdelegation waslooking forward tohaving itupandrunning andbeing
used. Heasked whether itwould bepossible toobtain atablefortheIDB, indicating thecountries
thathadsubmitted tariff andtrade information, inorder tokeeptrack oftheIDBcontents, thestatus
ofprocessing andwhere work might havetobedonetosolicit theinformation thatwasnotcoming
inatimely fashion.
4.7 TheChairman thanked therepresentative oftheUnited States forhissuggestion andindicated
thatinfuture, theSecretariat would draw upatable oftheIDBsituation, tobeprovided tothe
Committee. Inreply totherequest oftheEuropean Communities, heindicated thattheSecretariat 's
report would befullyreflected intheminutes ofthemeeting.
4.8 Concerningthethirdpoint-thedeadlinesforsubmissions,theChairmanrecalledthatasdescribed
inG/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1, IDBsubmissions would consist ofimports, tariffs containing bound andapplied
duties, reference information andtariff correlation tables showing changes inthetariff nomenclature
from oneyeartothenext, where there were suchchanges.
4.9 Heindicated thatanumber ofpoints should bereviewed regarding thedeadlines andthecontent
ofIDBsubmissions, bearing inmind thetypeoftechnical assistance thatmight berequired bycertainG/MA/M/11
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Members. These points concerned thereference years anddeadlines forthefirstsubmissions and
deadlines forthefollowing submissions. Hetheninvited Mrs.M.Gagliardi oftheIntegrated Database
Section toprovide Members withsome basic information inthisregard.
4.10 Mrs. Gagliardi recalled thatthePCIDBwould contain matched imports andtariffs forthe
previous year, tariffs forthecurrent yearandreference information. National tariffcorrelations would
befurnished byMembers when differences between thetariff nomenclature forthecurrent yearand
theprevious yearexisted. Shenoted thatwhen Members supplied theirbound andapplied duties for
thecurrent year, theyshould cover anyknown changes which would occur during theyear, suchas
agricultural duties which come intoeffect inthemonth ofJulyforsome countries. Sheindicated that
when Members provided theirimport statistics, theimport nomenclature should match thatofthe
correspondingtariff.Otherwise,Membersshouldsupplythecorrespondingtarifflinesforanystatistical
items which didnotappear inthetariff. Regarding thedeadlines forthesubmissions, sheinformed
theCommittee thattheSecretariat wasnowready toreceive matched tariffs andimports for1996and
tariffs for1997, which should nowbeavailable formany Members.
4.11 Asfarasthedeadlines forthesubmissions wereconcerned, theChairman suggested thatfor
thefirstsubmissions, Members should provide tariffs andimports for1996 assoonaspossible orat
thelatest by30November 1997. Forthefollowing submissions, thedeadline forthetariffsubmission
ofthecurrent yearmight be30March andthedeadline forinformation onimports fortheprevious
year, 30September. Thiswould apply toMembers whose tariff isbased onthecalendar year. For
countries where fiscal andcivilyears hadadifferent span, thedeadlines could beadjusted inorder
totakeintoaccount thedates when thenational domestic tariffs come intoforce.
4.12 Therepresentative ofMexico indicated thatifconsensus wasreached onproviding datafor
1996, hisdelegation would have noproblem. Hedrew attention tothefact that
document G/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1 wasapproved on27June1997andthatparagraph 1ofthatdocument
stated thatthePCIDBwould come intoforce attheendof1997 andwould beimplemented bythe
endof1997.
4.13 TherepresentativeofSwitzerlandthankedtheSecretariatforthehardworkputintothisexercise.
Hecould notgiveafirmconfirmation astowhether hisdelegation would beinaposition torespect
those deadlines, particularly concerning thesubmissions ofimport data. ThedateofSeptember for
future import submissions would beatarget thathisdelegation would seektoreach, butitwould be
necessary toconsult withhisauthorities. Heproposed thatinformal consultations beorganized on
thismatter.
4.14 Concerning theguidelines forthepreparation ofIDBsubmissions, which weretobedistributed
afterthedeadlines hasbeenagreed upon (see4.4above), therepresentative ofColumbia suggested
thattheybecirculated asadraftdocument before taking thedecision ondeadlines. Shepointed out
thattheguidelines might show thattheinformation required forsubmissions could bemore complex
thanwasindicated inG/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1. Ifso,thiswould definitely haveanimpact onwhen her
authorities would beabletosubmit theinformation. Itwassoagreed.
4.15 TheChairman indicated thattheissue ofdeadlines would bebestresolved ininformal
consultations oncedelegations hadtheopportunity toconsult withtheircapitals. Hesuggested that
delegations tooknoteofwhathadbeensaidonthismatter.
4.16 TheChairman alsoinformed theCommittee thatanumber ofdelegations hadapproached him
regarding theproblem oftheiraccess totheIDB. These delegations represented observers whose
accession processes wereunder way. These parties wereprepared toprovide information fortheIDB
butwere prevented from accessing theIDB, since access wasonlypermitted forMembers andG/MA/M/11
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international organizations withwhich theWTO hadamutual access agreement. While hisintention
wasnottodiscuss thismatter nortocome toadecision atthisstage, hewanted toinform theCommittee
thathewould beholding informal consultations onthismatter. Herequested delegations toprepare
forthese consultations, specifically todecide whether theywere infavour ornotofgranting these
observers access totheIDB.
4.17 Therepresentative ofBulgaria proposed thatMembers should takeintoconsideration theneed
tohavestatistical information fromthose countries. Hesuggested thattheyshould begranted access
totheIDBonthecondition thattheythemselves provided thisinformation. Hepointed outthatalthough
someacceding countries maybeprepared togivestatistical information, therecould beothers benefiting
from suchadecision whowould notbeabletofulfil thiscondition.
4.18 Thefourth point fordiscussion wasthemodalities oftechnical assistance forthepreparation
ofIDBsubmissions. TheChairman indicated thattheSecretariat waspreparing aworking document,
tobeready inNovember, onthetechnical assistance thatcould beprovided forthisPCIDBexercise.
Heexplained thatthedocument would cover: thedevelopment ofsoftware forthepreparation of
submissions, theorganization ofregional and/or individual seminars forMembers, cooperation with
other WTO divisions toofferIDBtraining andforfollow-up, theestablishment ofcontact points in
missions andcapitals, andfinancial issues relating totechnical assistance. TheChairman noted that
theCommittee would have anopportunity toexamine thedocument inNovember before itwas
transmitted toother bodies incharge oftechnical cooperation.
5. Quantitative restrictions
5.1 TheChairman recalled thatatitsmeeting oftheprevious 24June, theCommittee hadapproved
adecision concerning theformat forthenotification ofquantitative restrictions setoutin
document G/MA/NTM/QR/2. Accordingly, future submissions concerning quantitative restrictions
should follow theapproved format. Inthatconnection theChairman referred todocument
G/MA/QR/1/Add.4, which contained anupdate onthestatus ofnotifications ofquantitative restrictions
received sofar.
5.2 Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities pointed outthathisdelegation hadsubmitted
on31January 1996 a"nilreturn" which would beprepared intherevised format ontheoccasion of
thenextbiennial period.
5.3 Thedelegate ofCanada requested confirmation thatnotifications under thisitemshould also
include cross-reference onnotifications ofquantitative restrictions toother WTO committees.
5.4 TheChairman confirmed thatareference should bemade tonotifications ofquantitative
restrictions submitted inother WTO committees.
6. Future work oftheCommittee
6.1 TheChairman reminded delegations ofthelistoffuture activities andrecommendations that
theCommittee hadsubmitted totheministers atSingapore initsreport of4November 1996(document
G/L/132). Hereferred specifically tothepoints setoutinparagraphs 20and21ofthatdocument,
which hebriefly enumerated:
- Continuation ofthesupervision oftheimplementation ofUruguay Round concessions;
- submissionofnotificationsofquantitativerestrictionsandtariffinformationbyMembers;G/MA/M/11
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- completion oftheestablishment andverification ofchanges intheHarmonized System;
- review oftheprocedural issues identified withrespect tomodifications ofschedules;
- establishment ofacloser working relationship withtheWorld Customs Organization
(WCO);
- implementation oftheIntegrated Database (IDB).
Headded thatthefuture work andrecommendations hehaddescribed should bekeptunder
review and,ifnecessary, appropriate actions should betaken. TheChairman recalled themandate
given totheCommittee bytheSingapore Ministerial Meeting andcalled ondelegations sowishing
tospeak onthatparticular point.
6.2 Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities pointed outthatforthemoment, theIntegrated
Database needed tobeimplemented. Furthermore there wastheissue ofelectronic verification both
asconcerned thenumerical andthetextual verification oftheschedules. Alsodiscussions onschedules
hadtaken place inthecontext ofwaivers, butdelegations ingeneral hadschedules invarious formats
with separate setsofchanges following theinitiatives oninformation technology products,
pharmaceuticals andspirits. Inthiscontext there wasthequestion ofpreparing revised consolidated
schedules which would beIDBfriendly inevery aspect sothatchanges inaschedule could beidentified
electronically; thiswasoneoftheaspects offuture work thatneeded tobeaddressed possibly inthe
firsthalfof1998.
6.3 Thedelegate ofNewZealand referred tothestatement made bytheEuropean Communities
about their"nilreturn" notification onquantitative restrictions andfeltthattherewasneedyettohave
aclearideaintheCommittee astowhatwasnotifiable under thedecision, since asfarashiscountry
wasconcerned, thenotifications submitted totheSecretariat inthiscontext related toenvironmental
restrictions pursuant tointernational environmental agreements suchasozone depleting substances and
thelikeandhethought thatmany countries hadsuchrestrictions inplace. Hefeltthatthose restrictions
were notifiable. Hisdelegation hadtaken therequirement being anyquantitative restrictions which
werenotnotifiable toothercommittees oftheOrganization andproceeded accordingly. Other Members
suchastheEuropean Communities might haveadifferent opinion, although inhisviewtheymight
alsohavesuchrestrictions inplace. Inthiscontext, itmight beuseful atsome stage totakestock
andtoreview thekindofrestrictions thatMembers hadnegotiated inorder tocome toanagreement
onprecisely whattodointhefuture.
6.4 Therepresentative ofCanada, following uponthestatement made byNew Zealand, was
wondering whether quantitative restrictions already notified toothercommittees should again benotified
here. Inhisview, itwould beuseful toknow exactly what should benotified ornotinterms of
transparency andinterms ofwhatneeded tobedoneinthecapitals.
6.5 Therepresentative ofMexico, referring tothecontent ofparagraph 20ofdocument G/L/132,
summarized theactivities oftheCommittee andindicated thatasfarastheimplementation ofUruguay
Round wasconcerned, there wasasortofselfregulation. Regarding thenotification ofquantitative
restrictions, adecision hadbeenadopted bytheCommittee andanumber ofQRsnotifications had
beenreceived. Asconcerned thecompletion oftheloose-leaf exercise, adecision hadalsobeentaken
onthismatter, leaving thequestion ofelectronic verification ofschedules pending forthemoment.
TheimplementationofHS96changeswasrelatedtothereviewofproceduresconcerningthemodification
ofschedules; work inthiscontext hadnotstarted butwasexpected tostartsoon. Regarding the
establishment ofaclose working relationship withtheWorld Customs Organization, theCommittee
appreciated theparticipation inmeetings andtheexplanations given bytheWCO expert concerningG/MA/M/11
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theHS96 changes aswellasthefuture changes foreseen intheHarmonized System. Hetherefore
feltthataverygood relationship hadbeenestablished withtheWCO. OntheIDB, theCommittee
hadalsoapproved adecision andtheprocess ofitsimplementation hadstarted. Insummary, hefelt
thattheCommittee hadbeenworking wellandhebelieved thatanessential basishadbeenestablished
soastocontinue itswork inthefuture.
6.6. TheChairman thanked therepresentative ofMexico forhisstatement ontheCommittee 's
activities andnoted inthatregard thatithadproved highly useful fortheCommittee toreview its
activities periodically. Byplacing theitemontheagenda, hehadwished togiveMembers the
opportunity ofaddressing anyiteminrelation toanyother ortoseekclarifications onanyparticular
subject.
6.7 Referring tothefuture work oftheCommittee andtothestatement made bythedelegate of
theEuropean Communities ontheneedforthisCommittee inthefuture toaddress andpossibly give
priority totheestablishment ofaprogramme ofelectronic verification ofschedules, thedelegate of
Norway noted thatsuchaprocess required firsttheestablishment ofconsolidated loose-leaf schedules
inanelectronic format. Hestressed thatthecertification oftheconsolidated loose-leaf schedules would
havetoproceed partly manually.
6.8 TheChairman confirmed thatuntilelectronic verification ofschedules became possible, manual
verification wasinevitable, atleastatthecurrent stage.
6.9 Thedelegate ofArgentina reverted tothequestion ofthenotification ofquantitative restrictions
intheframework ofthefuture workprogramme oftheCommittee andshared fullytheconcern expressed
byNewZealand totheextent thatwhatwastobenotified wasnotquite clear. Itwould benecessary
toobtain clarifications astowhathadtobenotified taking intoaccount theformat ofthenotification.
When theformat wasapproved itseemed veryclear, halfofapagerelating tothose quantitative
restrictions which hadnotbeennotified inother committees andasecond pageindicating QRsnotified
toother committees. However, ithadbeenpointed outthatthecross-reference toother documents
wasnotenough since more information wasneeded toestablish areference intheelectronic database.
Therefore, inthecontext ofthefuture programme ofwork fortheCommittee, itwould benecessary
toexamine alsothesecond partoftheformat since thetypeofinformation sought fromtheMembers
wasnotsufficient.
6.10 TheChairman stated thatthatwasprecisely thereason forwhich hehadplaced thetopic on
theagenda ofthecurrent meeting, soastotakestock ofwhathadbeenaccomplished andwhatneeded
specific attention. TheCommittee needed toexamine those matters carefully. Hetooknoteofthe
statements thathadbeenmade, andintended toresume consideration ofsome ofthepoints raised,
during thenextinformal consultations thathewould beholding.
7. Other business
7.1 Intention oftheKorean Government toincrease applied tariff rates
7.1.1 Thedelegate ofSwitzerland reported thattheSwiss authorities hadbeeninformed thatKorea
wasplanning toincrease applied tariffratesfor257products asof1January 1998. Recognizing Korea 's
righttoincreasethoseappliedrates,whichwouldstillbewithintheUruguayRoundbindingcommitment,
theSwiss industry -inparticular thetextile industry -wasconcerned thatsuchapolicy might have
anegative impact onexisting trade flows. From amarket access point ofviewitwasimportant for
anexporter thatacountry 'stradeandtariffpolicy waspredictable. Frequent changes ofapplied rates,
particularly when therateswereincreased, didnothelptoimprove thesecurity ofmarket access as
wellassound investment policies. TheSwiss delegation hoped thatKorea would make thisprocessG/MA/M/11
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astransparent aspossible andthatthenewapplied rateswould alsobenotified totheWTO. Headded
thathisdelegation would pursue thisissuebilaterally withKorea andreserved thepossibility tocome
backtoit,ifnecessary, intherelevant WTO forum.
7.1.2 Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities saidthathisdelegation wasalsoaware of
thismeasure which created great concern andindicated thathisauthorities haddetected afewitems
where Korea might haveinadvertently increased certain applied rates above thebound rates. His
delegation would carry outbilateral consultations onthose fewitems.
7.1.3 Therepresentative ofKorea, stating thathewould report theSwiss statement tohiscapital,
saidthat,asheunderstood, theWTO wasastrictly rulebased organization. Measures taken bycountries
which didnotviolate WTO rules should notbediscussed inthisCommittee, andtariff increases on
unbound commitments would notviolate anyWTO commitments. Headded thatdelegations should
bemore cautious inchoosing items tobediscussed inthisCommittee. Referring totheproblem of
predictability andsecurity raised bytheSwiss delegation, hepointed outthathisGovernment hadnot
changed anytariff rates forthelasttenyears except under thepre-indicative tariff reduction plan.
Accordingly, hedidnotthink thatsuchstatements were appropriate inthepresent situation andthe
Korean tariffincreases would beimplemented afterpriornotice would begiven toalltrading partners.
Moreover, thefactthattheSwiss delegation raised thismatter inthisCommittee concerning ameasure
tobetaken bytheKorean Government on4January 1998 showed thatfullprior notice hadalready
beengiven.
7.1.4 TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements.
7.2 Vice-chairperson
7.2.1 TheChairman informed theCommittee thatMrs.Simona Valceanu ofRomania, whowasthe
Vice-Chairperson oftheCommittee, leftGeneva toreturn tohercountry, leaving thisposition vacant.
Hesuggested toholdinformal consultations onthismatter andtoreport theCommittee about theresults
ofhisconsultations atthenextmeeting.
7.3 Tariff information available intheSecretariat
7.3.1 TheChairman informed theCommittee thattheSecretariat hadprepared another revision of
document G/MA/TAR/3 inorder toreflect thecurrent situation ofthenational tariffs available inthe
Secretariat. Healsocalled uponmembers oftheCommittee toverify theinformation concerning their
country andasked Members thathadnotyetdonesotosubmit theirmostrecent national tariffschedules
totheSecretariat, asthattypeofdocument constituted animportant analytical tool.
7.4 Dateofthenextmeeting oftheCommittee
7.4.1 TheChairman informed theCommittee that,according totheschedule ofmeetings drawn up
bytheSecretariat, thenextmeeting oftheCommittee wasplanned for2December 1997, subject to
confirmation.