. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONTN/MA/8
27 February 2003
(03-1187)
Negotiating Group on Market Access
NEGOTIATING GROUP ON MARKET ACCESS
Report by the Chairman, Ambassador Girard, to the Trade Negotiations Committee
I. STATUS OF WORK
1. Since its last meeting on 2-3 December 2002 (an oral report of this meeting was provided to
the TNC at its meeting of 4-6 December 2002), the Negotiating Group met once on 19-
21 February 2003.  It was a very substantive three-day meeting with the first day dedicated to thediscussion of papers submitted by participants since the Group's last meeting.  There was a very
interactive session with many questions raised and many comments made regarding these papers.
2. As provided for in the "Programme of Meetin gs for the Negotiations on Market Access  for
Non-Agricultural Products" (TN/MA/3), an "Overview of Proposals Submitted" (TN/MA/6) wasprepared for participants at this meeting. The overview listed eighteen issues pertaining to modalities
for the negotiations on tariffs which had been identified.  The question of newly acceded Members
and LDCs was also addressed in the paper.  In addition I had circulated an illustrative list of questions
on each of the 20 items (JOB(03)/27) with a view to stimulating discussions.  The discussion which
ensued was focussed and assisted in clarifying points of divergence and convergence on the variousissues. It was agreed that the overview paper would be updated to take account of the corrections
indicated by participants at the meeting as well as any additional proposals on modalities submitted
before 14 March 2003.  As not all the issues could be discussed at this meeting, the Group is expected
to return to the remaining items at the next meeting as well as revisit some issues on which a further
exchange of views would be useful.
3. The Group held a very substantive discussion on non-tariff barriers (NTBs) based on  lists of
NTBs
1 notified by participants pursuant to a request I had addressed to them.  Additionally, another
very useful input to the debate was ideas or proposals on modalities for the negotiations on NTBs
which were put forward by certain participants.  The discussion on this part of the Group's mandate
was more focussed than at any other time and in this respect progress was made. The importance of
taking account of special and differential treatment in any proposal on modalities for negotiations onNTBs was also stressed.  In view of the fact that the target date for agreement on  modalities for
negotiations on tariffs and NTBs was 31 May 2003, the Group agreed that any additional proposal on
modalities for negotiations on NTBs should be made before 14 March 2003.
4 The Secretariat introduced its paper on "Formula Approaches to Tariff Negotiations"
(TN/MA/S/3/Rev.1/Add.1) which demonstrated on a hypothetical tariff profile and to the extent
possible the effects of the various proposed formulas.  Additionally, a technical assistance workshop
by the Secretariat was conducted on 21 February 2003 to provide more explanations on this paper.
5. Based on the Secretariat document entitled "Current Data Availability in the Integrated Data
Base" (TN/MA/S/9), the Group noted that gaps still existed in the WTO tariff and trade data base.  I
                                                     
1 These notifications were compiled in an advance copy of document TN/MA/W/25.TN/MA/8
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recalled that in my letter sent in October 2002 I had requested more timely submissions of tariff and
import data to the IDB and had suggested to Members to authorize the Secretariat to source official
data from other international agencies until they themselves could report directly to the Secretariat.
Unfortunately, responses to this letter have been very limited. I drew the attention of participants to
the fact that not having comparable data in the IDB would seriously affect the capacity of thoseMembers to participate in the negotiations and to make full use of the tools and assistance offered by
the Secretariat.  In this regard, I urged delegations to respond positively to my request.
II. OUTSTANDING ISSUES
6. Further submissions are expected from partic ipants concerning proposals on modalities for
negotiations on tariffs as well as NTBs by 14 March 2003.
III. FUTURE WORK
7. The Group will pursue its work on a possible outline of modalities for the negotiations on
tariffs and NTBs at its meeting scheduled for 14-16 April 2003, with due emphasis on NTBs, with a
view to reaching an agreement on such modalities by 31 May 2003.
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