WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/L/672 
12 March 2004 
 
 (04-1092) 
 Original:   Spanish 
  
 
INTRODUCTION OF HARMONI ZED SYSTEM 1996 CHANGES 
INTO WTO SCHEDULES OF TARIFF CONCESSIONS 
 
Panama – Schedule CXLI
 
 
Request for a Waiver 
 
  The following communication, dated 23 February 2004, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of Panama. 
 
_______________ 
 
  The Government of Panama hereby requests a waiver from its obligations under Article II of 
the GATT 1994 and General Council Decision WT/L/524 of 24 July 2003 in order to implement the 
Harmonized System 1996 (HS96) nomenclature and adopt  the changes that this entails for Panama's 
Schedules of Concessions.   Attached to this request are the following documents for consideration by the Committee on 
Market Access: 
 
 - Draft waiver decision in which it is agreed  to suspend the application by Panama of 
the provisions of Article II of the GATT 1994 for the purpose of introducing the HS96 changes to Panama's Schedule of Concessions
1;   
  - factual information concerning the request  for a waiver for the purpose of introducing 
the HS96 changes to Panama's Schedule of Concessions. 
                                                     
 
1 G/C/W/483.  G/L/672 
Page 2  
 
  
Factual Information Concerning the Request fo r a Waiver for the Purpose of Introducing
 
the HS96 Changes to Panama's Schedule of Concessions  
  
1. Date of original waiver
 
 24 April 1998 
 2. Date of submission of documents relevant to the HS96 implementation
 
 21 February 2002 
 
 Furthermore, on 6 February 2004, Panama sent  the delegation of the United States copies of 
2002 foreign trade statistics for Panama as requested by this delegation.  3. Number of extensions and dates when granted
 
 Panama has been granted eight extensions.  The dates are as follows: 
 
WT/L/281 – 14 October 1998 WT/L/303 – 15 June 1999 WT/L/338 – 4 November 1999 WT/L/351 – 3 May 2000 
WT/L/379 – 8 December 2000 
WT/L/400 – 8 May 2001 WT/L/458 – 13 May 2002 WT/L/524 – 24 July 2003 
 
4. Number of countries with which Artic le XXVIII negotiations have been initiated
 
 None. 
 
(a) Canada – Further to clarification and corr ections of our documents submitted to the 
Secretariat, on 9 September 2002 Canada gave  formal notice that it had withdrawn its 
reservation. 
(b) Australia – Further to clarification and co rrections of our documents submitted to the 
Secretariat, on 23 August 2003 Australia gave  formal notice that it had withdrawn its 
reservation. 
(c) European Communities and United States – These two delegations are still verifying 
the documents provided by Panama, circul ated in documents G/SECRET/HS96/48 of 
4 April 2001, G/SECRET/HS96/48/Add. 1 and Rev.1 of 18 March 2002 and 
4 June 2002 respectively, and G/SECRET/HS96/48/Rev.1/Corr.2 of 14 August 2003. 
5. Outlook for concluding the process  
 Panama is currently waiting for these two delega tions to confirm acceptance of the documents 
submitted to the Secretariat in order to forma lly conclude implementation of HS96 nomenclature 
changes. 
  G/L/672 
 Page 3 
 
 
  In the light of the above considerations a nd bearing in mind that Panama will have to 
conclude these consultations or possibly conduct negotiations under Article XXVIII, particularly in 
view of the general reservations made by other Members, we expect that a period of 12 months counted from the date of the waiver decision, will be  needed to complete the implementation of these 
amendments. 
 
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