WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONTN/MA/W/17/Add.1
18 March 2003
(03-1584)
Negotiating Group on Market Access Original:  Spanish
MARKET ACCESS FOR NON-AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
Possible Modalities for Negotiations on Non-Tariff Barriers
Submission by Chile
Addendum
The following communication, dated 14 March 2003, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of Chile.
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Introduction
1. The purpose of this document is to put forward some of Chile's ideas on how to approach the
negotiation of non-tariff barriers (NTBs).  These ideas have benefited from the discussion in the
Negotiating Group on Market Access (NGMA) for N on-Agricultural Products on 21 February, as well
as from the contributions by Canada1 and New Zealand2 and the NTB notifications submitted by a
number of Members.
2. Any discussion on possible modalities calls for a clear idea of the scope of the mandate.  This
is a complex task, for two reasons at least.  First, the wide range of measures that can be classed as
NTBs.  If we regard NTBs as all trade measures other than tariffs, the scope for negotiation is almost
infinite.  Second, the fact that – as New Zealand has noted – many of these measures are tied in with
legitimate public policy objective.
3. The Chilean export sector has identified a number of NTBs which affect it in various markets.
However, the majority of the NTBs reported correspond to measures regulated by several WTO
Agreements for which there is no existing negotiating mandate.  Again, some of these NTBs may
correspond to measures inconsistent with those or other WTO Agreements.  Consequently, Chile has
not deemed it appropriate to provide notification of these specific measures at this stage.
4. Canada and New Zealand have made a valuable effort to identify possible courses of action
that will enable the NGMA for Non-Agricultural Products to fulfil its mandate.  Chile feels that both
approaches are not mutually exclusive.  The first element common to both documents, and one which
Chile endorses, is that NTBs – given their complex and varied nature – cannot be addressed through
only one approach, but rather through several complementary approaches.
                                                     
1 TN/MA/W/9/Add.1.
2 TN/MA/W/4/Add.1.TN/MA/W/17/Add.1
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Possible approaches to addressing NTBs
5. We refer first to those measures which are notified as NTBs and covered by WTO
Agreements for which there is no existing negotiating mandate.  This is the case with the measures
covered by the Agreements on Customs Valuation, Import Licensing, Preshipment Inspection,Techncial Barriers to Trade, and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, among others.
6. Chile understands that it is inappropriate to negotiate measures such as those mentioned in the
previous paragraph, either in the NGMA for Non-Ag ricultural Products or in any other Group, insofar
as this involves the creation of new disciplines.  Agreements should not be re-opened if there is no
mandate to do so.
7. However, various Members have identified implementation problems in some of the
aforementioned agreements.  Such problems should be examined by the relevant subsidiary bodies, asthis avoids any duplication of work and also allows for more efficient use of the little time for
negotiation that is available to the NGMA for Non-Agricultural Products.  Furthermore, in this way
the different problems are addressed in forums which are technically capable of solving them.
8. A second approach relates to the trade facilitation agenda that is under discussion in the
Council for Trade in Goods.  A signficant proporti on of the NTBs identified by the export sectors of
various Members, both developed and developing, is found in measures which can be placed under
the umbrella of trade facilitation, for example, cons ular transactions and charges;  excessive customs
processing procedures;  excessive penalties for minor offences;  double or triple inspections of
imported cargo.
9. Consequently, achieving a consensus on trade facilitation-related negotiating modalities at the
forthcoming Ministerial Conference in Cancún would be  a signficant step towards fulfilling the Doha
mandate for NTBs.  Moreover, consensus exists between WTO Members on the advantages of more
efficient customs administration systems, not only to expedite the flow of goods but also to promote
investment and improve public policies.
10. Chile is not proposing that any sort of formal link be established between the NGMA for
Non-Agricultural Goods and a future negotiating group on trade facilitation.  We are merely
emphasizing that, in the light of the available evidence, a signficant proportion of the NTBs reported
by the Members should – by their very nature – be addressed within the framework of a future
negotiation on trade facilitation.
11. A third approach would be appropriate if neither of these two proves applicable.  The NTBs
which are covered by WTO Agreements for which there is no negotiating mandate could be the
subject of request-and-offer negotiations between the Members concerned, provided that this does notinvolve negotiating new disciplines.  The results of these multiple bilateral or multilateral
negotiations, which could deal with specific measures, types of measures, or specific production
sectors, would be included in the Members' new schedules of commitments and applied on a most-
favoured-nation basis at the end of the current Round.
12. We can clearly see the limitations of a request-and-offer approach in negotiations with more
than 140 participants and with a fixed end date less than two years off.  However, this approach might
be the only available alternative in the cases mentioned in the previous paragraph.
13. Finally, there are certain new measures capable of being considered as NTBs and for which a
negotiating mandate was indeed issued at Doha.  To take the Table of Contents of the Inventory of
Non-Tariff Measures (TN/MA/S/5) as a reference, one example of such measures would be anti-TN/MA/W/17/Add.1
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dumping and countervailing duties.  These NTBs should be negotiated in the relevant negotiating
groups.
Conclusion
14. Non-tariff barriers are an important part of the negotiating mandate of the NGMA for Non-
Agricultural Goods.  There are two elements which make addressing this part of the mandate
especially complex.  First, the wide range of NTBs and the technical complexity of many of them.
Second, the fact that many measures identified as NTBs are already regulated by a significant number
of WTO agreements for which there is no negotiating mandate.  Therefore, the problems which have
been identified in relation to these measures fall  within the ambit of either dispute settlement or
implementation, but not within that of negotiations which could result in the creation of new
disciplines.
15. Again, the business communities of all WTO Members regard NTBs as a matter of great
importance and hope to see concrete results at the end of the Doha Round.  This reality compels us to
think of ways to fulfil our mandate in the face of the objective constraints that exist, one of which is
that only 22 months remain until the end of this Round, a time-limit set by the Ministers at Doha.  In
this communication, Chile has proposed some negotiating approaches that we feel would allow us tomove forward in that direction.
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