RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/MA/W/29
4 March 2002
(02-1086)
Committee on Market Access
INTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 2002   CHANGES INTO
WTO SCHEDULES OF TARIFF CONCESSIONS
Draft Decision
The General Council,
Having regard  to Articles IV:2 and IX:3 of the Ma rrakesh Agreement establishing the World
Trade Organization (the "WTO Agreement");
Recognizing  that the adoption of the Harmonized Co mmodity Description and Coding System
(hereinafter referred to as the "Harmonized System") has, in addition to facil itating international trade
and the analysis of trade statistics, ensured greater  uniformity in countries' customs classification, thus
enabling them to monitor and protect  the value of tariff concessions;
Noting  that, in accordance with Article 16 of the Harmonized System Convention, the Council
of the World Customs Organization adopted  a Recommendation on 25 June 1999 concerning
amendments to the Harmonized System which came into force on 1 January 2002 (hereinafter referred
to as "HS2002 changes");
Noting the procedure adopted by the General Council to introduce HS2002 changes, to
Schedules of Concessions1, which in certain cases may require negotiations and/or consultations under
Article XXVIII of GATT 1994,
Considering  that the Members concerned would need  more time to submit documentation and
proceed with consultations or pos sible Article XXVIII negotiations,
Decides, in view of the exceptional circumstances, to  suspend the application of the provisions
of Article II of GATT 1994  for one year, starting from the date of implementation of the HS2002
changes for each respective Member, for Members listed in the Annex2 to this decision, to the extent
necessary for the purpose of enabling such Memb ers to implement domestically the recommended
amendments to the Harmonized System nomenclature pending incorporation of such changes into their
Schedules of Concessions, subject to the following conditions:
(i) The Members concerned shall submit the documentation required under paragraph 1 of the
Procedures in Attachment B (read along with Section 2 of Attachment A) adopted by the
General Council to implement HS2002 changes to Schedules of Concessions no later than30 April 2002;
                                                     
1 WT/L/407.
2 Column one of the Annex lists the Members and column two indicates the Member's date of
implementation of HS2002 changes.G/MA/W/29
Page 2
 (ii) The Member concerned shall, where necessary, promptly enter into negotiations and/or
consultations with interested Members pursuant to paragraphs 1-3 of Article XXVIII of
GATT 1994;
(iii) The negotiations and/or consultations mentioned above shall, to the extent possible, be
completed within one year of the concerned Member's date of implementation as indicated in
column 2 of the Annex; and
(iv) In accordance with the provisions of  Article XXVIII:3 of the GATT 1994, applied mutatis
mutandis  to the present waiver, pending the entry in to force of the results of the negotiations
and/or consultations mentioned above, the other Members will be free to suspend concessions
initially negotiated with the Member concerned to  the extent that they consider that adequate
compensation is not offered by the Member concerned.G/MA/W/29
Page 3
ANNEX
Members which have requested to be covered by the waiver under the above decision
Member3
   (1)Date of implementation of HS2002 changes
 (2)
__________
                                                     
3 A Member with an asterisk is a Member having made the submission referred to in sub-paragraph (i).
Members not having made the submission required in sub-paragraph (i) will not be considered part of thisAnnex at the time of adoption of the waiver decision by the General Council.