WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/AG/W/43
12 March 1999
(99-1047)
Committee on Agriculture Original:  English
ISSUES REGARDING MARKET ACCESS NOTIFICATIONS
Discussion Paper by Canada
1. The purpose of this paper is to examine possible ways to improve the process for reviewing
market access notifications, complementing the similar papers prepared by New Zealand on domestic
support notification issues (G/AG/W/34), and by Australia on export subsidy notification issues
(G/AG/W/37).  In light of comments and questions that have been raised to date, it would seem thatthere are simple improvements that would avoid many of the questions that repeatedly arise in the
review of market access notifications.  This would make the notification and review processes less
burdensome for Members.
2. The current paper examines possible ways that the information included in the notifications
for tariff rate quotas (Tables MA:1 and MA:2) and for the use of the special safeguard (MA:3, MA:4and MA:5), as set out in G/AG/2, could be improved.  The reason is that the availability of transparent
and readily comparable data is useful to verify that Members are adhering to their commitments.
Frequently asked questions can be anticipated and avoided by providing more comprehensive
information in the notification itself, without unduly increasing the burden on notifying Members,
thereby making the Committee's review process more efficient and effective.  The additional
information suggested in this paper is generally av ailable to the notifying Member at the time that it
prepares its notification, so that it could be consid erably more efficient to include it in the notification
itself, rather than providing it separately when questio ns are asked.    The suggestions in this paper for
the Committee's consideration and discussion are not intended to involve any issues of interpretation
of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture or Members' schedules of commitments.
B. T
ARIFF  RATE QUOTA NOTIFICATION ISSUES
(i) Comprehensive reporting of scheduled tariff rate quotas
3. For a large number of tariff rate quotas, Members have indicated in their MA:1 notifications
that some or all of their TRQs have not been impl emented since the applied tariffs are at or below the
bound in-quota duty.  In these cases, other Members frequently ask for specific information on the
applied terms of access in order to confirm that applied tariffs are in fact at or below the bound in-
quota rate for all products covered by the scheduled TRQ commitment.  In order to avoid theserepetitive questions, Members may wish to consider automatically providing detailed information by
tariff line on the applied terms of access with their MA:1 notification, when it has not been necessary
to implement actual TRQ measures.
4. A similar question of comprehensive reporting applies when imports within quota are
reported using Table MA:2.  Whether the TRQ has been implemented, or applied tariffs without aquantitative limit are used, other Members are interested  in the level of imports that have occurred for
the basket of products covered by each TRQ commitment.  The data on imports provide usefulG/AG/W/43
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information for understanding how open a market is in the absence of the TRQ being imposed.
Moreover, in the annual reporting of imports for all products for which a Member has scheduled TRQ
commitments in Table MA:2, it would be useful if Members confirmed which TRQs are actually in
effect, and which have only applied tariffs in place
(ii) Product coverage of scheduled and implemented TRQ commitments
5. Members frequently ask questions to confirm the product coverage of a single TRQ
commitment, when there are apparent differences between the commitment in the schedule and the
coverage of a TRQ notified in either Table MA:1 or MA:2.  Such differences arise when the product
coverage indicated by the Harmonized System (HS) codes differs between the schedule and
notifications to the Committee.  Several reasons can account for these differences.  At the technical
level, schedules were generally prepared using the HS92 nomenclature, while tariffs and tariff rate
quotas are frequently being administered using the HS96 nomenclature.  If this is the case, a footnoteidentifying tariff lines affected by changes of this kind (or making a reference to the WTO document
in which HS96 changes were notified) would avoid unnecessary questions in the Committee.
6. Other questions can arise when the product coverage of a TRQ reported through an MA:1 or
MA:2 notification is different from the product coverage of the TRQ in the schedule.  A number of
different cases have been seen in the review of notifications.  In some cases, Members sometimesaggregate several different TRQ commitments into a single applied TRQ, summing the total volume
required for individual TRQ commitments into a single aggregate, covering the range of products.  In
other cases, the notification of TRQ administration or fill may suggest that the TRQ is applied on
fewer products, or a more narrowly defined basket of products, than was indicated in that Member's
schedule.  When this happens, other Members can be expected to ask questions to confirm what theterms of access are for the products that are covered by the scheduled TRQ, but do not appear to be
covered by the TRQ as implemented.  Where the ap plied terms of access for the "omitted" products
are at or below the bound in-quota rates for each tariff line, there may be little concern.  However,
when the applied terms of access for the "omitted" products are less favourable than the bound in-
quota tariff for that year, there may be grounds for concern. Where TRQs are implemented for adifferent set of products than those covered by a single TRQ commitment, an explanation should be
provided.
(iii) Measurement of imports under TRQs
7. A commonly asked question in the review of TRQ fill notifications relates to how imports
within TRQs are being counted.  This may relate to whether the "count" reflects actual imports under
the TRQ, the quantity of import licenses issued, or all imports benefiting from the low in-quota rate of
duty through a combination of imports under the TRQ and additional autonomous imports.  Members
should clearly indicate how their count of TRQ fill is measured.
(iv) Consistency of reporting periods with scheduled commitments
8. Members indicated their implementation periods for market access commitments, including
TRQs, in their schedules of commitments, or through the Secretariat background note on
implementation dates (G/AG/W/2/Rev.4 of 28 March 1996).  These may be by calendar year or by
marketing year, and a number of Members have both calendar year and one or more marketing years
used to implement various TRQ commitments.  In making their notifications of TRQ administration
and TRQ fill, some Members have used different reporting periods than were indicated in their
schedule for a particular TRQ commitment.  Where TRQs are being increased over the
implementation period, it becomes particularly difficult to track and verify the phased increases whenreporting is on a marketing year basis, while scheduled commitments are indicated as applying to
calendar years, or vice versa.  While it is recognised that Members had the right, when preparing theirG/AG/W/43
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schedules, to specify either marketing years or calendar years for the implementation of specific
TRQs included in their schedule, once selected, these must not be changed.
(v) Timeliness of reporting imports under TRQs with implementation periods
9. As noted above, some Members have used different implementation and reporting periods for
various TRQ commitments, with a mix of calendar year and marketing year commitments.  Sinceimports under TRQs are to be notified within 60 days of the end of the relevant period, in accordance
with the requirements of G/AG/2, this means that  Members having several different implementation
periods for TRQs should report TRQ fill promptly after the end of each reporting year applying to
their tariff quota commitments. This may require two or more notifications of TRQ fill during a
calendar year if several different implementation periods are included in a Member's commitments.
Therefore, to avoid unnecessary delays in reviewing the implementation of commitments, Members
with different reporting periods for different TRQs should submit separate notifications.
(vi) Consistency of reporting measuremen t units with scheduled commitments
10. A number of notifications have employed different units of measurement in reporting the
volume of imports within TRQs relative to the measurement units indicated in the schedule.
Examples include differences between product weight and carcass weight; or product weight and
eviscerated equivalents; or eggs equivalent and product weight; or hectolitres of product and litres ofpure alcohol.  The same measurement units as were specified in the schedule of commitments must be
used.
C. S
PECIAL SAFEGUARD NOTIFICATION ISSUES
11. Special safeguard notifications have attracted particularly detailed questions from Members,
with questions on most ad hoc notifications.  The question of transparency and information providedin special safeguard notifications has also been highlighted in the AIE paper by New Zealand,
Article 5:  Special Safeguard Provisions  (AIE/20).  In the case of the volume-triggered safeguard, the
questions most commonly posed concern (1) the level of imports prior to the application of the special
safeguard and the distribution of these imports between in-quota and out-of-quota imports, (2) the
applied duty before and after the application of the special safeguard, and (3) the volume of tradeaffected by the application of the special safeguard.  As a practical matter, it would appear to be
possible for the first and second of these pieces of information to be readily included with the MA:3
notification, which is required whenever the volume-triggered safeguard is applied.  The third piece of
information, on the volume of trade affected by the application of the special safeguard, would only
be known after the end of the period in which the special safeguard was applied.  Therefore, this
information could be provided in the context of  the MA:5 notification, which provides the annual
summary of the use that has been made of special safeguard provisions.
12. In the case of the price-triggered safeguard, similar kinds of questions have been posed when
the safeguard has been used, including (1) the volume of imports affected by the special safeguard,
(2) the extent to which the actual import price was below the price trigger, and (3) the applicable duty
before and after the imposition of the price trigger.  Similarly to the situation for the volume-triggered
safeguard discussed in paragraph 11, information on the volume of trade affected by the specialsafeguard is only known at the end of the period, so that this information could be included as part of
the annual MA:5 notification.  Since the price-triggered special safeguard is triggered on a shipment-
by-shipment basis, the information on the extent to which the actual import price was below the price
trigger and the level of the applicable additional duty would also vary on a shipment-by-shipment
basis.  It would be useful if Members were to prov ide the range of actual import prices that triggered
the safeguard, and the corresponding additional duties imposed, when they submit their annual MA:5
notification.G/AG/W/43
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13. For the price-triggered safeguard, a particular issue arises in the case of the few Members
who have notified "up front" price triggers for the tariff lines covered by the special safeguard, so that
individual ad hoc notifications are not required when the price-triggered special safeguard is actually
used during the year.  In these cases, it becomes particularly important that the Member promptly
provide the annual notification summarizing the actual use that has been made of the specialsafeguard at the end of the year in question.  However, a number of annual MA:5 notifications are
missing, particularly from Members who have previously made an "up-front" notification of price
triggers.
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