./.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONTCA/TSC/1
21 February 2000
(00-0533)
Technical Sub-Committee of the
Committee on Trade in Civil Aircraft
NOTE BY THE CHAIRPERSON
Mr. Didier Chambovey (Switzerland)
1. The Technical Sub-Committee of the Committee on Trade in Civil Aircraft met on
16 December 1999 to address two matters referred to it by the Committee (TCA/M/8, paras. 10-24).
A. UPDATE OF HS HEADINGS IN THE PRODUCT COVERAGE ANNEX OF THE 1979
AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN CIVIL AIRCRAFT
2. The Technical Sub-Committee discussed how the 1996 revisions to certain Harmonized
System (HS) headings should be transposed into the Product Coverage Annex of the Agreement.  At
the outset, Signatories were reminded that the overall product coverage of the Agreement was defined
in Article 1 of the Agreement and that this exercise was fundamentally one of technical transposition
that did not aim to expand the product coverage of the Product Coverage Annex.  The relevant HS
headings, identified in the Chairperson's letter of 23 April 1999, were as follows:  8271.20; 8471.91;8471.92; 8471.93; 8483.40; 8502.30; 8543.80; 8801.10 (French text only); 9025.20; 9030.81 and
9030.89.  Changes made to heading 9025 in the 1992 revision of the HS were also taken into account.
The Technical Sub-Committee discussed each of these HS headings individually, and several
delegations suggested changes that could be made to the Product Coverage Annex in order to reflect
these revisions.
3. The Technical Sub-Committee agreed to recommend that the Committee instruct the
Secretariat to prepare, on the basis of the discussions in the Technical Sub-Committee, a draft of a
revised protocol and Product Coverage Annex for re view by Signatories.  Such a revised protocol
would eventually replace the existing (1986) Protocol currently annexed to the Agreement.  The draft
revised protocol would be circulated in order to allow sufficient time for the Signatories to review it in
advance of the next regular meeting of the Committee in June 2000.  Following the circulation of thedraft revised protocol, Signatories would then have the possibility to express their reactions to it.
Taking into account any reactions of Signatories to the draft, a draft revised protocol could be
presented for adoption at the next regular meeting of the Committee.  If necessary, another meeting of
the Technical Sub-Committee could also be scheduled prior to the next meeting of the Committee in
order to consider the draft revised protocol.
4. One delegation stated that while it supported this process, the timing for that delegation's
acceptance of this amended protocol would depend on its domestic parliamentary procedures.  The
Chairperson clarified that his understanding was that if Signatories found themselves in a position in
June 2000 formally to adopt a revised protocol amending the current Product Coverage Annex if theAgreement, then this decision would subsequently have to be submitted to national parliaments for
ratification.  The revised protocol would only come into effect for Signatories once their parliaments
had ratified the amendments.TCA/TSC/1
Page 2
B. EXTENSION OF PRODUCT COVERAGE OF THE PRODUCT COVERAGE ANNEX OF
THE 1979 AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN CIVIL AIRCRAFT
5. The Technical Sub-Committee considered a proposal by Canada to amend the Product
Coverage Annex of the Agreement in terms of Article 9.5 of the Agreement in order that "groundmaintenance simulators" would be covered by the Product Coverage Annex of the Agreement.
Canada provided the Technical Sub-Committee with information on the nature of the product in
question.
1  The reaction to the proposal was largely favourable.  One delegation stated that it had
already expressed its support for this initiative in the past.  One delegation thanked the delegate of
Canada for the additional information just provided and stated that it needed more time to consider the
proposed amendment.  One delegation stated that although it had no objection to the substance of the
proposed amendment, the timing for that delegation's acceptance of the amendment would depend onits domestic parliamentary procedures.
6. The Chairperson stated that if all Signatories could agree to the proposed amendment at the
meeting of the Committee to be held on 17 December 1999, then "ground maintenance simulators"
could be included in the draft revised protocol that the Technical Sub-Committee had agreed torecommend that the Committee instruct the Secretariat to prepare (see para. 3 supra .).
7. The Chairperson encouraged Signatories to use the process of reviewing the draft revised
protocol as an opportunity to identify other items that might be considered for addition to the Product
Coverage Annex.  Such items would be kept separa te from the two matters addressed at this meeting
of the Technical Sub-Committee.  One delegation suggested that Signatories might consider adding
HS heading 8543.81 – "proximity cards and tags" (to the extent they were aircraft-related) -- to the
Product Coverage Annex of the Agreement in this manner.
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1 Circulated as document TCA/TSC/W/7.