G/L/1338  
 
15 November  2019 
(19-7797) Page: 1/4 
   
 
 
REPORT (201 9) OF THE COMMITTEE O N MARKET ACCESS  
TO THE COUNCIL FOR T RADE IN GOODS  
1. Since the last review1, the Committee on Market Access has held three  formal meetings ( 9 April, 
28 May and 11  November  2019) and seven  informal meetings ( 10 October  2018, 6  November  2018, 
21 February  2019, 9  April 2019, 13  May 2019, 17  July 2019 and 24  September  2019) . The minutes 
of the formal meeting s are contained in documents  G/MA/M/ 69, G/MA/M/70 and G/MA/M/ 71 (to be 
issued) . 
2. At its formal meeting of 28 May 2019, the Committee took note that the consultations in the 
Council for Trade in Goods concerning the Chairpersons of the subsidiary bodies remained ongoing, 
and agreed that, once the issue had been resolved, the Secretariat would send a communication  
with the proposed candidate and set a deadline for objections. On 5  June 2019, the Secretariat sent 
an e-mail informing that Mr  Fernando Bruno ESCOBAR PACHECO (Bolivia) had been nominated, and 
on 7  June 2019 a second e -mail confirmed that he had been elec ted. At its meeting of 
11 November  2019, the Committee elected Mr Christopher O'TOOLE  (Canada)  as Vice -Chairperson.  
1  WAIVERS  
3. At its formal meeting of 11 November  2019, the Committee approved the extension of the 
HS2002  "collective" waiver (G/C/W/ 768), the HS2007 "collective" waiver (G/C/W/ 769), the HS2012 
"collective " waiver ( G/C/W/770), and the HS2017 "collective" waiver ( G/C/W/ 771)2. The Committee 
agreed to forward the draft waiver decisions to the General Council through the Council for Trade i n 
Goods for appropriate action.  
2  INTRODUCTION OF HARM ONIZED SYSTEM 1996 ( HS1996) CHANGES TO S CHEDULES OF 
CONCESSIONS  
4. At its meetings in 2019, the Committee took note of the status of work concerning the introduction 
HS96  changes to schedules of concessions . The Chairperson informed  that the Schedules of 
concessions of all the 64  Members  that were  listed in the Annex of the Decision of 27  May 2009 
(WT/L/756) had been successfully transposed into HS96 and certified . Technical work under the 
previous transposition procedures (GATT  document  L/6905 ) remained pending for one Member . 
3  INTRODUCTION OF HARM ONIZED SYSTEM 2002 ( HS2002) CHANGES TO S CHEDULES OF 
CONCESSIONS  
5. At its meetings in 201 9, the Committee took note of the status of work concerning the introduction 
of HS2002  changes to schedules of concessions using the CTS database (WT/L/605 and WT/L/ 807), 
as well as the outcomes of the informal dedicated sessions of the Committee during which the files 
containing the H S2002  changes of Members were examined. At the formal meeting of 
11 November  2019, the Chairperson announced that 116 Schedules of concessions had been 
transp osed into HS2002 and circulated for certification . Technical work remained pending for 
one Member.  
                                                
1 G/L/1271, dated 29 October  2018. 
2 A revised version was circulated  in G/C/W/759 /Rev.1 . G/L/1338  
 
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  4  INTRODUCTION OF HARM ONIZED SYSTEM 2007 ( HS2007) CHANGES TO S CHEDULES OF 
CONCESSIONS  
6. At its meetings in 2019, the Committee took note of the status of work concerning the introduction 
of HS2007 changes to schedules of concessions using the CTS  database (WT/L/673 and WT/L/ 830), 
as well as the outcomes of the informal dedicated sessions of the Committee during which the files 
containing the HS2007  changes of Members were examined. At the formal meeting of 
11 November  2019, the Chairperson announced that 110 Schedules of concessions had been 
transp osed into HS2007 and circulated for certification . 
5  INTRODUCTION OF HARM ONIZED SYSTEM 2012 ( HS2012) CHANGES TO S CHEDULES OF 
CONCESSIONS  
7.  At its meetings in 201 9, the Committee took note of the status of work concerning the introduction 
of HS2012  changes to schedules of concessions using the CTS database (WT/L/831), as well as the 
outcomes of the informal dedicated sessions of the Committee during which the files containing the 
HS2012  changes of Members were ex amined. At the formal meeting of 11 November  2019, the 
Chairperson announced that 97 Schedules of concessions had been transp osed into HS2012 and 
circulated for certification . 
6  INTRODUCTION OF HARM ONIZED SYSTEM 2017 ( HS2017) CHANGES TO S CHEDULES OF 
CONCESSI ONS 
8. At its meetings in 2019, the Committee took note of the status of work concerning the introduction 
of HS2017  changes to schedules of concessions using the CTS  database (WT/L/995). At its meeting 
of 9 April 2019, the Committee approved3 the Note on M ethodology that had been prepared by the 
WTO Secretariat  with some agreed adjustments  (G/MA/36 6). 
7  DECISION ON NOTIFICA TION PROCEDURES FOR QUANTITATIVE RESTRIC TIONS  
("QR  DECISION")  
9. At its meetings in 201 9, the Committee examined new QR notification s submitted by 20 Members: 
Afghanistan; Albania; China; Costa Rica; Hong Kong, China; Japan; Kazakhstan; Republic of Korea;  
Kyrgyz Republic; Macao, China; Nicaragua; New Zealand; Norway; Russian Federation; Singapore; 
Chinese  Taipei; Thailand; Turkey; Ukraine;  and Uruguay . The Committee also continued 
reviewing  notifications which had been previously submitted by other Members.  At its meeting of 
28 May 2019, the Committee took note of a Secretariat report with factual information on the 
QR notifications received (G/MA/W/114/Rev.2). At its meeting of 11 November  2019, the 
Committee took note of a report by the Secretariat (G/MA/QR/ 8) with the status of such notifications.  
8  DATABASES  
10. At its formal meetings in 201 9, the Secretariat reported on the status of work concerning the 
Integrated Data Base (IDB) and the Consolidated Tariff Schedules (CTS) database. The reports 
provided information on inter alia  the use of information in the databases, the status of software 
development and technical a ssistance. The Committee also took note of the document s which 
reflected the status of submissions to the IDB (G/MA/IDB/2/Rev. 49, G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.50  and 
G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.50 /Corr.1 ). 
11. At its meeting of 9 October  2018, the Committee agreed to  hold informal consultations to  explore 
the possibility of revisiting the IDB  Decision.  Following a series of informal meetings that took place 
late in 2018 and at the beginning of 2019, at its formal meeting of 28  May 2019 the Committee 
adopted a new Deci sion on the Modalities and Operation of the Integrated Database (G/MA/367).  
During the same meeting, it granted access as authorized user to the International Grains Council. 
At its meeting of 11  November  2019, the International Grains Council made a prese ntation on how 
it uses tariff and import data, including the from the IDB and the CTS . 
12. Pursuant to paragraph  15 of the newly adopted IDB Decision, the Committee held an informal 
dedicated session on 17  July 2019 to allow Members  to provide  feedback on  the publications and 
                                                
3 See G/MA/M/69.  G/L/1338  
 
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  online tools developed over the years by the Secretariat to disseminate tariff and import data that 
was collected through the IDB and Consolidated Tariff Schedules (CTS) databases. At its meeting of 
11 November  2019, the Committee took  note of a written summary of the feedback session that 
was prepared by the Secretariat (G/MA/W/144)  as well as  the results of a Members' survey . 
9  OTHER ACTIVITIES  
13. At its meeting of 28 May 2019, the Committee took note of the Secretariat document entitled 
"Situation of Schedules of WTO  Members" (G/MA/W/23/Rev. 15), which lists all legal instruments 
relating to each Member's schedule. It also took note of the Secretariat document entitled "Factual 
Report o n the Status of Renegotiations u nder Article  XXVIII of the GATT  1994" 
(G/MA/W/123/Rev. 5). 
14. At its meeting of 28  May and 11  November  2019 the Committee discussed a document by the 
Russian Federation on " Enhancing Transparency in Applied Tariffs" (JOB/MA/138).  
15. At its meeting of 11  Novem ber 2019, the Committee took note of a Report by the Secretariat 
with a list of Members' Official Websites with Tariff Information and Import Statistics 
(G/MA/IDB/W/13 and G/MA/IDB/W/13/Add.1) . 
16. At its 28 May and 11 November  2019 meetings , the Committee took note of the following specific 
trade concerns : 
Issue  Raised by4: 
Angola – Import Restriction Practices  United States  
Australia – Discriminatory Market Access 
Prohibition on 5G Equipment  China  
China - Customs Duties on Certain Integrated 
Circuits  European Union, Japan, and Chinese Taipei  
Croatia – Regulation of Import and Sale of Certain 
Oil Products  Russian Federation  
Enlargement of the European Union to include 
Croatia - Negotiations under Article XXIV:6 of the 
GATT 1994  Russian Federation  
European Union – Renegotiation of Tariff Rate 
Quotas under Article  XXVIII of the GATT 1994  Russian Federation  
India – Customs Duties on Telecommunication 
and Other Products  Canada, China, Norway, Chinese Taipei, and 
the United States  
India – Quantitative Restrictions on Certain 
Pulses Australia, Canada, the European Union , 
Russian Federation,  and the United States  
Indonesia - Customs Duties on Certain 
Telecommunication Products  United States  
Jamaica's Regulations Nos. 145 And 146 banning 
single -use plastic products  Dominican Republic  
Kingdom of Bahrain,  Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 
and the United Arab Emirates – Selective Tax on 
Certain Imported Products  European Union, the United States, and 
Switzerland  
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – Digital Stamp Tax  Switzerland  
Mongolia – Quantitative Restrictions and 
Prohibitions on Importations of Certain 
Agricultural Products  Russian Federation  
                                                
4 The column lists the Member (s) that raised the issue in any or all the formal meetings covered by this 
report.  G/L/1338  
 
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  Issue  Raised by4: 
Pakistan – Import Control Order  Thailand  
Rectifications and Modifications of Schedule XIX-
United Kingdom  Russian Federation  
Russian Federation – Quantitative Restrictions on 
Exports of Scrap and Waste of Ferrous Metals  European Union  
United Kingdom - Renegotiation of Tariff Rate 
Quotas under Article XXVIII of the GATT 1994  Russian Federation  
United States - Measures Regarding Export 
Control and Market Access Prohibitions for 
ICT Products  China  
 
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