WT/L/1123  
 
24 November  2021 
(21-8862) Page: 1/9 
   
 
  
PROCEDURE FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 2022  CHANGES  
TO SCHEDULES OF CONCESSIONS USING THE CONSOLIDATED  
TARIFF SCHEDULES (CTS) DATABASE  
DECISION  
Adopted on 23 November 2021  
The General Council,  
 
Having regard to  Articles  IV:2 and IX:1 of the WTO  Agreement;  
 
Recalling  that the contracting parties to the GATT  1947, by their Decision of 12  July 19831, agreed 
on a method to introduce the Harmonized System (HS) into schedules of concessions;  
 
Recalling  that the contr acting parties to the GATT  1947, by their Decision of 8  October  19912, 
decided on simplified procedures to introduce HS  changes to schedules of concessions;  
 
Noting  that WTO  Members established a Consolidated Tariff Schedule (CTS) database which, 
although  not legally binding, could serve as a valuable tool for the verification and certification of 
commitments;  
 
Taking into account  the desire of Members to facilitate and simplify the introduction of HS  changes 
into WTO  schedules by making a better use of the CTS  database;  
 
Decides that:  
 
1  PREPARATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE DRAFT HS2022  FILE 
1.  The Secretariat shall prepare for Members a comprehensive set of information on the Harmonized 
System 2022 nomenclature ( HS2022 ) changes, which shall include  –in electronic form – the 
HS2022  nomenclature at the level of HS  six-digit subheading, concordance tables between the 
HS2017  and the HS2022  nomenclatures3, and the layout of the electronic formats to be used for the 
transposition files. This information shall be circulated to all Members no later than 
31 December  2021. 
2.  The Secretariat shall transpo se the schedules of Members, except for those who undertake to 
prepare their own transposition and submit a notification to this effect no later than 
31 December  2021. Members that decide to undertake their own transposition shall submit all the 
required i nformation to the Secretariat  –in electronic form – no later than 30  September  2022. A 
description of the required information is provided in Annex  1. 
3.  The transposition work shall be based on each Member's latest schedule, as reflected in the 
Consolidat ed Tariff Schedule (CTS) database. If tariff lines affected by changes in the 
 
1 BISD 30S/17.  
2 BISD 39S/300.  
3 The Secretariat shall take into account the Recommendation adopted by the Council of the World Customs 
Organization on 28  June 2019 (reproduced in G/MA/W/163). It shall also take into account  subsequent work at the 
Harmonized System Committee of the WCO.  WT/L/1123  
 
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  HS2022  nomenclature are not yet certified in the HS2017  nomenclature, then the draft HS2017  files 
shall be used as the basis for those tariff lines.  
4.  In preparing the HS2022  transposition, and to the extent possible, the scope of the concessions 
and other commitments shall remain unchanged. Any tariff line for which a change in the scope of 
a concession may have occurred due to the complex technical nature of the transposition shall be 
clearly flagged. Paragraph  5 of Annex  2 and paragraph  15 below describe how these situations shall 
be addressed.  
Transposition work by the Secretariat  
5.  The Secretariat shall introduce into the Member's schedule, as reflected in the CTS  database, all 
HS2022  changes, as well as the Recommendation adopted by the Council of the World Customs 
Organization on 28 June 2019.  The Secretariat shall update all the t ariff codes and descriptions that 
change due to the introduction of the HS2022  nomenclature, including those relating to tariff quotas 
and export subsidies, if applicable. In doing this work, the Secretariat shall abide by the technical 
procedures describe d in Annex  2 to this Decision. The Secretariat shall prepare, based on the 
updated CTS  database in the HS2022  nomenclature, a separate file to reflect the changes in 
nomenclature that were introduced. This separate file shall be prepared as described in An nex 1 and 
shall be considered the "draft HS2022  file" for the purpose of this Decision.  
6.  The Secretariat shall send to the Member its draft HS2022  file for examination as soon as the 
technical work has been completed. The date of this communication shal l hereinafter be referred to 
as the "first date for a file prepared by the Secretariat". Upon receipt of this file, the Member shall 
have the possibility to seek clarifications from the Secretariat and propose changes as laid out in 
Section  2 of these proc edures.  
Members preparing their own transposition  
7.  Members that undertake to prepare their own transposition shall update all the tariff codes and 
descriptions that change due to the introduction of the HS2022  nomenclature, including those 
relating to t ariff quotas and export subsidies, if applicable. In doing this work, they shall abide by 
the technical procedures described in Annex  2 to this Decision. These Members are expected to 
submit to the Secretariat their draft HS2022  files for examination and f inal formatting not later than 
the date provided to this effect in paragraph  2. The date of receipt shall hereinafter be referred to 
as the "first date for a file prepared by the Member".  
2  EXAMINATION OF DRAFT HS2022  FILES AND RELEASE FOR MULTILATERAL REVIE W 
8.  Members for whom the Secretariat has prepared a draft HS2022  file are expected to examine 
their file and to provide the Secretariat with a written communication that either approves the file 
(case  1), or  provides specific comments on its contents (case  2). Such communications should reach 
the Secretariat no later than 60  days following the "first date" for a file prepared by the Secretariat.  
9.  The Secretariat shall review the draft HS2022  files prepared  by Members pursuant to paragraph  7 
before their release for multilateral review. If the Secretariat has no comments on the file, it shall 
then be released for multilateral review (case  1). If the Secretariat has comments (case  2), these 
will then be trans mitted to the Member concerned no later than 60  days following the "first  date" for 
a file prepared by the Member.  
10.  In case  1, the Secretariat shall release the draft HS2022  file for multilateral review with a 
headnote indicating that it has been appro ved by the Member.  
11.  In case  2, both the Member concerned and the Secretariat shall endeavour to reach a common 
understanding on the issue(s) raised, and reflect any changes accordingly in the draft HS2022  file, 
with a view to releasing it for multilate ral review no later than 90 days from the appropriate 
"first date". In this regard : 
(a) When a common understanding is reached and no change is required, the Secretariat 
shall release the original draft HS2022  file for multilateral review with a headnote 
indicating that the file has been approved by the Member.  WT/L/1123  
 
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  (b) When a common understanding is reached and changes to the draft HS2022  file are 
required, the Secretariat shall prepare a revised file and release it for multilateral review 
with a headnote indic ating that the file has been approved by the Member.  
(c) When a common understanding has not been reached, the Secretariat shall prepare a 
revised draft HS2022  file including the specific changes proposed by the Member and 
release the file for multilateral review. The revised file shall include a headnote 
indicating that the file has been approved by the Member, and shall also describe the 
Secretariat's observati ons on the file.  
 
12.  If the Secretariat does not receive any response from the Member concerned within 90  days 
from the appropriate "first date", the draft HS2022  file will be released for multilateral review with 
a headnote indicating that the Member co ncerned has neither provided any comments nor approved 
the file.  
3  MULTILATERAL REVIEW PROCESS  
13.  Multilateral review of draft HS2022  files released pursuant to Section  2 of these procedures 
shall take place in the framework of informal dedicated sessions of the Committee on Market Access, 
which shall be scheduled by the Secretariat as required. The Secretariat will post these files three 
or four  times a year on the Tariff Analysis Online (TAO)4 and on dates that should be at least six 
weeks prior to the i nformal sessions scheduled to this effect. Members shall be notified of such 
postings through a communication by the Secretariat.  
14.  Modifications agreed at the multilateral review sessions shall be incorporated by the Secretariat 
into a revised version of the file, which shall then be resubmitted for multilateral review in accordance 
with paragraph  13. In case a Member has a query or comment concerning another Member's draft 
HS2022  file, but  is unable to attend the meeting at which these changes are to be reviewed, it may 
request the Chair to convey those queries/comments to the other Member at the time of the 
multilateral review.  
15.  Where the scope of a concession is modified as a result o f the transposition in a way that impairs 
its value, consultations and renegotiations pursuant to Article  XXVIII of the GATT  1994 shall be 
entered into by the Member concerned.5 The status of discussions and consultations between 
Members, including Articl e XXVIII renegotiations, should be reported  to other Members at the 
multilateral sessions to ensure full transparency.  
4  CERTIFICATION OF HS2022  CHANGES  
16.  When there is no objection remaining on a draft HS2022  file at a multilateral review session, such 
file will then be considered approved by the Committee on Market Access. The file will be submitted 
for certification as provided  for in paragraph  18 below, with the exception of any draft HS2022  file 
released under paragraph  12 where the Member concerned h as still neither provided any comments 
nor approved the file. The latter files shall also be submitted for certification as provided for in 
paragraph  18 below, unless the Member concerned submits in writing to the Secretariat a reservation 
within one month  from the date of approval of its draft HS2022  file at the multilateral review session.  
17.  Members having submitted such a reservation shall also provide in writing to the Secretariat  
details of the specific reasons no later than 2  months from the date o f their initial communication 
containing their reservation. If such specific reasons are not provided within the deadline, the 
certification of their HS2022  file shall take place as provided for in paragraph  18 below.  In case any 
amendment is introduced to the HS2022  file, the multilateral review process provided for in Section  3 
shall be resumed for such a file.  
18.  The Secretariat shall prepare a draft paper version of the changes, as contained in the approved 
HS202 2 file which shall be circulated pursuant to the 1980  Decision on Procedures for Modification 
and Rectification of Schedules of Tariff Concessions (L/4962).  
 
4 https://tao.wto.org . 
5 Where a request for renegotiation or consultation has been made under Article  XXVIII of the GATT  1994, 
the Procedures for Negotiati ons under Article  XXVIII (BISD27S/26) shall apply.  WT/L/1123  
 
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  5  PERIODIC REPORT BY THE SECRETARIAT  
19.  The Secretariat shall prepare a periodic report on the stat us of work, which shall include  – to 
the extent possible – the following information: (i)  a list of the Members that will prepare their own 
draft HS2022  files; (ii) a list of the draft HS2022  files that remain to be prepared by the Secretariat ; 
(iii) the dr aft HS2022  files that have been completed by the Secretariat and the date when they 
were sent to Members ; (iv) the draft HS2022  files released for multilateral review, including a 
mention of any relevant explanatory note ; (v) the progress made on each draf t HS2022  file, including 
Members having raised reservations, the tariff lines subject to reservation, and a summary of the 
reasons; (vi)  the draft HS2022  files that have been approved in the multilateral review and the date 
of circulation pursuant to the 1 980 Procedures ; (vii)  the approved HS2022  changes that have been 
certified.  
_______________  
 
 WT/L/1123  
 
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  ANNEX  1 
DRAFT HS2022  FILE 
1.  The draft HS2022  file shall cover all tariff lines under headings with changes introduced by the 
HS nomenclature, as well as the corresponding concordance tables with the concessions and 
commitments in the HS2017  nomenclature. The Secretariat and Members that undertake to prepare 
their own transposition are expected to provide  –as a separate file which will not be subject to 
multilateral review – a complete draft CTS  file in the HS2022  nomenclature. This additional file will 
facilitate the preparation of an updated version o f the CTS  database once the transposition 
procedures are finalized and certified.  
 
2.  The draft HS2022  file shall contain for each bound tariff line, inter alia , the following data 
elements:  
 
• Tariff line code in HS2022  nomenclature (including suffix or ex)  
• Product description  
• Base duty (if the final bound duty is not fully implemented at the date of the 
transposition)  
• Final bound duty  
• Other duties and charges  
• Special safeguard  
• Legal instrument (present and earlier)  
• INR (present and earlier if available in the CTS)  
• Implementation period (if the final bound duty is not fully implemented at the date of 
the transposition)  
• Certification indicator  
 
3.  Additional tables containing other relevant concessions and commitments tha t may be affected 
by the HS2022  transposition (e.g.  tariff quotas and agricultural export subsidies; special sections of 
the ITA, ITA  Expansion, Pharma; etc.) shall also be included.  
 
4.  Members who undertake to prepare their own transposition shall submit all the above -mentioned 
information in electronic format and follow the layout that will be circulated by the Secretariat in 
accordance with paragraph  1 of this Decision.  WT/L/1123  
 
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  ANNEX  2 
TECHNICAL NOTE ON TRANSPOSITION PROCEDURE  
1.  The following note describes the relevant technical procedures which shall be applied in the 
preparation of the draft HS2022  files. 
 
Concession elements  
2.  The CTS  database contains not only tariff concessions, but also a number of other commitments. 
Althoug h several of these are expressed at the tariff -line level in the different Parts and Sections of 
the schedules, there are some which are not. As a result, not all elements currently included in the 
CTS are required for the HS2022  transposition. It is there fore suggested to retain in the draft 
HS2022  file only those elements which are required for this purpose (see  Annex  1). 
 
Procedural issues  
3.  All affected tariff lines shall be converted into the HS2022  nomenclature and shall be clearly 
flagged. Detailed tariff line codes and descriptions may have to be adjusted in certain instances 
(e.g. example  1, table  3b) in order to generate a meaningful and intelligible schedule. The 
transposition of any tariff line requiring manual modifications shall also be clearly flagged for 
verification and approval by Members.  
 
Methodological issues  
4.  Each new HS2022  subheading/tariff line will be derived from one or more HS2017  tariff lines or 
part of these lines. If a HS2022  subheading/tariff line matches with two or more HS2017  tariff lines 
and if these lines have the same levels or contents of concessions (e.g. same bound duties, INRs, 
etc.), the original concession elements can be merged into one new concession at the level of the 
new HS2022  subheading/tariff lin e. If the concessions of the original HS2017  tariff lines are different, 
the concession elements of the new HS2022  subheading/tariff line should reflect this. In this case, 
the HS2022  subheading/tariff line should normally be broken down to a more detailed level so that 
the draft HS2022  file reflects fully the same level of concessions as the CTS in HS2017 . 
 
5.  In case where it is unavoidable to combine tariff lines or parts of tariff lines with different 
concessions, there are four  possible methodologies that could be used to arrive at the new rate in 
accordance to the 1983  procedures on a method to introduce the Harmon ized System (HS) into 
schedules  of concessions .1 These are: 1)  applying the lowest rate of any previous tariff line to the 
whole of the new tariff line, 2)  applying the rate previously applied to the tariff line with the majority 
of trade, 3)  applying the trade weighted average rate of duty for the new line, or 4)  applyi ng the 
arithmetic average of the previous rates of duty where no basis exists for establishing reasonably 
accurate trade allocations. In the context of the HS2017  transposition, the Secretariat suggested to 
use the duty rate with the most frequent occurren ce (i.e. the mode) for special cases.2 If any of the 
above methodologies is used, the selected option shall be specified at the tariff line level. The choice 
of methodology shall also be explained, except for those situations in which the first option is 
selected (i.e. selecting the lowest duty). If options 2)  or 3) are selected, the Member concerned shall 
also supply the necessary import data (last three  years available). The implication of a combination 
of tariff lines on other elements of the concession s, such as INRs, ODCs and SSGs, shall also be 
taken into account by Members to assess whether the value of the concession has been impaired 
and GATT  Article  XXVIII negotiations need to be followed (see  paragraph  15 above).  
 
6.  Example  2 show that the "col lapsing" of tariff lines to HS  6-digit subheadings significantly 
simplifies the tariff structure and the workload involved. It requires less manual intervention and is, 
thus, less likely to be controversial. Having a maximum number of concessions defined a t the level 
 
1 Decision of 12  July 1983, BISD 30S/17.  
2 For example, this was the case of HS2017  Subheading  0302.99.  See Section 5.3, Simplification B.1 of 
the HS2017 Notes on Methodology that were adopted by the Commi ttee on Market Access on 10 April 2019 
(G/MA/366).  WT/L/1123  
 
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  of HS  6-digit subheadings would also make it easier to transpose the new schedule into any new 
national applied schedule based on HS2022  nomenclature.3 
 
Reference documents  
7.  The transposition shall be based on the information provided by the World Customs Organization, 
which is included in the WTO  documents  G/MA/W/ 163, G/MA/W/163/Add.1  and G/MA/W/ 164. A 
detailed concordance table between the HS2017  and the HS2022  nomenclatures shall be prepared 
by the Secretariat using these do cuments as the basis.  
 
Example 1: Split  
 
8.  HS2017 subheading 1510.00 is split into two HS2022  subheadings to separately identify in the 
Harmonized System  certain categories of products representing a considerable volume of trade and 
to align their descri ptions with the definitions specified in the International Olive Council trade 
standard applicable to olive oils and olive pomace oils:  
         Table 1.a HS 2017       Table 1.b HS 2022  
HS code  Product description   HS code  Product description  
1510.00  Other oils and their fractions, 
obtained solely from olives, whether 
or not refined, but not chemically 
modified, including blends of these 
oils or fractions with oils or fractions 
of heading 15.09.   1510 Other oils and their fractions, 
obtained s olely from olives, whether 
or not refined, but not chemically 
modified, including blends of these 
oils or fractions with oils or fractions 
of heading 15.09.  
   1510.10  - Crude olive pomace oil  
   1510.90  - Other  
 
9.  In the CTS  database, a Member has four national tariff lines under HS20 17 subheading  1510.00 : 
Table 2   CTS in HS2017  
TL code  Product description  Bound duty  
1510.00  Other oils and their fractions, obtained solely from olives, whether or 
not refined, but not chemically modified, including blends of these 
oils or fractions with oils or fractions of heading 15.09.   
1510.0010  Crude ol ive pomace oil, for retail sale  10 
1510.0020  Crude ol ive pomace oil, other  20 
1510.0030  Refined oil  30 
1510.0090  Other  30 
 
10.  If the conversion is done by a computer program, it would generate 8  possible HS2022  tariff 
lines. However, not all of the 8  new national tariff lines are appropriate when the product descriptions 
are considered. For instance, HS2017  national tariff line "1510.00 30 – Refined oil " cannot not be 
kept under the HS2022  subheading " 1510. 10 – Crude olive pomace oil ", and it should stay only 
under " 1510.90 – other". Similarly, the HS2017  national tariff line " 1510.0010 - Crude olive pomace 
oil, for retail sale " can only stay under HS2022  subheading " 1510.10 – Crude olive pomace oil ". 
Therefore, each tariff line generated by computer program shall be reviewed manually to determine 
whether it shall stay under the correspond ing new HS2022  subheading. In this example, Table  3 
shows the tariff lines which are retained under each HS2022  subheadings and their corresponding 
tariff lines in HS2017.  
 
  
 
3 This would not preclude that concessions defined only at the level of subheadings could be broken down 
again into tariff line detail by the Members concerned.  WT/L/1123  
 
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  Table 3.a   CTS in HS2017       Table 3.b   CTS in HS2022  
HS code  Product description   HS code  Product description  
1510.00  Other oils and their fractions, 
obtained solely from olives, whether 
or not  refined, but not chemically 
modified, including blends of these 
oils or fractions with oils or fractions 
of heading 15.09.   1510 Other oils and their fractions, 
obtained solely from olives, 
whether or not refined, but not 
chemically modified, including 
blends of these oils or fractions 
with oils or fractions of heading 
15.09.  
1510.0010  Crude olive pomace oil, for retail 
sale  1510.10  - Crude olive pomace oil  
1510.0020  Crude o live pomace oil, other   1510.1010  - - For retail sale  
1510.0030  Refined oil   1510.1090  - - Other  
1510.0090  Other   1510.9000  - Other  
 
11.  A concordance table between the HS2017 and HS2022  nomenclature at the tariff line level 
would be constructed as follows:  
Table 4.a  Correlating HS2017 to HS2022      Table 4.b Correlating HS2022 to HS2017  
HS2017  ex Bound 
duty 
HS17  HS2022  ex Bound 
duty 
HS22   
HS2022  ex Bound 
duty 
HS22  HS2017  ex Bound 
duty 
HS17  
1510.0010   10 1510.1010   10  1510.1010   10 1510.0010   10 
1510.0020   20 1510.1090   20  1510.1090   20 1510.0020   20 
1510.0030   30 1510.9000  X 30  1510.9000  X 30 1510.0030   30 
1510.0090   30 1510.9000  X 30  1510.9000  X 30 1510.0090   30 
 
Example 2: Merger  
 
12.  Two HS2017  subheadings 9114.10 and 9114.90 are merged to one new HS2022  subheading:  
     Table 5.a HS 2017           Table 5.b HS 2022  
HS code  Product description   HS code  Product description  
9114 Other clock or watch parts.   9114 Other clock or watch parts.  
9114.10  - Springs, including hair -springs     
9114.30  - Dials  9114.30  - Dials 
9114.40  - Plates and bridges   9114.40  - Plates and bridges  
9114.90  - Other   9114.90  - Other  
 
13.  In the CTS  database, a Member has four  tariff lines listed under the two  subheadings:  
Table 6 CTS in HS201 7 
TL code  Product description  Bound duty  
9114 Other clock or watch parts.   
9114.10  - Springs, including hair -springs   
9114.1010  - - Hair-springs  10 
9114.1090  - - Other  10 
9114.3000  - Dials 10 
9114.4000  - Plates and bridges  10 
9114.90  - Other   
9114.9010  - - Clock parts  10 
9114.9090  - - Other  10 
 
14.  If the first six  digits of the HS201 7 tariff lines are substituted by the codes of new 
HS20 22 subheadings:  
Table 7.a HS201 7            Table 7.b HS20 22 
TL code   TL code  Product description  
9114.1010  Substitute first 6 digits with 9614.90  9114.9010  - - Hair-springs  
9114.1090   9114.9090  - - Other  
9114.9010  9114.9010  - - Clock parts  
9114.9090  9114.9090  - - Other  
 WT/L/1123  
 
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  15.  If all national tariff lines under a HS  6-digit subheading have the same duties (and other 
concession elements), these lines could be collapsed to the HS  6-digit subheading level and the 
transposition exercise will be significantly simplified as shown below. Acco rding to Table  6, all 
HS201 7 tariff lines have a duty of 10%. Therefore, the new HS20 22 tariff lines could be collapsed 
to one tariff line 9114.9000  with bound duty 10%.  
   Table 8.a HS 2017 before collapsing           Table 8.b HS 2017 after collapsing  
TL code  Product description  Bound 
duty  
TL code  Product description  Bound 
duty 
9114.1010  - - Hair-springs  10  9114.9000  - Other  10 
9114.1090  - - Other  10   
9114.9010  - - Clock parts  10   
9114.9090  - - Other  10   
 
16.  A concordance table between the HS201 7 and HS20 22 nomenclature at the tariff line level shall 
be constructed as follows:  
Table 9.a Correlating HS201 7 to HS20 22      Table 9.b Correlating HS20 22 to HS201 7 
HS2017  ex Bound 
duty 
HS17  HS2022  ex Bound 
duty 
HS22   HS2022  ex Bound 
duty 
HS22  HS2017  ex Bound 
duty 
HS17  
9114.1010   10 9114.9000  x 10  9114.9000  x 10 9114.1010   10 
9114.1090   10 9114.9000  x 10  9114.9000  x 10 9114.1090   10 
9114.9010   10 9114.9000  x 10  9114.9000  x 10 9114.9010   10 
9114.9090   10 9114.9000  x 10  9114.9000  x 10 9114.9090   10 
 
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