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JOB/MA/152/Add.1  
 
2 June 2022 
(22-4229) Page: 1/44 
Committee on Market Access    
 
 
EXPERIENCE -SHARING ON TRADE IN COVID -19 RELATED GOODS  
SECOND SESSION  
Note by the Secretariat1 
Addendum  
1.1.  The Committee on Market Access ( hereafter the Committee or CMA ) held its second 
experience -sharing session on trade in COVID -19 related goods on 26 April 2022.2 The topic of the 
session was: "How Members have monitored and measured trade in "essential" goods to combat the 
COVID -19 pandemic and how to improve data collection".3 
1.2.  The following Members participated as speakers to exc hange views and experiences on this 
topic: China, the European Union (EU), India, Thailand, and the United Kingdom (UK). The 
presentations by Members are reproduced in Annex 1.4 A representative from the World Customs 
Organization (WCO) also participated in the session and a summary of her intervention is reproduced 
in Annex 2. At the meeting, other Members took the floor to share their views and experiences on 
this topic. This note can be further updated to take into account additional contributions by Me mbers.  
1  MONITORING AND MEASURING TRADE IN COVID -19 ESSENTIAL GOODS  
1.1.  Members recognized that, at the start of the pandemic, the monitoring of trade in COVID -19 
essential goods was not adequate to address the key challenges that policy makers were facing to 
deal with the pandemic. In particular, the lack of more frequent and detailed data at the national 
level made it difficult, in many cases, to support governments in the implementation of trade policy 
measures in a precise fashion. This problem was compounded  at the international level by the fact 
that approaches adopted by Members for the collection of national statistics on COVID -19 goods 
were not coordinated or harmonized, making it difficult to compare data globally and understand 
the impact of the pandemi c on international supply chains of such essential goods.  
 
1 This document has been prepared under the Secretariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members or to their rights and obligations under the WTO.  
2 The first experience -sharing session was held on 4 March 2022. The summary report is available in 
document JOB/MA/152 . 
3 As a result of the Chairperson's informal consultations on 9 February 2022, the Committee agreed to 
organize a series of experience -sharing sessions on issues related to trade in COVID -19 goods. The following 
topics emerged as possible areas in which t he Committee could engage in a technical dialogue on Members' 
practices: a) The definition of essential goods to combat the pandemic. That is, how Members have defined 
such lists and updated them over time; b) Tariff classification of these essential or cr itical goods within the 
Harmonized System. That is, once the products have been identified, whether Members faced issues with their 
HS classification. This is an area in which the collaboration with the World Customs Organization could be 
necessary; c) How  Members have monitored and measured trade in these essential goods to combat the 
pandemic, including the creation of national tariff lines or statistical breakouts; d) Sharing of Members' 
practices on measures aimed at easing trade under the purview of th e Committee including, for example, in 
relation to tariff suspension, reduction, or elimination; and e) How to improve transparency in export 
restrictions, as well as sharing of experiences with respect to the choices underpinning the use of such 
restricti ons (e.g., why a certain type of measure was chosen, what factors determined the termination/non -
renewal of certain measures, whether a review of their effectiveness was undertaken, etc.).  
4 In English  only. JOB/MA/152/Add.1  
 
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  1.2.  In response to these issues, some Members decided to develop new methodologies to monitor 
and measure trade in COVID -19 essential products, such as masks, protective clothing, disinfectant, 
test kits, vaccines, as well as medicines and medical equipment, s uch as ventilators. Customs 
statistics on these products played an important role in decision -making by government agencies, 
research institutions as well as private sectors.  
1.2  How did Members monitor and measure trade data during the COVID -19 pandemic?  
1.3.  Based on Members' experiences, some of the methods used to monitor and measure trade in 
COVID -19 essential goods included5: 
• Developing specific and/or separate data collection systems for imports and exports of 
COVID -19 essential goods;  
• Introduc ing subdivisions in the national  nomenclature s by establishing6: 
o national tariff lines (i.e.,  national or regional breakouts beyond the HS six -digit 
level); and/or  
o statistical codes (i.e., codes beyond the national tariff line level that enable customs 
to differentiate imports or exports);  
• Increase the frequency or flexibility in data collection periods;  
• Introducing temporary requirements, such as export licensing procedures to better  monitor 
exports of some  products (e.g., authorisations and/or monitoring  mechanism on vaccines 
related to COVID -19); 
• Implement ing electronic customs management systems to improve data collection;  
• Enhancing communication and interaction between different national customs points and/or 
creation of an interagency advisory mechanism  to coordinate work in the area;  
• Requesting stakeholders ( e.g., producers, importers, distributors, exporte rs) to submit 
production and sales information on COVID -19 essential goods;  
• Using information and databases made available by the relevant i nternational organisations 
(e.g., the WTO Integrated Database (IDB), the World Bank World Integrated Trade Solutions 
Database,  the United Nations Comtrade Database).  
1.2.1   Creation of national subdivisions  
1.4.  Most Members used several methods to gradually refine th eir data measuring and monitoring 
mechanisms. For example, when the pandemic started, China introduced separate data collection 
systems to measure COVID -19 related imports (e.g., masks, protective clothing, disinfectant, test 
kits as well as medicines and medical equipment) on a daily basis. When domestic production 
recovered and imports of COVID -19 goods began to slow down, China stopped monitoring imports 
and started measuring exports of certain  essential items, including masks, protective clothing, 
goggl es, medical rubber gloves, test kit , therapeutic equipment  (e.g., infrared thermometer, 
ventilator and patient monitors ) and subsequently vaccines, also on  a daily basis. For most of these  
COVID -19 related goods, the 8 -digit tariff line used in data proces sing and dissemination was not 
detailed enough for data identification. Therefore,  China introduced  10-digit codes  in the customs 
nomenclature, for example for facemasks7, to facilitate declaration and customs control and to 
improve the efficiency and accuracy of data. A similar approach was used to cover different types of 
 
5 These approaches are based on inputs shared by  Members at the experience -sharing session and may 
not be exhaustive.  
6 See also section 2 of document JOB/MA/152.  
7 Since 2022, China introduced a n 8-digit tariff line which has since been further divided into two ten -
digit tariff lines ( 6307.90.00.10 ). The first ten -digit tariff line specifically covers " medical or surgical marks " 
and the second – "other masks".  Prior to that, only one 10 -digit tariff line 6307.9000.00  and the respective 
product description were used to cover masks . See Annex 1.  JOB/MA/152/Add.1  
 
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  ventilators. Three separate 10 –digit codes were introduced to identify " invasive ventilator ", "auto-
adjusted non -invasive ventilator ", and " other  non-invasive ventilator " under HS 
subheading  9019.20 . 
1.5.  Similarly, the EU recognized that, at  the start of the pandemic, there was  a lack of granularity 
in the EU tariff and statistical nomenclature to adequately m onitor trade in COVID -19 essential 
goods . This resulted in the creation of statistical codes in the Common Nomenclature (CN) for a 
number of products, such as diagnostic reagents ; vaccines against SARS -related coronaviruses ; 
protective face shields ; masks ; and ventilators, among others . These codes were created at different 
levels: at the 8 -digit level to follow imports and exports  and at 10-digit for imports only. More 
specifically, in order to monitor export of COVID -19 vaccines, the EU had put in place a  temporary 
export authorization mechanism which was subsequently replaced by a monitoring mechanism based 
on company -specific vaccine export data . According to the EU, while the  previous  system could result 
in delays  of up to two  month s in recording statistical trade data in essential goods, the new 
monitoring mechanism allowed to obtain real time data, thereby contributing to overcome the 
problem of timely data and statistics, which together with the lack of granularity, was one of main  
issues faced by Members  during the pandemic  (see section 2).  
1.6.  In a similar vein, Thailand also introduced new  national tariff lines  to cover specific products 
and implement target policy measures . For example , one tariff line (HS 6307.90.9001 ) was 
previous ly used to classify " safety  masks to prevent dust, smoke, or toxic substance" , which  could 
have potentially included medical masks that can filter germs and virus but are not surgical masks. 
Thus, Thailand introduced a new tariff line  (HS 6307.90.900 2) spe cifically to cover "m edical masks 
except surgical masks " and implement targeted trade policy measures, such as a temporary export 
prohibition to ensure adequate domestic supply  of such goods . 
1.7.  Alternatively, the U K added  4-digit codes to its existing 8-digit and 10-digit tariff lines in order 
to define COVID -19 critical goods specifically within its tariff system  and adopt specific tariff policies. 
For example, HS subheading  4015.9 0 (other a rticles of apparel and clothing accessories of 
vulcani zed rubber ) contain ed further additional 4-digit codes where different tariffs were applied. 
This method allowed the UK to distinguish products in order to apply different tariff measures, in 
this case tariff suspensions, but it was also used to measure trade  flows for the specific COVID -19 
goods . 
1.8.  On the other hand, some Members did not introduce national subdivisions in their nomenclature 
nor adopted separate methods for collecting statistics. As an illustration, India undertook a broader 
approach by adopting  trade policy m easures related to COVID -19 essential goods  at the HS 4 or 6 -
digit codes , for example export control measures on diagnostic kits, laboratory reagents or 
diagnostic apparatus . India also relied on existing trade databases and portals to have a holistic 
picture of trade in these products during the pandemic and inform  government's  decisions . Detailed 
data on exports and imports with time -based roll up , including d aily, weekly, and m onthly data, 
were available in the Ministry of Commerce and Ind ustry's website, and a Coronavirus Helpdesk was 
created in the existing Customs National Trade Portal to request for priority clearance of COVID -19 
goods.  
2  MAIN CHALLENGES FACED BY MEMBERS WITH RESPECT TO DATA COLLECTION AND 
MONITORING  
2.1.  Based on contributions by Members, the following three main challenges stood out in relation 
to the collection of trade statistics and monitoring of trade flows during the COVID -19 
pandemic8:  
• The HS subheadings ( i.e., HS six -digit level) were not detailed enough and comprised many 
additional goods ( i.e., "lack of granularity");  
 
8 See als o section 2 of JOB/MA/152 and the WTO Information Note "I mproving trade data for products 
essential to fight COVID -19: a possible way forward " (2021), 
https://www.wto.or g/english/tratop_e/covid19_e/trade_data_report_e.pdf . JOB/MA/152/Add.1  
 
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  • The national breakouts ( i.e., additional tariff lines or statistical codes beyond the 
standardized HS ca tegories) established by some Members were not standardized or 
harmonized; and  
• Difficulties of accessing "real time" data.  
2.2.  Members were of the view that the COVID -19 pandemic showed that the way in which trade 
data is usually collected  and processed  by cus toms authorities , which is based on the HS, may not 
be adequate in supporting the adoption of informed policy decisions amid a crisis. During the 
pandemic, many Members found it very difficult to  obtain standardized detailed statistics  to 
understand and mo nitor trade flows in products essential to combat  the pandemic. This was mainly 
because trade statistics  at the international level  were based on the broad categories of the HS , 
which group ed together a large number of goods  and d id not provide a sufficient level of specificity 
or granularity . 
2.3.  For this reason, some Members decided to introduce additional breakout codes in order to 
monitor import and exports of COVID -19 essential products. However, challenges still remained 
given that  national subdivisions introduced by Members were not standardized or harmonized. The 
lack of standardization of commodity codes beyond the HS  six-digit level made it difficult to compare 
trade data for these essential products for different Members , espec ially to understand and analyse 
international supply chains in essential goods and to obtain an accurate picture of the dynamics in 
the global market to be able to target trade policy measures effectively.  
2.4.  In addition, Members recognized that a key challen ge to conducting effective trade monitoring 
during the pandemic was  the lack of real time data at a granular level . While some Members 
increased the frequency and flexibility of collection periods, customs transaction data and the most 
detailed statistical  data were mainly available for internal government use and became public at a 
later stage. This problem was compounded at the international level by the fact that most Members 
took long time to provide that information to international organizations . This  data lag limit ed timely 
analysis and highlighted the importance of real time data at a granular level, especially in times of 
crisis.  
2.5.  Members also stressed that there should be a better coordination mechanism to collect and 
compile information from econom ic operators, including the private sector, who often have more 
detailed information about trade transactions. For example, Thailand relied on production and sales 
information  provided by  producers , importers, distributors, and exporte rs of surgical masks and 
alcohol -based hand sanitizer  in order to design and implement supply -side measures to effectively 
manage the shortage of these products  in the early phase of the pandemic. Similarly, China was 
also able to add new tariff lines to differentiate  ventilat ors classified under  the same  subheading 
after interviews with producers, exporters and other relevant government agencies.  
3  LESSONS LEARNED  
3.1.  Members recognized that adequate real time data on trade in essential COVID -19 products was 
needed to have an in -depth understanding of the supply chain problems caused by the pandemic 
and take informed decisions to implement targeted measures. Members also acknowledged the key 
role that the  WTO played in collat ing and disseminat ing such information  and in providing  a forum 
for discussing and improving practices in data  collection methods.  Members have drawn a number 
of lessons from the COVID -19 pandemic  which can be summariz ed as follows (non -exhaustive list).  
3.1  Enhance  cooperation  at the national level  
3.2.  Several Members established or strengthened national coordination mechanisms to elaborate 
their response to the pandemic. In some cases, existing structures or mechanisms, such the National 
Committee on Trade Facilitation, played a n important  role in gathering the necessary information to 
take policy decisions. In this regard, the following practices relating to cooperation at the national 
level were highlighted:  
• Establish ing or strengthening coordination across government agencies (e.g., agencies 
responsible for commerce, finance, customs, shipping and aviation);  JOB/MA/152/Add.1  
 
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  • Ensur ing that  there is an agency/ centre /task force that coordinates actions of all the 
agencies involved  to avoid duplication ; 
 
• Ensur ing participation and commitment of all stakeholders;  
 
• Establish ing a regular communication  and cooperation  with the private sector  with an 
objective to obtain more timely and precise information.  
3.2  Use of technology and digital solutions to improve data collection and monitoring  
3.3.  Some Members also highlighted that the use of technology and digital solutions was key to 
overcoming many challenges related to data collection  and monitoring during the pandemi c. More 
broadly, some Members highlighted that a full implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement 
(TFA) played a crucial role in improving trade monitoring, particularly the implementation of those 
provisions related to electronic submissions and ex pedited clearance. More specifically, they pointed 
to the following solutions :  
• Digitalising automatic procedures and processes (e.g., submission of authorizations, 
declarations);  
• Creating databases specifically dealing with COVID -19 "essential" products . 
3.4.  In addition, it was recognized that t he WTO already play ed a key role in capturing trade data 
from Members through the IDB . More specifically , the IDB Decision provided for the possibility to 
enter into voluntary agreements with the Secretariat for the aut omatic transmission of tariff and 
import data, which would represent a concrete step towards enhanced transparency.  
3.3  Improve dialogue among Members  
3.5.  Members highlighted that sharing of experiences among them about what methods they used 
at the national level  to monitor and improve data collection of COVID -19 related products was 
particularly important. In this regard , Members observed  that there is scope for improving dialogue 
at international level, in particular by:  
• Considering  a more "transactional " discussion among them on product identification and 
classification , which could allow  for a quicker response  to the changing nature of  current and 
future  health  or other  crises ; 
• Creat ing or enhanc ing mechanisms to establish a dialogue amongst Members for the rapid 
exchange of data  and alternative methods used for data collection ; 
• Sharing information among Members about  national  subdivisions  created specifically for 
COVID -19 goods , tracking of trade flows at a more granular level, and the choice of certain  
trade policy measures , once this information becomes available ; 
• Standard izing and harmonizing national practices with respect to national subdivisions  (see 
also para 3.4 below ); 
• Ensuring t imely submi ssion of  tariff data and import statistics to the IDB, and considering, 
on a voluntary basis, m ore frequent submissions especially in times of crisis;  
• Organising sessions on reflections and lessons learnt by Members and their respective 
agencies.  
 
3.4  Strengthening collaboration with international organizations  
3.6.  Members recognized the important role of international organizations  in providing guidance on 
products classification and trade monitoring during the pandemic . They called for greater 
engagement and strengthened collaboration, particularly be tween the WCO  and WTO, in the 
following areas:  JOB/MA/152/Add.1  
 
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  • Creating a forum  where Members, the WTO and the WCO could  engage on issues that have 
been identified  by Members  and work to practically improve coordination and communication 
on classification, trade monitorin g and trade measures on an ongoing and timely basis ; 
 
• Sharing reflections from the WCO on further steps in  the classification of COVID -19 essential 
goods, what were the main challenges, and future plans to formalize lists or issue further 
guidance  on classification9; 
 
• Explore additional steps to improve data collection,  for example by requesting international 
recommendations on the harmonization of national subdivisions  that could be used 
collectively by Members to improve trade monitoring in these pr oducts;  
 
• Explore possible proposals for improving the classification of COVID -19 goods in the context 
of the HS  2027 review cycle in the framework of the WCO's Harmonized System Committee . 
 
3.5  Enhance transparency and experience sharing at the WTO  
3.7.  Members also highlighted the important role played by the WTO  in providing information during 
the pandemic  and suggested concrete actions that could be taken , including  within the framework 
of the C ommittee , such as:  
• Encourage Members to p rovide their lists of COVID -19 essential  goods and their national 
classifications to the WTO Secretariat, including the corresponding  import data at the 
national level, to facilitate more detailed analysis ; 
 
• Encourage Members, and particularly large traders, to provide as detailed trade information 
as possible to the IDB, and seek to do this as regularly as possible on a voluntary basis 
during cris es; 
 
• Encourage Members to c ontinue sharing  information on trade measures related to the 
pandemic within the mandate of the Commi ttee; 
 
• Enhance transparency on trade policy measures related to COVID -19 essential goods, 
including by voluntarily submitting additional information beyond the regular notification 
requirements;  
 
• Holding seminars or workshops and inviting experts from WCO , WHO and other agencies as 
appropriate  on technical issues , such as product classification s and other issues as identified 
by Members ; 
 
• Engage stakeholders affected by trade in COVID -19 goods in the discussions in order to 
reflect their inputs in the work of the C ommittee . 
  
 
9 See also section  3.4 of JOB/MA/152.  JOB/MA/152/Add.1  
 
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  ANNEX 1  
PRESENTATIONS BY MEMBERS  
PRESENTATION BY CHINA  
 
 
 
                     
                                         
             
         
  
               
                                       
               
                                                          
               
                                                          
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  PRESENTATION BY THE EUROPEAN UNION1 
 
 
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  PRESENTATION BY INDIA2 
 
 
 
 
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  PRESENTATION BY THAILAND3 
 
 
 
 
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  PRESENTATION BY THE UNITED KINGDOM4 
 
 
 
 
 
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  ANNEX 2  
INTERVENTION BY THE WORLD CUSTOMS ORGANIZATION (WCO)  
1. When the world entered the COVID -19 pandemic, few would have accurately predicted the 
course of what was about to unfold, and the level of preparedness was not what we desired.  
2. Communication became a crunch point for the pandemic. Each government has a complex 
ecosystem relying on hundreds of separate and specialised administrative bodies that are charged 
with the responsibility of having to administer the laws and policies that the governments make. The 
pandemic brought a bout new and urgent needs for communication and coordination between these 
administrations. Suddenly numerous authorities responsible for health, customs, trade, transport, 
industry, treasury, statistics, communications, the police, and a host of other adm inistrations, all 
needed to talk together and be involved in developing policy and practice. Sometimes, literally 
overnight, as measures were put into place. At the same time, of course, all of the agencies and 
administrations had problems with their own s taff falling sick at times.  
3. One of the aspects of communication that became obvious was the importance of international 
organizations. The WCO, the WTO, and various organizations became obvious places to act as central 
global hubs for information that coul d speak directly to administrations that they serviced and, where 
appropriate, to industry and the public. Use of such hubs enabled governments to communicate 
measures widely through a single channel and to themselves gain a better oversight into what was 
happening globally. The strengthening of the role of international organisations as a central 
communication hub to bring together information and resources as a tool for their members can be 
seen as one of the most valuable outcomes of the pandemic.  
4. Now, l et me address some of the issues that were raised by WTO Members during the 
experience sharing session. Classification can be a very complex area. While the majority of goods 
are quite simple to classify, for a significant number of goods there are complex ities in classification, 
with either a different understanding of the nature of the goods, or a different understanding of the 
meaning of the HS provisions. In normal times, these divergencies, when brought forward to the 
WCO by Members, are solved through  the WCO Harmonized System Committee (HSC), which is 
responsible for negotiating and approving changes to the HS and for resolving classification 
disagreements between members. As appropriate to a body dealing with matters that impact 
globally, the HSC wor ks at a conservative and considered pace, and the basis for its operation is set 
up in the Harmonized System Convention. If there is a disagreement on the products classification, 
it can be taken to the HSC, and the time required to resolve the question ca n range widely, from 
being done within a single meeting up to a taking a number of years, depending on the complexity, 
the availability of information and the level of divergence.  
5. But how does the WCO manage when there is a demand for rapid classification in the face of 
something like a global pandemic? The WCO was in a situation where it needed to give technical 
information very rapidly on both the measures being implemented almost overnight by members 
and, relevantly through HS, the classification of a ra nge of goods with critical supplies. Due to border 
shutdowns and lockdowns occurring there was no available HSC meeting in the spring of 2020. At 
that stage, the WCO did not have the facilities to conduct the HSC as a virtual meeting given the 
scale requir ed by HSC and at the same time many member customs administrations did not have 
the facilities to take part in such virtual meetings. Hence there was no information from disclosures 
in an HSC meeting about Member practices and no capacity to take an HSC vo te on classification. 
So, we had to adapt very quickly to try to get information out in a timely manner, noting that 
information given from the Secretariat can only ever be a guide. While we succeeded to a reasonable 
degree, the next step for the WCO would  be to look at if there is a way the procedures can be 
adapted to enable HSC decisions to be made in agreed emergency situations to avoid members and 
the WCO Secretariat being in the same situation in the future. One thing that we all are confident 
of, is that there will be further future global emergencies. That is where the experience of members 
in dealing with the pandemic are important.  
6. Regarding lessons learnt and shared, WTO Members clearly recognize that there is a need, 
both nationally and internati onally, to determine which goods are critical in the event of certain 
global or widespread emergencies.  This is not easy, and the last two years showed us how unaware 
many industries were of their vulnerabilities within their supply changes until they fail ed. The JOB/MA/152/Add.1  
 
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  situation clearly showed the importance of understanding not only what products are essential, but 
what were the raw materials and intermediate products where alternative suppliers or alternative 
products were not readily available. So , from this, a lesson learnt is that maintaining the lists of 
critical supplies for future global pandemics and other global emergency situations, both nationally 
and internationally through international organizations such as the WTO, would be a vital step 
towards bei ng better prepared.  
7. The next point was that such lists need to contain the necessary information, including HS 
classification, shipping requirements, and production lead times, that are needed for governments 
and industries to make sound policies and decis ions in the face of such emergencies. From the HS 
side, this involves working closely with national customs authorities to ensure a shared 
understanding on the classification of these goods. In fact, another aspect that became quite clear 
was the need to i mprove the understanding of how classification works to enable the HS to be used 
to its maximum potential in such situations. The difficulties for trade organizations and industries to 
understand how their goods should be classified and how to identify wha t was covered in a particular 
classification delayed and slowed down responses in some cases.  
8. Regarding proposals to amend the HS, for example about creating a new separate code to 
cover face masks regardless of what they were made of, such proposals shoul d be submitted 
preferably to the Harmonised System Sub -Committee to be held in November 2022. In practice, this 
would mean reaching the WCO by August. Such proposals could come through a customs 
administration from a trade administration, or through a body , such as the WTO, if it has the 
mandate to do so. Negotiations for HS 2027 will end completely at the Harmonized System 
Committee meeting in March 2024. If proposals have not gone through the Review Sub -Committee 
prior to that Harmonized System Committee meeting, then they will not be included in HS 2027.  
9. The next point that becomes very clear from what WTO Members shared, is that the most 
critical classes of goods should have either suitable international HS subdivisions made or, at the 
very least, nation al tariff subdivisions or statistical codes for imports and exports of the most critical 
of the goods. Some Members have already done so. From an international viewpoint, while the HS 
can only go to six digits, members can nevertheless request the HSC make  recommendations on 
classification at national subheading level: this is an instrument in which the WCO recommends to 
members that they use specific wording to make subdivisions and, if possible, uses the same 
subheading numbers. This is normally a mechani sm used where changes have been made 
specifically for international conventions, and the changes are required prior to the new addition. 
For example, for the Kigali Amendments for the Montreal Protocol, the WCO had a recommendation 
to subdivide in advance of HS 2022. It is not global, but it allows a greater degree of comparability 
of data if a significant number of members accept it. While use for already provisionally adopted 
future changes is the usual use, there is no in -principle  impediment why it can not be done for other 
reasons, separate from HS amendments, if a good case is placed before the HSC.  
10. It would however be unfortunate to only fixate on the HS for monitoring the trade flows. One 
thing to remember about HS classification is that it is linked to national tariff codes, that are linked 
to duty rates; therefore, negotiations for changing HS classifications are not simple. Also, the HS 
does not identify goods. It identifies a specific class that a good would belong to, and those classes 
are set up for the purposes of customs and duty treatments. When you give a HS code to a good, 
you are not actually saying , for example,  this is a type X25 ventilator . You are simply saying this 
belongs to this particular class of medical goods. That means that there  are limitations . There are 
hundreds of millions of different types of goods, so it is impossible on a practical basis to get the 
level of granularity that is needed for all situations from the HS: it would become impossible to use.  
11. Therefore, having a ran ge of alternative methods to label or identify goods at the border, 
where there is no impact or potential impact on bound duty rates, allows for greater flexibility. It 
can provide a more rapid response and also the ability to identify classes of goods tha t cross over 
different HS classifications. Of course, the major issue of most of the alternative methods is that 
they are not global, whereas the HS classification is. That is why when members are looking for a 
global response, the HS is often the preferre d method of identifying goods.  
12. However, while the HS is largely preferred, this does not exclude looking at other options such 
as the product identification systems and especially the international statistical systems put in place 
by the United Nations Sta tistics Division (UNSD). There is current work at the UNSD on statistical 
revisions. It could even be possible that there might be future opportunities for the WCO, the WTO JOB/MA/152/Add.1  
 
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  and the UNSD to look at some new possibilities that could work alongside the HS as part of the wider 
global ecosystem of metadata on trade. If there is an emerging future impetus for increasing the 
mechanisms to increase the data and information gathering on trade needed by the global 
community, this could be a good outcome from this sit uation.  
13. Regarding the different methods for attaching classification or identification information to 
goods crossing the border in addition to classification, customs generally also use statistical codes, 
normally determined by the national statistical bod y. Many customs systems also have provisions 
for the entry of product identifiers. Perhaps most usefully, most have provisions for specific customs 
declaration flags or codes, as well as the recording of permits and certifications, which are all useful 
methods of identifying goods as they cross the border. As far as customs flags are concerned, the 
majority of customs administrations have systems that enable the creation of fields that ask a 
question in response to a certain classification. For example, cla ssifications on timber, fish or 
explosives, for example, may automatically ask for further information about the goods or querying 
certification or permit requirements. These methods would need to be looked at on a national basis 
because customs have varie d systems.  
14. In terms of information sharing that was discussed, the WCO has long been working on the 
idea of a globally networked customs; however, it falls into problems with privacy laws, data 
capacity, and other technical issues that have made this work quite difficult. As further networking 
and sharing of Customs information between administrations would be of great benefit in this, and 
in many other situations, we will continue to support and encourage Members looking at this.  
15. The WCO recognises the hig h importance of looking at what can be taken from recent and 
current experiences for improving future preparedness and we thank the WTO for this opportunity 
to hear the concerns of Members.  
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