RESTRICTED  
  
TCA/M/37  
 
1 December 2020  
(20-8655) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Trade in Civil Aircraft    
 
MINUTES OF THE MEETING  
HELD ON 11 NOVEMBER 2020  
CHAIRPERSON: MS. DAMARIS CARNAL (SWITZERLAND)  
1. At the outset of the meeting, the Chair explained that due to the measures announced by the 
Canton of Geneva after the airgram was circulated, physical presence in meetings was now limited 
to five participants, and so only the Chair and the Secretariat staff were in the room. Participation 
by delegations was by Interprefy. The Chair then proceeded to explain that this was a regular, formal 
meeting of a plurilateral Committee. Therefore, delegates from any Member that is neither a 
Signatory nor an Observer to this Agreement were asked to disconne ct. The Chair also recalled the 
technical arrangements that applied to the meeting, which were also described in the Organizational 
and Technical Arrangements Note sent to Participants on 30 October 2020.  
 
2. No request was made by Signatories for any item to  be taken up under "Other business", and 
so the Committee adopted the agenda contained in document WTO/AIR/TCA/7.  
 
1  FOLLOW -UP OF THE PROTOCOL DONE IN NOVEMBER 2015 (REPORT FROM THE CHAIR)  
3. The Chair reported that putting aside North Macedonia, which newly ac ceded to the Agreement 
on Trade and Civil Aircraft ( "Agreement ") on 24 July 2019, only the European Union ( "EU") has 
deposited, until today, its instrument of acceptance of the Protocol done in November 2015.  
 
4. The EU recalled its interest in discussing the issue of a combined HS2012 and HS2017 
transposition of the product Annex, and also the possibilities of a simplified approach.  
 
5. Canada  supported the proposal by the EU.  
 
6. The United States  ("US") supported the idea o f holding informal meetings to start discussing 
the technical work of transposing the product Annex. The US was also open to informal consultations 
about alternative approaches to the transposition work.  
 
7. The Chair stated that she would inform the Committe e in due course regarding the informal 
consultations.  
 
8. The Committee took note  of the statements made.  
 
2  GUIDANCE NOTE REGARDING ARTICLE 9.1.3 OF THE AGREEMENT  
9. The Chair first recalled the turn of events. In December 2019, Mongolia expressed its intention 
to join the Agreement. Mongolia had been a Member of the WTO since 1997, and this was the very 
first case where a Member wished to join this Agreement without first discussing the matter in its 
WTO accession process.  As such, the Chair explained in her com munication to the Participants dated 
20 April 2020 that it was her understanding that before the WTO depositary could formally receive 
the Instrument of Ratification of the Agreement from Mongolia and take action on it, the Committee 
needed to discuss the matter, notably the status of implementation of Article 2.1.3  of the Agreement 
in line with other relevant texts of the Agreement. In that same communication, the Chair invited 
Participants that had comments or questions on this issue to contact her. She was contacted by 
three Participants. The Chair then sent anothe r communication to all Participants on 13 July 2020, 
explaining that the Participants that contacted her were of the view that the Committee needed to TCA/M/37  
 
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  first clarify how best to implement Article 9.1.3 of the Agreement. This would allow a transparent 
and fa ir process for any Member wishing to join this Agreement. Those Participants added that the 
existing practice and procedures of other WTO bodies dealing with plurilateral agreements could 
shed light on this issue. On 8 October, the Chair sent a communicati on to all Participants outlining 
a way forward, attaching documents that described the processes of the Committee on Government 
Procurement and the Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade in Information Technology 
Products (ITA Committee) regar ding new participants.  On 27 October, the Chair sent to all 
Participants a draft guidance note of possible processes that this Committee could follow. The 
Committee discussed that draft in the informal meeting held on 3 November. The Chair recalled that 
no objections were raised then.  
10. The US stressed the importance for the Committee to establish procedures for current WTO 
Members to accede to the Agreement. This would ensure that any WTO Member that sought to 
accede to the Agreement would understand the req uired procedures and information. In addition, 
the current Signatories would have an opportunity to engage with the acceding Member to ensure 
that it adheres to its commitments and obligations. The draft guidance note provided a clear path 
forward. The US looked forward to working with the members of this Committee to finalise this 
guidance note. Furthermore, the US welcomed Mongolia's interest in acceding to the Agreement. 
Lastly, the US welcomed the Chair's engagement with Mongolia in making sure it under stood the 
procedures.  
11. Japan  considered essential for a newly joining Member to confirm its obligations under the 
Agreement. The provisions in the guidance note enabled Members to understand that it was a 
prerequisite that a newly joining Member implement Article 2.1.3 of the Agreement. Japan had no 
objection to the draft guidance note. Japan believed that it was meaningful to proceed with 
considering what kind of procedures should be applied to any Member wishing to join the Agreement 
in the future, and ap preciated the Chair 's initiatives to date.  
12. The EU appreciated the work done on the draft guidance note. The EU stressed the importance 
of establishing clear and transparent procedures which would apply to all Members who wished to 
accede. The EU supported the draft guidance note and looked forward to Mongolia's accession.  
13. Canada  found the guidance note clear and supported it. Canada looked forward to working 
with the Committee and Mongolia regarding Mongolia's accession.  
14. The Committee adopted  the guidance n ote.1 The Chair further stated that she would inform 
Mongolia of the guidance note.  
3  DATE OF NEXT REGULAR MEETING  
15. The Committee agreed  to hold its next regular meeting in the end of October or early 
November 2021, with the exact date to be confirmed in du e course.  
4  ADOPTION OF THE ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2020  
16. The Chair suggested that the Secretariat complete the draft of the annual report2 and send 
the updated final draft to all the Participants. The Chair will leave 24 hours for Participants to make 
comments, a nd if no objection was received, the final draft will be taken as final and circulated.3 
 
17. The meeting was adjourned . 
__________  
 
1 Subsequently circulated as TCA/17.  
2 Room Document RD/TCA/11.  
3 The final report was subsequently circulated as WT/L/1100 - TCA/16.