WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/L/1010 
6 November 2012 
 (12-6104) 
  
 
 
 
REPORT (2012) OF THE COMMITTEE ON MARKET ACCESS 
 
 1. Since the last review
1, the Committee on Market Access has held two formal meetings 
(26 April and 16 October 2012) and three in formal meetings (19 March, 2 July and 
17 September 2012).  The minutes of the formal me etings are contained in documents G/MA/M/55 
and G/MA/M/56.  In addition, two periodic reports  giving an overview of the issues discussed in the 
Committee are contained in documents G/MA/284 a nd G/MA/286. At its meeting in October, the 
Committee agreed to hold consultations in order to  see whether these periodic reports were necessary.  
 
2. At its meeting of 26 April, the Committee took note of the nomination of Mr. Bipin Menon  
(India) as Chairman of the Committee for the current year and elected him by acclamation.  At its meeting of 16 October, the Committee electe d Ms Laurie Molnar (United States) as 
Vice-Chairperson.  
A. 
WAIVERS  
3. At its meeting of 16 October, the Co mmittee approved the extension of the HS2002 
"collective" waiver (G/C/W/672)2, the HS2007 "collective" waiver (G/C/W/673) and the HS2012 
"collective" waiver (G/C/W/674).   The Committee agreed to forward th e draft waiver decisions to the 
Council for Trade in Goods for appropriate action.  B. I
NTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 1996  (HS1996)  CHANGES TO SCHEDULES OF 
 CONCESSIONS  
4. At its meetings in 2012, the Committee took note of the status of the HS1996 transposition 
work undertaken pursuant to the procedures contained in L/6905 and WT/L/756.  Furthermore, at its 
October meeting, the Comm ittee took note of the report by the Chairman concerning consultations he 
had held with Members who had still to co mplete their HS1996 transposition exercise.  
 
C. INTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 2002  (HS2002)  CHANGES TO SCHEDULES OF 
CONCESSIONS  
5. At its meetings in 2012, the Committee t ook note of the status of work concerning the 
introduction of HS2002 changes to schedules of c oncessions using the CTS database (WT/L/605), as 
well as the outcomes of the informal dedicated sessions of the Committee during which the files 
containing the HS2002 changes of Members were examined.    
                                                      
1 G/L/967, dated 26 October 2011. 
2 A revised version of the draft decision was issued to remove Mexico and Thailand from the annex as 
they have now completed their HS2002 procedures.  G/L/1010 
Page 2  
 
  D. I
NTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 2007  (HS2007)  CHANGES TO SCHEDULES OF 
CONCESSIONS  
6. At its meeting in April, the Committee approved on an ad referendum  basis the document 
entitled "Transposition of Members'  CTS Files to the HS2007 Nomenc lature - Notes on Methodology" 
which included a new paragraph proposed by the Secr etariat at the meeting.  The document with the 
new paragraph was considered appr oved and re-issued as G/MA/283 as  no comments were submitted by 
17 May.  During its informal meeting in July, the Committee held a discussion on the subject of 
non-consensus correlated HS2007 lines based on a room doc ument prepared by the Secretariat.  At its 
meeting of October, the Committee took note of the status of work concerning the introduction of HS2007 changes to schedules of con cessions using the CTS database.  
 
E. I
NTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 2012  (HS2012)  CHANGES TO SCHEDULES OF 
CONCESSIONS  
7. At its meeting of Oc tober, the Committee was informed by the Secretariat that a Member had 
submitted its HS2012 file; the first submis sion under the HS2012 procedures (WT/L/831).  
 
F. DECISION ON NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE S FOR QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS  
8. At its April meeting, the Committee approved the draft Decision on Notification Procedures 
for Quantitative Restrictions (G/MA/W/110) and agr eed to forward it to the Council for Trade in 
Goods for adoption3.    At its informal meeting in July, the Committee took note of the practical guide 
for the preparation of the notification which had been  prepared by the Secretariat and circulated as 
JOB/MA/101.  At its October meeting, the Committee examined the quantitative restriction 
notifications submitted by two Members and agreed to re vert to a third notification at its next meeting. 
The Committee also took note that additional no tifications had been notified subsequent to 
30 September and would be examined at the next formal meeting of the Committee.  The Committee 
was informed that in respect of  the quantitative restriction datab ase, the intention was to make it 
available to the public early next year. 
 
G. DATABASES  
9. At its meetings in 2012, the Secretariat reported on the status of work concerning the 
Integrated Data Base (IDB) and the Consolidat ed Tariff Schedules (CTS) database. The reports 
provided information on inter alia  the use of information in the da tabases, the status of software 
development and technical assistance.  The Committee also took note of the document which reflected 
the status of submissions to the IDB (G/M A/IDB/2/Rev.35 and G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.36).  The 
Committee was informed that the Secretariat intended  to integrate into the IDB historical tariff and 
import information for 29 countries covering years 1988 to 1995.  The Secretariat also intended to put 
together a consolidated document on IDB notification for ease of reference.  
 
H. DERESTRICTION OF THE NEGOTIATING MA TERIAL OF THE DILLON ROUND AND SOME 
 NEGOTIATING MATERIAL OF THE FOUR EARLIER GATT ROUNDS  
10. At its meeting in April, the Committee took  note of the current status of the process to 
derestrict certain bilateral negotiating documentati on relating to earlier GATT rounds of negotiations. 
At its meeting in October, the Committee approve d procedures which were being proposed for the 
derestriction of the negotiating material of the D illon Round and some negotiati ng material of the four 
earlier GATT rounds (JOB/MA/102)4.  Furthermore, the Committee w as informed that the negotiating 
                                                      
3 The adopted decision was issued in document G/L/59/Rev.1. 
4 The approved procedures were issued in document G/MA/285.  G/L/1010 
 Page 3 
 
 
  material pertaining to the earlier negotiating rounds which had been derestricted was available on the 
WTO public website.  
I. U
KRAINE 'S ARTICLE XXVIII NOTIFICATION  
11. The Committee took note of the statements ma de under the agenda item relating to Ukraine's 
Article XXVIII notification contained in G/SECRET/34. 
 
J. OTHER ACTIVITIES  
12. At its meeting in April, the Committee took note of the Secretariat document entitled 
"Situation of Schedules of WTO Members" (G/M A/W/23/Rev.8) which compiled in one place the 
legal instruments relating to each Member's schedul e.  The Committee also took note of statements 
concerning tariff increases on textiles by Turkey.    
__________