G/L/1154  
 
19 October 2016 
(16-5656) Page: 1/3 
   
 
 REPORT (201 6) 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 two formal meetings (19 April 
and 11 October 2016) and three informal meetings (17 March, 16 June, and 2 8 September  2016). 
The minutes of the formal meeting are contained in documents G/MA/M/63 and G/MA/M/64  (to be 
issued) .   
2.  At its meeting of 19 April 2016, the Committee took note that the consultations in the Council 
for Trade in Goods concerning the C hairpersons of the subsidiary bodies remained ongoing, and 
agreed that, once the issue had been resolved, the Secretariat would send a fax with the proposed 
candidate and give a one week period for objections.  On 12 May 2016, the Secretariat circulated a 
fax informing Members that Ms Hanna Olsen BODSBERG (Norway) had been nominated, and she 
was elected with no objections on 19 May 2016.  At its meeting of 11 October 2016, the 
Committee elected Dr. Abid Mostafa Khan (Bangladesh) as Vice Chairperson.  
1  WAIVER S 
3.  At its meeting of 11 October 2016, the Committee approved the extension of the HS2002 
"collective" waiver (G/C/W/728), the HS2007 "collective" waiver (G/C/W/729) and the HS2012 
"collective" waiver (G/C/W/730).  In addition, it approved a draft HS2017  waiver (G/MA/W/125) 
and invited Members wishing to be listed  in the Annex to contact the Secretariat no later than 27 
October 2016, and to provide the dates on which the two sets of HS2017 amendments would be 
implemented. The Committee agreed to forward a  revised version of the draft waiver decision to 
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 2016, the Committee took note of the status o f the HS1996  transposition work 
undertaken pursuant to the procedures contained in L/6905 and WT/L/756.   
3  INTRODUCTION OF HARM ONIZED SYSTEM 2002 ( HS2002) CHANGES TO S CHEDULES 
OF CONCESSIONS  
5.  At its meetings in 2016, 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 HS2002 chan ges of Members were examined.   
4  INTRODUCTION OF HARM ONIZED SYSTEM 2007 ( HS2007) CHANGES TO S CHEDULES 
OF CONCESSIONS  
6.  At its meetings in 2016, the Committee took note of the status of work concerning the 
introduction of HS2007 changes to schedules of con cessions 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.   
                                                
1 G/L/1131/Rev.1 , dated 30 October 2015.  G/L/1154  
 
- 2 - 
 
  5  INTRODUCTION OF HARM ONIZED SYSTEM 2012 ( HS2012) CHANGES TO SCH EDULES 
OF CONCESSIONS  
7.  At its meeting of 19 April, the Committee took note that the Secretariat had commenced the 
technical work for this transposition of schedules.  At its meeting of 11 October, the Committee 
considered and approve d a Note on Methodology prepared by the WTO Secretariat (JOB/MA/126).  
6  INTRODUCTION OF HARM ONIZED SYSTEM 2017 ( HS2017) CHANGES TO S CHEDULES 
OF CONCESSIONS  
8.  At its meeting of 19 April, the Committee took note of two documents with information from the 
World Customs Organization (WCO) concerning the amendments that will result from the 
introduction of HS2017 (G/MA/W/121, G/MA/W/122, and G/MA/W/122/Corr.1).  In addition, the 
Chairperson instructed the Secretariat to prepare draft HS2017 transposition proced ures for the 
Committee's consideration.  
9. At is meeting of 11 October, the Committee discussed and approved a draft entitled "Procedure 
for the Introduction of Harmonized System 2017 changes to Schedules of Concessions using the 
Consolidated Tariff Schedu les (CTS) database" (G/MA/W/124 and G/MA/W/124/Corr.1). The 
Committee agreed to forward the draft decision to the General Council, through the Council for 
Trade in Goods , for adoption . 
7  DECISION ON NOTIFICA TION PROCEDURES FOR QUANTITATIVE RESTRIC TIONS ("QR 
DECISION")  
10.  During its meetings in 2016, the Committee examined the quantitative restriction notifications 
submitted by several Members and took note of a report by the Secretariat (G/MA/QR/4), which 
reflected the status of such notifications.  It also  requested the Secretariat to update the report on 
factual information  (G/MA/W /114) for consideration at the s pring meeting of the Committee.  
8  DATABASES  
11.  At its formal meetings in 2016, 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 assistance.  The Committee also took note of the documents which 
reflected the status of submissions to the IDB (G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.43, G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.43/Corr.1, 
and G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.44).  
9  OTHER ACTIVITIES  
12.  At its meeting of 19 April, the Committee took note of the Secretariat document entitled 
"Situation of Schedules of WTO Members" (G/MA/W/23/Rev.12), which listed all legal instruments 
relating to each Member's schedule.  It also took note that the Secretariat was exploring the 
possibility of changing the format of the document and invited Members to indicate if they had a 
preference or idea on how best to organize it.  
13.  The Committee took note of a notification by the Kyrgyz Republic concerning Article X:1 of the 
GATT 1994 (G/MA/W/118).  
14.  At its meeting of 19 April, the Committee took note o f a draft report by the Secretariat on the 
status of renegotiations under Article XXVIII of the GATT 1994 (JOB/MA/122).  The draft was 
adjusted to take account of comments received and a revised report was circulated 
(G/MA/W/123) . 
15.  At its 19 April and 11 October meetings, the Committee took note of the following specific 
concerns raised by Members:   
 European Union ( Argentina – newly adopted law in the auto -part sector) ; 
 European Union ( Russian Federation – export ban on raw hides and skins) ; G/L/1154  
 
- 3 - 
 
   European U nion, Japan, Korea, and the United States (India – customs duties on 
telecommunication and other products – statements; GMA/W/120) ; 
 Japan (India – minimum import prices on iron and steel products) ; 
 Russian Federation (Croatia – regulations on the import an d distribution of certa in oil and 
biodiesel products);  
 Switzerland (Kingdom of Bahrain – customs duties on cigarettes);  
 Switzerland (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – customs duty increase on cigarettes);  and 
 Thailand (Korea – modification of schedule of concessi ons concerning rice products);  
 United States ( Oman – customs duties on tobacco).  
 
__________