RESTRICTED  
  
G/MA/SPEC/58  
 
28 September  2018 
(18-6018) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Market Access    
 
REPORT (201 8) OF THE COMMITTEE O N MARKET ACCESS  
DRAFT  
1.  Since the last review1, the Committee on Market Access has held two formal meetings ( 26 April  
and 9 October 2018 ) and two informal meetings ( 18 January  and 28 May).  An additional informal 
meeting is scheduled to take place on 6  November 2018.  The minutes of the formal meeting s are 
contained in documents G/MA/M/ 67 and G/MA/M/ 68 (to be issued) .   
2.  At its formal meeting of 26 April  2018, the Committee took note of the nomination of 
Ms Zsófia  Tvaruskó (Hungary) as Chairperson of the Committee for the current year and elected her 
by acclamation.  At its meeting of 9 October, the Committee elected […] as Vice Chairperson.  
1  WAIVERS  
3. At its formal meeting of 9 October 20 18, the Committee [approved the extension of the HS2002 
"collective" waiver (G/C/W/ 756), the HS2007 "collective" waiver (G/C/W/ 757), the HS2012 
"collective " waiver ( G/C/W/758), and the HS2017 "collective" waiver ( G/C/W/ 759).  The Committee 
agreed to forward the draft waiver decisions to the General Council through the Council for Trade in 
Goods for appropriate action.]  
2  INTRODUCTION OF HARM ONIZED SYSTEM 1996 ( HS1996) CHANGES TO S CHEDULES OF 
CONCESSIONS  
4.  At its meetings in 2018, 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.  At the formal meeting 
of 9 October 2018, the Chairperson announced that the Schedules of concessions of all the 
64 Members listed in the Annex of the Decision of 27 May 2009 (WT/L/756) had been successfully 
transposed int o HS96 and certified.  
3  INTRODUCTION OF HARM ONIZED SYSTEM 2002 ( HS2002) CHANGES TO S CHEDULES OF 
CONCESSIONS  
5. At its meetings in 201 8, the Com mittee 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 fi les 
containing the HS2002 changes of Members were examined.  At the formal meeting of 
9 October  2018, the Chairperson announced that 114 Schedules of concessions had been transp osed 
into HS2002 and certified.  
4  INTRODUCTION OF HARM ONIZED SYSTEM 2007 ( HS2007)  CHANGES TO SCHEDULE S OF 
CONCESSIONS  
6. At its meetings in 2018, the Committee took note of the status of work concerning the introduction 
of HS2007 changes to schedules of concessions 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.  At the formal meeting of 
                                                
1 G/L/11 90, dated 17 October 2017 . G/MA/SPEC/58  
 
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  9 October  2018, the Chairperson announced that 108 Schedules of concessions had been transp osed 
into HS2007 and certified.  
5  INTRODUCTION OF HARM ONIZED SYSTEM 2012 ( HS2012) CHANGES TO S CHEDULES OF 
CONCESSIONS  
7.  At its meetings in 2018 , the Committee took note of the status of work concerning the introduction 
of HS2012 changes to schedules of concessi ons using the CTS database (WT/L/831), as well as the 
outcomes of the informal dedicated sessions of the Committee during which the files containing the 
HS2012 changes of Members were examined.  At the formal meeting of 9 October 2018, the 
Chairperson anno unced that 87 Schedules of concessions had been transp osed into HS2012 and 
certified.  
6  INTRODUCTION OF HARM ONIZED SYSTEM 2017 ( HS2017) CHANGES TO S CHEDULES OF 
CONCESSIONS  
8. At its meetings in 2018, the Committee took note of the status of work concerning t he introduction 
of HS2017 changes to schedules of concessions using the CTS database (WT/L/995).  At its meeting 
of 9 October 2018, the Committee considered [and approved] a Note on Methodology prepared by 
the WTO Secretariat (JOB/MA/135)  
7  DECISION ON NOTIF ICATION PROCEDURES F OR QUANTITATIVE REST RICTIONS   
("QR DECISION")  
9. At its meetings in 2018 , the Committee examined new QR notification s submitted by eleven  
Members: Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, the European Union, India, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Mauritius,  
New Zealand, the Russian Federation, and Seychelles .  The Committee also continued reviewing  
notifications which had been previously submitted by other Members.   At its meeting of 
9 October  2018, the Committee took note of a report by the Secretariat (G/MA/QR/6)  with the status 
of such notifications.   
10. At its meeting  of 26 April  2018, the Committee took note of a revised P ractical Guide for the 
Notification of Quantitative R estrictions (JOB/MA/101/Rev.1 and Corr.1), and took note of a report 
by the  Vice-Chairperson concerning a "Capacity Building Workshop on the Notification of Quantitative 
Restrictions" held on 24 -25 April 20182. At its meeting  of 9 October 2018, the Committee took note 
of a second revision of the practical guide (JOB/MA/101/Rev.2) , which was adjusted by the 
Secretariat to take account of comments received from Members.  
8  DATABASES  
11. At its formal meetings in 201 8, the Secretariat reported on the status of work concerning the 
Integrated Data Base (IDB) and the Consolidated Tariff Sc hedules (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 document s which 
reflected the status of submissions to the IDB (G/MA/IDB/2/Rev. 47, G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.47/Corr.1 and 
G/MA/IDB/2/Rev. 48).  
9  OTHER ACTIVITIES  
12. At its meeting of 26 April  2018, the Committee took note of the Secretariat document entitled 
"Situation of Sch edules of WTO Members" (G/MA/W/23/Rev. 14), which lists all legal instruments 
relating to each Member's schedule.  It also took note of the Secretariat document entitled "Factual 
Report o n the Status of Renegotiations u nder Article XXVIII of the GATT 1994" (G/MA/W/123/Rev.3 ), 
which was further revised by the Secretariat (G/MA/W/123/Rev.4) for the formal meeting of 
9 October . 
  
                                                
2 For more information, s ee https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news18_e/qres_24apr18_e.htm .  G/MA/SPEC/58  
 
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  13.  At its 26 April  and 9 October  meetings, t he Committee took note of the following specific trade 
concerns :   
Issue  Raised by:  
Angola – Consumption tax  European Union  
Australia – Discriminatory Market Access 
Prohibition on 5G Equipment  China  
China - Customs duties on certain integrated 
circuits  European Union, Japan, Chinese Taipei, and 
the United States  
Croatia - Regulations o n import and sale of 
certain oil products  Russian Federation  
Enlargement of the European Union to include 
Croatia - Negotiations under Article XXIV:6 of the 
GATT 1994  Russian Federation  
European Union – Renegotiation of tariff rate 
quotas under Article  XXVIII of the GATT 1994  Russian Federation  
India – Customs duties on telecommunication and 
other products  Canada, China, the European Union, Japan, 
Norway, Chinese Taipei, and the United 
States  
India – Quantitative restrictions on mung beans, 
black lentils, and pigeon peas  Australia  
India – Quantitative restrictions on certain pulses  Australia, Canada, the European Union and 
the United States  
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Excise tax on energy 
drinks and carbonated soft drink products  European Union and Switzerland  
Kingdom of Bahrain,  Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 
and the United Arab Emirates – Selective Tax on 
Certain Imported Products  European Union, the United States, and 
Switzerland  
Modification of the Republic of Haiti's Tariff 
Schedule  XXVI Dominican Republic  
Oman – MFN customs duties on cigarettes  European Union and Switzerland  
Rectifications and modifications of Schedule XIX -
United Kingdom  Russian Federation  
United States – Prohibitive proposal on 
communications equipment or services rel eased 
by the FCC  China  
 
14.  At its 9 October  meeting, the Committee took note of a communication where  Belize  informed 
Members that it had reduced certain  most-favoured -nation applied tariffs (G/MA/W/139 ).  
Note:  The draft report will be completed in light of the discussions that will take p lace at 
the Committee meeting of  9 October 2018 . 
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