RESTRICTED
TCA/M/29
12 November 2013
(13-6268)  Page: 1/2
Committee on Trade in Civil Aircraft   
 
 MINUTES OF THE MEETING 
HELD ON 7 NOVEMBER 2013 
CHAIRPERSON: MR WILLIAM KENDALL (CANADA) 
1. ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON 
1. Mr Johann Human, Director of the Rules Division, opened the meeting. He referred to the 
proposed agenda contained in document WTO/AIR/4222. No requests were made by Signatories 
for "Other business" items. The Committee adopted the agenda contained in document 
WTO/AIR/4222. 
2. Mr Human informed Signatories that the previous Chair, Mr Robert Fang (Chinese Taipei) 
was no longer in Geneva. Therefore, the Committee was tasked with electing its Chair. From 
consultations carried out by the Secretariat, he was in a position to propose Mr William Kendall 
(Canada) for election as Chair of the Committee. 
3. The Committee elected Mr William Kendall (Canada) Chairperson of the Committee. 
2. REVISION OF THE PRODUCT COVERAGE ANNEX OF THE 1979 AGREEMENT ON 
TRADE IN CIVIL AIRCRAFT 
4. The Chairperson recalled that since the regular meeting of November 2007, this Committee 
had been working to reach consensus on modifications to the Product Coverage Annex (PCA) of 
the Trade in Civil Aircraft Agreement to bring it into conformity with the Harmonized Coding and Description System that entered into force in 2007. On various occasions, the Committee had instructed the Secretariat to prepare Technical No tes which had served as bases, and continuing 
points of reference, for Signatories' discussions on  the revision of the PCA. At the last meeting, 
progress had been made on achieving a consensus with respect to the modifications needed to bring the PCA into conformity with HS 2007. A ta ble identifying the relevant sub-headings and 
summarizing the status of Signatories' comments, as of 7 November 2012, had been prepared by 
the Secretariat. This table was re-sent to Members at the end of July 2013. 
5. According to the minutes of the last meeting, contained in document TCA/M/28, one 
delegation indicated that "in light of the most rece nt set of exchanges, there appeared to be scope 
to move quickly towards reaching consensus". No one disagreed, though some delegations asked for more time to review the latest information, and one asked for further clarification. He believed that the changes proposed in November 2012 provided a solid basis for quickly reaching 
agreement on the revision to the PCA. However, given that there had been no new submissions or 
comments since last year's meeting, he invited Si gnatories to express their views, either on the 
substance of the table, or on next steps. 
6. Japan recalled that at the last meeting, his delegation had asked for a clarification from the 
United States on its comments concerning sub-heading 8519.81. His delegation had received a 
response only today which had been sent to hi s capital for review. He would revert to the 
Committee on this point. 
7. The United States said that his delegation was comfortable with the language in sub-heading 
8519.81. His delegation's previous concern regarding the inclusion of optical and semi-conductor 
media was resolved in conjunction with the la nguage in sub-heading 8519.89. However, he TCA/M/29 
 
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  suggested adding the word "sound" to the sub-heading 8519.89 so that the description read, 
"Other sound recording apparatus not incorporating a sound reproducing device". 
8. The Chairperson noted that there was still some work to be done by the Committee, and 
considered it his responsibility to strive to bring the revision of the PCA to a close. Therefore, he 
intended to contact Signatories in early 2014 to determine whether they could accept the changes 
proposed at the last and present meetings. If the changes were unacceptable, he encouraged Signatories to let himself or the Secretariat know as soon as possible. If Signatories needed 
further instructions, he urged them to consult with their capitals as soon as possible so that they 
would be in a position to accept the revision, or explain what changes were necessary in order to accept the revision, in time for the consultations in early 2014. On the basis of these consultations, he hoped to be in a position to instruct the Secretariat to prepare a final revised PCA, and to call a 
formal meeting of the Committee in the firs t half of 2014 to finalize the revision.  
9. The Committee took note of the statements and agreed to the Chairman's proposed course 
of action. 
3. OTHER BUSINESS 
10. There were no items under this agenda item. 
4. DATE OF NEXT REGULAR MEETING 
11. The Committee agreed to hold its next regular meeting on Tuesday, 4 November 2014. 
5. ADOPTION OF THE ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2013 
12. The Committee adopted the annual report for 20131 on the understanding that the 
Secretariat would up-date paragraph 3 of the report  to reflect the proceedings of this meeting. 
13. The meeting was adjourned. 
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1 WT/L/897.