RESTRICTED  
  
G/MA/M/59  
 
25 July 2014  
(14-4276)  Page: 1/9  
Committee on Market Access   
 
MINUTES OF THE COMMITTEE ON MARKET ACCESS  
15 MAY 2014 
CHAIRMAN: MR KRZYSZTOF TREPCZYNSKI (POLAND) 
Subjects discussed                   Pages 
 
A. INTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 1996 (HS96) CHANGES TO 
SCHEDULES OF CONCESSIONS (L/6905 AN D WT/L/756) - STATUS REPORT ................... 2  
B. INTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 2002 (HS02) CHANGES TO 
SCHEDULES OF CONCESSIONS USING THE CTS DATABASE  (WT/L/605 AND WT/L/807) - STATUS REPORT ......................................................................................... 2
 
C. INTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 2007 (HS07) CHANGES TO 
SCHEDULES OF CONCESSIONS USING THE CTS DATABASE (WT/L/673 AND WT/L/830) - STATUS REPORT ......................................................................................... 2
 
D. INTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 2012 (HS2012) CHANGES TO 
SCHEDULES OF CONCESSIONS USING THE CTS DATABASE (WT/L/831) - STATUS REPORT ............................................................................................................................ 3
 
E. OPERATION OF THE INTEGRATED DATA  BASE (IDB), INCLUDING STATUS 
OF SUBMISSIONS (G/MA/IDB/2/REV.39), AND THE CTS DATABASE - STATUS REPORT ............................................................................................................................ 3
 
F. NOTIFICATIONS PURSUANT TO THE DECISION ON NOTIFICATION 
PROCEDURES FOR QUANTITATIVE RE STRICTIONS (G/L /59/REV.1) ............................... 4  
2012-2014 NOTIFI CATIONS ............................................................................................... 4  
2014-2016 NOTIFI CATIONS ............................................................................................... 5  
G.  DRAFT DECISION DERESTRICTING THE BILATERAL NEGOTIATING MATERIAL 
OF THE KENNEDY ROUN D (G/MA/W/ 113) ....................................................................... 6  
H.  SITUATION OF SCHEDULES OF WTO MEMBERS (G/MA/W/23/REV.10) ...................... 6  
I.  BRAZIL: IMPORT DUTIES ON DIAMMONIUM PHOSPHATE -  STATEMENT BY 
THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.............................................................................................. 6  
J.  AUTONOMOUS PREFERENTIAL MEASURE OF THE EU IN RESPECT OF UKRAINE - STATEMENT BY THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION ................................................................... 7
 
K.  NORWAY: MEASURES AFFECTING TRADE IN FISH GOODS – STATEMENT BY 
THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.............................................................................................. 8  
L. OTHER BUSINESS .................................................................................................... 8  
-  Bahrain – duties on cigarettes – statement by Switzerland ............................................. 8  
-  Date of the next meeting ........................................................................................... 9  
M.  ELECTION OF THE CHAIRPERSON ............................................................................... 9  
 
 G/MA/M/59 
 
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  The Committee adopted the agenda as reproduced in WTO/AIR/4295 with the inclusion of the 
following items under Other Business:  "Bahrain – duties on cigarettes" and "Date of the next 
meeting."  An annotated agenda was circulated in JOB/MA/111.  
A. INTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 1996 (HS96) CHANGES TO SCHEDULES 
OF CONCESSIONS (L/6905 AND WT/L/756) - STATUS REPORT  
1.  The Chairman recalled that there were two procedures which had been used by Members to 
introduce HS96 changes to schedules of concessions. The general procedure contained in GATT 
document L/6905 dated October 1991 and the specific one contained in WTO document WT/L/756 dated 29 May 2009.  Under the first one, Members had to transpose their own schedules, whereas under the second one the Secretariat had transposed the schedules of 64 developing countries and 
LDCs. 
 2.  There were now three Members whose HS96 files remained to be finalized namely Bangladesh, 
South Africa and Venezuela. In the case of Bangladesh, contact had recently been resumed 
between the delegation and the Secretariat.  In th e case of South Africa, questions were raised by 
a delegation concerning the changes in the binding of some tariff lines in HS chapters 4, 33 and 
35.   In the case of Venezuela, the next step continued to be the organization of a meeting or a 
video conference between the Secretariat and the relevant Venezuelan authorities so that they could review the revised documentation sent by the Secretariat to Venezuela in 2012.    
3.  The representative of Bangladesh stated that Bangladesh's HS96 transposition file included 
pre-Uruguay Round and Uruguay Round commitments.  While the Uruguay Round schedule was 
certified, Bangladesh's pre-Uruguay Round schedule remained uncertified. This was a 
long-standing issue.  His capital was fully aware of the importance of the transposition and was 
actively working on it. Bangladesh was in touch with all concerned delegations and the Secretariat to conclude the exercise in the shortest possible time. 
 
4.  The Committee took note of the statements.  
 B. INTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 2002 (HS02) CHANGES TO SCHEDULES 
OF CONCESSIONS USING THE CTS DATABASE (WT/L/605 AND WT/L/807) - STATUS 
REPORT  
5.  The Chairman reported on the consultations he had held on some pending HS02 files.  He 
recalled that at the informal meeting of the Committee on 28 November 2013, he had proposed to 
hold consultations on the HS02 files of China, Indonesia and the Philippines.  The reason for suggesting these consultations was based on his ob servation that these files had appeared before 
the Committee several times without any visible signs of progress.  He was pleased to report that 
the meetings were useful insofar as clarification had been provided about the situation of the files, and the outstanding issues.  Happily, in some ca ses, the issue might be less of a challenge to 
address than originally thought.  In other cases,  it would require more research and discussion on 
the part of the Members concerned.   At least, he hoped that these consultations would assist in 
moving the situation forward.    
6.  On the status of HS02 work, a member of the Secretariat (Ms. Alya Belkhodja) stated that a 
revised full report which reflected the state-of-play of the HS02 transposition work was issued as 
JOB/MA/42/Rev.11 on 3 March 2014.  The status of the HS02 transposition after the multilateral 
review held on 13 March 2014 was the following:  109 HS02 files were certified; five HS02 files 
were released for multilateral review and had received comments from other Members; two draft HS02 files had been completed and sent to Members for their first review; one Member had circulated its HS02 schedule. 
 
7.  The Committee took note of the reports.  
C. INTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 2007 (HS07) CHANGES TO SCHEDULES OF CONCESSIONS USING THE CTS DATABASE (WT/L/673 AND WT/L/830) - STATUS REPORT  
8.  On the status of HS07 work, a member of the Secretariat (Ms. Alya Belkhodja) stated that a 
revised full report was issued as JOB/MA/104/Rev.5 on 3 March 2014.  The status of the HS07 G/MA/M/59 
 
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  transposition after the multilateral review held on 13 March 2014 was the following: 27 HS07 files 
were certified; 34 HS07 files had their transposition approved in the multilateral review process; 17 HS07 files were released for multilateral revi ew; 17 HS07 files were released for multilateral 
review and had comments from other Members; 10 draft HS07 file had been completed and sent 
to Members for their first review; one Member's submission remained to be verified by the 
Secretariat; 18 draft HS07 files remained to be prepared. 
 
9.  She also informed the Committee that the Secretariat had issued document TN/MA/S/23 on 
6 May 2014 which presented a summary of the situation of members' schedules regarding the different HS transpositions.   She wished to highlight changes in the status of HS07 transposition for four members as their files had just been posted on the FTF site.  The status of HS07 
transposition should be revised to "For review" for the following Members: Hong Kong, China; 
India; New Zealand and Chinese Taipei. Document TN/MA/S/23 would be updated periodically to take account  of the changes in the status of schedules. 
 
10.  The Committee took note of the Secretariat report.  
D. INTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 2012 (HS2012) CHANGES TO 
SCHEDULES OF CONCESSIONS USING THE CTS DATABASE (WT/L/831) - STATUS 
REPORT  
11.  A member of the Secretariat (Ms. Alya Belkhodja) noted that as work was on-going on the 
HS07 transposition the only information to report under this item was that the Secretariat had 
received the submission of the United States for the HS2012 transposition.    
12.  The Committee took note of the Secretariat report.  
 
E. OPERATION OF THE INTEGRATED DATA BASE (IDB), INCLUDING STATUS OF SUBMISSIONS (G/MA/IDB/2/REV.39), AND THE CTS DATABASE - STATUS REPORT 
IDB Submissions 
13.  A member of the Secretariat (Ms. Antonia Diakantoni) stated that since the circulation of the 
Status of Submissions document, G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.39, the Secretariat had received the following 
submissions:   Chinese Taipei tariffs for 2014; Dominican Republic tariffs for 2014 and imports for 
2011 (revision) and 2012; Mexico tariffs for 2012 (revision); Nicaragua tariffs for 2014 and 2013 (revision) and imports for 2013; and Fiji tariffs for 2014. 
 
14.  On IDB dissemination, 1755 country-periods  covering 129 out of 130 WTO Members and six 
acceding countries (Algeria, Bahamas, Belarus, Iran, Liberia and Serbia), were now available on the IDB websites. No data submission had been received so far from Tajikistan.   
 
15.  Since the adoption of the July 2009 Framework decision to enhance IDB notifications compliance, the IDB coverage had significantly improved and a large number of data gaps had 
been filled with relevant information collected by the Secretariat. An increase of about 
25 percentage points per year had been recorded for the tariff information and close to 20 percentage points for the import statistics.  However, some important gaps remained which 
unfortunately could not be filled even with the 2009 Framework decision. Disposing of a 
comprehensive dataset on tariffs and import statistics was very important for any analysis that Members might want to undertake. At present analysis of the IDB data needed to be 
complemented with data coming from other sour ces. For this reason, Members were encouraged 
to notify their data and help the Secretariat to fill the gaps. The Secretariat was available to 
provide technical support upon request regarding IDB notifications.  
16.  A member of the Secretariat (Ms Alya Belkhodja) noted that the Secretariat currently had files 
for 121 Members in the new CTS formats (described in G/MA/244) available on the Members' 
website.  Out of these 121 Members: 109 Members had certified HS02 schedules;  six Members 
had acceded in the HS02 nomenclature and six Members had acceded in the HS07 nomenclature.   
The remaining 9 Members were still in the HS1996 nomenclature using the previous CTS format.  Their files would be updated to the new format once their HS02 changes were certified.  New CTS files in HS07 were being prepared for those Members with certified HS07 changes.  These would 
be made available on the Members' website.   G/MA/M/59 
 
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17.  The representative of Chinese Taipei stated  that his delegation had submitted the 2014 tariff 
information and 2013 trade statistics on 28 March 2014 but due to some technical problem the 
Secretariat had not received it. Thanks to the Secretariat the problem had now been solved. 
Furthermore, his wanted to emphasize the importance  of having correct and current data for policy 
making and negotiation which required the collaboration between the WTO Secretariat and Members.  He hoped that all Members could collectively fulfil this obligation and submit the 
required data in time.  
 18. The Committee took note of the statements.  
 
F. NOTIFICATIONS PURSUANT TO THE DECISION ON NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES 
FOR QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS (G/L/59/REV.1) 
19.  The Chairman stated that the Committee had a number of quantitative restrictions (QR) 
notifications to review.  There were notificati ons which stemmed from the 2012-2014 biennial 
period and two which covered the 2014-2016 biennial period.  The majority of the notifications under the 2012-2014 biennial period had already appeared before the Committee, but the 
Committee had agreed to revert to them.   
 2012-2014 NOTIFICATIONS 
- European Union (G/MA/QR/N/EU/1) 
 
20.  The Chairman drew the Committee's attention to the notification by the European Union 
circulated in G/MA/QR/N/EU/1.   
 
21.  The Committee took note of the notification.  
 
- Hong Kong, China (G /MA/QR/N/HKG/1/Add.1) 
 22.  The Chairman drew the Committee's attention to the notification by Hong Kong, China 
circulated in G/MA/QR/N/HKG/1/Add.1. 
 
23.  The representative of Switzerland sought a clarification on this notification.  It was indicated 
that the review of the measure would be conducted in October 2013.  It was now May 2014 and 
Switzerland wished to know if the review had been  conducted and what had been its conclusion, if 
the regime is still in force and if it had been prolonged up to when?  
24.  The representative of Hong Kong, Chin a responded that Hong Kong, China was still 
considering the review and would get back to the Committee with information as soon as possible.  
 25.  The Committee agreed to revert to this notification.  
 
- Japan (G/MA/QR/N/JPN/1)  
26.  The Chairman drew the Committee's attentio n to the notification by Japan circulated in 
G/MA/QR/N/JPN/1.  
 
27.  The Committee took note of the notification.  
 
- Korea (G/MA/QR/N/KOR/1)  
28.  The Chairman drew the Committee's attentio n to the notification by Korea circulated in 
G/MA/QR/N/KOR/1. 
 
29.  The Committee took note of the notification.  
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  - Mali (G/MA/QR/N/MLI/1) 
 30.  The Chairman drew the Committee's attentio n to the notification by Mali circulated in 
G/MA/QR/N/MLI/1.   
 
31.  The Committee took note of the notification.  
 
- Peru (G/MA/QR/N/PER/1) 
 32.  The Chairman drew the Committee's attentio n to the notification by Peru circulated in 
G/MA/QR/N/PER/1. 
  
33.  The Committee took note of the notification.  
 
- Singapore (G/MA/QR/N/SGP/1) 
 34.  The Chairman drew the Committee's attention to the notification by Singapore circulated in 
G/MA/QR/N/SGP/1. 
 35.  The Committee took note of the notification.  
 
- Thailand (G/MA/QR/N/THA/1  AND G/MA/QR/N/THA/1/C ORR.1) 
 36.  The Chairman drew the Committee's attention to  t h e  n o t i f i c a t i o n  b y  T h a i l a n d  c i r c u l a t e d  i n 
G/MA/QR/N/THA/1 and Corr.1.  
  37.  The Committee took note of the notification.  
 
- Ukraine  (G/MA/QR/N/UKR/1  AND G/MA/QR/N/UKR/1/A DD.1-3) 
 38.  The Chairman drew the Committee's attention to the notification by Ukraine circulated in 
G/MA/QR/N/UKR/1 and addenda 1 to 3. 
 39.  The Committee took note of the notification.  
 
2014-2016 NOTIFICATIONS 
- Georgia  (G/MA/QR/N/GEO/1) 
 
40.  The Chairman drew the Committee's attention to the notification by Georgia circulated in 
G/MA/QR/N/GEO/1.   
 
41.  The Committee took note of the notification.  
 
- Switzerland  (G/MA/QR/N/CHE/1)  
 
42.  The Chairman drew the Committee's attention to the notification by Switzerland circulated in 
G/MA/QR/N/CHE/1. 
  
43.  The Committee took note of the notification.  
 
44.  The Chairman encouraged Members to make their QR submission in accordance with the 
requirements of the decision for the biennial pe riod 2014-2016.  The decision would only be as 
useful as the number and quality of the notifications that came in.   He also noted that this decision did not provide a Member with the option to indicate that it did not have a QR.   Such a 
communication was possible under the old decision  but not under the new one.  He encouraged 
Members to consult the notifications that had already been circulated as this might assist them in preparing their own.  He also noted that the Secretariat stood ready to assist, and the contact 
person in the Secretariat was Mr. Javier Jaramillo. 
  45.  The meeting turned to informal mode to hear the Secretariat's presentation on the QR database and to see a video prepared by the Secretariat on the QR decision and database which G/MA/M/59 
 
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  would be uploaded on the Members' website. The meeting then reverted to formal mode to take 
up the remaining items.   G.  DRAFT DECISION DERESTRICTING THE BILATERAL NEGOTIATING MATERIAL OF THE 
KENNEDY ROUND (G/MA/W/113) 
46.  The Chairman recalled that the Committee at its formal meeting on 16 October 2013 had 
adopted procedures for the derestriction of the bi lateral negotiating material of the Kennedy Round 
(G/MA/287).  Pursuant to these procedures, Members had six months from the date of the 
document (8 October 2013), to review their negotiating material and to notify the Secretariat of any document which they considered should remain  restricted for a further period of time.  The 
procedures also envisaged that open-ended informal consultations would be held in May 2014 to 
consider a draft decision that would propose the ge neral derestriction in the near future of all the 
documents listed in the annex to document G/MA/287. In this connection, a draft decision was elaborated and circulated in G/MA/W/113.   
 
47.  The Committee agreed to forward the draft decision contained in G/MA/W/113 to the Council 
for Trade in Goods for transmittal to the General Council for adoption.   
 
48.  The Committee also agreed that the Secr etariat should proceed to elaborate similar 
procedures in order to derestrict the negotiating records of the Tokyo Round.  
 
H.  SITUATION OF SCHEDULES OF WTO MEMBERS (G/MA/W/23/REV.10)  
49.  The Chairman drew the Committee's attention to a document prepared by the Secretariat 
concerning the current status of schedules which was circulated in G/MA/W/23/Rev.10.  Its 
usefulness derived from the fact that it compiled in one place all the legal instruments relating to 
each Member's schedule.  It also provided an  overview of the procedures that remained 
outstanding and, in particular, a number of renegotiations under Article XXVIII where there had 
been no information for many years. He encouraged Members to use this document as a guide to 
make sure that any pending issues are solved.  50.  The Committee took note of the document.  
 I.  BRAZIL: IMPORT DUTIES ON DIAMMONIUM PHOSPHATE -  STATEMENT BY THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION 
51.  The representative of the Russian Federati on expressed concern regarding different import 
duties on diammonium phosphate  applied by Brazil. The Brazilian list of exceptions to the Common 
External Tariff (LETEC) imposed different duties on the two types of diammonium phosphate 
(DAP): (1) The import duty of DAP with arsenic content of less than 6 mg/kg (3105.30.10) was 
6%; and (2) The import duty of DAP with arseni c content of more than 6 mg/kg (3105.30.90) was 
0%.  
52.  The Russian Federation had repeatedly brought this to the attention of Brazil that the import 
duties on DAP were, in its view, inconsistent with Brazilian obligations under the WTO, in particular Article I:1 of GATT 1994.  The analysis of physico- chemical characteristics, end use, and consumer 
preferences gave evidence of the existence of a competitive relationship in the marketplace and 
likeness of the two types of DAP.  The difference of  duties applied by Brazil led to discrimination of 
the goods originating in the Russian Federation. The Russian Federation called upon Brazil to 
immediately revoke the different import duties on DAP and to bring the import duties in line with 
its WTO obligations and commitments.   53.  The representative of Brazil stated that these comments would be forwarded to the relevant 
authorities in Brazil for proper analysis. For the sake of transparency, he added that Brazil and 
Russia had already had a conversation on the subject and in a recent meeting technical information had been provided to the Russian delegation. Brazil remained open to discuss this 
matter on bilateral level. 
 54.  The Committee took note of the statements.  
 G/MA/M/59 
 
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  J.  AUTONOMOUS PREFERENTIAL MEASURE OF THE EU IN RESPECT OF UKRAINE - 
STATEMENT BY THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION 
55.  The representative of the Russian Federation stated that in accordance with the decision of 
the European Parliament and the Council of the EU of 16 April the EU had temporarily removed 
import duties on goods originating in Ukraine. The decision granted the immediate elimination of 
import duties for 94.7% of Ukrainian industrial  exports to the EU and to 82.2% of Ukrainian 
agricultural export to the EU. For the other agricultural products originating in Ukraine the decision 
granted the elimination of import duties through tariff rate quotas.  She noted that there was no 
free trade agreement (FTA) in force between Ukraine and the EU.  She also noted that the autonomous preferential measures were introduced  without a decision by the WTO General Council 
to grant the EU a waiver from its obligations under Article I of the GATT. Thus the Russian 
Federation believed that autonomous trade preferen ces for Ukraine constituted a breach of one of 
the fundamental principles of the WTO - the MFN pr inciple. This measure led to a discrimination of 
goods of other WTO Members, including Russia, on  the EU market. This measure would negatively 
affect the economic interests of all Members expo rting to the EU. In this respect, the Russian 
Federation wished to use this opportunity to urge the EU to make sure that its assistance to Ukraine was provided in accordance with WTO rules and procedures.  The Russian Federation 
expected the EU to take respective  corrective measures without delay. 
 56.  The representative of Argentina wished to place on record Argentina's concern regarding the 
unilateral preferences granted by the EU to Ukra ine established in Regulation 374/14 and other 
related regulations. Argentina believed that the EU was neither respecting Article XXIV of GATT 
1994 procedures nor the transparency mechanism under RTAs in WT/L/671. This was a very worrying precedent for the observance of proced ures in the WTO. There had been a lack of 
transparency and Argentina had not seen that this measure had been notified to other relevant 
bodies.  It had an effect on the legal security of the EU's commitments under the WTO.  
57.  The representative of Nicaragua thanked the Russian Federation for having placed this item 
on the agenda of this meeting.  His delegation had taken note of the discussion and would keep 
authorities in capital informed.  His delegation would also provide the necessary follow-up to this matter in future meetings.  In Nicaragua's view any unilateral trade measure adopted by a WTO 
Member must be undertaken in conformity with WTO procedures without affecting the rights and 
obligations of other Members not benefitting from this treatment.   
58.  The representative of Ecuador took note of the statements made on this matter. His 
delegation would be studying the elements put forwar d so as to be able to take a position on it. 
 
59.  The representative of Cuba stated that Cuba had taken due note of this discussion and 
reserved the right to come forward on this matter at a future stage. 
 60.  The representative of Venezuela thanked the Russian Federation for having placed this item 
on the agenda of this meeting.  Venezuela ha d taken note of the comments made and shared 
many of the concerns regarding the necessary transparency and notification of agreements reached outside this organization. His delegation would be following this matter closely. 
 
61.  The representative of the European Union stated that this was an issue which had already 
been addressed by the Russian Federation in the General Council on 12 May 2014 and in the 
Council for Trade in Goods on 9 April 2014.  The EU wished to recall that it had negotiated an free 
trade agreement (FTA) with Ukraine on which it had made an earlier announcement to the WTO Secretariat in accordance with the provisions of the Transparency Mechanism Decision of 18 February 2008. The EU now applied the content of  the FTA and the signature and ratification of 
this FTA, which was fully compatible with Article XXIV of the GATT and Article V of the GATs, would 
follow in the very near future.   
62.  The representative of the Ukraine thanked the delegation of Russia for their continued interest 
of trade developments in Ukraine.  He also than ked the delegation of EU for their sincere support 
and expressed his delegation's adherence to its po sition stated at the last meeting of the Council 
for Trade in Goods. Ukraine highly appreciated the initiative of the EU to grant Ukraine 
autonomous trade preferences and supported the motives behind it. Due to the regional situation, Ukraine was experiencing a rising deficit in foreign trade. In this light, the EU's decision to grant an autonomous preferential regime to Ukraine was considered a crucial opportunity to stimulate trade G/MA/M/59 
 
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  and exercise a positive influence on the economic  situation. Moreover, these preferences were an 
option to national business to introduce relevant  adjustments before the deep and comprehensive 
FTA with EU fully came into force. Ukraine strongly believed that all its neighbours were interested in preserving regional economic stability and would endorse efforts by the EU and Ukraine to avoid 
negative economic implications in the region.  
 63.  The Committee took note of the statements.  
K.  NORWAY: MEASURES AFFECTING TRADE IN FISH GOODS – STATEMENT BY THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION 
64.  The representative of the Russian Federation  raised concerns regarding Norway's measures 
relating to the "first-hand sales" of fish that we re delivered along the coast, and the charge which 
was imposed on vessels flying the flag of the Russian Federation (RF) and which was paid to the benefit of Norwegian fishermen's sales organisations. Norway established the prohibition on sale or 
export of wild living maritime resources when it had not been done through and authorised by 
these sales organisations. Norway imposed a "first-hand sales" obligation on catches of raw fish landed by the vessels of the RF and a charge imposed on vessels flying the flag of the RF was paid to the benefit of one of the Norwegian fishermen's sales organisation. In a number of cases, since 
2007 Russian fishermen and vessels flying the flag  of the RF have experienced problems when 
landing their catches in Norway for further transit transportation to an ultimate purchaser. Norway subjected raw fish caught outside the territory of  Norway, which was brought to the territory of 
Norway by the vessels flying the flag of the RF and destined for third countries to first-hand sale. 
It should be noted that the vessels flying the flag of the RF were not choosing to sell their laded catches to a Norwegian buyer. In contrast, this measure was not applicable to catches by vessels 
flying the flag of a member state of the EU operating in certain areas. The EU vessels were 
explicitly exempted from the payment of a charge to the benefit of any fishermen's sales organization. Such exemption was provided for in the Norwegian legislation. As a result, raw fish caught and landed by vessels flying the flag of the RF which was destined for third countries was 
treated by Norway less favourably than catches of vessels flying the flag of a member state of the 
EU. The RF considered that Norway's measures appeared to be inconsistent with Norway's 
obligations under the WTO Agreement and in partic ular Articles I, II and V of the GATT 1994. The 
RF urged Norway to adopt quickly the necessary steps to bring its legislation and measures in 
compliance with the WTO.   
65.  The representative of Norway took note of the concerns expressed by the Russian Federation 
which would be forwarded to his capital promptly.  
 66.  The Committee took note of the statements. 
 L. OTHER BUSINESS 
- Bahrain – duties on cigarettes – statement by Switzerland 
67.  The representative of Switzerland stated that Switzerland had already raised the issue 
bilaterally with Bahrain in January 2013 for the first time and again at the beginning of this year. 
The issue related to the duties applied on ciga rettes (HS code 2402.20). According to the schedule 
of Bahrain the bound rate on these products was 35%.  However, the common external tariff of 
the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) showed an a pplied duty of 100% in addition to a specific 
component for these cigarettes. Switzerland had raised this concern of inconsistency and wished to have an answer from Bahrain on what they intended to do to address this issue. In addition, her 
authorities had also been informed by the Swiss Embassy and by industry that the GCC intended 
to increase the taxation on cigarettes. The nature of the increase was not clear to Switzerland, i.e. 
whether this was an increase of the custom duty or a local tax. Despite all Switzerland's efforts, 
more precise information could not be obtained and her delegation would be very grateful to have 
draft legislation or any official documents to assess the nature of this potential increase.   
68.  The Committee took note of the statement. G/MA/M/59 
 
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  - Date of the next meeting 
 69.  The date of the next meeting was scheduled for 16 October 2014.  
 M.  ELECTION OF THE CHAIRPERSON 
70.  The Committee elected Ms. Alana Hudson (New Zealand) as Chairperson. 
 
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