G/MA/W/114  
 
22 May 2015  
(15-2690)  Page: 1/9  
Committee on Market Access    
 
  
QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS:  
FACTUAL INFORMATION ON NOTIFICATIONS RECEIVED 
REPORT BY THE SECRETARIAT1 
 
1  INTRODUCTION 
1.1.  This report has been prepared at reques t of the Chairperson of the Committee on Market 
Access with a view to providing Members with factual information on the notifications of quantitative restrictions (QRs), which have been received as of 19 May 2015 pursuant to the "Decision on Notification Procedures for Quantitative Restrictions" (hereinafter the QR Decision).
2 
It complements information already provided by the Secretariat in the practical guide on 
notifications of QRs (JOB/MA/101) and the back ground note on the previous Decision on 
notification procedures for QRs (JOB/MA/6). 
1.2.  Section 2 describes the different WTO so urces of information on QRs and the type of 
information available in the QR Database. Section 3 provides factual information on the contents of the QR notifications that have been received since 2012, including: i) an overview of the QRs in 
force by notifying Member; ii) the trade flows affected and types of measures used; iii) the types 
of products affected; and iv) the legal justification mentioned by Members.  
2  WTO SOURCES OF INFORMATION ON QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS 2.1.  Pursuant to paragraph 1 of the QR Decision, "Members shall make complete notifications of 
all quantitative restrictions in force by 30 September 2012 and at two yearly intervals thereafter. 
They should also notify changes to those quantitati ve restrictions as soon as possible, but not later 
than six months from their entry into force".
3 All QR notifications received are circulated in the 
"G/MA/QR/N" document series and reviewed by the Committee of Market Access.  
2.2.  In May 2014, and as mandated by paragraph 4 of the QR Decision, the WTO launched a 
database on Quantitative Restrictions (hereinafter the QR database), which compiles all 
notifications submitted by Members under the QR Decision.4 This database makes available 
information on any notified QR, and allows users to query information according to specific selection criteria, such as product, reporting Member, type of measure, trading partner, and others. The QR database allows users to prepare different types of reports and it is updated every 
time a new notification is received. These data can also be accessed through the Integrated Trade 
Intelligence Portal (I-TIP), which provides a single entry point for information compiled by the WTO on trade policy measures.
5 
2.3.  The Secretariat has taken a number of action s to raise awareness about the QR Decision and 
its notification requirements. These include the production of a video and the creation of a 
                                               
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members or to thei r rights and obligations under the WTO. 
2 The Decision was adopted by the Council for Tr ade in Goods on 3 July 2012. See G/L/59/Rev.1.  
3 Paragraph 1 of the QR Decision. 
4 The QR database is public and can be accessed in the following address: http://qr.wto.org/ . 
5 https://www.wto.org/ english/res_ e/statis_e/i tip_e.htm .  G/MA/W/114 
 
- 2 - 
 
  dedicated section on QRs in the WTO website.6 As part of its regular functions, the Secretariat 
provides information on the QR Decision and its database, and trains government officers in the context of technical assistance activities. 
2.4.  Members can also find relevant information on QRs in the official documents of the 
Committee on Market Access, such as the minutes of the meetings, the Annual Report to the 
Council for Trade in Goods, as well as in the yearly report prepared by the Secretariat on the status of notifications pursuant to paragraph 7 of the QR Decision (G/L/223/ series).  
2.5.  The Trade Policy Review (TPR) Mechanism is  another useful source of information on QRs 
maintained by Members, and in particular Section 3 on "Trade policies and practices by measure", which provides information on import and export prohibitions and restrictions.
7 Finally, information 
on QRs applied by Members can be found in the G20 and WTO-wide trade monitoring reports, 
which are prepared annually by the WTO Secretariat.8 It should, however, be noted that measures 
identified in the TPRs and the monitoring reports are not necessarily notified to the WTO pursuant to the QR Decision. 
3  FACTUAL INFORMATION ON QR NOTIFICATIONS 
3.1.  The notification of QRs
9 in force shall be based on a specific format as contained in Annex 1 
of the Decision. It requires Members to provide the following information for each QR in force: i) a 
general description of the QR; ii) the type of rest riction (based on the symbols in Annex 2); iii) the 
tariff line codes of the products covered, including the HS version used; iv) the detailed product description for the corresponding tariff line(s); v) the legal justification for maintaining the measure; vi) the national legal basis for the QR, including its entry into force and the date it 
ceased to be in force, if known; and vii) Member's comments, administration of the restriction or 
modification of a previously notified measure.
10 
3.1  Notification of QRs  
3.2.  As of 19 May 2015, 27 Members have submi tted notifications of all QRs in force for the 
biennial periods 2012-2014 and 2014-2016 pursuant to paragraph 1 of the QR Decision. Only 3 Members (the European Union; Hong Kong, China; and Ukraine) have also notified changes to 
existing QRs. No "reverse" notification has been received to date.
11 The complete list of 
notifications received is provided in the Annex. It should be noted that, given the low number of notifications received, the summary information provided in this section is not necessarily representative of the universe of QRs being implemented by all WTO Members. 
3.3.  The 27 notifying Members maintain a total of 731 QRs. The calculations used in this note are 
based on the information contained in the latest notification submitted. It means that if a Member made its first notification for the biennial period 2012-2014, and subsequently notified the same 
measures for the period 2014-2016, only the latest notification has been taken into account.
12 
                                               
6 The video is entitled "Transparency through notifications and the database: the case of quantitative 
restrictions" and can be seen in the new section on QRs at https://www.wto.org/ english/tratop_e/markacc_e/qr_e.htm .  
7 http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tpr_e.htm .  
8 These reports are circulated under the WT/TPR/O V/ and WT/TPR/OV/W (mid-year reports) document 
series. The tables in the annexes to these reports incl ude information on quantitati ve restrictions, but only 
when not related to TBT and SPS matters. 
9 The term "quantitative restrictio n" is not clearly defined. Severa l legal provisions under the WTO 
Agreement deal with such measures, and in particular  Article XI:1 of the GATT 1994 (general elimination of 
quantitative restrictions).  For an overview of the WTO provisions addressing QRs see document JOB/MA/6. 
10 Paragraph 2 of the QR Decision. 
11 Paragraph 5 of the QR Decision states that Members shall be free to make reverse notifications of 
measures maintained by other Members. They shall use the format in Annex 1 and co mplete all the information 
required. These notifications will be included in the agenda of the Committee on Market Access and the 
Member subject to reverse notification will have two months to comment in writing. In the absence of such a 
comment within the two months, the Secretariat shall include the reverse information in the database. 
12 See Annex 1 for a complete list of a ll notifications subm itted by Members. G/MA/W/114 
 
- 3 - 
 
  3.2  Type of restriction used and affected trade flows  
3.4.  The QR Decision provides that all QRs in force should be notified, irrespective of whether they 
affect imports or exports. Paragraph 2(ii) requires  Members to provide a "precise indication of the 
type of restriction imposed using the symbols contained in Annex 2". Where the restriction cannot 
be classified under one of those symbols, then a full description of the measure shall be provided 
by the Member in the notification.13 It is important to note that each notified QR may be enforced 
through more than one measure. For example, on e QR could involve a conditional prohibition and 
a non-automatic licence procedure.  
Chart 1: Number of QRS notified, by type of restriction and affected trade flow  
 
Source: WTO Secretariat based on QR notifications received. 
 
3.5.  As can be seen from Chart 1, the majority of measures notified by Members consist of import 
measures (66.5% of the total), which is practically two times as those imposed on exports (33.5%). In terms of the specific types of measures notified, most of them are:  
 non-automatic licensing procedures, of which 123 measures apply to exports and 211 to 
imports; 
 prohibitions (e.g. bans of certain products), of which 84 concern exports and 
224 concern imports; and 
 prohibitions except under defined conditions (i.e. conditional prohibitions), of which 
58 apply to exports and 73 apply to imports. 
3.6.  Quotas
14, either global or allocated by country, represent a small percentage of the total 
number of notified measures. In 27 cases, the notifying Member did not categorize the measure 
using a specific symbol, but it was nonetheless possible to identify whether the restriction applied to imports or exports. These cases are reported in  the chart as "not available" for both exports 
(6 measures) and imports (21 measures). However, it was not possible to assign a specific 
category for 14 measures due to lack of informatio n, which appear in Chart 2 as "not specified".  
                                               
13 Footnote 5 of the QR Decision specifies that such list is "not intended to define or harmonize the 
concept of quantitative re strictions un der the WTO". 
14 A quota is a restriction (i.e. an absolute volume) on the amount of a good that may be imported by, 
or exported from, a country. It should not be confused wi th a "tariff quota" or "tariff rate quota" (TRQ), which 
consist in the application of a reduced tariff rate (i.e. in-quota duty) for a specified quantity of imported goods; 
imports above this specified quantity face a higher tari ff rate (i.e. out-of-quota duty). TRQs are commonly used 
for agricultural products. Footnote  1 of the QR Decision explicit ly excludes TRQs from its scope. 
G/MA/W/114 
 
- 4 - 
 
  3.3  Types of products affected 
3.7.  Paragraphs (iii) and (iv) of the QR Decision require Members to provide specific information 
on the tariff line code of the products affected by the QR, namely: i) a detailed description of the 
tariff line(s) or parts of the tariff line(s) affected, together with an indication of the Harmonised 
System (HS) version on which the codes are based; and ii) a detailed description of the product(s) 
covered by the QR. It is further specified that "Members shall make an effort to be precise in those cases where the restriction only covers part of an HS sub-heading, i.e. only part of a six digit 
code".  
3.8.  Of the 27 notifications used in the calculat ions, 16 only contain partial or no information on 
the tariff codes affected. Some of these notification s do not make reference to all specific tariff 
lines covered by the QR, but rather use the term  "various", sometimes followed by examples of 
tariff lines covered (i.e. it is not an exhaustive list). In other cases there is no consistency between 
the tariff line and the described product. Finally, there are some notifications that provide a link to 
a website or document which contains a generic list of products with no specific information on the 
HS code. 
Chart 2: Top-ten product categories affe cted by QRs notified, by HS chapter  
 
Source: WTO Secretariat based on QR notifications received. 
 
3.9.  Chart 2 illustrates the ten HS chapters that appear to be the most affected by the application 
of QRs. The calculation was based on the tariff codes provided in the notification, including those 
cases with partial information. The one with the highest frequency is Chapter 29 (Organic 
chemicals), which has been cited in 120 cases, followed by Chapter 84 (Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof), and Chapter 38 (Miscellaneous chemical 
products), which have been cited 87 and 70 times, respectively. In terms of the HS version used, 
the vast majority of QRs notified (572) includes codes based on HS2012, followed by 235 QRs which use HS2007, and only 9 are based on HS2002.  
3.4  WTO justification 
3.10.  Paragraph 2(v) of the QR Decision requires Members to provide "an indication of the 
grounds and WTO justification for the measures maintained […] and the precise WTO provisions". Although Members have invoked one WTO provision in 87.9% of the QRs notified, they have 
G/MA/W/114 
 
- 5 - 
 
  mentioned more than one justification in 5.3% of them, whereas nine Members did not provide 
any information for 53 QRs (6.8%). 
3.11.  The GATT 1994 has been the most frequently  cited Agreement (more than 90% of the QRs), 
and in particular Article XX (General exceptions), which has been referred to in 593 QRs. 
Particularly relevant is the reference to paragraph b of Article XX (measures "necessary to protect 
human, animal or plant life or health"), which accounts for 311 citations. Article XXI:b, concerning exceptions necessary for the protection of a Member 's national security interests, has also been 
included as justification in 89 cases.  
Chart 3: Number of QRs notified, by WTO provision cited as justification 
 
Source: WTO Secretariat based on QR notifications received. 
 
3.12.  Members have also made reference to the Agreement on Safeguards, particularly for 
measures taking the form of import quotas, and the TRIPS Agreement. Some QRs have been justified on the basis of waivers, such as the one relating to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme for Rough Diamonds. In addition to the 53 instances where no justification was provided 
("not available" in Chart 3), there are 25 cases wh ere the reference is solely to the Agreement as a 
whole, or the broad article in general, without fu rther details (e.g. there have been 86 cases where 
the Member simply stated “Article XX”). 
3.13.  Chart 4 provides the breakdown of the measures used to implement the QR under each 
legal provision cited as justification, and whether these affect imports or exports. Overall, the two most common types of measures notified across all provisions are: i) non-automatic licensing 
procedures (341 in total) and ii) prohibitions (317 in total). For those QRs which have been 
justified through the general exceptions of Article XX(b), most import measures relate to prohibitions (106), non-automatic licensing procedures (96), and prohibitions except under defined conditions (35). On the other hand, those measures applied on exports relate mostly to 
non-automatic licensing procedures (60) and prohibitions (34). Prohibitions have a considerably 
more important weight for those QRs which have been justified by other paragraphs of Article XX (158 of 277). The large majority of QRs justifie d through the national security exception of 
Article XXI relate to non-automatic licensing procedures (15 on exports and 81 on imports). It 
should be noted that prohibitions except under defined conditions account for most of the measures for which no legal justification was cited. 
G/MA/W/114 
 
- 6 - 
 
  Chart 4: Number of QRs notified, by GA TT 1994 Article cited and type of measure 
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat based on QR notifications received. 
 
3.5  Non-WTO agreements mentioned 
3.14.  Paragraph (v) of the QR Decision requires Members to provide an indication of the grounds 
for the measures maintained, including "any relevant international commitment where 
appropriate". A number of notifications have provided information on non-WTO agreements, but Members have taken different approaches. While some Members have included very detailed information, others have not. 
Chart 5: QR notifications and Members'  participation in non-WTO agreements 
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat based on QR notification s and the websites of the different Conventions. 
 
G/MA/W/114 
 
- 7 - 
 
  3.15.  Chart 5 shows the number of WTO Members that are signatories to some of the 
international conventions that have been cited, and compares it with the number of Members that 
have made reference to them in the notifications. The most frequently cited international conventions in the notifications include the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the 
Ozone Layer, CITES, and the Basel Convention on Hazardous Wastes, among others.  
3.6  Other elements in the notifications 3.16.  Paragraph 2(vii) of the QR Decision allows Members to provide information on, inter alia , 
the manner in which the restriction is administered, and whether it is applied on a MFN basis or to 
the trade with one or more trading partners. This possibility has been used by 25 of the 27 Members which have provided additional information on 406 QRs. 
3.7  Cross-reference to other WTO notifications  
3.17.  Cognizant of the fact that a number of measures are already subject to specific notification 
requirements under different WTO Agreements, as well as the need to avoid unnecessary duplication, the QR Decision provides for the possibility to make cross-references to other 
notifications.
15 In this regard, the format allows Members to include a cross-reference to 
notifications made pursuant to the Agreement on Agriculture, Agreement on Balance of Payments, 
Agreement on Safeguards, Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures (only the non-automatic 
ones), and other agreements.16  
3.18.  Of the 27 Members that have notified QRs, 16 have included cross-references to other WTO 
notifications, all of which refer to the Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures. There are, however, cases where only the document symbol has been provided and the notification referred 
to does not contain all the information required by the QR Decision. 
                                               
15 Paragraph 3 of the QR Decision.  
16 Section 2 of Annex1 to the QR Decision. G/MA/W/114 
 
- 8 - 
 
  ANNEX  
QR NOTIFICATIONS SUBMITTED PURSUANT TO G/L/59/REV.1 
Member No. of 
Notifications Document Type Date 
1. Australia 2 G/MA/QR/N/AUS/1 Complete 16/10/2012 
G/MA/QR/N/AUS/2 Complete 15/01/2015 
2. Canada 2 G/MA/QR/N/CAN/1 Complete 07/11/2012 
G/MA/QR/N/CAN/2 Complete 23/10/2014 
3. China 3 G/MA/QR/N/CHN/1 Complete 08/04/2015 
G/MA/QR/N/CHN/2 Complete 08/04/2015 
G/MA/QR/N/CHN/3 Complete 08/04/2015 
4. Costa Rica 2 G/MA/QR/N/CRI/1 and  
G/MA/QR/N/CRI/1/Corr.1 Complete 30/09/2012 
G/MA/QR/N/CRI/2 Complete 03/10/2014 
5. Cuba 2 G/MA/QR/N/CUB/1 Complete 07/01/2013 
G/MA/QR/N/CUB/2 Complete 24/09/2014 
6. European Union 2 G/MA/QR/N/EU/1 Complete 24/04/2013 
G/MA/QR/N/EU/2 Changes 09/10/2014 
7. Georgia 1 G/MA/QR/N/GEO/1 Complete 25/03/2014 
8. Hong Kong, China 3 G/MA/QR/N/HKG/1  Complete 28/09/2012 
G/MA/QR/N/HKG/1/Add.1 Changes 30/04/2013 
G/MA/QR/N/HKG/2 Complete 02/10/2014 
9. India 1 G/MA/QR/N/IND/1 Complete 01/10/2013 
10. Japan 2 G/MA/QR/N/JPN/1 Complete 22/01/2013 
G/MA/QR/N/JPN/2 Complete 15/01/2015 
11. Lao People's 
Democratic Rep. 1 G/MA/QR/N/LAO/1 Complete 12/10/2014 
12. Korea, Republic of 1 G/MA/QR/N/KOR/1 Complete 15/10/2012 
13. Macao, China 2 G/MA/QR/N/MAC/1 Complete 30/09/2012 
G/MA/QR/N/MAC/2 Complete 18/09/2014 
14. Mali 1 G/MA/QR/N/MLI/1 Complete 05/03/2013 
15. New Zealand 2 G/MA/QR/N/NZL/1 Complete 12/10/2012 
G/MA/QR/N/NZL/2 Complete 01/10/2014 
16. Nicaragua 1 G/MA/QR/N/NIC/1 Complete 22/10/2014 
17. Peru 1 G/MA/QR/N/PER/1 Complete 28/08/2013 
18. Russian 
Federation 2 G/MA/QR/N/RUS/1 Complete 14/09/2012 
G/MA/QR/N/RUS/2 Complete 18/09/2014 
19. Philippines 1 G/MA/QR/N/PHI/1 Complete 19/05/2015 
20. Chinese Taipei 1 G/MA/QR/N/TPKM/1 Complete 29/09/2014 
21. Singapore 2 G/MA/QR/N/SGP/1 Complete 06/05/2013 
G/MA/QR/N/SGP/2 Complete 15/04/2015 
22. Switzerland 1 G/MA/QR/N/CHE/1 Complete 11/03/2014 
23. Thailand 1 G/MA/QR/N/THA/1 and  
G/MA/QR/N/THA/1/Corr.1 Complete 22/10/2012 
24. Turkey 1 G/MA/QR/N/TUR/1 and  
G/MA/QR/N/TUR/1/Corr.1 Complete 30/09/2012 
25. Ukraine 4 G/MA/QR/N/UKR/1 Complete 28/09/2012 
G/MA/QR/N/UKR/1/Add.1 Changes 30/04/2013 
G/MA/QR/N/UKR/1/Add.2 Changes 20/08/2013 
G/MA/QR/N/UKR/1/Add.3 
  Changes 24/01/2014 G/MA/W/114 
 
- 9 - 
 
  Member No. of 
Notifications Document Type Date 
26. United States 2 G/MA/QR/N/USA/1 Complete 03/10/2012 
G/MA/QR/N/USA/2 Complete 07/10/2014 
27. Uruguay 1 G/MA/QR/N/URY/1 Complete 08/01/2014 
Source:  WTO Secretariat. 
 
__________