RESTRICTED  
  
TCA/M/34  
 
2 February 2018  
(18-0744) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Trade in Civil Aircraft    
 
MINUTES OF THE MEETI NG 
HELD ON 1 NOVEMBER  2017 
CHAIRPERSON: MR  HSIAO -YIN WU (CHINESE TAIP EI) 
1. The Chair referred to the proposed agenda containe d in document WTO/AIR/TCA/4. T he 
European Union  ("EU")  asked that the Committee revert , under "Other Business", to the HS 
transposition proposal raised by the US at the November 2016  meeting. The Committee  adopted 
the agenda as amended.  
1. FOLLOW -UP OF THE PROTOCOL D ONE IN NOVEMBER 2015  (REPORT FROM THE 
CHAIRMAN)  
2. The Chair reported that only one Participant, the EU, ha d submitted a letter of acceptance of 
the Protocol done in N ovember 2015. It did so on 26 April 2017 . He understood  that regard less of 
whether a Member submitted  a letter of acceptance, they implement ed the substance at the time 
when they submit ted their t ransposed tar iff schedules in its entirety. He was not in a position  to 
know how many Participants we re in this  category, but he trusted that this was  the case for  most 
of the Participants. He ke pt encouraging Members to submit the letter of acceptance.  
 
3. The Committee took note  of the statement made.  
2. OTHER BUSINESS  
4. The EU referred to the proposal made by the U nited States  ("US") at the November 2016 
meeting to transpose the Product Annex into HS2012. The EU recalled that it had proposed to 
combine the transposal into HS2012 with the transposal into HS2017. The EU believed that that 
was technically possible. The EU was interested to hear Participants' views on  this issue. The EU 
also suggested to hold informal consultations to discuss this matter.  
 
5. The US clarified that there was no change in its position since the last meeting. The US had 
no objection to the EU's suggestion to discuss informally how to initiat e the transposition process.  
 
6. The delegate of Japan  stated that he personally found the current situation where only one 
Participant had accepted the updating Protocol  unusual. He was aware that customs authorities of 
the Participants could refer to this u pdated HS classification anyway. In this respect, he wondered 
whether it may be better not to call for a formalistic acceptance process for future HS updates. 
Such formalistic process could be reserved for more substantive changes like expanding the scope 
of the Product Annex.  
 
7. Chinese Taipei  referred to how HS transposition of the consolidated schedules was handled 
in the Market Access Committee. In this light, Chinese Taipei understood that there was no need 
to legally amend the Agreement on Trade in Civ il Aircraft in order to implement the HS 
transposition. Chinese Taipei suggested that the Committee follow a similar practice as that in the 
Market Access Committee .  
 
8. The EU stated that it was not in a position to comment on other acceptance processes, bu t 
in the case of the EU the acceptance process was the procedure followed. If need be, such issues 
could also be taken up in informal consultations.  
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  9. The Chair stated that he would hold informal consultations in 2018, the exact date to be 
confirmed  in due  course.  
 
10. The Committee took note  of the statements made.  
 
3. DATE OF NEXT REGULAR  MEETING  
11. The Committee  agreed  to hold its next regular meeting in November 201 8, with the exact 
date to be confirmed in due course.  
4. ADOPTION OF THE ANNU AL REPORT FOR 2017  
12. The Committee adopted  the annual report for 201 7.1  
 
13. The meeting was adjourned . 
__________  
 
                                                
1 Subsequently circulated as WT/L/1016 -TCA/13.