WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/L/598 
14 December 2004 
 (04-5510) 
  
  
 
INTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 2002   CHANGES INTO 
WTO SCHEDULES OF TARIFF CONCESSIONS 
 
Decision of 13 December 2004
1 
 
 
 The General Council, 
 
 Having regard  to Articles IV:2 and IX:3 of the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the World 
Trade Organization (the "WTO Agreement");   Considering that the General Council, by its Decisions of 13 May 2002
2 and 8 July 20023, 
acting pursuant to the provisions of Articles IV:2  and IX:3 of the WTO Agreement, suspended the 
application of the provisions of Article II of GATT 1994 for certain Members for periods up to one year 
for each respective Member to the extent necessa ry to implement domestically the "HS2002 changes"4 
pending incorporation of such changes into their Schedules of Concessions, subject to certain conditions;  
 Considering that the General Council, by its Decisions of 12 December 2002
5 and 
11 February 20046, acting pursuant to the provisions of Articles IV:2 and IX:3 of the WTO Agreement, 
suspended the application of the provisions of Article II of GATT 1994 for further periods until 
31 December 2004 for those Members listed in the  Annexes to those  Decisions, and any other Member 
who fulfilled certain conditions7, to the extent necessary to implement domestically the HS2002 changes 
pending incorporation of such changes into their Schedules of Concessions, subject to certain 
conditions;  
 Noting  that the same Members, who are listed in the Annex to the present Decision, have 
requested an extension of their respective waivers;  
 Considering  that the Members listed in the Annex to the present Decision would need more 
time to proceed with consultations an d/or possible Article XXVIII negotiations; 
 
                                                     
 
1 Adopted in accordance with the Decision-Making Procedures under Articles IX and XII of the 
WTO Agreement agreed by the General Council in November 1995 (WT/L/93). 
2 WT/L/469 in respect of 23 Members. 
3 WT/L/477 in respect of Romania.  
4 "HS2002 changes" are defined as the amendments to the Harmonized Commodity Description and 
Coding System recommended by the Council of the World Customs Organization in its Recommendation 
adopted on 25 June 1999 which came into force on 1 January 2002.  "Harmonized System" refers to Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System. 
5 WT/L/511. 
6 WT/L/562. 
7See in this regard the notification by Brazil (G/SECRET/HS02/BRA/1),  Chinese Taipei 
(G/SECRET/HS02/TPKM/1 and G/MA/152),  Costa Rica (G/SECRET/HS02/CRI/1) and El Salvador 
(G/SECRET/HS02/SLV/1).  WT/L/598 
Page 2  
 
  Considering that other Members not listed in the Annex to this Decision may already have 
implemented domestically the HS2002 changes, or may intend to do so, pending incorporation of such 
changes into their Schedules of Concessions, and may also desire to be covered by this waiver; 
 
 Decides, in view of the exceptional circumstances, to suspend the application of the provisions 
of Article II of GATT 1994: 
 
 (a) for those Members listed in the Annex fo r a further year until 31  December 2005; and 
 
 (b) for any other Member not listed in th e Annex who desires to be covered by the 
present waiver and who implements domestically the HS2002 changes, and notifies the Committee on Market Access accordingly, for the period from the date of 
implementation of the HS2002 changes fo r that Member until 31 December 2005;  
 
to the extent necessary for the purpose of enabli ng such Members to implement domestically the 
recommended amendments to the Harmonized System  nomenclature pending incorporation of such 
changes into their Schedules of Concessions, subject to the following conditions: 
 
 (i) Members not listed in the Annex to this Decision wishing to be covered by this 
waiver shall submit the docu mentation required under paragraph 1 of the Procedures 
in Attachment B (read along with Section 2 of Attachment A) adopted by the General Council to implement HS2002 changes to Schedules of Concessions
8, prior to 
submitting their respective notification to the Committee on Market Access of their 
desire to be covered by the present  waiver; 
 
 (ii) Members covered by paragraphs (a) and (b) of this Decision shall, where necessary, 
promptly enter into negotiations and/or consultations with interested Members 
pursuant to paragraphs 1-3 of Article XXVIII of GATT 1994;  
 
 (iii) The negotiations and/or consultations mentioned above shall, to the extent possible, 
be completed by 31 December 2005; and 
 
 (iv) In accordance with the provisions  of Article XXVIII:3 of GATT 1994, applied 
mutatis mutandis  to the present waiver, pending the entry into force of the results of the 
negotiations and/or consultations mentioned above, the other Members will be free to 
suspend concessions initially ne gotiated with the Member co ncerned to the extent that 
they consider that adequate compensation is not offered by the Member concerned. 
                                                      
8 WT/L/407.  WT/L/598 
 Page 3 
 
 
  
ANNEX 
 
Members covered by the waiver  granted in this Decision  
 
1. Argentina      
2. Australia 
3. Brazil      
4. Bulgaria      
5. Canada     
6. China 
7. Chinese Taipei  
8. Costa Rica 
9. Croatia 
10. El Salvador 
11. European Communities 
12. Hong Kong, China 
13. Iceland 
14. India 
15. Republic of Korea 
16. Macao, China 
17. Mexico 
18. New Zealand 
19. Nicaragua 
20. Norway 
21. Romania 
22. Singapore 
23. Switzerland 
24. Thailand 
25. United States 
26. Uruguay 
 
__________