WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/MA/W/83 
4 October 2006 
 (06-4761) 
Committee on Market Access Original:   English 
  
 
INFORMATION REQUIRED BY ANNEX 1A OF THE PROTOCOL  
ON THE ACCESSION OF CHINA 
 
Communication from the People's Republic of China
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 3 October 2006, is being distributed at the request of the delegation of the People's Republic of China.  
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1. Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQ) 
 -  Administration of TRQs on a transp arent, predictable, uniform, fair and non-
discriminatory basis using clearly sp ecified timeframes, administrative 
procedures and requirements and evidence of a consistent national allocation 
(and reallocation) policy, including: 
 
(i) Provision of volume/value of th e quota or TRQ made available; 
Regarding the tariff rate quota for importa tion of agricultural products, pursuant to the Interim 
Measures on the Administration of Tariff Rate  Quota for Importation of Agricultural Products , the 
National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of the People’s Republic of China 
promulgated on 30 September 2005 the Quantities, Application Conditio ns and Allocation Methods of 
Tariff Rate Quota for Importa tion of Grain and Cotton of 2006  in its Announcement No. 58 of 2005. 
The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) of the Pe ople’s Republic of China promulgated on 26 
September 2005  the Application and Allocation Methods of  Tariff Rate Quota for Importation of 
Sugar of 2005  in its Announcement No.64 of 2006,  and Implementing Rules on the Administration of 
Tariff Rate Quota for Importation of Wool and Wool Tops of 2006  in its Announcement No.65 of 
2005 . 
 Regarding the tariff rate quota for importation of fertilizers, pursuant to the Interim Measures 
on the Administration of Tariff Rate Quota for Importation of Fertilizers , MOFCOM promulgated on 
29 September 2005  the Quantities, Allocation Principles and Application Procedures of Tariff Rate 
Quota for Importation of Fertilizers of 2006  in its Announcement No.67 of 2005. 
 All the Announcements mentioned above can be obtained from both the official website of 
MOFCOM (www.MOFCOM.GOV.CN) and  the China Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation 
Gazette .  
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   According to the Announcements, quantities of the TRQs of 2006 are as follows: 
 
Products Quantity 
Agricultural products 
Wheat 9,636,000 tons 
Maize 7,200,000 tons 
Rice 5,320,000 tons 
Sugar 1,945,000 tons 
Cotton 894,000 tons 
Wool 287,000 tons 
 
 
Products Quantity 
Industrial products 
Wool tops 80,000 tons 
Urea  3,300,000 tons 
Diammonium phosphate 6,900,000 tons 
NPK 3,450,000 tons 
 
(ii) Reallocated quota or TRQs applied for;  
On 15 August 2005, NDRC and MOFCOM jointly promulgated Announcement No.53 of 
2006,  on reallocation of tariff rate quota for im portation of agricultural products of 2006.  
 
(iii) The volume/value of requests for allocation or reallocation denied; 
Volumes of requests for allocati on denied in 2006 are as follows: 
 
Products Quantity applied for (tons) Quantity denied (tons) 
Wheat 15,647,500 6,011,600 
Maize 19,379,000  12,179,100 
Rice 6,182,000  1,586,100 
Sugar 8,883,000 6,938,000 
Cotton 8,440,000    5,740,000 
 
(iv) Fill rates for the quota or TRQ; 
Import volumes under TRQ and the fill rates as of 31 July 2006 are as follows: 
 
Products Import volume (tons) Fill rate 
Wheat 378,300 3.93% 
Maize 3,400 0.05% 
Rice 419,000 7.88% 
Sugar 656,000 33.73% 
Cotton 894,000+1,806,000 100% 
Wool 159,000 55.40% 
Wool tops 11,900 14.88%  G/MA/W/83 
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Products Import volume (tons) Fill rate 
Urea 32,700 0.99% 
NPK 1,086,100 31.48% 
Diammonium phosphate 1,064,800 15.43% 
 
(v) For TRQs, the amount of any goods entered at the over quota rate; and 
None. 
 
(vi) Time taken to grant a quota or TRQ allocation. 
According to the Interim Measures on the Administration of Tariff Rate Quota for Importation 
of Agricultural Products , NDRC and MOFCOM allocate TRQs for importation of agricultural 
product in two month. 
 
According to the Interim Measures on the Administration of Tariff rate Quota for Importation 
of Fertilizers,  MOFCOM allocates TRQs for importation of fertilizers in two months. 
 
2. Non-Tariff Measures including Quantitative Import Restrictions 
(a) The introduction, re-introduction or applica tion of any non-tariff measures other than those 
listed in Annex 3 of the Protocol a nd elimination of non-tariff measures 
On 7 October 2005, MOFCOM promulgate MO FCOM Announcement No. 93 of 2005, which 
stipulated that vegetable oil (palm oil, rape seed oil and soybean oil) would no longer be subject to 
import TRQ administration after 1 Jan. 2006, but to automatic import licensing.  
 
(b) Implementation of the schedule for phased elimination of the measures contained in Annex 3 
Since accession, the Chinese government has been promulgating annually, through MOFCOM 
(and the former Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation,  MOFTEC) Announcement, 
the Catalogue of Products under Import License Administration and the Catalogue of Products under 
Automatic Import Licensing Administration , which list by tariff item all the products under the 
administration of import quota, import license and au tomatic import licensing. On 10 December 2005, 
the Catalogue of Products under Import License Administration of 2006 is published in 
Announcement No.101 of 2005 of MOFCOM and the General Administration of Customs of the 
People’s Republic of China GAC, and the Catalogue of Products under Automatic Import Licensing 
Administration of 2006 is published on 27 December 2005 in Announcement No. 90 of 2005 of 
MOFCOM and GAC.  Besides, On 7 October 2005, MOFC OM promulgate MOFCOM Announcement 
No. 93 of 2005, which stipulated that vegetable oil (p alm oil, rape seed oil and soybean oil) would no 
longer be subject to import TRQ administration af ter 1 Jan. 2006, but to automatic import licensing. 
All the announcements mentioned above can be obtai ned both from the official website of MOFCOM 
(www.MOFCOM.GOV.CN) and the China Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Gazette . As 
shown in the Catalogue of Products under Import License Administration of 2006,  the Chinese 
government has fulfilled all its commitments on re duction of non-tariff measures according to the 
timetable contained in Annex 3 to the Protocol on  the Accession of the People’s Republic of China.  
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  (c) Quota allocation and reallocation in confor mity with WTO requirements, including the 
Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures follo wing criteria set out in the Report of the 
Working Party on the Accession of China 
On 1 January 2005, pursuant to the Protocol on the Accession of the People’s Republic of 
China, China abolished all its import quantitative restriction measures. Since then, China has not 
maintained any import quota administration. 
 In addition, the allocation and reallocation of TRQs are fully in line with the commitments 
upon China’s accession into the WTO.   
 
(d) Distribution of licenses, quotas, tariff rate quotas or any other means of approval for 
importation is not subject to conditions set out in Section 7, paragraph 3 of the Protocol  
According to all the regulations and ministry decrees related to quota, license and TRQ 
administration, the distribution of import licen ses, TRQs, or any other means of approval for 
importation are not subject to the conditions set out  in Section 7, paragraph 3 of the Protocol.  
 
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