RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TCA/M/25 
14 January 2010 
 (10-0131) 
Committee on Trade in Civil Aircraft
 
 
 
MINUTES OF THE MEETING  
HELD ON 15 OCTOBER 2009 
 
Chairperson:  Ms. Cecilie Kverme (Norway)  
   Page
 
A. ADOPTION OF AGENDA ...............................................................................................................1  
B. REVISION OF THE PRODUCT COVERAGE ANNEX OF THE 1979  AGREEMENT ON TRADE 
IN CIVIL AIRCRAFT .....................................................................................................................1  
C. TRANSPARENCY EXERCISE .........................................................................................................3  
D. OTHER BUSINESS ........................................................................................................................4  
E. DATE OF NEXT REGULAR MEETING ...........................................................................................4  
F. ADOPTION OF THE ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2009 ..........................................................................4  
 
 A. A
DOPTION OF AGENDA  
1. The Chairperson  referred to the proposed agenda c ontained in document WTO/AIR/3443.  No 
requests were made to raise any new matter unde r "other business".  However, the Chairperson 
mentioned that she intended to raise her imminent departure from Geneva under this agenda item.   
2. The Committee adopted  the agenda contained in WTO/AIR/3443, as amended.   
B. REVISION OF THE PRODUCT COVERAGE ANNEX OF THE 1979  AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN CIVIL 
AIRCRAFT  
3. The Chairperson  recalled that at its meeting of 7 November 2007, the Committee requested 
the Secretariat to prepare a Technical Note outlining the extent to which the Product Coverage Annex ("PCA") of the Agreement on Trade in Civil Airc raft may need to be updated or revised in the 
light of the latest version of the Harmonized Coding and Description System ("HS") that entered into force in 2007.  A Technical Note prepared by the Secretariat was circulated by fax to Signatories on 
3 September 2008 and discussed at the November 20 08 regular meeting of the Committee, with one 
Signatory presenting a series of questions on certain  substantive aspects of that Note, and other 
Signatories providing some preliminary views and reactions.   
4. The Chairperson reminded Signatories that it was agreed at the 2008 regular meeting of the 
Committee to revisit this item at its regular meeti ng in October 2009, and that  she should consult with 
Signatories at the beginning of 2009 to see whet her there was scope for advancing the Committee's 
work ahead of that meeting.   TCA/M/25 
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  5. The Chairperson reported that her informal cont acts with a number of Signatories in the first 
semester of 2009 led her to conclude that, on the whole, Signatories were not, at that time, in a 
position to progress the Committee's work any further.  However, she explained that it was apparent at 
the time that there was a continued willingness to revert to this item at today's meeting.   
6. Before inviting Signatories to take the floor , the Chairperson explained one approach she 
considered might be adopted in order to progress the Committee's work.  The Chairperson suggested 
that it might be useful to have the Secretariat prepare a revised Technical Note, taking into account 
the questions and comments raised thus far.  She suggested that the revised document could then be 
used as a basis for further discussion at a later mee ting of the Committee, with a view to adopting a 
revised Protocol updating the PCA as soon as possible.   
7. The representative of Japan
 recalled that Japan had already provided written comments on the 
Secretariat's Technical Note at the last regular meeting of the Committee in November 2008.  He 
considered that the Committee's work could be a dvanced once other interested Signatories submitted 
their comments.  In this regard, the representative of  Japan stated that he looked forward to hearing 
and reading the comments of other Signatories.  He explained that Japan was of the view that the 
Committee's work on preparing the draft updated PCA would be very useful because Signatories 
would have to update their own Schedules in th e light of HS2007 in any event.  Thus, the 
representative of Japan expressed support for the wa y forward suggested by the Chairperson.   
8. The representative of the European Communities1 thanked the Secretariat for the Technical 
Note, and presented his comments.  He began by requ esting that it be made clear that the Technical 
Note is only a draft and not something that Signato ries are necessarily accepting in whole or in part.  
He explained that, in the view of the European Communities, the purpose of the exercise should be to 
achieve a neutral transposition.   
9. Turning to the substance of the Tec hnical Note, the representative of the 
European Communities considered that in some instances, the transposition suggested in the 
Technical Note included products that were not cove red before, such as, for example, telephone line 
handsets classified under subheadings 84.71.30 or 85.17.11 and 18.  According to the representative 
of the European Communities, these items were not previously covered under the PCA.  Furthermore, 
the representative of the European Communities cons idered that the product description now used 
could be argued to include mobile phones, and stat ed that this would need to be clarified.   
10. The representative of the European Communiti es explained that in other instances, the 
Technical Note appeared to omit products that were  covered before, such as, for example, printers 
which he stated in 2007 fell under subhead ing 84.43.32, as well as aerials falling under 
subheading 85.17.70.  He added that subheadings 85.28.41, 85.28.51 and 85.28.61 should also be 
covered.  In addition, the representative of th e European Communities stated that the "ex" was 
missing in some subheadings, such as in respect of subheadings 68.12.80 and 85.17.  As regards the 
former, that is, subheading 68.12.80, he comment ed that the description should be drafted by 
including the reference to "other than clothing".   
11. The representative of the European Commun ities concluded by expressing support for the 
Chairperson's suggestion for how to advance the Committee's work.   
                                                      
1 On 1 December 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon amendi ng the Treaty on Europe an Union and the Treaty 
establishing the European Community (done at Lisbon, 13 December 2007) entered into force.  On 
29 November 2009, the WTO received a Verbal Note (WT/L/779) from the Council of the Eu ropean Union and 
the Commission of the European Communities stating that, by virtue of the Treaty of Lisbon, as of 
1 December 2009, the European Union replaces and succeeds the European Community.    TCA/M/25 
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  12. The representative of the United States  began by expressing support for the approach of 
having the Secretariat update the Technical Note to incorporate comments by Signatories.  He 
considered that such an approach would be an appr opriate next step forward, allowing all Signatories 
to see the extent of the changes that are being cons idered and that it would probably inform how best 
to proceed.   
13. The representative of the United States explained that he had come prepared with a note 
setting out the United States' comments on the Technical  Note, which he considered were not quite as 
extensive as those outlined by th e European Communities.  He e xplained that the United States' 
comments related to connectors for fibre optics, tr ansceivers and audio video in-flight entertainment 
systems and radio receivers for aircraft.  The repr esentative of the United States considered that the 
best way to proceed would be to provide the Secret ariat with an electronic copy of the comments for 
incorporation into the revised Technical Note  so that all Signatories could see them.   
14. The representative of Japan  expressed appreciation for the comments of the 
European Communities' and the United States' on  the Technical Note.  He agreed that the 
transposition process should be purely technical, and he  shared the view that it was necessary for the 
Secretariat to prepare a working document co mpiling the comments of all Signatories.  The 
representative of Japan requested that in preparing the revised Technical Note, the Secretariat provide 
detailed responses to the questions raised in the Signatories' comments.  He recalled that Japan 
submitted two pages of comments, which included a lot of qualifications and questions.   
15. The Chairperson  thanked Signatories for their comments.   She considered that there was a 
general consensus for the Committee to continue its  work on this item, and that Signatories agreed 
with her suggested approach of requesting the Secret ariat to prepare a revised Technical Note that will 
respond to the questions and comments raised thus fa r and also serve as a basis for further discussion.  
The Chairperson asked whether the Committee considered it might be u seful to meet again before the 
next regular meeting in 2010 to discuss the contents  of the revised Technical Note, or whether the 
Committee preferred that she decide whether such a meeting would be appropriate, after reviewing 
the comments submitted by the Signatories together with the Secretariat.   
16. The representative of Japan  considered that it would be appropriate to leave the decision on 
whether to hold a meeting in early 2010 to the Chairperson.   
17. The Chairperson  explained that, in the light of the Si gnatories' positions, she would review all 
comments thus far received on the Technical Note w ith the Secretariat, and decide whether to hold a 
meeting at the beginning of 2010, or whether it would be appropriate to continue the Committee's 
work until the next regular meeting in 2010 via writ ten procedure.  The Chairperson suggested that 
the Committee take note of the statements made and ag ree to revert to this matter at the next regular 
meeting of the Committee or before then, if necessary.   
18. The Committee  so agreed.   
C. TRANSPARENCY EXERCISE  
19. The Chairperson  recalled that the Chairs of all WTO Committees, including herself, were 
contacted earlier in 2009 by the Chair of the Gene ral Council and invited to hold consultations with 
Members on ways to improve the timeliness and comp leteness of notifications and other information 
flows on trade measures falling within the scope of  their respective areas of responsibility.  The 
Chairperson reminded the Signatories that she ha d communicated this to Signatories by fax of 
27 February 2009, in which she had requested Signator ies to inform the Secret ariat of whether they 
considered it might be useful to call an informal  meeting of the Committee in order to discuss the 
matters mentioned in the Chair's letter.  The Chai rperson recalled that, in the light of the responses TCA/M/25 
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  received by the Secretariat, she had decided not to cal l an informal meeting.  However, she thought it 
would be useful to revisit this matter again.  Thus, the Chairperson invited Signatories to take the 
floor to comment or discuss the invitation from the Chair of the General Council.   
20. The representative of Japan
 expressed appreciation for the Chairperson's quick response to the 
letter from the Chair of the General Council.  He ex plained that Japan supported the initiative of the 
Chair of the General Council to focus on the timel iness and completeness of notifications and other 
information flows, given the unprecedented economic cr isis and increased protectionist sentiments.  
The representative of Japan recalled that, as expl ained in the letter from the Chairperson, the 
Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft does not contain mandatory notification requirements.  
However, he noted that Signatories have in the p ast exchanged information on matters affecting trade 
in civil aircraft.  In this regard, the representative of Japan noted that Japan is always open to further 
discussion on ways to improve information flows in  the Committee, if any request or interest was 
shown by Signatories.  However, for the time being, Japan did not have any issues to raise.   
21. The Chairperson  thanked the representative of Japan fo r his statement.  She noted that no 
other Signatory wanted to take the floor on this i ssue, and suggested that the Committee take note of 
this position.   
22. The Committee took note  of the Chairperson's statement.   
D. OTHER BUSINESS  
23. The Chairperson  explained that she would be return ing to Oslo at the end of 2009 and, 
therefore, that she would be unavailable to continue  her role as Chairperson of this Committee.  The 
Chairperson reminded Signatories that it would be  necessary for the Committee to appoint a new 
Chairperson in 2010.  She therefore suggested th at the Signatories and the Secretariat consult one 
another in the time between now and the next regular Committee meeting with a view to being in a 
position to appoint a new Chairperson.   
E. DATE OF NEXT REGULAR MEETING  
24. The Committee  agreed to hold its next regular meeting on Thursday, 4 November 2010.   
F. ADOPTION OF THE ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2009 
25. The Committee  adopted the annual report for 2009 ad referendum .   
26. The meeting was adjourned .   
 
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