. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/MA/239 
4 September 2009 
 (09-4174) 
Committee on Market Access  
  
FRAMEWORK TO ENHANCE IDB NOTIFICATIONS COMPLIANCE 
 
Adopted on 13 July 2009
 
 
1. Introduction 
  Gaps and delays in submitting tariff or impor t information to the Integrated Data Base (IDB) 
are usually not related to the unavailability of the da ta at national level.  To overcome this lack on 
compliance, technical assistance is a key option for enhancing the Members' capacity in fulfilling 
their notification requirements.1  By giving to the Secretariat more flexibility to collect data from 
official national, regional or international sources unde r certain circumstances, the participation in the 
IDB will be increased and the reporting burden that  presently falls on the Members' delegations eased. 
 
2. Identification of reliable sources of official data 
 For Members with significant gaps in their ID B submissions, the Secretariat will in the first 
instance send a reminder to the delegation concerned expl aining the extent of thei r data gaps.  In order 
to facilitate this process, and to ensure that the Members' interests are fully taken into account, the 
reminders shall seek guidance in identifying the ap propriate data source(s).  Any guidance received 
shall be taken into account by the Secretariat in di recting its search of suitable, official data.  If no 
guidance is received thirty days following the reminde r, the Secretariat will then proceed to check for 
the availability of the relevant data in the di fferent types of sources provided in the list below.2 
 (a) Direct contact with the appropriate national agencies or ministries for the collection of 
outstanding data. 
 
The Secretariat currently receives data directly  from several national agencies and ministries 
thus alleviating the burden of delegations in procuring and transmitting the data.  Identifying a 
network of direct national contact s within national agencies or ministries, in close cooperation with 
Members, can serve to encourage the submission of outstanding IDB data.  Such a network of 
national experts will be very helpful in the long run, to keep the database complete and to maintain the 
quality of the information included in the IDB.    (b) Data available to the public th rough national governmental websites 
 
 The Secretariat will identify national govern mental websites maintained by customs 
authorities, ministries of international trade (or re lated) or national statistical offices for publicly 
available relevant data.  The document series G/MA /TAR/3, which contains a list of national tariff 
data website addresses, will be used as a starti ng point.  In addition, Members may inform the 
Secretariat by electronic mail to the IDB mailbox (idb@wto.org) about any reliable electronic sources 
that could be used for the data collection of the Member concerned. 
                                                     
 
1 See document WT/L/225, Supply of Information to the Integrated Data Base for PCs. 
2 Relevant data are those covered by the IDB notif ication requirements (see G/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1).  In 
brief, it includes: MFN applied and current bound duties, b ilateral import statistics at the tariff line level and, on 
a voluntary basis, preferential duties.   G/MA/239 
Page 2  
 
   (c) Data available in relevant regional inte r-governmental agencies or regional integration 
agreements' secretariats 
 
The Secretariat will establish c ontact with regional inter-govern mental agencies or regional 
integration agreements' secretariats to evaluate  the possibility of retrieving outstanding data from 
these bodies and encourage data exchanges.  Inter governmental agencies or other agencies having 
access to the IDB will be contacted first, in particular , as they have been encour aged to exchange data 
with the WTO.
3  National sources of the original data as well as original data formats need to be 
provided to allow back-tracing of data to official sources.   
(d) Data obtained from other international orga nisations, such as the ITC, UNCTAD and the UN 
Statistical Division (COMTRADE database). 
 
The Secretariat will investigate the possibility to include data available in other international 
organisations such as the ITC, UNCTAD and from the UN Statistical Division COMTRADE database 
the outstanding import statistics.  National sources of th e original data, as well as original data formats 
need to be provided to allow for the back-t racing of data to its official sources.  
 
The Secretariat will pursue the options listed above , in light of guidance the delegation is able 
to provide, with a view to achieving the best result for the Member concerned in terms of filling that 
Member's data gaps with official data.  The Secr etariat shall exercise due d iligence in ensuring that a 
that sources are traceable, with a view to fac ilitating the verification of any data proposed for 
inclusion as an IDB notification.   
 
3. Procedure and timeframe 
As soon as the Secretariat identifies a potential s ource of relevant data, the delegation of the 
Member concerned will be informed by e-mail.
4  This communication will include the source of the 
data (agency name and contact pers on, or website address, date of receipt or download), as well as the 
actual data in the form it has been received. 
 Members will have a period of sixty days to raise any objection regarding the source proposed 
or the data retrieved.  After this period and if no obje ction is raised, the Secretariat will process the data 
and disseminate the file as provided for in the existing procedures, via the Internet  File Transfer Facility 
with a "provisional" status.
5  Provisional files are distributed to  all WTO Members and also to those 
Acceding countries that have  provided IDB submissions.6  Provisional files are automatically deemed 
approved if the Member does not submit revisions w ithin sixty days.  Delegations concerned will be 
kept fully informed by the Secretariat of any data  that have not been directly submitted by them.  
 
 Members will retain the right to transmit, at  any time, modifications to their files.  
Furthermore, they will retain the right to object to  any data which they might consider not reflecting 
accurately the concerned Member's situation, as well as to withdraw, revise or replace any data already incorporated into the IDB.   
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3 On data exchange see footnote 3 of G/MA/238. 
4 Or by regular mail if no e-mail is available. 
5 If a Member's delegation has (already) authorized th e Secretariat in written form to obtain data from 
national, regional or international sources, the data w ill then be processed directly for dissemination under the 
"provisional" status.  
6 See document G/MA/115, including its Addenda and Corrigenda.