WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/MA/W/107 
13 October 2011 
 (11-5036) 
Committee on Market Access Original:   English 
  
 
TRANSITIONAL REVIEW MECHANISM PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH 18 OF THE 
PROTOCOL ON THE ACCESSION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLICOF CHINA ("CHINA") 
 
Information notified by China on Annex 1A of the Protocol on 
Accession of the People's Republic of China 
 
Communication from China 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 12 October 2011, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegation of China. 
 
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IV. POLICIES AFFECTING TRADE IN GOODS    
1. Tariff Rate Quotas     
(a) Administration of TRQs on a transparent, pred ictable, uniform, fair and non-discriminatory 
basis using clearly specified timeframes, administrative procedures and requirements and 
evidence of a consistent national allocati on (and reallocation) policy, including:  
(i) Provision of volume/value of the quota or TRQ made available   
 Regarding the tariff rate quota for importati on of agricultural products, pursuant to the  Interim 
Measures on the Administration of Tariff Ra te Quota for Importation of Agricultural 
Products (Ministry of Commerce and National Development and Reform Commission 
Decree No. 4 in 2003, G/LIC/N/1/CHN/4 and G/AG/N/CHN/2), National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) promulgated on 28 September 2009 the Quantities, Application 
Conditions and Allocation Methods  of Tariff Rate Quota for Importation of Grain and Cotton 
of 2010  in its Announcement No. 12 of 2009, and promulgated on 25 September 2010 the 
Quantities, Application Conditions and Alloca tion Methods of Tariff Rate Quota for 
Importation of Grain and Cotton of 2011 in its Announcement No. 27 of 2010.   
  Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) promulgated on 28 September 2009 the Application and 
Allocation Methods of Tariff Rate Q uota for Importation of Sugar of 2010 in its 
Announcement No.71 of 2009 and the Implementing Rules on the Administration of Tariff 
Rate Quota for Importation of Wool and Wool Tops of 2010 in its Announcement No. 72 of 
2009, and  promulgated on 30 September 2010 the Application and Allocation Methods of 
Tariff Rate Quota for Importation of Sugar of 2011 in its Announcement No.64 of 2010, and 
the Implementing Rules on the Administration of  Tariff Rate Quota for Importation of Wool 
and Wool Tops of 2011 in its Announcement No. 65 of 2010. G/MA/W/107 
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   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 (Former State 
Economic and Trade Commission and General Ad ministration of Customs Decree No. 27 in 
2002, and MOFCOM Announcement No. 59 in 2004, G/LIC/N/1/CHN/4), MOFCOM 
promulgated on 27 October 2009  the Quantities, Allocation Principles and Application 
Procedures of Tariff Rate Quota for Importation of Fertilizers of 2010 in its Announcement 
No. 87 of 2009 and promulgated on 17 September 2010 the  Quantities, Allocation Principles 
and Application Procedures of Tariff Rate Quota for Importation of Fertilizers of 2011 in its 
Announcement No. 59 of 2010.  
  
 All the Announcements mentioned above can be  obtained from both the official website of 
MOFCOM (http://www.mofcom.gov.cn) and  the China Foreign Trade and Economic 
Cooperation Gazette .  
   
 According to the Announcements, quantities of  the TRQs for 2010 and 2011 are as follows: 
 
Products Quantity of 2010 Quantity of 2011 
Agricultural products  
Wheat 9,636,000 tons 9,636,000 tons 
Maize 7,200,000 tons 7,200,000 tons 
Rice 5,320,000 tons 5,320,000 tons 
Sugar 1,945,000 tons 1,945,000 tons 
Cotton 894,000 tons 894,000 tons 
Wool 287,000 tons 287,000 tons 
Industrial products  
Wool tops 80,000 tons 80,000 tons 
Urea  3,300,000 tons 3,300,000 tons 
Diammonium phosphate 6,900,000 tons 6,900,000 tons 
NPK 3,450,000 tons 3,450,000 tons 
 
(ii) Reallocated quota or TRQs applied for  
On 11 August 2010, NDRC and MOFCOM jointly promulgated Announcement No.18 of 
2010 on reallocation of tariff rate quota for importa tion of agricultural products of 2010. On 
8 August 2011, NDRC and MOFCOM jointly pr omulgated Announcement No.18 of 2011 on 
reallocation of tariff rate quota for impor tation of agricultural products of 2011.  
 
(iii) The volume/value of requests for allocation or reallocation denied  
Volumes of requests for allocati on denied in 2010 are as follows: 
 
Products Quantity applied for (tons) Quantity denied (tons) 
Wheat 11,623,000 1,987,000
Maize 14,220,000 7,020,000
Rice 5,910,000 590,000
Sugar 4,843,000 2,898,000
Cotton 10,620,000 9,726,000 G/MA/W/107 
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  Volumes of requests for allocati on denied in 2011 are as follows: 
 
Products Quantity applied for (tons) Quantity denied (tons) 
Wheat 13,390,000 3,754,000
Maize 26,060,000 18,860,000
Rice 5,290,000 0
Sugar 5,385,000 3,440,000
Cotton 11,520,000 10,626,000
 
Note: TRQs for wool, wool tops and chemical fertilizers are allocated on the basis of "first 
come, first served", therefore the tables do not apply to these three products.  
 
(iv) Fill rates for the quota or TRQ   
Import volumes under TRQ and the fill rates of 2009 are as follows: 
 
Products Import volume (tons) Fill rate 
Wheat 904,000 9.4% 
Maize 84,000 1.2% 
Rice 357,000 6.7% 
Sugar 1,064,000 54.7% 
Cotton 894,000 100% 
Wool 287,000 100% 
Wool tops 19,000 23.3% 
Urea 39,000 1.2% 
NPK 1,310,000 38% 
Diammonium phosphate 433,000 6.3% 
 
Import volumes under TRQ and the fill rates of 2010 are as follows:  
Products Import volume (tons) Fill rate 
Wheat 1,231,000 12.8% 
Maize 1,573,000 21.9% 
Rice 388,000 7.3% 
Sugar 1,766,000 90.8% 
Cotton 894,000 100% 
Wool 287,000 100% 
Wool tops 15,000 19.3% 
Urea 13,000 0.4% 
NPK 1,075,000 31.2% 
Diammonium phosphate 423,000 6.1% 
 
 G/MA/W/107 
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  Import volumes under TRQ and the fill rat es as of 31 August 2011 are as follows: 
 
Products Import volume (tons) Fill rate 
Wheat 793,000 8.2% 
Maize 453,000 6.3% 
Rice 476,000 8.9% 
Sugar 1,201,000 61.7% 
Cotton 894,000 100% 
Wool 223,000 77.8% 
Wool tops 7,000 8.2% 
Urea 1,000 0.03% 
NPK 676,000 19.6% 
Diammonium phosphate 93,000 1.4% 
 
(v) For TRQs, the amount of any goods entered at the over quota rate; and  
In 2010, imports of cotton over the TRQ which are subject to sliding-scale tariff rates 
amounted to 1,943,000 tons;  imports of co tton over the TRQ subject to out-of-quota tariff 
rate of 40 per cent was 0 tons.  
 
(vi) Time taken to grant a quota or TRQ allocation  
According to the Interim Measures on the Administ ration of Tariff Rate Quota for 
Importation of Agricultural Products , NDRC and MOFCOM allocate TRQs for importation 
of agricultural products in two months. According to the Interim Measures on the 
Administration of Tariff Rate Q uota for Importation of Fertilizers , MOFCOM allocates TRQ 
for importation of chemical fertilizers in two months. 
 
2. Non-Tariff Measures including Quantita tive 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 and elimination of non-tariff measures   
Since accession to the WTO, the Chinese gove rnment has been promulgating annually, 
through MOFCOM (and the former Ministry of  Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, 
MOFTEC) Announcements, the  Catalogue of Goods Subject to Automatic Import Licensing 
Administration  and the  Catalogue of Goods Subject to Import License Administration , which 
list by tariff lines all products under the administration of import quota and/or import license, 
and automatic import licensing. These  Catalogues  are all available in China Foreign Trade 
and Economic Cooperation Gazette  and accessible at the website of MOFCOM 
(http://www.mofcom.gov.cn). As reflected in these  Catalogues , the Chinese government has 
fulfilled all its commitments on reduction of n on-tariff measures according to the timetable 
contained in Annex 3 to the Protocol on the Accession of China.  
  G/MA/W/107 
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  (b) Implementation of the schedule for phased elimination of the measures contained in Annex 3   
The Chinese government has fulfilled all its commitments on reduction of non-tariff measures 
according to the timetable contained in Annex 3 to the Protocol on the Accession of China.  
 
(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   
At present China does not maintain any import quota administration inconsistent with WTO 
rules or China's accession commitments. The allocation and reallocation of TRQs are consistent with China's commitments made upon accession to 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 the regulations and rules related to the administration of quota, licensing and 
TRQ, distribution of import licenses, TRQs, or any other means of approval for importation 
are not subject to the conditions set out in Section 7, paragraph 3 of China's Accession 
Protocol.  
                                                
 
 
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