. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/C/W/648 
3 May 2011 
 (11-2295) 
Council for Trade in Goods Original:   English 
  
 
INTRODUCTION OF HARMONI ZED SYSTEM 1996 CHANGES 
INTO WTO SCHEDULES OF TARIFF CONCESSIONS 
 
Argentina - Schedule LXIV
 
 
Draft Waiver Decision 
 
  The General Council,  
Considering  that the Members of the WTO, by their Decisions of 13 December 1995, 
18 July 1996, 24 April 1997, 22 October 1997, 24 April 1998, 14 October 1998, 15 June 1999, 4 November 1999, 3 May 2000, 8 December 2000 and 8 May 2001
1 and acting pursuant to the 
provisions of paragraph 3 of Ar ticle IX of the WTO Agreement, suspended application of the 
provisions of Article II of the GATT 1994 until 30 April 2002, for the purpose of enabling the Members listed in the Annex to the said Decisi ons, including Argentina, to implement the 
recommended amendments to the Harmonized System nomenclature; 
 
Considering  that, by their Decision of 8 May 2001, th e Members of the WTO also agreed that 
it would be the last time an extension of the HS96 waiver would be granted on a collective basis, but 
that this would not preclude Members from requesting waivers on an individual basis; 
 
Considering  that, by their Decisions of 13 May 2002, 15 October 2002, 24 July 2003, 
20 October 2004, 27 July 2005, 28 July 2006, 27 July 2007, 31 July 2008, 27 May 2009 and 29 July 2010
 2 and pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article IX of the WTO Agreement, the 
Members of the WTO suspended application of th e provisions of Article II of the GATT 1994 until 
30 April 2011, for the purpose of enabling Argentin a to implement the recommended amendments to 
the Harmonized System nomenclature; 
  Noting  that Argentina has requested a waiver  for the reasons set out in its request
3; 
 Considering  that Article XXVIII negotiations have now  concluded, but that more time is 
required to complete the certification process of  Argentina's schedule LXIV which incorporates 
Harmonized System 1996 changes;  
 Acting  pursuant to the provisions of paragra ph 3 of Article IX of the WTO Agreement; 
 
                                                      
1 WT/L/124 + Corr.1, WT/L/173, WT/L/216, WT/L/243, WT/L/268, WT/L/281, WT/L/303, WT/L/338 
+ Corr.1, WT/L/351, WT/L/379 and WT/L/400. 
2 WT/L/464, WT/L/485, WT/L/523, WT/L/590, WT/L/618, WT/L/653, WT/L/692, WT/L/733, 
WT/L/757 and WT/L/801. 
3 G/L/956. G/C/W/648 
Page 2  
 
   Decides , in view of the exceptional circumstances, to suspend application of the provisions of 
Article II of the GATT 1994 until 30 April 2012, for the purpose of enabling Argentina to implement 
the recommended amendments to the Harmonized Sy stem nomenclature, subject to the following 
conditions:  
 (i) Argentina shall, where necessary, promp tly enter into negotiations and consultations 
with interested Members, pursuant to pa ragraphs 1 to 3 of Article XXVIII of the 
GATT 1994; 
  (ii) The negotiations and consultations menti oned above shall be completed no later than 
30 April 2012; 
  (iii) Pending the entry into force of the re sults of the above-mentioned negotiations or 
consultations held pursuant to Article XXVIII:3, the other Members will be free to suspend concessions initially negotiated with  Argentina to the extent that they 
consider that adequate compensation has not been offered by Argentina. 
 
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