. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/C/W/617 
15 April 2009 
 
 (09-1783) 
Council for Trade in Goods  
  
 
 
INTRODUCTION OF HARMONI ZED SYSTEM 1996 CHANGES 
INTO WTO SCHEDULES OF TARIFF CONCESSIONS 
 
Panama – Schedule CXLI
 
 
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, acting pursuant to the provisions 
of paragraph 3 of Article IX of the WTO Agreemen t, suspended the application of the provisions of 
Article II of the GATT 1994 until 30 April 2002, fo r the purpose of enabling the Members listed in 
the Annex, including Panama, to implement th e recommended amendments to the Harmonized 
System nomenclature;  
Considering  that by Decision WT/L/400 of 8 May 2001 the Members of the WTO also 
decided not to grant, on a collective basis, any furthe r extensions of waivers for the application of the 
provisions of Article II of the GATT 1994 to implement the recommended amendments to the 
Harmonized System nomenclature, but that this w ould not preclude Members from requesting waivers 
on an individual basis;   Considering that the Members of the WTO, by Decisions of 13 May 2002, 24 July 2003, 
17 May 2004, 27 July 2005, 28 July 2006, 27 July 2007 and 31 July 2008
2, acting pursuant to the 
provisions of paragraph 3 of Article IX of the WTO Agreement, suspended the application of the 
provisions of Article II of the GATT 1994 until 30 April 2008 to allow Panama to implement the 
recommended amendments to the Harmonized System nomenclature;  
Noting that Panama has requested a waiver extension for the reasons set out in its request
3; 
 
 Acting  pursuant to the provisions of paragra ph 3 of Article IX of the WTO Agreement; 
 
Decides , in view of the exceptional circumstanc es, to suspend the application of the 
provisions of Article II of the GATT 1994 until 30 Ap ril 2010, for the purpose of enabling Panama to 
implement the recommended amendments to the Ha rmonized System 1996 nomenclature, subject to 
the following conditions:  
                                                     
 
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/458, WT/L/524, WT/L/570, WT/L/620, WT/L/652, WT/L/693 and WT/L/734. 
3 G/L/885. G/C/W/617 
Page 2  
 
  1. Panama shall, where necessary, promptly  enter into negotiati ons and consultations 
with interested Members pursuant to pa ragraphs 1-3 of Article XXVIII of the 
GATT 1994; 
 
2. the negotiations and consultations mentione d above shall be completed not later than 
30 April 2010; 
 
3. pending the entry into force of the resu lts of the negotiations  or consultations 
mentioned, the other Members will be free to suspend concessions initially negotiated 
with Panama to the extent that they consid er that adequate compensation has not been 
offered for the introduction of the recommended amendments to the Harmonized 
System 1996 into Panama's Schedule of Concessions. 
 
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