WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/L/849 
8 April 2008 
 
 (08-1571) 
 Original:   Spanish 
  
 
INTRODUCTION OF HARMONI ZED SYSTEM OF 1996 CHANGES 
INTO WTO SCHEDULES OF TARIFF CONCESSIONS 
 
Panama – Schedule CXLI
 
 
Request for a Waiver 
 
  The following communication, dated 17 March 2008, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Panama. 
 
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  The Government of Panama hereby requests a wa iver of its obligations under Article II of the 
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994) and General Council Decision 
WT/L/693 of 27 July 2007 in order to implement the Harmonized System 1996 (HS96) nomenclature 
and adopt the changes that this en tails for Panama's Schedule CXLI. 
  Attached to this request are the following documents for consideration by the Committee on 
Market Access: 
 
1. Waiver Decision of 27 July 2007 in which it is agreed to suspend the application by Panama 
of the provisions of Article II of the GATT 1994 for the purpose of introducing the HS96 changes into Panama's Schedule of Concessions. 
 2. Factual information concerning the request for a waiver for the purpose of introducing the 
HS96 changes into Panama's Schedule of Concessions. G/L/849 
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  REQUEST FOR A WAIVER FOR THE PURPOSE OF INTRODUCING 
HS96 CHANGES INTO PANAMA'S SCHEDULE OF CONCESSIONS 
 
Factual Information
 
 
 
1. Date of original waiver  
  24 April 1998.  
2. Date of submission of documents  relevant to HS96 implementation
 
  21 February 2002.  Furthermore, on 6 Februa ry 2004, Panama sent the delegation of the 
United States of America copies of its foreign trade statistics for 2002, as requested by this delegation. 
 
3. Number of extensions and dates granted
 
  Panama has been granted twelve extensions, the dates of which are as follows:   WT/L/281 – 14 October 1998  WT/L/303 – 15 June 1999 
 WT/L/338 – 4 November 1999 
 WT/L/351 – 3 May 2000  WT/L/379 – 8 December 2000  WT/L/400 – 8 May 2001  WT/L/458 – 13 May 2002 
 WT/L/524 – 24 July 2003 
 WT/L/570 – 17 May 2004  WT/L/620 – 27 July 2005  WT/L/652 – 28 July 2006  WT/L/693 – 27 July 2007  
4. Number of countries with which Artic le XXVIII negotiations have been initiated
 
  None.  
(a) Canada – Further to clarification of an d corrections to the documents submitted by 
Panama to the Secretariat, on 9 September 2002 Canada gave formal notice that it had 
withdrawn its reservation. 
(b) Australia – Further to clarification of and corrections to the documents submitted by 
Panama to the Secretariat, on 23 August 2003 Australia gave formal notice that it had withdrawn its reservation. 
(c) European Communities and United States – These two delegations are still verifying 
the documents provided by Panama, circul ated in documents G/SECRET/HS96/48 of 
4 April 2001, G/SECRET/HS96/48/Add. 1 and Rev.1 of 18 March 2002 and 
4 June 2002 respectively, and G/SECRET/HS96/48/Rev.1/Corr.2 of 14 August 2003. 
5. Outlook for concluding the process
 
 
 On 20 November 2006, Panama submitted notes to the US and EU delegations requesting 
their comments on, or confirmation of their acceptan ce of, its documents in order to conclude this  G/L/849 
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  process by the deadline established by the Secretaria t.  However, and as reported to the Secretariat, 
these delegations have requested that the documen tation provided by Panama be reviewed by the 
Secretariat prior to the submission of their comments.   Work has been carried out in close coope ration with the Secretariat on the various 
clarifications requested by Panama with regard to a number of points in the document submitted.  
These have already been sent to the Secretariat a nd it is therefore hoped that the review of the 
documents will be completed as soon as possible in order to formally finalize the implementation of 
HS96 nomenclature changes.  
 In the light of the above consid erations and taking into consider ation the fact that Panama will 
have to conclude these consultations or po ssibly conduct negotiations  under Article XXVIII, 
particularly in view of the general reservations ma de by other Members, we expect that a period of 
12 months as from the date of application of the waiver will be needed to complete the 
implementation of these amendments. 
 
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