WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/MA/W/99 
29 September 2009 
 (09-4560) 
Committee on Market Access Original:   English 
  
 
CHINA'S TRANSITIONAL REVIEW MECHANISM 
 
Communication from China
 
  
 The following communication, dated 28 September 2009, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegation of China.  
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1. Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQ) 
-  Administration of TRQs on a transparent, predictable, uniform, fair and non-
discriminatory basis using clearly specified timeframes, administrative procedures and 
requirements and evidence of a consistent na tional allocation (and reallocation) policy, 
including: 
 
(i) Provision of volume/value of th e quota or TRQ made available; 
 Regarding the tariff rate quota for importa tion of agricultural products, pursuant to the Interim 
Measures on the Administration of Tariff Rate  Quota for Importation of Agricultural Products , 
National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) promulgated on 26 September 2008 the 
Quantities, Application Conditions and Allocation Me thods of Tariff Rate Quota for Importation of 
Grain and Cotton of 2009  in its Announcement No. 61 of 2008. Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) 
promulgated on 27 September 2008 the Application and Allocation Methods of Tariff Rate Quota for 
Importation of Sugar of 2009  in its Announcement No.74 of 2008,  and Implementing Rules on the 
Administration of Tariff Rate Quota for Im portation of Wool and Wool Tops of 2009  in its 
Announcement No. 75 of 2008.   
  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, MOFCOM also promulgated on 10 October 2008 the Quantities, Allo cation Principles and Application Procedures of 
Tariff Rate Quota for Importation of Fertilizers of 2009 in its Announcement No. 81 of 2008. 
 
 All the Announcements mentioned above can be  obtained from both the official website of 
MOFCOM (WWW.MOFCOM.GOV.CN) and  the China Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation 
Gazette .  
 
 According to the Announcements, quantities of the TRQs of 2009 are as follows: 
 
Products Quantity 
Agricultural products 
Wheat 9,636,000 tons 
Maize 7,200,000 tons G/MA/W/99 
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  Products Quantity 
Rice 5,320,000 tons 
Sugar 1,945,000 tons 
Cotton 894,000 tons 
Wool 287,000 tons 
Industrial products 
Wool tops 80,000 tons 
Urea  3,300,000 tons 
Diammonium phosphate 6,900,000 tons 
NPK 3,450,000 tons 
 
(ii) Reallocated quota or TRQs applied for;  
 On 13 August 2009, NDRC and MOFCOM jointly promulgated Announcement No.9 of 2009,  
on reallocation of tariff rate quota for impor tation of agricultural products of 2009.  
 (iii) The volume/value of requests for allocation or reallocation denied; 
Volumes of requests for allocati on denied in 2009 are as follows: 
 
Products Quantity applied for (tons) Quantity denied (tons) 
Wheat 12,259,400 2,623,400 
Maize 14,103,000 6,903,000 
Rice 5,392,000 72,000 
Sugar 4,875,109 2,930,109 
Cotton 10,010,000 9,116,000 
 
Note: TRQ for wool, wool top and chemical fertilizer are allocated on the basis of “first come, first served”, so the table does not apply to these three products.  
 
(iv) Fill rates for the quota or TRQ; 
 Import volumes under TRQ and the fill rat es as of 31 August 2009 are as follows: 
 
Products Import volume (tons) Fill rate 
Wheat 518,000 5.4% 
Maize 8,000 0.1% 
Rice 159,000 3.0% 
Sugar 909,000 46.7% 
Cotton 976,000 100% 
Wool 209,000 72.7% 
Wool tops 12,000 15.4% 
Urea 39,000 1.2% 
NPK 864,000 25.0% 
Diammonium phosphate 260,000 3.8% 
 
(v) For TRQs, the amount of any goods entered at the over quota rate; and 
 Out-of-rate import of cotton amounted to  198,000 tons as of  31 August 2009.  
  G/MA/W/99 
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  (vi) Time taken to grant a quota or TRQ allocation. 
 There has been no change since last transitional review meeting. 
 
2. Non-Tariff Measures including Quantitative 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 a nd elimination of non-tariff measures 
 Please refer to China’s G/L/59 submission in 2009 to the Committee on Market Access.. 
 (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 the People’s Republic 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 maintained any im port quota administration inconsistent with 
WTO rules or China’s accession commitment. 
  In addition, the allocation and reallocation of  TRQs are fully in line with the commitments 
upon China’s accession into 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 all the regulations and ministry decrees related to quota, license and TRQ 
administration, the 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 the Protocol.  
  
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