RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/LIC/M/27 
11 June 2008 
 (08-2739) 
Committee on Import Licensing  
  
 
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 28 APRIL 2008 
 
Chairperson:  Mr. Marco J. Kassaja (Tanzania)
 
  
 The Committee on Import Licensing held its twenty-seventh meeting on 28 April 2008.
1 The 
agenda proposed for the meeting, contained in WTO/AIR/3175 circulated on 16 April 2008, was 
adopted as follows:    
Table of Contents
 
 
1. Members' compliance with notification ob ligations – Developments since the last 
meeting ........................................................................................................................ ...............1  
2. Notifications.................................................................................................................. .............4  
(i) Notifications under Articles 1.4(a) and/or 8.2(b) of the Agreement (publications 
and/or legislation)............................................................................................................ ...........4  
(ii) Notifications under Article 5 of the Agreement (new import licensing procedures, 
changes to existing licensing procedures and reverse notifications)..........................................5  
(iii) Notifications under Article 7.3 of the Ag reement (Replies to the Questionnaire on 
Import Licensing Procedures)................................................................................................... ..5 
3. Other Bu siness................................................................................................................. ..........6  
(i) Information on technical assistance ac tivities related to the Agreement on Import 
Licensing Procedures........................................................................................................... .......6  
4. Date of the ne xt meeting ....................................................................................................... ....7 
5. Election of Officers........................................................................................................... .........7  
 
 
1. Members' compliance with notification ob ligations – Developments since the last 
meeting 
1.1 The Chairperson  informed the Committee that sin ce the last meeting, a total of 
20 notifications had been received: 4 notificati ons under Articles 1.4(a) and/or 8.2(b) on 
legislation/publications; 6 under Article 5.1-5.4 on new licensing procedures or changes to the 
procedures in force; and 10 under Article 7.3 – repli es to the Questionnaire.  As of the day of the 
meeting, out of a total Membership of 151, counting the European Communities (EC 27) as one Member, there remained 21 Members
2 who had not submitted any notif ication under any provision  of 
                                                      
1 Initially scheduled to take  place on 17 April 2008. 
2 Angola, Belize, Botswana, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Guinea, 
Guinea Bissau, Lesotho, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myan mar, Nepal, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Sierra 
Leone, Solomon Islands, Tanzania,  Tonga and Vietnam. G/LIC/M/27 
Page 2  
 
  the Agreement since joining the WTO.  He urged all those Members who had not yet provided any 
information on their laws and regul ations relevant to import licensing to submit their notifications 
before the Committee without further delay.  1.2 As to notifications concerning Members' laws  and regulations (under Articles 1.4(a) and/or 
8.2(b)), only a cumulative total of 95 Me mbers, counting the EC-27 as one, had submitted 
notifications.  Thus, 29  Members had yet to submit their notifications under this provision.  Under 
paragraphs 1 to 4 of Article 5, only 29 Member s, the EC-27 counted as one, had notified new 
licensing procedures or changes in the existing ones.  Of these one Member (Papua New Guinea) had notified changes to import licensing procedures  without submitting the initial notification of 
legislation or its replies to the Questionnaire.  The Chairperson urged those Members who had not yet 
notified either their new licensing procedures or cha nges in existing procedures to do so.  He informed 
the Committee that, while Article 5.5 of the Ag reement allowed Members to submit counter-
notifications, up to the present no such counter-notifica tions had been received.  As to the replies to 
the Annual Questionnaire under Article 7.3, he info rmed the Committee that only a cumulative total 
of 90 Members, counting EC-27 as one, had submitted their replies to the Questionnaire since the 
entry into force of the WTO Agreement.  He also recalled that the annual deadline for the responses 
was 30 September, a deadline often not respected by many Members.  He urged those Members who had not yet responded to the Questionnaire to subm it their responses without further delay.  He 
highlighted that Members who did not apply im port licensing procedures or had no laws or 
regulations relevant to the Agreem ent were also required to notify the Committee of this fact in order 
to obtain a complete overview of the licensing regimes of all Members.  He asked the Secretariat to 
send reminders to Members in this regard before  30 September 2007 and stated that compliance with 
the notification obligations under the Agreement ha d improved, but there still remained important 
gaps.  Finally, he informed the Committee that th e Secretariat had contacted the delegation or the 
capital of those Members who had sent incomplete draf t notifications to the CRN.  Such incomplete 
notifications included not attaching copies of the le gislation, or not providing the summary in one of 
the three WTO official languages.  However, in most cases there had been no feedback to these 
contacts.  1.3 The Chairperson informed the Committee that, since the last meeting, only one document 
containing questions from delegations concerning licensing systems maintained by some Members 
had been circulated.  This document, circulated in the G/LIC/Q/- series as document G/LIC/Q/USA/3, 
contained questions from Canada to the United States. 
 
1.4 The delegate of the United States  thanked Canada for submitting the question on the US 
import licensing scheme for narcotic raw materials.  Since her delegation had only received the 
questions recently it would provide a written response shortly3. 
 
1.5 The delegate of Canada  thanked the US for the information that a written reply was coming;  
her delegation would study the forthcoming written re ply and revert to the US for any follow-up. 
 
1.6 The delegate of Australia  posed the following questions to China regarding its import 
licensing scheme on iron ore4: (i)  could China explain the changes introduced to its import  
requirements relating to iron ore;  (ii)  to whom should an application for an import licence be lodged:  
the Ministry of Commerce, the China Iron & Steel  Association (CISA) or the China Chamber of 
Commerce of Metals Minerals & Chemicals Importers and Exporters (CCCMC);  (iii)  if an application was lodged with the Ministry of Commer ce, was the reference to CISA or CCCMC?  If so 
on what authority;  (iv)  if an application w as lodged with CISA or CCCMC, on what authority was 
                                                     
 
3 Circulated after the Committee m eeting in document G/LIC/Q/USA/4. 
4 Circulated after the Committee meeting in document G/LIC/Q/CHN/22 (and Corr. 1 in English only)  G/LIC/M/27 
 Page 3 
 
 
  that done;  (v) in either case, what was the objec tive of CISA or CCCMC involvement; and, (v)  could 
CISA or the CCCMC affect the outcome of an import licence application?  If so , on what basis?  If 
not, why were CISA or the CCCMC involved?  1.7 The delegate of China
 stated that he would convey Aust ralia's questions to his Capital and 
provide the replies in writing. 
 1.8 The delegate of Australia
 thanked China for its intention to provide written responses; his 
delegation would consider them closely.  
1.9 The Chairperson
 recalled that he had sent reminders to the delegations of Argentina, Brazil, 
India and Indonesia concerning the questions posed at the last meeting of the Committee.  He therefore invited delegations that were in a position to  provide replies to the questions to do so at this 
meeting;  he also reminded them that under th e procedures adopted in the Committee they were 
required to provide replies, in writing, to those de legations that had posed questions, with copies to 
the Secretariat.
5  
 
1.10 The delegate of Argentina , in response to the questions put to her delegation by the US at the 
last meeting of the Committee on import licensing procedures for footwear and toys, informed the Committee that:
6  (i) the applicable requirements for the allocation of footwear import licences were 
the same for both, importers and domestic producers.  These requirements were set out in Resolution N° 486/2005 which provided that such non-automatic licences "shall be granted to importers" that 
would have complied with Resolution N° 508/199 wh ich, in turn, provided that any footwear 
marketed in Argentina might comply certain labe lling requirements aimed at protecting consumer's 
information rights in order to ensure freedom of  choice.  The mechanism was established in the 
Annex to Resolution N° 485/2005 which set out th e verification procedure to be followed by 
importers;  it also referred to the different steps that would take place at the Imports Department of the 
National Foreign Trade Management Directorate, which verified the composition of the product.  
After this verification, the Imports Department forw arded the application to the Department of Fair 
Trade of the National Directorate of Domestic Trad e.  The licence, once granted, might be presented 
at the Directorate-General of Customs, togeth er with the rest of the supporting documentation 
required.  The delay for obtaining these licences did not  exceed the one provided for in paragraph 5(f) 
of Article 3 of the Agreement on Import Licensing.  (ii)  The import licensing procedure for the toy 
sector was non-automatic in nature;  the mechan ism was established in the Annex to Resolution 
485/2005 titled "Procedure for the Issuance of the Toy Import Certificate (CIJ)" which set out the 
licence verification procedure.  Accordingly, importe rs were required to submit an application to the 
Imports Department of the nati onal Foreign Trade Management Di rectorate so as to verify, inter alia , 
the certificate demonstrating compliance with the to y safety standards of the Argentine Institute of 
Standardization and Certification (IRAM);  this was an essential re quirement to guarantee consumers' 
rights and to protect human health.  Additionally th e Imports Department forwarded the application to 
the Department of Fair Trade of the National Directorate of Domestic Trade for appropriate action.  The import licence, once granted, might be presented to  the Directorate-General of customs, together 
with the rest of the supporting documentation normally required. 
 
1.11 The delegate of the United States
 thanked Argentina for the information provided.   
 1.12 The delegate of India
, in response to the questions put to his delegation by the US at the 
previous meeting, stated that:  (i) the link of ITC (HS) Classification on the DGFT website was now operative and could be visited at http://dgft.delhi.nic. in;  (ii) regarding the US query as to whether an 
import licence was required for importing refurbis hed computer components which had not been 
                                                     
 
5 See document G/LIC/4. 
6 Circulated after the Committee m eeting in document G/LIC/Q/ARG/5. G/LIC/M/27 
Page 4  
 
  mentioned by India in its responses to the qu estionnaire, clarified that notification No.8 
(Re: 2007/2004-2009), which was no tified to the Committee in document G/LIC/N/1/IND/10, dated 
24 September 2007, was part of India's forei gn trade policy 2004-2009;  (iii) the ITC (HS) 
Classification, which had been made available on the website, provided for the individual import licences and the import policy for each item;  thus, to  raise this issue again in the responses to the 
questionnaire would had been a duplication of what w as available on the website.  Moreover, if put in 
the responses to the questionnaire it could have run into 50-60 pages, since it contained thousands of 
items.  Therefore, it was not possible to put the policy for each item in the said responses;  (iv) import licences were assured if the conditions mentioned in the foreign trade policy were met.  Therefore, it 
would be difficult to say whether they would be  automatic or non-automatic because licences would 
be issued as far as the conditions were satisfied ; and, (v) regarding how the fees on import licences 
were determined and their relations hip with the approximate cost of the services rendered, as referred 
to in GATT Article 8, he informed the Committee th at the total fee collected  did not exceed the cost 
of services rendered.  Ad valorem  levy facilitated collecting fees on the basis of ability to pay, i.e. the 
smallest importers paid less.   
 
1.13 The delegate of Indonesia
, also referring to questions put to his delegation by the US and 
contained in document G/LIC/Q/IDN/7/Add.1, date d 8 January 2007, informed the Committee that 
the Decree of the Minister of Trade and Industry of Indonesia N° 732/MPP/KEP/10/2002 concerning textile products, had been revoke d and replaced by Decree of the Ministry of Trade No. 19/M-
DAG/PER/9/2005.  Thus, Indonesia applied an au tomatic licensing procedure as contained in 
Article 4 of the new Decree.  Her delegation had alr eady provided a response in this regard;  if the US 
still had questions concerning Indonesia's new piece of  legislation, information could be found in the 
WTO Secretariat.  If the US had follow-up questions  on this Decree, her capital had also indicated 
that bilateral consultations would take place next month. 
 
1.14 The Committee took note
 of the statements made. 
 
2. Notifications 
(i) Notifications under Articles 1.4(a) and/or 8.2( b) of the Agreement (publications and/or   
legislation) 
2.1 The Chairperson  recalled that Articles 1.4(a) and 8.2(b) and notification procedures, as had 
been agreed by the Committee7, required all Members to publis h their laws, regulations and 
administrative procedures, and notify these to th e Committee upon becoming a Member of the WTO, 
together with copies of any relevant publications or  laws and regulations.  Any subsequent changes to 
these laws and regulations were also required to be  notified.  He informed the Committee that under 
these provisions there were four notifications  before the Committee submitted by: Albania 
(G/LIC/N/1/ALB/1);  Macao, China (G/LIC/N/1 /MAC/3), Singapore (G/LIC/N/1/SGP/5) and the 
United States (G/LIC/N/1/USA/4).  He recalled th at after the issuance of the airgram convening the 
previous meeting, two notifications from Colombia (G/LIC/N/1/COL/2) and Thailand 
(G/LIC/N/1/THA/1) had been received and that these no tifications would also be considered at this 
meeting.  
2.2 The Committee took note
 of the notifications.  
 
                                                      
7 G/LIC/3.   G/LIC/M/27 
 Page 5 
 
 
  (ii) Notifications under Article 5 of the Agreement (new import licensing procedures, changes to 
existing licensing procedures and reverse notifications)  
2.3 The Chairperson  recalled that under paragraphs 1 to 4 of Article 5, Members who instituted 
licensing procedures or changes in these procedur es, were required to notify the Committee within 
60 days of the publication of these procedures.  Para graph 2 of Article 5 listed the information that 
should be included in such notifications.  Members also had to submit copies of the publications in 
which this information was publishe d.  Furthermore, paragraph 5 of  Article 5 provided the possibility 
of making counter-notifications, where a Member co nsidered that another Member had not notified a 
licensing procedure or changes therein, in accordance with paragraphs 1-3 of Ar ticle 5.  He informed 
the Committee that under this provision there were  six notifications submitted:  from Honduras 
(documents G/LIC/N/2/HND/1, 2 and 3);  Maur itius (document G/LIC/N/2/MUS/);  Singapore 
(document G/LIC/N/2/SGP/4); and the United Stat es (document G/LIC/N/2/USA/3 and Corr. 1 in 
English only).  2.4 The Committee took note
 of the notifications.   
 
(iii) Notifications under Article 7.3 of the Agreem ent (Replies to the Questionnaire on Import 
Licensing Procedures) 
2.5 The Chairperson  informed the Committee that there were ten notifications before the 
Committee, received from Albania; Guatemala; Honduras; Japan; Malaysia; Mauritius; Oman; Qatar; the United States and Zimbabwe.
8  He recalled that, at the last meeting, he had announced that ten 
notifications from, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Chin a, Colombia, Cote d'Ivoire, Hong-Kong, China; 
Morocco, Qatar and Tunisia,9 received after the issuance of the airgram convening that meeting, 
would be considered at the present meeting.  He also recalled that the notifications listed in the 
airgram convening the previous meeting, received from Macao, China and the Philippines,10 but not 
available at that meeting in the three WTO official  languages, would also be considered at the present 
meeting.   
 2.6 The delegate of Canada
 asked Brazil to explain the process described in paragraph 8 of its 
notification, contained in document G/LIC/N/3/BR A/6, where it was noted that the refusal of a 
licence could be challenged by the importer.   
2.7 The delegate of the United States
 stated that her delegation had taken note of Brazil's 
notifications made under Articles 5, 7.3, 1.4(a) a nd 8.2 of the Agreement.  These documents provided 
general information about Brazil's import licensing scheme but did not answer the questions the US 
had been posing in this Committee over the past  four years, on lithium hydroxide and lithium 
carbonate, products widely commercially available.  Her delegation noted again that it was seeking 
answers to these questions since Brazil had neither  notified its restrictions on these products, nor 
responded to the questions.  2.8 The delegate of Brazil
 informed the Committee that he had sent Canada's question to his 
Capital and that a response would be provided as soon as possible.  Regarding the question from the 
US he said that he could not add anything to wh at had been said previously on the issue of lithium 
hydroxide and lithium carbonate.  Bilateral meeti ngs between Brazil and the US had taken place 
                                                      
8 G/LIC/N/3/ALB/2; G/LIC/N/3/ GTM/4; G/LIC/N/3/HND/1; G/LIC/ N/3/JPN/6; G/LIC/N/3/MYS/3; 
G/LIC/N/3/MUS/3; G/LIC/ N/3/OMN/3;  G/LIC/N/3/ QAT/5; G/LIC/N/3/USA/5 and G/LIC/N/3/ZWE/2. 
9 G/LIC/N/3/BGD/4; G/LI C/N/3/BRA/6; G/LIC/N/3/CAN/6; G/LI C/N/3/CHN/6; G/ LIC/N/3/COL/5; 
G/LIC/N/3/CIV/2; G/LIC/ N/3/HKG/11; G/LIC/N/3/MA R/6; G/LIC/N/3/QAT/4 and G/LIC/N/3/TUN/5. 
10 G/LIC/N/3/MAC/10 and G/LI C/N/3/PHL/5, respectively. 
 G/LIC/M/27 
Page 6  
 
  where information and points of views had been exch anged by the two parties.  In addition to the 
written response already provided by Brazil, and in li ght of the US continued concerns, this issue was 
being carefully examined at the technical level by a number of institutions and agencies.  The further 
questions posed by the US, the relevant legislatio n in Brazil as well as the technical views of all 
institutions and agencies involved, had been taken on board in a process that was long and complex, 
as the US was aware.  He would transmit the renewe d concerns by the US to his capital and he was 
certain that they would be fully addressed.  2.9 The delegate of Canada
 referred to China's notification contained in document 
G/LIC/N/3/CHN/6  where China had noted, regardi ng the provisions on automatic licensing, that the 
number of tariff headings amounted to 616 8-digit ta riff headings.  In paragraph 4 China had stated 
that "[...] Automatic import licensing is an administra tive measure over certai n products which are free 
of import restrictions but monito ring on importation and statistics  collection of which are deemed 
necessary [...]".  It had further noted that "[...] th ere is no restriction in terms of import quantity or 
value [...]".  Canada requested China to explai n why the monitoring of these imports was deemed 
necessary, how the statistics were used and, what cr iteria were used to add or remove a tariff heading 
from the list.  In particular, she asked China to el aborate on the use of this monitoring for coal, iron 
and steel, copper, aluminium waste and scrap, aluminium ores and concentrates, iron ores and concentrates and mineral or chemical fertilizers.  2.10 The delegate of China
 said that his delegation would come back to these questions as soon as 
possible. 
 2.11 The delegate of the United States
, with regard to document G/LIC/N/3/PHL/5, stated that her 
authorities had understood that telecommunicati on equipment required import licences in the 
Philippines, something that had not been menti oned in the Philippines' responses to the annual 
Questionnaire.  In this regard her delegation request ed clarification with regard to: the requirements 
for the importation of telecommunication equipment;  if these requirements had already been notified 
to the WTO membership;  the basis for granting or allocating the import licence for these equipments 
as well as an indication of the agency in the Philippines responsible for issuing those licences. 
 2.12 The delegate of the Philippines
 requested the US to send its questions in written form to her 
Mission.  
 2.13 The Committee took note
 of the notifications, the questions  posed and the statements made. 
 
3. Other Business 
(i) Information on technical assistance activities rel ated to the Agreement on Import Licensing 
Procedures 
3.1 The Chairperson  informed the Committee that, since the last meeting, two countries had 
requested technical assistance from the Secretariat on the Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures.   The objective of these two activities would be to enha nce the administrative capability of the different 
authorities to clearly understand the aim, purposes and particularities of the Agreement;  and to enable 
the authorities to differentiate between the two t ypes of import licences and other trade barriers whose 
legitimate objectives could be better obtained thro ugh less trade-restrictive and less trade-distorting 
measures such as technical regulations, sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures, etc.  These two activities would take place during the second semester of 2008.  
3.2 The Committee took note
 of the information. 
  G/LIC/M/27 
 Page 7 
 
 
  4. Date of the next meeting 
4.1 The Chairperson  informed Members that the Secretariat had tentatively reserved Monday, 
20 October 2008 for the next meeting of the Committee, on the understanding that additional 
meetings would be convened if necessary.  He al so reminded Members that the Seventh Transitional 
Review of China would be carried out at that meeting.  He encouraged Members to send their 
questions to China as soon as possible so as to allow China to prepare its responses well in advance.   
 4.2 The Committee took note
 of the information. 
 
5. Election of Officers 
5.1 The Committee re-elected by acclamation Mr . Marco J. KASSAJA (Tanzania) as Chairperson 
of the Committee, to hold office until the end of the first meeting of 2009, under Rule 12 of the 
Committee's Rules of Procedure (G/L/147).  It also re-elected by acclamation Mrs. Anna ASHIKALI (Cyprus) as Vice-Chairperson.  
__________