RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/MA/M/38 
21 December 2004 
 (04-5606 ) 
Committee on Market Access  
 
 
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 22 SEPTEMBER 2004  
 
Chairman: Dr. Magdi Farahat (Egypt ) 
  
 
Subjects discussed:                      Page  
 
1. Periodic report of the Committee to th e Council for Trade in Goods including 
factual  information on waivers expiring on 31 October 2004 (G/MA/SPEC/27)...............2  
2. Submission of HS96 documentation (G/MA/TAR/2/Rev.34)................................................2  
3. HS2002 documentation .......................................................................................................... ..2 
(i) Submission of HS2002 documentation pursuant to the General Council Decision in 
WT/L/407(G/MA/TAR/4/Rev.7)...................................................................................................2  
(ii) Consolidated Tariff Schedules Database - HS2002 transposition (JOB(04)/95) .......................2  
(iii) Extension of the HS2002 waiver ................................................................................................. 5 
4. Modalities and operation of the Integrated Data Base (IDB) ...............................................6  
(i) Status of submission of the required documentation  (G/MA/IDB/2/Rev20) ..............................6  
(ii) Report by the Secretariat ...................................................................................................... ......6  
5. Consolidated Tariff Schedules (CTS) Database.....................................................................6  
(i) Report by the Secretariat ...................................................................................................... ......6  
6. Dissemination of the IDB and the CTS Database ..................................................................7  
(i) Communication from the United Nation s Economic Commission for Europe 
(G/MA/W/57) .................................................................................................................... ..........7  
(ii) Communication from the Pacific Islands Forum Secr etariat (G/MA/W/59) ...... ........................7  
(iii) Communication from the ANDEAN Community Secretariat (G/MA/W/61) ...............................7  
(iv) Communication from the Commonwealth  Secretariat (G/MA/W/63)........................................7  
7. Review of notified quantitative restric tions based on a Secretariat summary 
(JOB(04)/92) ................................................................................................................... ...........7  
8. Transitional Review under Paragraph 18 of the Protocol of Accession of the 
People's Republic of China ....................................................................................................1 0 
9. Draft Report (2004) of the Committee to the Council for Trade in Goods 
(G/MA/SPEC/28) ................................................................................................................. ...18 
10. Election of the Vice Chairperson...........................................................................................19  
11. Date of the next meeting ....................................................................................................... ..19 
ANNEX 1 ........................................................................................................................ ......................20  
ANNEX 2 ........................................................................................................................ ......................22  G/MA/M/38 
Page 2  
 
 The agenda as reproduced in document WTO/AIR/2374 and Add.1  was adopted with the 
inclusion of date of next meeting under "other bu siness". An annotated agenda was circulated in 
document JOB(04)/118. 
 
1.   Periodic report of the Committee to the Council for Trade in Goods including factual 
 information on waivers expiring on 31 October 2004 (G/MA/SPEC/27) 
 1.1 The Chairperson
 drew the attention of the Committee to document G/MA/SPEC/27 which 
contained the draft periodic report of the Committee on Market Access.  This report, which would be 
finalized in the light of the discussion to take place in the meeting, would be submitted to the Council for Trade in Goods for examination at its 1 October 2004 meeting.  The report contained in its Annex I a table summarizing factual information on the waiver under process submitted by Israel.   
 
1.2 Israel had forwarded a request for a waiver ex tension in connection with the introduction of 
HS96 changes to its schedules of concessions. Fact ual information provided by Israel was circulated 
in document G/L/687, and a draft decision in document G/C/W/492.   
1.3 Argentina's recent waiver request was circulat ed in document G/L/693, and draft decision in 
document G/C/W/493. The factual information provided  by Argentina would be included in the final 
periodic report to be submitted to the Council for Trade in Goods. 
 1.4 The Committee approved
 the draft waiver decisions and agreed  to forward them to  the 
Council for Trade in Goods for appropriate action. 
 2.  Submission of HS96 documentation (G/MA/TAR/2/Rev.34) 
 
2.1 The Chairman
 drew the Committee's attention to document G/MA/TAR/2/Rev.34 which 
reflected the present situation concerning the submission of required documentation under the 
procedures to incorporate HS changes to schedules of concessions (L/6905).  From the document, it 
could be noted that the HS96 submissions of five Members remained pending due to ongoing 
consultations.   
 
2.2 The Committee took note  of the statement. 
 3.  HS2002 documentation  
 
(i)  Submission of HS2002 documentation pursuant to the General Council Decision in 
WT/L/407(G/MA/TAR/4/Rev.7) 
 
3.1 The Chairman
 referred to document G/MA/TAR/4/Rev.7  which reflected the situation with 
respect to the circulation of HS2002 documentation.  Since the last revision of this document, El 
Salvador's HS2002 submission had been circulated .  Nicaragua had also submitted its final HS2002 
documentation. 
 
3.2 The Committee took note  of the information. 
 
(ii)  Consolidated Tariff Schedules Database - HS2002 transposition  
 3.3 The Chairman
 stated that since the last formal meeting on 2 July 2004,  he had held some 
informal consultations on the proposal for the Secret ariat to convert the schedules in the CTS database 
into the HS2002 nomenclature.  These consultations had taken place on 15 September 2004.  At those 
consultations, Members had before  them document JOB(04)/95 setting out some of the technical 
issues linked to such a transposition and an addendu m to that document which provided the financial  G/MA/M/38 
 Page 3 
 
 
estimates of such a project.  A flow chart setti ng out possible simplified procedures to this 
transposition exercise was also circulated.  
  
3.4 Those consultations were extremely useful and he wished to highlight some of the points that 
were raised:  
 
(i) The key question appeared to be the financing of such a project.  Reference was made to the 
Global Trust Fund (GTF), extra budgetary funding etc.  A suggestion made by one delegation 
and which he intended to follow up on was to  hold a meeting of key donor Members and see 
to what extent funding could be provided from such sources.   
 (ii) There were many technical questions on document JOB(04)/95, for example one such question 
was whether INRS would be carried over in the transposition.  In connection with the 
technical details of this project, an idea was pu t forward to hold a workshop on these matters.  
He wished to follow up on that suggestion as he felt that it would be useful if Geneva-based 
delegations could better understand the technical details of this transposition exercise. The Secretariat had indicated that such a workshop should be possible to conduct around 
mid-October.   
 
(iii) Concerning the procedures under WT/L/407 and their simplification, a flow chart showing a 
possible simplified procedure was circulated to all Members at these consultations, and it appeared that conceptually Members could agree with the flow chart.  There were some aspects that required further discussion an d he thought that the Committee could work on 
these procedures at the same time as working on the budgetary aspects of this project.   In this 
regard, he proposed that the Secretariat prepare a draft simplified procedure based on the flow 
chart for discussion in the Committee.  
 
(iv) A fourth point which was raised related to the existing HS2002 "collect ive" waiver.  He noted 
that the Committee would be discussing the extension of the HS2002 waiver under the next 
sub agenda item, but he pointed out that if  the transposition project was accepted and the 
simplified procedures were in place, the Committee would need to re-examine the waiver to 
see whether in light of these developments the waiver decision would need to be amended or 
whether a new waiver would need to be elaborated.   
  
3.5 In short, he proposed the following:  (1) hold informal consultations with a group of donor 
Members to see whether financing for this project might be available from them;  (2) request the Secretariat to hold a workshop on the technical issu es tied to this transposition exercise;  and (3) 
request the Secretariat to prepare a first draft of simplified procedures based on the flow chart for 
further discussion in the Committee.   
 
3.6 The representative of the Philippines
 stated that her understanding of the workshop as 
proposed by India in the informal consultations was that it would be destined for capital-based people.  
 
3.7 The representative of Japan  stated that the idea of transposing schedules in the CTS database 
into HS2002 was very interesting.  However, Japa n hoped that such an exercise would not have any 
adverse effects on the ongoing electronic verification work  
 
3.8 The representative of India  confirmed that the workshop she had proposed in the informal 
consultations had been intended for capital-based officials.  Through such a workshop capital-based officials would be fully apprised of the procedure and would be able to participate more effectively in 
the work.   
 
3.9 The representative of the United States
 stated that her delegation was comfortable with the 
Chair's proposals.  She took note of the desire of  some other delegations to ensure that capital-based G/MA/M/38 
Page 4  
 
officials attended the proposed workshop. With rega rd to the question of financing, her delegation 
was prepared to continue consultations with the Chairm an on all different avenues.  It appeared that if, 
in fact, there was interest in ensuring that the capital-based officials were well engaged and involved 
in this exercise then it would be appropriate to consider how to use the GTF for this process.  So, her 
delegation would suggest trying to keep the dialogue  open on all different means for financing both 
the workshop and the ongoing work.   
 
3.10 The representative of  the European Communities
 endorsed what the representative of the US 
had said, in particular with regard to the financ ing of this HS2002 exercise.  His delegation was 
willing to participate in informal consultations wi th donor Members, but he recalled that in the 
informal discussions held the previous week, ot her avenues had been mentioned by a number of 
Members and he thought it would be necessary to examine those avenues.   
 
3.11 The representative of Australia   stated that the idea that had been put forward was worth 
considering and concurred that a major issue was how the estimated cost would be funded.  His 
delegation was looking forward to a full discussion of that issue in subsequent meetings.  There were other issues that his delegation considered very important as well and those included the coverage of 
the transposition.  Australia's position was that all el ements in the schedule should be included such as  
tariff rate quotas and agricultural support.  The timi ng was also very important, in particular how long 
it would take to complete the transposition of the schedules in the CTS database and the time frame 
for the circulation of the draft HS2002 sche dules to the membership for examination.  
 3.12 The representative of Venezuela
 supported the proposal of a workshop for capital-based 
representatives.  This kind of initiative was usef ul for developing countries especially when the 
subject was complex and highly t echnical.  She sought clarification about the timing of such a 
workshop.  
 
3.13 The Chairman  stated that financing the workshop from the GTF could be explored, but 
funding the cost of the transposition exercise would no t, at least from his view point, be the most apt 
way to use the GTF.  However, this did not mean that in the consultations all avenues would not be 
explored.  He had also taken note of Australia's stat ement relating to the more technical aspects of the 
transposition exercise.  As to the timing of the workshop, it would be held in October 2004.  He 
wondered whether the workshop should be for Geneva-b ased and capital-based officials.  In case it 
was for capital-based officials, his sense was that each capital would have to fund the cost of bringing 
their officials to Geneva. 
  3.14 The representative of Kenya
 sought clarification about the Ch air's reference to the GTF taking 
care of the workshop and at the same time capitals  financing the cost of their officials coming to 
Geneva.  How would this workshop take place in October 2004, if the GTF was to be used? 
 
3.15 The Chairman  stated that his intention was to see with the Chairman of the Committee on 
Budget, Finance and Administration if there were any extra funds available.  He noted that the 
original idea was to have a workshop for Geneva-based officials which would not burden the GTF or 
any other source of finance.  Now, since it was his sense from the meeting that people from capital 
should be brought in, there were two constraints:  1) Whether at this juncture, there was enough 
funding to bring people from the capitals;  and 2) whether at this juncture there was enough money to 
do that from the GTF.  So, he was not precluding th at money may be available in the GTF, but if the 
money was not there then capitals would have to pay fo r their people to come he re to participate in the 
workshop.    
3.16 The representative of the Philippines
 stated that the workshop that was being envisioned was 
tied to the transposition project.  So it was perhap s preferable to organize the workshop around the 
time the  project was approved.  To have it in Oct ober 2004 was too soon especially since the fate of 
the project remained unknown.   G/MA/M/38 
 Page 5 
 
 
3.17 The Chairman  stated that the workshop could be programmed next year.  
 
3.18 The representative of the United States  understood some of the concerns expressed by 
delegations.  She felt that if there was a way to do the workshop, it would help lay the groundwork.  It 
would help to better understand what was involved in this project.  One could look at the workshop as 
a training session to help Members complete an  extensive and challenging process which was 
fundamental.  She urged delegations to think practic ally and to try to proceed with the workshop as 
soon as it was feasible.  Certainly it would be better if capital-based officials could attend, and this 
was worth exploring if finances were available.  
 3.19 The Chairman
 stated that another option was to have an informal briefing for Geneva-based 
officials in October 2004 and leave the "big" workshop for sometime early next year.   
 
3.20 The representative of Colombia  supported this option and felt that it was a practical solution. 
Geneva-based delegations handling these issues could attend the workshop, and subsequently transmit 
to their respective capitals the relevant informati on.  By the middle of 2005, experts could be brought 
to Geneva to ensure their involvement in the project.   
 
3.21 The Chairman  stated that in light of the discussion he  proposed that:  (1) he hold consultations 
with a group of donor Members to see where financing for this project might be available;  (2) request 
the Secretariat to hold a workshop on the technical issues tied to this transposition exercise for Geneva-based delegations;  (3) request the Secretariat to start the process to include the workshop for capital-based representative in the TA 2005 plan;  (4) request the Secretariat to prepare a first draft of 
simplified procedures based on the flow chart fo r further discussion in the Committee;  and (5) 
suspend the meeting on this item. 
 
3.22 The Committee so agreed
.  
 
(iii)  Extension of the HS2002 waiver 
 
3.23 The Chairman  recalled that a number of Members were given an extension of the waiver or a 
new waiver through the form of a "collective decision" in order to introduce HS2002 changes 
domestically and to subsequently undertake the exercise of introducing these changes to their 
respective schedule of concessions.  The draft decision was adopted by the General Council on 
11 February 2004.  Since the adoption of this decision by the General Council, Chinese Taipei, Costa 
Rica and El Salvador had requested and been covered by this waiver.  This waiver which began on  
1 January 2004 would expire on  31 December 2004. 
 
3.24 It was evident that the HS2002 exercise as foreseen under WT/L/407 was not going to finish 
by the end of this year and he proposed that this waiver be extended for another year.   He suggested 
that the Secretariat work on a draft decision whic h would be faxed to all Members.  If no comments 
were forthcoming within a certain period of time th en the Committee could cons ider that the decision 
was approved and forward it to the CTG for approp riate action.  If there were any substantive 
comments then he would convene a meeting of the Committee to discuss them. 
 
3.25 The representative of the United States  said that her delegation would take a look at the 
Secretariat's draft decision but she wished to make several points of principle on this issue.  Her 
delegation was strongly of the view that the us e of collective waivers should not continue in 
perpetuity.  This Committee had agreed to eliminat e the practice of granting collective waivers for the 
HS96 process and she believed that this had been done for a reason namely to keep pressure on 
Members and to ensure that they did not delay their work indefinitely.  The Secretariat's proposal 
regarding the transposition of schedules into th e HS2002 nomenclature would go a long way to 
ensuring that all countries would have their sche dules in HS2002, which would also facilitate the G/MA/M/38 
Page 6  
 
important work of the Doha Agenda.  However, her delegation did not want to return to the collective 
waiver process as a general matter.   
 
3.26 The Chairman
 agreed that the idea of the project would be to simplify  the HS2002 process 
and avoid the need for extensions of the waiver.  He proposed that the Secretariat prepare a draft 
waiver decision1 for consideration by the Membership.  Two weeks would be given for any 
substantive comments to be submitted.  If there were any substantive comments, a meeting of the 
Committee would be convened.  
 
3.27 The Committee took note  of the statements made, and agreed  to the Chairman's proposal. 
 
4.  Modalities and operation of the Integrated Data Base (IDB) 
 (i)   Status of submission of the required documentation (G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.20)  
 
4.1 The Chairman
 noted that document G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.20 ha d been circulated to all Members.  
This document presented the situation of IDB submissions as of 6 September 2004.   
 
(ii)   Report by the Secretariat 
 
4.2 The Secretariat introduced the repo rt which is contained in Annex 1. 
 4.3 The representative of Brazil
 stated that he had sometimes encountered difficulties in 
accessing the IDB  and thought it would be useful to have a brief training course on the IDB for 
Geneva-based officials.  
 
4.4 A member of the Secretariat  (Mr. J. Richtering) stated that there were two ways of providing 
this technical assistance.  One would be a general presentation on the IDB and the other a hands-on 
workshop.  It seemed that the preference was for the latter.  Delegations could register with the 
Secretariat, and the Secretariat could arrange for slots in the computer training room and propose 
dates for training.  A half-day training would no rmally suffice and if there were more detailed 
technical questions, they could be addressed either in a subsequent workshop or on a bilateral basis.   
 
 4.5 The Committee took note  of the report and the statements made. 
 
5.  Consolidated Tariff Schedules (CTS) Database 
 
(i)  Report by the Secretariat 
 
5.1 A member of the Secretariat  (Mr. J. Richtering) introduced the report which is contained in 
Annex 2. 
  
5.2 The Committee took note  of the report. 
 
                                                      
1 The draft decision was circulated as G/C/W/500 and Rev.1, and adopted by the General Council at its 
meeting of 13 December 2004. The adopted decision was circulated as document WT/L/598.  G/MA/M/38 
 Page 7 
 
 
6.  Dissemination of the IDB and the CTS Database 
 
(i)  Communication from the United Nations Ec onomic Commission for Europe (G/MA/W/57) 
(ii)  Communication from the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat(G/MA/W/59)  
(iii)  Communication from the ANDEAN Community Secretariat (G/MA/W/61) 
(iv)  Communication from the Commonwealth  Secretariat (G/MA/W/63) 
 
6.1 The Chairman  stated that on 12 June 2002, the Committee had adopted document G/MA/115 
containing the dissemination policy of the IDB and CTS database.   Certain organizations (UNCTAD, 
IMF, World Bank, ITC) had been given automatic access to these two databases.  However, the Committee had agreed that other in tergovernmental organizations wish ing to have access would need 
to obtain approval from the Committee on a case-by-case basis.  This policy was contained in 
paragraph 5 of document G/MA/115.  Since th e dissemination policy had been adopted the 
Committee had granted access to the OECD, FAO,  ITCB,  UNESCAP, the Caribbean Regional 
Negotiating Machinery and the Caricom Secretariat.    
 6.2 The Committee had before it requests for ac cess to these two databases from the UNECE, the 
Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, the Andean Community Secretariat and the Commonwealth 
Secretariat.   The Secretariats had  undertaken to use and publish the information contained in these 
databases in accordance with th e terms and conditions laid out in document G/MA/115.  If the 
Committee agreed to grant them access, he proposed writing to them as was done with the previous organizations and asking them about what data they might have that they could share with the WTO on a reciprocal basis.  On this point, he wished to mention that he had received a response from the 
Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machin ery to this question which he intended to circulate as an 
addendum to their request contained in document G/MA/W/54.  They had indicated that they had no 
such data in their possession. 
 
6.3 In response to a question from the representative from the United States, the Chairman
 
indicated that the request from the Commonwealth Secretariat had been included in the agenda 
through an addendum to the airg ram convening this meeting.  
 
6.4 The representative of the United States  applauded the Chairman's effort to try to encourage 
these organizations to share information.  If they did not have the information, her delegation thought 
that it might be useful if these organizations co uld encourage their membership to fulfil their IDB 
obligations. In short, the Committee should try and use the IDB, which was a valuable resource, to 
leverage more data.    
6.5 The Committee took note
 of the statements and approved  the requests from the UNECE, the 
Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, the Andean Community Secretariat and the Commonwealth 
Secretariat for access to the IDB and CTS database.  
 7.  Review of notified quantitative restri ctions based on a Secretariat summary 
(JOB(04)/92) 
 
7.1 The Chairman
 recalled that at its last formal meeting,  the Committee had before it a document 
by the Secretariat circulated in JOB(04)/92.  This document had been  prepared to assist Committee 
Members in reviewing the notifications of quantitativ e restrictions (QRs).  He noted that there might 
be notifications which should be included or alternat ively which should no longer be in this database.  
It was precisely for this reason that the Committee  was undertaking this exercise and he welcomed 
comments updating the situation on any of those notifications.  
 
7.2 A member of the Secretariat  (Ms S. Rishikesh Mavroidis) stated that as mentioned in the 
decision G/L/59 this summary table had been put together using as a guide the Secretariat's 
summaries which were prepared for the GATT Technical Group on QRs and other NTMs.  There G/MA/M/38 
Page 8  
 
were a few mistakes in document JOB(04)92, but not  of a serious nature, and the Secretariat intended 
to issue a revised document in the near future.  In looking at the original tables prepared for the GATT 
Technical Group, it had been noted that the tables were not particularly user friendly.  There were 
over 200 pages of data based on different criteria.  So instead, what the Secr etariat had tried to do in 
this document was to use some of the criteria an d try and present the information to the extent 
possible in a 'snap-shot' fashion.  As to the methodology used, as indicated in the cover note, some 
problems had been encountered in particular with the column reflecting the number of products.  
These figures were just indicative and the Comm ittee had to bear this in mind.  Regarding 
justifications for these measures, Members might no te that they included several article s from GATT 
1994, Annex 5 of the Agricultural Agreement and the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing.  In some 
cases no justification was provided , and therefore nothing was recorded.  As already mentioned by the 
Chairman, some of the notifications in this docum ent might be outdated, or alternatively missing.  
However, this process worked on the basis of notif ications and unless notifications were received 
indicating that a QR was no longer in force or that it existed, the necessary action could not be taken.  
In this connection, she pointed out that in 1997 a document was issued entitled "Format for 
Notification of Quantitative Restrictions", (G/M A/NTM/QR/2) which gave detailed guidelines on 
how such notifications should be prepared.  Finally, this was the first summary table prepared since 
the decision G/L/59 was adopted by the CTG and comments on the document in terms of its structure, 
content etc., would be most welcome and would be taken into account in the preparation of the next 
summary table due in 2006.   
 7.3 The representative of the United States
 requested clarification as to why certain Members 
such as Oman, Pakistan, Peru, the United States and Venezuela which had provided QR notifications 
had not been included in this document.  The answer might be that the format of those notifications 
was not correct but she sought confirmation.  
 
7.4 A member of the Secretariat  (Ms S. Rishikesh Mavroidis) referred to footnote one in the 
document which stated that "Notifications by so me Members were incomple te and have not been 
included in the table".  So, she could confirm that this was the reason why the notifications of these 
Members had not been included. She noted that in th is regard, it would be useful if there was some 
interaction between the delegation concerned and the Secretariat about such notifications in order to 
put them in the correct format.  
 
7.5 The representative of India  noted that the Chairman had referred to certain discrepancies 
which had already come to the notice of the Secretariat.  In this regard, she wished to note that in 
document JOB(04)/92, India was shown to maintain a number of QRs for balance of payments reasons; this was no longer the case.  This change  of situation had been notified to the Committee on 
Import Licensing Procedures, as well as the Disput e Settlement Body and the Balance of Payments 
Committee.  So she would need to get into touch with the Secretariat to find out the status of India's  
notification to the Committee on Market Access.  She also observed that this document reflected 
restrictions which were maintained under GATT Articles XX and XXI.  In this connection, she 
wished to know whether all Members had notified QRs under Articles XX and XXI.  As she saw it 
there was no formal  notification obligation under those articles and some Members may have done it 
for reasons of transparency.  But it would be useful  to have a coordinated exercise.  If Articles XX 
and XXI restrictions were to be notified, they should be done so by all the Members. Otherwise 
documents such as JOB(04)/92 gave a very lopsided  picture.  So, it would be useful to first get all the 
information and then reflect it for all Members unifor mly, or otherwise it was not really appropriate to 
pursue this document if it did not give a complete picture.   7.6 A member of the Secretariat
 (Ms S. Rishikesh Mavroidis) indicated that as noted in her 
introductory statement, this process functioned on the basis of notification.  So, the main obligation 
was to notify if there was a QR being maintained an d the justification had to be provided, be it under 
GATT Article XX or some other Article.  There was no obligation for Members to notify that they are 
not maintaining QRs, but document G/MA/NTM/QR/2 said that Members were encouraged to  G/MA/M/38 
 Page 9 
 
 
provide such information for transparency purposes. Regarding information notified under other 
Agreements, there was a provision in document G/MA/NTM/QR/2 which stated that if such 
notifications were made in the context of another Committee or Agreement, Members should indicate 
that to the Secretariat.  So the key was to keep  the Secretariat informed the moment a QR was no 
longer in force, or if it had been no tified under some other Agreement.  
 
7.7 The representative of China  stated that when his delegation prepared China's QR notification, 
it also had this question of whether QRs under GA TT Articles XX and XXI should be included.  He 
understood now that Members should include this information.  China would do it and encouraged all 
Members to do likewise.   7.8 The representative of the European Communities
 noted that the Communities had notified 
two QRs under GATT Article XI.  The Communities had already taken appropriate action to phase 
these QRS out as of 1 January 2005.  What was the procedure for communicating this to the 
Secretariat.  
 7.9 A member of the Secretariat
 (Ms. S. Rishikesh Mavroidis) stated that when the time came and 
the QRs were removed, a notification to that effe ct should be addressed to the Market Access 
Division.  
 
7.10 The representative of India  stated that given the fact that the current  document was not fully 
reflective of the actual situation of QRs was it goin g to be revised or was it going to be withdrawn? 
 
7.11 The Chairman  responded that the document could continue to be a work in progress, and the 
Committee could set a deadline of for example, end October 2004 for receipt of any modifications and 
notifications by Members subsequent to which the document would be issued as a formal WTO 
document.  
 
7.12 The representative of India  wondered whether the end of October deadline was going to 
achieve the outcome of having all Members' notificati ons.  Her point had been that there needed to be 
a uniform practice, either all Members' notifications were reflected in the document or none were 
reflected. 
  
7.13 The Chairman  stated that according to the "Dec ision on Notification Procedures for 
Quantitative Restrictions", "Members shall make comp lete notifications of the quantitative restrictions 
which they maintain by 31 January 1996 and at two-yearly intervals ther eafter, and shall notify 
changes to their quantitative restri ctions as and when these changes occur."  So, all Members had an 
obligation to notify, but the Chairman could not force any Member to do that work.  But, the 
commitment was there and Members had to do it as soon as possible.   
 
7.14 The representative of the United States  stated that she had some sympathy for India's concern 
about data.  It was a common concern among Member s, be it tariff or QR data.  When not all 
Members submitted the required information, there wa s a disadvantage in terms of focus and analysis 
to those who provided it.  For many years, the United States had provided its tariff data but others had 
not done the same, and this had been of great concer n to the United States.  With regard to the process 
of notification of QRs, the Committee did need periodic  efforts to try and re-energize its work in this 
area.  Year after year people tended to forget thei r obligation in this domain and it was perhaps time 
for the Chairman to put some pressure on Members in  this regard.  For the United States, maintaining 
the document as a JOB document was useful.  Perhaps a footnote should be included in the document to point out that the information did not re flect all the QRs maintained by Members.  
 
7.15 The Chairman
 proposed that once a comparable and representative set of notifications was 
received the document would be re-issued.   
 G/MA/M/38 
Page 10  
 
7.16 The Committee so agreed.
 
 
8.  Transitional Review under Paragraph 18 of the Protocol of Accession of the People's 
Republic of China 
 
8.1 The Chairman  noted that the Committee would be co nducting its third transitional review 
(TRM).  With respect to the review, a number of  comments/questions had been put to the Chinese 
delegation from the European Communities, Japan an d the United States, which were circulated in 
documents G/MA/W/56, G/MA/W/60 and Add. 1 and Add.1/Corr.1 and G/MA/W/58, respectively.   
China had submitted the information required by Annex I of the Protocol, which was circulated in G/MA/W/63.  China also submitted questions to th e European Communities and to Turkey circulated 
in documents G/MA/W/62 and Add.1 respectively.   
 
8.2 The representative of China
 stated that under the TRM this year, he wished to report to the 
Committee on Market Access about th e further trade liberalization an d the developments related to 
the implementation by China of its market acce ss commitments for trade in goods in 2004.   
 
8.3 On the tariff front, China had continued to cut tariffs in 2004 and had bound all tariff lines.  
The overall tariff level had gone down further to 10. 4% in 2004 from 11% in 2003;  of which the 
average tariff for industrial products had been lowered from 11.5% a year ago to 10.6% currently;  the 
average tariff for agricultural products had been reduced from 16.8% to 15.6%.  The current average tariff level of China for agricultural products represented already one of the lowest among WTO 
Members. 
 
8.4 On non-tariff measures, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) of the People's Republic of 
China issued the MOFCOM Announcement No. 73 of 2003, which, in accordance with China's NTM 
reduction commitments in Annex 3 of China's Accessi on Protocol, spelt out the phase-out of import 
quota licensing administration for ten types of elec tro-mechanical products and the phase-out of 
import tendering administration for 23 types of products.  Under Annex 3 of China's Accession 
Protocol, China had also committed to terminate QRs on natural rubber, some oil products and tires 
used on automobiles in 2004.  According to the Announcement No.63 by the Ministry of Commerce 
and General Customs Administration of China, i.e. 2004 Product Catalogue Subject to Import 
Licensing Administration , the above-mentioned products were no longer subject to QRs since 1 
January  2004.  For the time being, the only type of  products subject to QRs in that Catalogue were 
automobiles and its key parts, hence in complete conformity with the Annex 3 of China's accession 
protocol.  The 2004 quotas for such products and allocation-related information had also been made available through MOFCOM Announcement No. 37 of 2003. 
 
8.5 On tariff quotas, the State Development Reform Commission and Ministry of Commerce of 
China had issued an array of announcements to th e effect of continued expansion of import tariff 
quotas and enlargement of market access opportuni ties.  The market for farm products had also 
further opened up.  For detaile d information, Members could re fer to the written document of 
Annex 1A information submitted by China to this  Committee prior to the convening of the current 
session. 
  
8.6 He now wished to quote some figures to illustrate how remarkably imports by China had 
grown as a result of China's faithful implementation  of its WTO commitments.  In 2001, which was 
the year China joined this organization, imports by China were US$243 billion, up 8.3% from 2000.  
Then in 2002, imports grew by 21% to $295 billion;   in 2003, imports into China surged to $412 
billion, an increase of 39.8%.  This momentum of st rong growth had continued for the first half of this 
year, and Chinese statistics indicated that the growth  rate for imports during January-July 2004 was as 
high as 41%, or $314 billion in value.  This was an  impressive picture of increased market access for 
imports into China.  This would be impossible without China's tremendous efforts to implement  G/MA/M/38 
 Page 11 
 
 
successfully its WTO commitments.  He hoped that Members would keep this broad picture in mind 
when they participated in this exercise of transitional review. 
  
8.7 In the context of this transitional review, China had received some questions from the United 
States, European Communitie s and Japan ahead of this meeting.  China had also raised its questions 
and comments in advance of the meeting to the European Communities and Turkey concerning the 
implementation of their commitments in Annex 7 of the Protocol on the Accession of People's 
Republic of China.  He wished to pass the floor to his colleague from  Beijing in order to respond to 
some of those questions addressed to China. 
 
8.8 Another representative from China  stated that b efore he provided detailed responses to the 
questions raised by Members under this agenda item, he wished firstly to state that the responses and 
information provided in his statement were without prejudice to China's understanding and judgment 
as to whether the questions themselves fell within or were relevant to the mandate of this Committee. 
          
8.9 First of all,  he was going to respond to the questions regarding the tariff policy of China.  On the tariffs on photographic products, although China's commitments on these products took the form of ad valorem  duties, China understood that it did not affect China's right to apply specific duties on 
these products, as long as the specific duties imposed were not higher than those committed in China's 
Schedule, which China believed to be the case.  China knew that there were always different views 
with regard to the technical details of the calculat ion method adopted in the conversion, and therefore 
remained open for technical discussions.  Actually several rounds of talks had taken place with the 
Members concerned and he was informed by his colle agues in Beijing that progress had been made.  
He did not know to what extent the Member concerned would pursue this issue.  If a further exchange 
of views between experts was deemed necessary, one  could discuss through diplomatic channels the 
timing and venue, and in this particular case China' s team would basically be the same as in previous 
talks.  8.10 As to the specific case of the customs classi fication of a new product, China believed that due 
to its technical nature, it was quite understandable that the initial classification might not be 
appropriate.  Therefore, adjustments were very lik ely to happen subsequently.  Chinese enterprises 
also had this kind of experience.  He had transferred to the Chinese customs authorities the comment 
made on the case, however, he had to  clarify that the allegation that an appeal could not be made was 
wrong.  There were clear provisions, both in China's Customs Law and Regulations on the Import and Export Duties, on customs classification and the procedures of appeal which enterprises could rely on. 
In this particular case the company concerned did file an appeal according to the legal procedures in 
China.  He therefore requested that the Member concerned check the facts before making allegations 
at the meeting of this Committee. 
 
8.11 On the questions regarding TRQ of fertilizers, in 2004 the total quantity of the TRQ on diammonium phosphate (DAP), urea and NPK that wa s allocated for importation through state trading 
enterprises were respectively 4.69 million tons, 2.07 million tons, and 2.35 million tons;  whereas the 
total quantity of each of these three fertilizers allocated for importation through entities other than 
state trading enterprises were respectively 1.56 milli on tons, 0.23 million tons and 0.78 million tons.  
In terms of the implementation regarding the re allocation of TRQ quantities in 2003 and 2004, 
MOFCOM issued Announcement No. 46 of year 2003 on 27 August 2003 and Announcement No.51 
of year 2004 on 8 September 2004.  These we re the two specific A nnouncements regarding 
reallocation of the TRQs of fertilizers in 2003 an d 2004 and they were available on the official 
website of MOFCOM ( www.mofcom.gov.cn
). 
 
8.12 On the questions on China's new Foreign Trade Law, he could confirm that the Law would be 
implemented in a way consistent with China's ob ligations under the WTO Agreements.  He also G/MA/M/38 
Page 12  
 
wished to confirm that according to China's legal procedures various administrative investigations and 
determinations authorized  by the Law were subject to judicial review.  
 
8.13 On the comments and concerns made on the broad authority provided by the Law on import 
and export restrictions, he noted that China was serious about its obligations under the WTO 
Agreements as was demonstrated by the implementation of the commitments China had undertaken.  
People could not expect that each and every word in China's Law would be the same as that in the 
WTO Agreements.  As he had said earlier, th e Law would be implemented in a way which was 
consistent with China's obligations under the WTO Agreements. 
 
8.14 On the granting of the trading rights pursuant to the provisions of the Law which reflected China's accession commitment, he wished to inform the Committee that on 25 June 2004, MOFCOM 
issued Decree No.14 of 2004, which published the Measures for Registration of Foreign Trade 
Operators.  These Measures, which were finali zed based on public comments and opinions, became 
effective on 1 July 2004.  China was translating this Ministry Decree and would be able to provide it 
to the Committee at a later stage.  From 1 July to 31 August 2004, the number of registrations done throughout the country was 12,690, which was 2.6 times of the number in the same period of last 
year.  As to the exception where registration was not required, both in the Law and the Measures, it 
was aimed at bridging with other laws and regulations.  For example, those foreign trade operators 
who had already acquired trading rights fell under this exception and did not have to go through a 
re-registration process.  It was definitely not China's intention to create any discrimination.  
 
8.15 On import and export restrictions and jus tifications, as noticed by Members, China had 
submitted QR notifications both in 2002 and 2003.  China was preparing another QR notification to 
reflect the latest development in 2004 in this respect, because with the implementation of the 
accession commitments, QRs had been greatly reduced.  With respect to the remaining QRs including 
the import quotas for automobiles, which some Members were interested in, China would implement 
further its reduction commitments.  Detailed information on QRs would be included in the 
forthcoming QR notification of China. 
 
8.16 As to the import prohibition of waste and used goods such as old cars and worn clothes, 
China believed it was not in violation of WTO rules and had no intention of making any changes to 
the policy.  It was out of the legitimate concern to protect the life and health of the Chinese people, as 
well as that of its animals and plants.  If Members had seen the dirty worn clothes with blood stains 
which were seized by the Chinese inspection and quarantine authorities, Members would not have 
believed that these items would not cause any hygien e-related problems.  Imagine the reaction of the 
general public in China when they saw this kind of news live on the TV.  He therefore hoped that this 
particular issue would not be brought up again in the Committee.  
 
8.17 On the export restriction of exhaustible resources including coke, China believed that it fell 
under the exception set forth in Article XX of the GATT 1994.  The export restriction of coke had 
always been implemented with parallel restrictions on domestic production.  To name a few, as early 
as in 1999, the Catalogue of the First Batch of Investment  Projects to be Prohibited in the Industry 
and Commerce Field , issued by the former State Economic and Trade Commission, specifically 
prohibited the investment in certain coke producing facilities.  In 2000 the Catalogue of the Second 
Batch of Backward Production Capacities, Techniques and Products Subject to Elimination  also 
required that certain coke producing fa cilities be shut down.  Furthermore, the Law on Prevention and 
Treatment of Water Pollution  and the Law on Prevention and Treatment of Air Pollution  required that 
a dynamic pollutant monitoring system be established for each and every coke producing enterprise and a disposition fee be levied and increased for coke  producing enterprises.  Strict environmental and 
energy-saving criteria etc. were also developed for an y new investment in this industry.  It was true 
that in the last one or two years the scale of coke  production in China had en larged quite rapidly and 
investment in this industry was growing fast.  From  China's point of view this was an irrational 
response to the fast expansion of the economy, an d was definitely not the result of the policy of the  G/MA/M/38 
 Page 13 
 
 
Chinese Government.  China's strict control over the expansion of this industry had been consistent 
and would continue to be implemented, and on the export front the global quota system would 
continue, in a WTO-consistent manner, to maintain a stable supply of this resource product in the 
world market. 
 
8.18 On this coke issue, he wished to elabor ate a little bit more on the history of China's 
administration and Members' reactions.  Years a go when China imposed neither domestic production 
control nor export restriction, China was accused of dumping. ADP cases were launched against 
China's export of coke, and he did not know whet her a case was still there with respect to certain 
Members who now had problem with China's export restriction.  Now after China had imposed restrictions both on domestic production and export, China was told again that it was WTO inconsistent.  It was really a catch-22 situation.  It seemed to him that the only way out was for China 
to ban all production and export, like some Members did with oil.  He did not know if he should 
recommend this option to the relevant authorities. 
 
8.19 With regard to the automatic import licen sing system, at this stage it was of utmost 
importance and necessary for China, particularly ag ainst the background of the elimination of a large 
number of non-tariff measures in quite a short period of time since accession.  China had to monitor 
closely the trade of these products and the effects of the elimination.  This system of automatic 
licensing was implemented in a manner consistent with WTO rules.  
 
8.20 On the new Auto Industry Development Policy, he had noticed Members' questions on the distribution network and also on the customs classification of CKD and SKD kits etc.  As provided in 
the policy itself, the detailed implementing rules on these issues were still to be drafted and therefore 
there were no definite answers yet with regard to all these questions.  He had transmitted to the 
relevant authorities the comments made by Members in  this context.  As far as he knew, in the 
drafting process of these implementing rules, the relevant authorities in China had already begun to 
solicit ideas and comments  from industry representatives including those from joint ventures.  On the 
customs classification of CKD and SKD kits the curre nt practice had not changed.  He believed that 
the channels for Members to reflect their comments  and observations during the drafting process were 
always there, as was seen in the drafting process of the Policy itself and other rules and regulations. 
 
8.21 On the VAT policy for diammonium phosphate (DAP) and monoammonium phosphate 
(MAP), the two fertilizers, China had adjusted its policy in 2001 and now China believed that the 
policy was in conformity with WTO rules and principl es including national treatment.  At this stage, 
China did not have any plans to change this polic y because China believed it to be WTO-consistent 
and it served China's policy goal of encouraging full utilization of phospha te resources in China 
which although were abundant were mo stly lean ores.  As to the reques t for statistics, China had  been 
trying to identify resources where the statistics would be available but so far due to the time 
constraints had not been successful.  China would continue with its work  and get back to the 
interested Members once there was an outcome. 
 
8.22 Last but not least, China had questions from a Member regarding a new registration system in 
China for foreign exporters of recycled scrap.  Dome stically this issue fell under the responsibility of 
China's TBT people and to avoid their repeated travel to Geneva which was obviously too 
burdensome, China was prepared to respond to these questions in the Committee of TBT Measures.  
China hoped that the Member concerned would ex tend its understanding to this situation. 
 8.23 The representative of  the European Communities
 thanked the Chinese delegation for the 
explanation  provided on a number of issues which had been raised by the Communities and by others 
in the context of the TRM.  The Communities li mited themselves in their written communication, 
which was issued well in advance on this meeting in order to pr ovide the necessary time to the 
Chinese delegation for their replies, to three main issues.  He had carefully listened to the statement 
made by China, especially at the hinting of the re vised Foreign Trade Law and had noted with interest G/MA/M/38 
Page 14  
 
that some of the comments that the Communities and others had made earlie r had been taken into 
account in the formulation of this Trade Law.  He had also taken note of China's explanations about 
Decree No. 14  of 2004 which was issued on 25 J une 2004, and the Communities looked forward with 
interest to see the translation wh ich had been announced.  He wished to say more with respect to the 
second issue raised in the Communities communicat ion concerning the Chinese export restrictions on 
raw materials.  He had listened very carefully to the explanation which was given with regard to the 
export restrictions to coke, but had not heard anyt hing with regard to the other issue which was of 
high importance and big interest for the Communities  which was the export restriction on other raw 
materials, for example on rare earth.  This was a question the Communities had ra ised last year in the 
TRM exercise and the reply from China had been th at they were still verifying the WTO justification 
and would provide the information la ter to the Secretariat.  To the best of his knowledge, no such  
communication and justification had been received.   Hence, the Communitie s had felt obliged to 
reiterate their concerns and questions.  So the Co mmunities looked forward to receiving replies from 
China with regard to this question, and especially wi th regard to the question of rare earth.  The third 
issue that the Communities had mentioned in their submission was that of the New Automobile 
Policy.  Here, he had taken note of the explanations provided by China in their statement, and of the fact that there were not yet any definitive answers ava ilable and rules were still to be drafted.  So, he 
reassured the Chinese delegation that the Communitie s remained highly intere sted in receiving the 
answers on these particular questions that they had put  with regard to distribution and also to the joint 
venture ownership limitation.  He had also taken no te of the clarification which China had given with 
regard to the customs classification on specific  automotive parts. The Communities had included in 
their communication the question that they wished to know better what China understood by the 
reference to "regulated amount".  
 
8.24 To conclude, there was a question put by Ch ina to the Communities.  The Communities had 
issued the Council Regulation No. 1985 in 2003 which was published in the Official Journal of the 
European Union, dated 13 November  2003.  In this regulation, the Communities had provided for the 
complete phasing out of the still existing bilateral rest rictions, import restrictions and had also put the 
implementing provisions into it.  He wished to  re-emphasize again the Communities appreciated the 
explanations and clarifications heard from China, but would very much like for China to give a 
complement on these clarifications with rega rd to the subjects he had just mentioned. 
 
8.25 The representative of the United States
 thanked the Chinese delegation for the statement.  
Before addressing the particular substantive issues  under review here, he had some general comments 
regarding the TRM.  This was the first TRM meeting of this year and would be followed by reviews 
in the other Councils and Committees over the next two months.  The United States shared the view of China and other delegations expressed last year  that the TRM proceeded relatively smoothly then 
and was a constructive and positive exerci se.  In large part this was due to the time and effort spent by 
China's WTO delegation along with experts from China's Ministry of Commerce and other agencies 
that attended the TRM meetings.  He encouraged Chin a to maintain that same approach this year as 
his delegation had found it valuable and thought other Members had found it valuable to have experts 
from Beijing available for exchanges at and around  the TRM meetings.  The United States believed 
that the TRM could continue to be a useful proc ess for China and other WTO Members to exchange 
information, review implementation progress, clarify points of agreem ent or disagreement and indeed 
as China had done this year, raise questions abou t specific commitments made by other Members in 
China's Protocol of Accession.  As it did last year the TRM could help ensure that China fully 
understood any concerns of Members regarding implementation and that Members fully understood 
China's efforts in that regard.  The United States  looked forward to continuing in a cooperative and 
pragmatic spirit during this year's TRM.    
8.26 Turning to some of China's responses, first he wished to turn to the issue of export restrictions 
and the United States appreciated China's responses.  His delegation was disappointed to hear that 
China was not considering eliminating export quotas on coke.  As the Communities had  mentioned 
other export restrictions on raw materials had not be en addressed in China's response.  As reflected in  G/MA/M/38 
 Page 15 
 
 
the questions from a number of Members, the United States thought that these restrictions raised 
serious WTO concerns.  The United States noted that China could achieve its environmental and 
natural resource objectives in the absence of export restrictions, and the issue was instead whether and 
how China restricted trade in administering its re gime.  His delegation noted that GATT Article XX 
imposed a number of obligations on Members who chose to exercise an exception from their GATT 
Article XI obligations.  China addr essed one part of those requirements in its response, but did not 
address the entirety of the requirements and his dele gation looked forward to a further dialogue with 
China on that issue.  He also noted that China had entered into discussions ear lier this year with the 
Communities regarding coke export restrictions a nd would be interested in any clarification from 
China, as requested by the United States in their written communication, as to the status of those 
discussions and whether there were going to be or were now any country-specific quota allocations.  
 
8.27 Turning to the auto industrial policy, his delegation appreciated China's responses on this and 
would certainly continue to follow up with the re levant authorities in Beijing but noted that the 
framework policy indeed left a significant amount of doubt and created ambiguity about issues that 
were subject to specific WTO commitments including  in the kits area.  His delegation was disturbed 
to see that ambiguity and hoped that it would be clarified quickly in the implementing regulations.   
 
8.28 Regarding fertilizer tariff rate quota, his delegation had received yesterday China's Annex 1A, 
information and might have additional questions as this notification was examined together with US 
industry.  He did note initially that the notification and China's responses at this meeting did not provide any information on the amount of tariff ra te quota applied for as part of the reallocation 
process or denied as part of the reallocation proces s.  He realised that information would not yet be 
available for 2004 but was not aware of China providing it for 2003.  The reallocation process was a 
critical part of  TRQ administration to make sure that it was being utilized pr operly and his delegation 
would be interested in receiving that information from China.   
 
8.29 On the VAT issue, regardi ng the fertilizer products DAP and MAP, his delegation appreciated 
that China would follow up in attempting to obtain that data and looked forward to receiving it.  The 
United States disagreed with China's views rega rding the interchangeab ility or the competitive 
relationship between these products and whether in fa ct China could maintain different tax regimes on 
the two products consistently with GATT Article III.  But to the United States this was a question of 
substitutability in competitive relationships between these two products. He wished to propose an 
expert meeting to hasten disposing of this fundamental question.   
 
8.30 On trading rights, he appreciated the information provided by China.  The United States had raised another question to which he had not hear d a response from China which was: "Have any  
enterprises or individually been refused registration? If so, please explain."  So his delegation looked 
forward to getting that information from China.   
  
8.31 On the Scrap Recycling Regulations, his delegation looked forward to hearing from the 
relevant Chinese agencies.  His delegation would ha ve liked to have a response today and hoped to 
get an answer prior to the TBT Committee meeting. 
  
8.32 Finally, last but not least, on the semi-conductor VAT issue, he noted that Japan had raised 
some questions regarding subsidies that may be provided to the domestic industry now that the VAT 
rebate was being phased out.  The United States had similar concerns and looked forward to 
discussing that issue at the Subsidies Committee meeting later this year.   8.33 The representative of Japan
 thanked the Chinese delegation fo r attending the meeting.  It was 
the third TRM meeting on market access issues, and Japan recognised that implementation of WTO 
commitments sometimes meant a lot of work and Japan appreciated the hard work done by China.  
Japan placed a high importance on the TRM process since Japan thought it was very important to 
ensure transparency, predictability, stability and consistency which was paramount for Japan which G/MA/M/38 
Page 16  
 
had a great interest in trade with China.  In this context, Japan had put various questions and 
comments to China and Japan wished to thank the Chinese delegation for its opening statement, 
which contained answers to most of the questions put by Japan.   
 
8.34 He wished, in this instance, to take this opportunity to highlight some of the important points  
in Japan's paper, focusing on the issues on which Japan wished to request the Chinese delegation to 
provide further explanations and clarifications.   
 
8.35 First on the issue of tariff rates on photogr aphic products, Japan appreciated the clarification 
by China on its willingness to discuss this problem on a bilateral basis.  Japan was still not  convinced 
about the legitimate reason of keeping specific duties, especially when agreed rates were in ad 
valorem  rates.  But without prejudice to this concern, Japan welcomed the willingness of the Chinese 
delegation to have a technical discussion on the subject and would be eager to discuss the venue and 
the timing of such bilateral talks through diplomatic channels.   
 
8.36 On the Auto Industry Development Policy, Ja pan had great interest in this policy which was 
publicised on 1 June 2004.  As pointed out by other delegations,  there still remained a lot of 
ambiguity in this policy.  From the explanations from the Chinese delegation Japan understood that 
many of the details remained to be drafted.  It was very important that in this drafting process the 
concerns raised by Japan would be reflected in an a ppropriate way.  In particular, Japan had raised the 
issue of the ability of dealers to sell both Chin ese-made and imported automobiles.  Japan had 
understood from previous consultations that dealer s would not be prohibited from selling both 
Chinese-made and imported automobiles.  But,  he wished to reiterate that this was a very important 
issue for Japan and Japanese industry and urged the Ch inese delegation to make sure that in drafting 
the detailed regulations, dealers would always be allowed to sell both Chinese-made and imported 
automobiles, regardless of the existence of other regulations.   
 
8.37 On the authorizing system of complete au tomobile features, Japan understood that more 
details had to be drafted.  But Japan had outlined its specific argument in the comments and question 
put to China in advance of the meeting.  He did not want to repeat them, but wanted to make sure that 
these points were reflected  in the new regulations. 
 
8.38 On the automatic import licensing scheme, th ere were explanations by the Chinese delegation 
that the imports had to be closely monitored.  Japan had put in its document a question as to whether 
the import licensing mechanism would be maintained  after the beginning of next year, 2005, and 
wished to have further clarification on this.    
8.39 With regard to the export licensing measures on the export of coke, Japan had listened to the 
explanations by the Chinese delegation very careful ly and with great interest.  There were some 
explanations about some regulations on domestic production or investment.  Japan needed further 
clarification and detailed explanations about how these regulations were actually implemented and 
how this was in line with the requirement under GATT Article XX(g) which stipulated that these 
measures had to be in conjunction with restrictions on domestic production or consumption.  Japan 
was interested to hear more details  about this aspect, and the Chinese view on its consistency with the 
GATT rule.  
 
8.40 On trading rights, Japan appreciated the responses by China.  Japan was looking forward to 
having a closer look at the new decree that the Chinese delegation had mentioned in their opening 
statement.  Many of the answers were very technical and detailed and so on the other issues Japan would review the comments and answers from China cl osely.  Japan reserved the right to come back 
to these issues at the next appropriate time incl uding in the context of bilateral contacts with the 
Chinese authorities.  As these answers were very technical and detailed, Japan requested China to 
provide written versions of China's statements so that Japan could report the discussions of this  G/MA/M/38 
 Page 17 
 
 
meeting accurately to the Japanese authorities.  On ce again, Japan thanked th e Chinese delegation for 
their responses to Japan's questions and looked  forward to receiving further clarifications. 
 
8.41 The representative of Canada  thanked China for its opening statement and for the details on 
its efforts to implement its accession commitments.  Canada was interested in some of the questions, 
particularly regarding the tariff treatment of CKD vehicles as well as the issue of reallocating the 
TRQ for fertilizer.  Canada thanked China for its re sponses and noted that Canada would be following 
the progress as China developed further regulati ons with regard to its automobile policy.   
 
8.42 The representative of Turkey  thanked the Chinese delegation fo r the detailed information that 
China had provided. According to the information received from his capital, his country had also plans to eliminate the QRs on those items imported from China.
2  
 
8.43 The representative of China  thanked the delegations for their comments and questions and 
wished to respond to some of them.   The first one was with respect to the question regarding rare 
earth.  He had referred to this in his opening statement.  Rare earth was part of China's export restriction of exhaustible resources and in China's previous notification of QRs, China had not 
included very detailed information due to time cons traints and translation problems.   But as he had 
noted in his opening statement, China was prepar ing a new QR notification which would reflect the 
latest developments. 
 8.44 On the "regulated amount" which was in the Auto Industry Development Policy, he believed that the delegation from the Communities had referred  to Article 56.  On this particular point, he 
wished to draw Members' atten tion to Article 60 of the policy which stated that the detailed 
implementing rules would be drafted by the custom s authorities and others.  He would transfer the 
comments made by delegations at this meeting to his authorities.   
 
8.45 With regard to the question of coke, as stated in his opening statement, China did not have the 
intention at this moment to change the global quot a system. China would continue to implement it in a 
WTO consistent way and to maintain a sustainable supply of this product in the world market.  He 
understood that historical trade pe rformance would be respected.  
 
8.46 With regard to the question of the refusal of registration for trading rights, as far as he 
understood if there were registration cases refused, it would be due to a lack of information or maybe 
due to the fact that some of the information ha d not been provided in an appropriate way.  So 
basically, it was an automatic system but if those sm all mistakes were considered as refusals then it 
would be difficult to give numbers.  
 
8.47 He had also taken note of the questions from Japan with regard to the licensing system.  He 
was not clear whether the reference had been made to the import licensing system or the automatic 
import licensing system. But, regarding the import licensing and quota system, China would 
implement its commitments as China had committed to do in its accession.  With regard to the 
automatic import licensing, China would  implement it in a way consistent with WTO practice.  With 
respect to the information, the regulations were av ailable at the MOFCOM's official website and were 
also included in the China Foreign Economic and Trade Gazette , which was provided in China's 
accession document.   
                                                     
 
 2 In a written communication dated 5 October 2004, the representative of Turkey indicated that "In 
response to the question posed by China, he wished to inform the Committee that Turkey would eliminate the 
quantitative restrictions on importing footwear, tableware, kitchenware of porcelain or china and ceramic tableware or kitchenware originating in the People's Republic of China by 1 January 2005 in parallel with its 
commitments under the customs union with the European Union."  
 
  G/MA/M/38 
Page 18  
 
 
8.48 Finally, he had taken note of the comments and observations made by the delegations in their 
statements and would transfer them to the relevant  authorities in China.  He was sure that these 
concerns and comments would be taken into consid eration as had already been done in respect of 
other issues.  
 
8.49 The representativ e of the United States
 requested a written copy of China's statement.  He 
also requested that the minutes reflecting discussi on of these issues along with Members' questions 
and China's responses be attached to or incorporat ed into the Committee's TRM report or referenced 
in some way.  8.50 The representative of China
 was prepared to follow the normal practice of this Committee and 
as pointed out by the US delegation the minutes of this meeting would reflect the discussions, which 
would contain a lot of information of interest to th ose delegations concerned.  Before concluding, he 
had some general observations to make about this exercise.  First, he wished to express special thanks 
to the delegations of the Communities and Turkey  for their responses to China's questions. The 
responses were positive and good ne ws.  China was pleased to see that with the efforts of the 
delegations of EC and Turkey and others, this transitional exercise was being carried out in a 
constructive, positive and useful manner just as the US delegation had mentioned in his general 
remarks.  He wished to express China's appreciation for the efforts put into this exercise by all those 
Members, and to point out that like China's mark et, China's mind-set was an open one.  China was 
willing to exchange views and talk about issues whic h allowed for the growth of trade.  There were 
bound to be issues, but China was willing to discuss them.  As the US delegate had mentioned, the  
transitional review was only part of this process, there was also a process in Beijing.  As a matter of 
fact in the process of drafting China's resolutions  and laws,  those Members whether governments or 
businesses, had contributed a lot by submitting their opinions.  Of course, the Chinese authorities had 
solicited these opinions and comments, and many of  them had already been taken into account as 
reflected in the revised version of the new regulations and laws.  Therefore it was China's firm 
conviction that with the joint efforts of Member s, the trading regime of China would become 
increasingly transparent and open and China's trade with its partners would continue to grow.   
 
8.51 The Chairman  noted that the report of the review, as in previous years, would be a brief 
factual report indicating that the review had take n place, an acknowledgment of the documentation 
submitted pursuant to the review, and a reference to the discussions that had ta ken place, as reflected 
in the minutes of this meeting.   
 8.52 The Committee took note
 of the statements. 
 
 9.  Draft Report (2004) of the Committee to the Council for Trade in Goods 
(G/MA/SPEC/28) 
 
9.1 The Chairman
 noted that the Committee was required to submit annually a report on its 
activities to the CTG.  A draft report to the CTG, covering the activities of the Committee in 2004, 
was circulated in document G/MA/SPEC/28.  The report would be updated in light of today's 
meeting.  
 
9.2 The representative of India  stated that she had concerns about paragraph 9 on QRs and would 
suggest an amendment to that particular paragraph in the light of the discussion on that subject at this 
meeting.  
 
9.3 The Chairman  noted that an updated draft of the report based on the discussions at this 
meeting would  be sent to delegations.  If there were  no comments received on it within a day or two, 
then it would be forwarded to the Council for Trade in Goods.   G/MA/M/38 
 Page 19 
 
 
 
9.4 The Committee took note  of the statements3. 
 10.  Election of the Vice Chairperson 
 
10.1 The Committee elected
 Mr William Tagliani (US) as Vice-Chair. 
 11.  Date of the next meeting  
 11.1 The Committee took note
 that the next meeting of the Committee would take place on 
30 March 2005, subject to confirmation.   
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
                                                     
 
3 The report was circulated as G/L/699.  G/MA/M/38 
Page 20  
 
 
ANNEX 1 
Integrated Data Base 
 
Report by the Secretariat 
 
 
IDB Submissions
 
 
 Since the circulation of the Status of Submissions document, G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.20, the 
Secretariat has received the following submissions:  
• Chile   Imports for 2003  
• Mexico  Imports for 2003 and tariff data for 2004 
 
IDB Dissemination
 
  The Secretariat continues to load information onto the IDB Internet File Transfer Facility on a 
monthly basis.  As of 31 August 2004, files for 94 Members
4 and four acceding countries were 
available on the IDB website. 
 
 On the use of IDB data, a request was received from the World Health Organization (WHO) 
on the tariff duties on essential medicines.  It is pl anned to send the requested data at the level of HS 6 
digit subheadings.  The WHO does not have full access to the IDB.   
 
  There has been a further request from the World Bank for historical tariff data from the Tariff 
Study, which was the GATT database on tariffs and imports before the IDB was established.  The 
information will be used in economic research work.  It is planned to provide these data to the World 
Bank with the stipulation that the Bank respects the same conditions of us e and publication that 
currently apply to the IDB and the CTS.   
 
Technical Assistance  
 
 Since the July 2004 meeting of the Committee, Secretariat staff have undertaken one more 
national workshop on Non-agricultural Market Acce ss in Fiji in August.  This workshop was also 
used to obtain further IDB submissions from Fiji.  A further national NAMA workshop has just begun 
today in Indonesia.  It will also be used to clarify the situation regarding Indonesia's IDB submissions. 
 
The Technical Assistance and Training Plan for 2005 was issued at the beginning of 
September as document WT/COMTD/W/133.  It contains a provision for seven regional workshops on Non-agricultural Market Access (page 38).  Thes e workshops will also be used to present the IDB 
and CTS and to encourage participants to supply data to the IDB.  
 
 
IDB Internet Analysis Facility
 
 
 Work is on-going on the implementation of (1 ) query selection criteria for the CTS database; 
(2) a report on the CTS tariff concessions, (3) a new product selection applet; and (4) a facility to 
display reporter notes.  A new report on the Tariff Quota information contained in the CTS database is 
under development.  A provision to block the display of "provisional" IDB/CTS information has been 
                                                      
4 This counts the European Communities as one for its 25 Members an d Switzerland and Liechtenstein as one.   G/MA/M/38 
 Page 21 
 
 
completed.  This will permit international agencies that have been granted ac cess to the IDB/CTS File 
Transfer Facility to also have access to the IAF. 
 
 Concerning the portable IAF, the Secretariat had intended to use the Microsoft Desktop 
Engine deployment toolkit.  However, the anticipated June release of this toolkit was delayed.  If it is 
not released by end-September, th e Secretariat will prepare an alte rnate installation package for the 
distribution of the portable IAF.   
 G/MA/M/38 
Page 22  
 
ANNEX 2 
Consolidated Tariff Schedules Database 
 
Report by the Secretariat 
 
 
 Since the last meeting of the Committee, IDB/CTS staff are continuing with their work in the 
following areas: 
 
• Preparing and verifying IDB linked files including the final bound duties from the CTS. 
• Updating Members' files with rectifications an d modifications of schedules that were issued 
after the creation of the initial CTS files. 
• Comments from the Czech Republic have been incl uded in a new revision of the database to 
be loaded this month. 
 
 The Secretariat continues to prepare IDB file s containing the final bound duties following the 
procedure presented in JOB(03)/217/Rev.1 using a software application developed specifically for 
this purpose.  The Secretariat loaded 55
1 linked files in the Provisional area of the IDB File Transfer 
Facility (FTF) in July and August.  Further linked  files will be posted on the FTF in the coming 
months.  This depends on the availability of applied duties and import data for the year 2001 which 
has been chosen as the benchmark year for which the final bound duties would be included in the IDB 
at the tariff line level. 
 
__________