RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/MA/M/51 
26 May 2010 
 (10-2907) 
Committee on Market Access  
  
 
 
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 29 APRIL 2010 
 
Chairman: Mr. Barney RILEY (New Zealand)
 
 
Subjects discussed  Page  
 
1. Periodic report of the Committee to the Council for Trade in  Goods 
(G/MA/SPEC/44) ................................................................................................................. .....2 
2. Introduction of HS96 changes to schedules of concessions ...................................................2  
(i) Submission of HS96 documentation............................................................................................2  
(ii) Decision on Procedures leading to the ver ification and certification of HS96 changes 
relating to the schedules of 64 Members (WT/L/756).................................................................2  
3. Introduction of Harmonized System 2002 changes to schedules of concessions using the CTS Database (WT/L/605) ......................................................................................3
 
4. Introduction of Harmonized System 2007 changes to schedules of concessions 
using the CTS Database (WT/L/673) ......................................................................................3  
5. Introduction of the HS 2012 changes (G/MA/W/100)............................................................4  
6. Modalities and operation of the Integrated Data Base (IDB) ...............................................7  
(i) Status of submission of the required documentation (G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.31) ..............................7  
(ii) Framework to enhance IDB notifications compliance (G/MA/239) ...........................................7  
7. Consolidated Tariff Sche dules (CTS) Database.....................................................................8  
8. Dissemination of the Integrated Data base (IDB) and the Consolidated Tariff 
Schedules (CTS) database (G/MA/238 and Add.1)................................................................9  
9. Decision on notification procedures for quantitative restrictions (G/L/59).......................10  
10. Decision on reverse notification of Non-Tariff Measures (G/L/60) ....................................10  
11. Canadian Government actions to unila terally eliminate certain MFN applied 
tariffs........................................................................................................................ ................11  
12. Other Bu siness................................................................................................................. ........12  
13. Election of the Chairperson ...................................................................................................1 2 
 
 The Committee adopted  the agenda as reproduced in WTO/AIR/3545.  An annotated agenda 
was circulated in document JOB/MA/14. 
 G/MA/M/51 
Page 2  
 
  1. Periodic report of the Committee to the Council for Trade in  Goods (G/MA/SPEC/44) 
1.1 The Chairman
 drew attention to document G/MA/SPEC /44 which contained the draft periodic 
report of the Committee.  He noted that this repor t, which would be finalized in the light of the 
discussion that would take place at this meeting,  would be submitted to the Council for Trade in 
Goods (CTG) for examination.  He noted that the report contained a table in its Annex summarizing 
factual information on the waiver submitted by Arge ntina.  Argentina had forwarded its request for a 
waiver extension in connection with the introduction of HS96 changes to its schedule of concessions.  
This request had been circulated as document G/L/ 918 and the draft decision extending the waiver as 
contained in G/C/W/632.  
1.2 The representative of Argentina
 informed the Committee that his delegation had intensified 
consultations with the EU to solve pending matters.  1.3 The Committee took note
 of the periodic report and the statement and agreed  to forward it to 
the CTG for appropriate action. 
 
2. Introduction of HS96 changes to schedules of concessions 
(i) Submission of HS96 documentation 
2.1 The Chairman  drew the Committee's attention to document (G/MA/TAR/2/Rev.44) which 
reflected the present situation concerning the s ubmission of documentation required pursuant to the 
procedures which were adopted in 1991 by the GATT Council (L/6905) in order to introduce HS 
changes to schedules of concessions.  In that docum ent, the column concerning the electronic format 
of submissions had been removed because it was no longer relevant.  He noted  that the documentation 
of only a few Members remained to be certified, namely Argentina's on which a  reservation was still 
being maintained;  Venezuela's where more informa tion was required from that delegation in order for 
its HS96 documentation to be certifie d; and finally Australia's wher e relevant domestic approval still 
needed to be secured on the documentation. 
 2.2 The representative of Australia
 stated that Australia's domestic certification process was still 
ongoing and specific date of completion of that pro cess could be provided.  However, her delegation 
was working to complete that process as soon as possible.  
2.3 The Committee took note
 of the document and the statement. 
 
(ii) Decision on Procedures leading to the verification and certification of HS96 changes relating 
to the schedules of 64 Members (WT/L/756) 
2.4 The Chairman  reminded the Committee that pursuant to  a decision contained in WT/L/756, 
the Committee on Market Access had met in an informal dedicated session on 5 March 2010 to hold a 
multilateral review of the HS96 changes relating to th e schedules of 64 Members.  At that time, it was 
noted that the files of four Members were incomple te in so far as information on tariff rate quotas and 
commitments on agricultural subsidi es still needed to be transposed.1  As a consequence, only the 
tariff related information was reviewed at the meeting for those four Members and the Committee would need to review the additional agricultural info rmation for these four files at its next multilateral 
review session.  The March session was expe ditious, with all 64 files approved on an ad referendum  
basis with a thirty-day period for comments at th e request of one delegation.  No comments were 
made during the thirty days so all files which were before the Committee could be considered 
definitively approved.  However, onl y the 60 approved files (that is, not including the four for which 
                                                     
 
 1 The four Members in this situation were Barbados, Dominican Republic, Ecuador and South Africa.  G/MA/M/51 
 Page 3 
 
 
  the review of agricultural information had still to take place), were being processed for the purpose of 
circulation under the Decision on rectif ication and modification of schedules. 
 2.5 The Committee took note
 of the report. 
 3. Introduction of Harmonized System 2002 chan ges to schedules of concessions using the 
CTS Database (WT/L/605) 
- Report by the Secretariat on the status of work 
 
3.1 A representative from the Secretariat
 (Mr. Jurgen Richtering) br iefly summarised the work 
being carried out on the HS2002 files.  A revised full report was issued as JOB(06)/8/Rev.11 on 
26 February 2010. The status of the HS02 transpos ition as of the Committee's meeting was as follows: 
 - 3 Draft HS02 files remained to be prepared; - 4 Draft HS02 files had been recently completed and sent to Members for their first review; 
- 5 HS02 files were released and were to be  examined at the next multilateral review; 
- 68 HS02 files were released for multilateral re view, most of which were approved by all 
Members; 
- 38 HS02 files were certified (of which 6 were actually in the pipeline to be certified). 
 3.2 Regarding the certification of files that were  approved, the Secretaria t pointed out that the 
number of certified files could be much higher if  more Members could signal approval for their own 
files.  3.3 The Committee took note
 of the report. 
 4. Introduction of Harmonized System 2007 chan ges to schedules of concessions using the 
CTS Database (WT/L/673) 
- Review of the situation  
 4.1 The Chairman
 recalled that the Committee, at its meeting on 2 October 2009, had taken note 
that the Doha schedules which were to be submitt ed in HS2002 nomenclature would need to be 
transposed into the HS2007 nomenclature, thus rendering the current transposition exercise redundant 
to some extent.  Given this situation, the Comm ittee had agreed to put on hold the current HS2007 
transposition exercise and to review the situation at  this meeting.  The question before the Committee 
was therefore whether to continue  with the suspension of the HS2007 transposition work or whether 
to instruct the Secretariat to proceed with it. 
 
4.2 The representative of the United States  mentioned that the situation had not changed since the 
last time the Committee had considered this item and therefore, proposed to continue with the 
suspension and wait for developments in the DDA.  4.3  The representative of the European Union
 agreed with the previous statement and stressed 
that the circumstances had indeed not changed si nce last year when the Committee had taken its 
decision to postpone the HS2007 transposition exercise.  4.4 The representative of Switzerland
 reminded the Committee that changes to the HS2012 
nomenclature would enter into effect in 2012 a nd that, therefore, the HS2007 transposition work 
should commence as soon as the Secretariat had finish ed with the HS2002 exercise in order to keep 
schedules up to date.  While she recognized that the outcome of the Doha Round could result in some 
changes, it would nevertheless be preferable to begin the HS2007 transposition exercise as quickly as G/MA/M/51 
Page 4  
 
  possible given the complexity of some of the cha nges, particularly in sectors such as Information 
Technology (IT) and fish products.  4.5 In light of these statements, the Chairman
 noted that while Switzerland wished to start as soon 
as possible with the HS2007 transposition, it ha d also acknowledged that the HS2002 transposition 
work should first be completed. He also noted that the situation which resulted in the initial 
suspension had not changed, as mentioned by the EU and the United States. So he proposed that given that the HS02 work was still on-going and was unlikel y to be completed in the immediate future, that 
the Committee agree to continue w ith the suspension of the HS2007 transposition work and to come 
back to this question at a subsequent meeting.  
 
4.6  The Committee so agreed
. 
 
5. Introduction of the HS 2012 changes (G/MA/W/100) 
5.1 The Chairman  drew the Committee's attention to G/MA/W/100, which contained the 
Harmonized System changes which would be introduced from 01 January 2012.  
 5.2 The representative of the WCO
 (Mr. Shcheglov, Senior Technical Officer from the Tariff and 
Trade Directorate of the World Customs Organizati on (WCO)) presented the results of the latest HS 
revisions, on which WCO Members had spent 5 years.  He recalled that the WCO was an independent 
intergovernmental organization ha ving 174 Members, divided into 6 regions and covering 98% of 
international trade.  WCO's main activities incl uded harmonisation and simp lification of customs 
procedures, trade supply chain security, facilitation of  international trade, enhancement of customs 
enforcement and compliance, and integrity promotion.   The Harmonised System was applied by more 
than 200 countries, which accounted for over 98% of the world trade.  It was the true “language of 
international trade”.  It had been implemente d internationally in 1988 and had 137 Contracting 
Parties.  It was maintained and administered by  the WCO through the HS Committee, who reviewed it 
regularly within multiannual review cycles, the fourth  of which had just finished.  The Nomenclature 
Sub-Directorate acted as the Secretariat to the HS Committee.  The main objectives of the HS were to 
facilitate international trade, the collection and analysis of trade statistics and to standardize trade 
documentation and the transmission of data.  A ma intenance mechanism in the HS Convention had 
been foreseen to ensure uniformity of its interpreta tion and application and to keep the system current 
with modern trade practices, product development and the needs of users. 
 5.3 Most of the amendments introduced in th e latest review cycle (HS 2012) resulted from a 
proposal by the United Nations Food and Agriculture  Organization (FAO), which aimed at facilitating 
the use of the HS for monitoring food security situ ation.  There were also other environmental and 
social objectives, such as those contained in the Rotterdam Convention on chemicals and pesticides as 
well as in the Montreal Protocol on ozone deple ting substances.  There were quite a number of 
amendments which aimed to simplify and clarify the HS provisions, as well as amendments which reflected changing patterns of international trade and new technologies.  All the amendments were 
available on the WCO website.  Some examples of the amendments were provided during the 
presentation in order to illustrate the most significant features of the 2012 version of the HS.  
 
5.4 There were 221 sets of amendments, mostly in  Sections I and II of the HS Nomenclature 
(agriculture), bringing the total number of HS  Codes to 5212 (from 5052 in the HS 2007 version).  
This increase in numbers was, however, not to be taken to mean a major upheaval in the HS, and in 
fact the changes were less dramatic compared to those in the HS 2007.  The implementation of 
HS 2012 would, therefore, be a much easier exercise to accomplish.  There were 160 6-digit 
additions, which resulted from the introduction of ma ny new sub-headings for agricultural products.  
There were also 15 entirely new Legal Notes or part s of Notes (which did not include many existing 
Notes for which part of the text was modified).   G/MA/M/51 
 Page 5 
 
 
  5.5  The following examples of the amendments were mentioned: 
 - New text was added to subheading 0106.12 to  identify separately not only whales and 
dolphins, but a new group of enda ngered marine mammals requiring close monitoring (i.e., 
seals, sea lions and walruses). This was an illust ration of an amendment justified by social 
and environmental concerns. 
- Similarly, "molluscs" and "aquatic invertebrates"  covered in a single heading in the HS 2007, 
were separated and new heading 03.08 covered only aquatic invertebrates. 
- Certain types of fish waste traditionally classi fied in Chapter 5 were separately provided for 
in Chapter 3, heading 03.05.  Fish heads, tails and maws were now included as a separate 
sub-heading in Chapter 3.  The Review S ub-Committee was discussing amendments to the 
Explanatory Notes to specify what exactly  was meant by the term "shark fins". 
- Some tropical species of vegetables and fruits had been separately identified (for instance, 
new subheading 0714.50 "Yautia" or 1008.60 "Triticale"). 
- Another interesting development was that ther e would be a number of new subheadings for 
seed-grade products (e.g., subheading 1003 .10 "Barley seed"). Those products were 
considered by national authorities as being for sowing, so the Explanatory Notes would clarify the scope of this subheading.  
- A separate sub-heading for plan tains had been created.  There was a discussion about how to 
distinguish between green bananas and plantains, which were also green.  The Explanatory Notes may need to be amended to provide clarification in this respect. 
- In Chapter 17, a new subheading for non-centrifugal cane sugar had been added. That 
addition reflected a change in the pattern of international trade, namely, the fact that 
non-centrifugal sugar was increasingly recognized as a source of nutrients and a healthy product and was therefore becoming an important item in international trade.  The HS 2012 featured a specific description of this commod ity, which helped to correctly interpret the 
scope of the new subheading. 
- In Chapter 24, a separate subheading was creat ed for water pipe tobacco (known as "hookah", 
"shisha", etc.).   
- Separate provisions were also added fo r biodiesel, which was increasingly traded 
internationally, in Chapters 27 and 38 - depending on the content of petroleum oils (defined in 
the respective legal notes).  
- Nicotine tablets, chewing gums and patches were excluded from Chapter 30 by means of a 
separate Legal Note.  This being a clarificati on amendment (that is, it simply clarified the 
current state of the Nomenclature and added no new rule of classification), no correlation 
would be available in the Correlation Tables. 
- Another example of an amendment introduced because of changing patterns of trade could be 
found in the separate provisions for immunological products. 
- The definition of the term "leather" was anot her amendment, but was applicable only for the 
purposes of Chapter 42. 
- There was a clarification of articles of Section XI which could be regarded as "made up" 
(fabrics with at least one heat-sealed edge). 
- There was a separate identification of "passenger boarding bridges" in a new separate 
subheading.  Passenger boarding bridges were an  important item in international trade, and 
hence this amendment reflected a changing pattern of trade. 
- Changes that reflected new technologies were also undertaken, for instance, in Chapter 85, 
including the separate identification of ni ckel-metal hydride batteries and lithium-ion 
batteries, as well as the separate identification of unrecorded optical media (in heading 85.23). 
- The review that led to the HS 2012 version also removed subheadings and headings of 
low-traded items.  The Committee used the thresholds of 50 million dollars for 6-digit codes 
and of 100 million dollars for 4-digit codes.  Products in which the volume of international 
trade was below those thresholds for 3 consecu tive years were considered for deletion but 
were, however, not deleted automatically.  When  examining possible deletion of an HS code, G/MA/M/51 
Page 6  
 
  the WCO took into account whether or not the ite ms concerned were important for a Member 
or a region, whether they were important for developing countries, whether it was technically 
possible to remove them from the Nomenclature, etc.  This exercise was conducted at the end 
of each review cycle.  Almost 100 HS lines were deleted in the HS 2012, including, for instance, one for lactones.  The HS 2012 th erefore deleted item 2932.21 (Coumarin, etc.) but 
kept the category "Other Lactones" (2932.29) as it was not technically possible to delete the 
entire group. 
- There were some simplification amendments , such as one concerning sanitary towels and 
tampons, which appeared  in many Chapters  (Chapters 39, 48, 56, 61, 62 and 63) under 
HS 2007, but were regrouped into a single head ing (9619.00) in HS 2012.  That change would 
address the problem of non-uniform classification of the products concerned. 
 5.6 Members were invited to consult the WCO website where additional information about the 
2012 changes was available.  Finally, the repr esentative of the WCO spoke of the challenges 
concerning the implementation of HS amendmen ts.  The first challenge was one of timely 
implementation of the changes, that is, on the date when  they entered into force.  Substantial delays of 
the actual implementation of HS am endments were reported by many HS Contracting Parties.  For 
instance, the HS 2007 changes had been implemented only by 118 Contracting Parties (out of 137).  A second challenge was the identification of commodities and their uniform classification.  In fact, during the examination of the HS 2012 amendments, several delegati ons had raised the point that 
customs officers and HS-users were not necessarily  familiar with all the new products, which had 
been introduced in the HS 2012 version so that ther e might be problems of identification.  The WCO 
was trying to address this challenge by amending  the HS Explanatory Notes, by clarifying and 
explaining the scope of HS provisions where non-unifor m classification was likely to occur.   A third 
challenge mentioned was the mismanagement of tariffs  (e.g., the use of national sub-headings at the 
wrong place), a rather frequently occurring phenomenon,  which undermined the benefits of the HS as 
trade facilitation instrument.  A final challenge relate d to the transposition of WTO schedules of tariff 
concessions.  5.7  The representative of India
 enquired whether the WCO Secretariat helped Members with the 
exercise of introducing HS changes into their nationa l tariffs because that was one of the challenges 
faced by most Members.  Secondly, he asked for a clarification about the threshold of the volume of 
trade used for deleting and creating headings and subheading in the HS. 
 5.8 The representative of Brazil
 wondered whether the presentation by the WCO could be made 
available to Members.2 
 
5.9 The representative of Zimbabwe  enquired about the challenges cited by the representative of 
the WCO and wondered why the problem of management  of tariffs was an issue if indeed HS 2012 
changes were simpler to implement than HS 2007 ones.  For that matter, she questioned how the 
problem was addressed in the HS 2007 transposition exercise.  5.10 The representative of Turkey
 asked whether the WCO also considered the impact of 
amendments on tariffs, for example, when propos ing changes such as separate provisions for fish 
offal.  5.11 In response to these questions, the representative of the WCO
 said that the WCO could assist 
countries to carry out the transposition by provid ing additional explanati ons on the coverage of 
specific headings or subheadings.  On low-traded items, he clarified that 50 million dollars was the 
threshold applicable to 6-digit tariff subheadings , and 100 million dollars was applicable to 4-digit 
tariff headings.  He agreed to make his presen tation available to Members but noted that the 
                                                      
 2 The WCO presentation was made available on the Members' website.  G/MA/M/51 
 Page 7 
 
 
  amendments provided in his presentation was not e xhaustive.  Regarding the problem of tariffs 
management, he clarified that it was not specifica lly related to the 2012 amendments, and was a more 
general issue.  Finally, on the question related to consideration being given to the impact of 
amendments on tariff levels, he said that the WC O primary concern was the technical correctness, 
sound structure and usefulness of the HS, rather th an repercussions that the HS amendments would 
bring about in terms of tariff rates.   
 5.12 The Committee took note
 of the presentation and the statements made. 
 
6. Modalities and operation of the Integrated Data Base (IDB) 
(i) Status of submission of the required documentation (G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.31) 
6.1 The Chairman  drew attention to document G/MA/IDB /2/Rev.31 which contained information 
on the status of submissions of the required documentation.  6.2 A representative from the Secretariat
 (Mr. Jurgen Richtering) reported that since the 
circulation of the Status of Submissions documen t G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.31, the Secretariat had received 
submissions from India (2006 and 2008 imports), Is rael (2008 tariff data), Mexico (2005 and 2006 
tariff data), Nicaragua (2006 tariff data) and the European Union (2010 tariff data).  To date, 
923 country-periods, covering 115 out of 125 Member s and seven acceding countries, were available 
on the IDB website.  
6.3 On the document itself, he noted that the st atus of submissions document had become longer 
each year. To contain that growth, especially in the light of significantly improved submissions as a result of the new Framework, the Secretariat proposed  to circulate the document in a new format for 
the next meeting of the Committee. The new form at would show only the new submissions in the 
current format.  In addition, it would include a comprehensive across-the-years overview of all MFN 
applied tariffs and import statistics available in the IDB, presented in a tabular form.  This kind of 
presentation would make it easier to identify data gaps and should increase transparency.  6.4 In referring to the submission of IDB data, the representative of Korea
 mentioned that, 
according to the modalities and operation of the IDB (G/MA/IDB/Rev.1), WTO Members should submit information regarding their applied and bound tariff rates.  When recently using the Tariff 
Analysis Online (TAO), data concerning bound rates were missing and that therefore certain 
comparisons were not possible.  He encouraged  countries to submit bound rates as well as applied 
rates  6.5 The Committee took note
 of the document and the statements made. 
 (ii) Framework to enhance IDB notifications compliance (G/MA/239) 
6.6 A representative from the Secretariat
 (Mr. Jurgen Richtering) reported that the efforts of the 
Secretariat in implementing this decision had resulted in a significant increase of notifications submitted to the Secretariat.  To illustrate the point , it was noted that in 2009, 166 tariff submissions 
and 219 import submissions had reached the Secretar iat, compared to 114 and 126 received in 2008 
respectively.  This significantly improved the covera ge of the IDB.  Tariff and import information was 
available for more than 80 Members (on average) for the years 2000 to 2008.  Furthermore, it had 
been possible to reduce the number of Members with no submissions from 10 to 2.  Only for Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo had th e WTO Secretariat not been able to obtain any 
suitable and reliable data source, in particular for their tariffs. 
 G/MA/M/51 
Page 8  
 
  6.7 However, he noted that the situation w as still far from perfect. While information was 
available for more countries than before and at an  earlier date in the year, the deadlines (end March 
for tariffs of current year and end September for im ports of previous year) were still not met by many 
Members. Within the context of the new framework , the Secretariat had initiated searches to identify 
potential sources of missing data for Members with significant gaps in their IDB submissions.  The 
Secretariat had then contacted 41 delegations, first re minding them of the extent of their data gaps and 
seeking support in either providing the outstanding submissions or, alternatively, in providing assistance to identify appropriate data sources.  As  a result of this communication, four Members 
provided some of the outstanding submissions to the IDB while for the other Members outstanding 
data were sourced from national government al websites (for 15 Members); from regional 
inter-governmental agencies or regional integratio n agreements' secretariats (12 Members) and from 
the ITC (for the remaining 14 Members).  6.8 One shortcoming, however, was that the da ta publicly available through websites covered 
mainly tariff information for the latest year, which meant that it was often impossible to find 
comprehensive trade statistics satisfying IDB notific ation requirements.  To fill these data gaps the 
UN COMTRADE database had been identified as a pot entially promising source for tariff line import 
data.  The WTO Secretariat was undertaking a comp lete screening of the COMTRADE database to 
identify suitable data which could fi ll IDB import submission data gaps. 
 6.9 Finally, the Secretariat always welcomed Me mbers' assistance in identifying the appropriate 
data source to fill the notification gaps, or in id entifying the appropriate national contacts. Members' 
guidance in such matters was very valuable as it would increase the Secretariat's efficiency. 
 6.10 The representative of the United States
 thanked the Secretariat for the report and stressed the 
importance it attached to the IDB as an important tool for all Members. Having the widest possible 
coverage in the data available therein was clearly of  mutual interest to all Members. He argued that 
information submitted by Members themselves was the most reliable way to proceed since Member 
essentially took responsibility for the data provided. He therefore encouraged Members that had not 
supplied information to do so, even if technical as sistance was necessary.  Fu rthermore, he wondered 
whether externally-sourced data  obtained by the S ecretariat was clearly identified in the files that 
were uploaded in the IDB database. 
 6.11     In response, the representative from the Secretariat
 noted that the source of the data was 
clearly mentioned when the Secretariat requested the Member concerned to approve 
externally-sourced data.  However, if one queried  the database without l ooking at the metadata, one 
would not be able to discrimina te data which had been submitte d spontaneously by the Member 
from that which had been externally-sourced by the Secretariat and approved by the Member. 
 
6.12 The Committee took note  of the report and statements made. 
 
7. Consolidated Tariff Schedules (CTS) Database 
-  Consolidated Tariff schedules Database formats for tariff commitments as well as specific 
commitments in agriculture in  HS2002 nomenclature (JOB/MA/13)  
 
7.1 The Chairman  recalled that the Secretariat document JOB(09)/32, which contained revised 
formats to be used in the new version of the CTS database in the HS2002 nomenclature, was put before 
the Committee at its April 2009 meeting. The format s covered Members' tari ff commitments as well as 
specific commitments in agriculture in the HS2002 nomen clature. In light of the intervention made at 
the April meeting, the Committee had agreed that JOB(09)/32 would be considered approved by the 
Committee provided no comments were forthcoming by any Member in writing two weeks from the date of that meeting. However, comments had been submitted by two delegations concerning the  G/MA/M/51 
 Page 9 
 
 
  agricultural section. It had been agreed that the Secretariat would prepare a revised version of that 
document taking on board some of those comments. The revised document had been circulated as 
JOB/MA/13.   7.2 A representative of the WTO
 (Mr. Jurgen Richtering) said that a revised version of the new 
CTS formats in HS2002 nomenclature was issued as JOB/MA/13 on 20 April 2010. This revised 
version took into account comments made by two Members on the agricultura l commitments tables.  
More specifically these included specific field labell ing and descriptions in the Total AMS table as 
well as in the Export Subsidies tables.  The new CTS formats now also included a field for Member 
comments in most tables as well as some small editorial changes.  
 
7.3 The representative of the United States  thanked the Secretariat for its work in revising the 
proposed CTS format for Members' commitments in the HS2002 nomenclature. His delegation still had some questions about this docum ent, particularly with respect to  annexes 2 and 6, and intended to 
raise them with the Secretariat. 
 
7.4 The representative of Canada
 thanked the Secretariat for taking into account the suggestions 
that his delegation had made, particularly in the domestic support area.  He reported that his 
delegation was satisfied with the results which al lowed for consistency betw een previous schedules 
and the new ones to be issued and maintained.  
7.5 The Chairman
 proposed that the Secretariat continue its discussions with the US and that the 
Committee revisit this document at a future meeting.    7.6 The Committee so agreed
.  
 
8. Dissemination of the Integrated Database (I DB) and the Consolidated Tariff Schedules 
(CTS) database (G/MA/238 and Add.1) 
- Report by the Secretariat 
 
8.1 The Chairman  reminded the Committee that the deci sion on the dissemination of the IDB and 
CTS databases had been taken in July 2009.  The Committee heard a preliminary report of the 
dissemination at the Committee's info rmal meeting of 5 March 2010.  
 8.2 A representative of the Secretariat
 (Mr. Jurgen Richtering) provided an update of the 
situation.  In compliance with the Committee's deci sion of 13 July 2009 to make the information in 
the IDB and CTS databases available to the public, the Secretariat had launched the Tariff Analysis 
Online (formerly called the IAF) on 3 February 2010.  Since then, over 3,000 public users had 
registered to use the facility with over 20,000 visits to the site.  The largest user group consisted of 
students followed by the private sector.  There were  around 260 government users registered to use 
the public site.  This site was cu rrently undergoing some further revi sions and it was hoped that by the 
end of the year the Secretariat would be in a positi on to report that the TAO had been made even more 
user-friendly. If delegations were interested, the Secretariat could organise some presentations on the 
TAO at a later stage. 
 8.3 The Committee took note
 of the report. 
 G/MA/M/51 
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  9. Decision on notification procedures for quantitative restrictions (G/L/59) 
- Report by the Chairman 
 
9.1 The Chairman
 recalled that in the context of timeline ss and completeness of notifications, the 
Committee had been examining the Decision on Notification Procedures for Quantitative Restrictions 
(G/L/59).  This issue had been briefly discussed at  an informal meeting of the Committee on 5 March 
at which time a Secretariat document (JOB/MA/6) , which provided background information on 
quantitative restrictions (QRs),  was circulated.  An additional consultation was held on 15 April 
based on this document.   
9.2 He reported that the consultation was very useful in that it had helped build awareness about 
QRs in general and the decision.  The two main  issues debated were (1) "which QRs should be 
notified" i.e. the scope issue; and (2) the transpar ency issue, i.e. whether the QR database should be 
made accessible.  
9.3 On scope, some Members showed a preference for only notifying those QRs which had no 
other venue in the WTO for notification and these Me mbers appeared mainly motivated by the wish 
to avoid duplication. Hence, if, for instance, an import licensing measure had already been notified to 
the Import Licensing Committee, thes e Members felt that the measure did not have to be notified 
under the QR decision. However, one Member did make  the point that there were benefits in having 
comprehensive information available all in one place.   While certainly helpful, the discussion on this 
question was inconclusive. 
 9.4 On transparency, with the exception of one Me mber, all others were in favour of enhancing 
transparency by circulating notifications received and in making the QR database accessible to other 
Members.  In this regard, I noted that the D ecision already provided Members the opportunity to 
request the QR information of another Member if th ey so desired.  So some Members noted that the 
QR information was never intended to be confidential under the Deci sion. Other issues raised in the 
discussion included the time-period for complete notifica tions (i.e. two or three years).  It was a useful 
discussion that clearly would need to be pursu ed further to come to some resolution. 
 9.5 The representative of Korea
 wished to correct one aspect of the Chairman's summary. The 
Chairman had mentioned that on transparency all Me mbers were in favour of the circulation of the 
QR notification except one country. However, he re called that there were ot her delegations who had 
not clearly expressed support for wide dissemination of the notifications including Korea.  9.6 The representative of Japan
 stated that it was essential to identify why the level of compliance 
with this decision was so scant and to undertake co ncrete measures to address the problems identified. 
To that extent, Members could clarify the purpose of these notifications and the Secretariat could carry out some awareness-building activities.  9.7 The Committee took note
 of the report and the statements made. 
 10. Decision on reverse notification of Non-Tariff Measures (G/L/60) 
- Report by the Chairman 
 
10.1 The Chairman
 reported that, in the context of timeliness and completeness of notifications, 
the Committee had examined the Decision on Rever se Notification of NTMs (G/L/60).  Following 
consultations, the Committee had agreed last year that "...six months before a review of these 
notifications was supposed to take place (which was every two years at the same time as the review of 
QRs), the Chairman was to send a letter out to Member s drawing their attention to the fact there that  G/MA/M/51 
 Page 11 
 
 
  was a venue for such types of notification and that the Committee would be assessing such 
notifications at its meeting which was to take pl ace in six months" (G/MA/M/50). Such a letter was 
sent out on 23 November 2009 in anticipation of a review  which was to take place at this meeting.  
However, no new notification had been submitted.  So  the situation continued to be as reflected in 
document G/MA/NTM/W/3/Rev.1 da ted 23 January 2001 which showed that one Member has made a 
notification pursuant to this decision. 
 10.2 The Committee so took note
 of the report. 
 
11. Canadian Government actions to unilatera lly eliminate certain MFN applied tariffs 
- Communication from Canada (G/MA/W/101) 
 
11.1 The representative of Canada  introduced its recent communication (G/MA/W/101) on some 
tariff elimination measures announced by the Governme nt of Canada.  While Canada recognized that 
Members did make regular adjustments to their applied tariffs and dutifully report these to the 
Consolidated Tariff Schedules database, all Member s would benefit from a clear and comprehensive 
communication in this instance, given the breadth and depth of the actions  taken by Canada to 
liberalize trade and open up its market on a Most-Favoured Nation basis.  11.2 Specifically, he reported, that Canada had ta ken the necessary steps to make itself, for all 
intents and purposes, a tariff-free zone for manufacturers by eliminating import duties on 
manufacturing inputs and machinery and equipment. 
 11.3 Free trade in manufacturing inputs and machin ery and equipment was an important source of 
an economy’s competitive strength. By reducing the co st of importing key factors of production, tariff 
relief encouraged innovation and allowed businesses to  enhance their stock of capital equipment and 
opened the potential for new and diffe rent production technologies that might not otherwise have been 
available.  11.4 As a result, it was expected that these measures would have wide -ranging benefits for the 
Canadian economy and manufacturers in terms of their ability to improve their competitiveness in domestic and international markets, maintain a nd increase jobs, raise productivity, and improve 
product quality and innovation. 
 11.5 Small- and medium-sized enterprises th at had to source goods for production from global 
supply chains would be the key beneficiaries of this  action.  Beyond tariff relief, a major benefit to 
them included a reduction in the costs of customs pa perwork by, for example, eliminating the need for 
complying with certain preferential rules of origin requirements. 
 11.6 There would also be knock-on effects in other areas of the Canadian economy as the users of the products of this sector would benefit fro m the innovation and productivity enhancements to 
become more competitive and efficient themselves.  This was no different than Canada’s experience 
in joining the Information Technology Agreement almo st fifteen years ago.  At that time, Canada  
expected that by improving conditions of trade worl dwide, trade in the information technology sector 
would be stimulated and result in the introduction of ever more efficient products.  Canada also 
believed that the benefits of the ITA would exte nd beyond the core businesses in the information 
technology sector to cover such areas as basic and a pplied research, health care and agriculture, just to 
name a few, thereby improving both Canada's wo rldwide competitiveness and Canada's standard of 
living.  Experience had proved this to be true. 
 G/MA/M/51 
Page 12  
 
  11.7 Canada's forward-looking policy choice to eliminate import duties on manufacturing inputs 
and machinery and equipment was driven by the coun try's experience that the expansion of trade, both 
imports and exports, created jobs, achieved a higher st andard of living, and offered greater choices for 
consumers.  
11.8 Canada remained committed to maintain ing open markets and making further progress on 
trade liberalization to promote global economi c recovery.  The Government hoped that these 
Canadian tariff elimination measures would encour age other Members to examine similar ways to 
improve the competitiveness of their economies through pushing forward on trade liberalization, including participation in the negotiation of both Industrial Machinery and Chemicals sectoral 
agreements as part of a balanced a nd ambitious result in the Doha Round. 
 11.9 The representative of Hong Kong, China
 welcomed Canada's unilateral action to eliminate 
MFN applied rates of customs duty on all the manufact uring inputs in machinery and equipment. That 
action was an example of the commitment to liberalise trade and open markets.   
 
11.10 The Committee took note  of the document and the statements made. 
  
12. Other Business 
- Date of the next meeting 
 
12.1 The Committee took note  that its next meeting would take place on 12 October 2010.  
 
13. Election of the Chairperson 
13.1 The Committee elected  Mr Daniel Owoko (Kenya) as its new Chairman.  
 
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