WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/MA/W/74 
7 November 2005 
 (05-5198) 
Committee on Market Access Original:   English 
  
 
 
CHINA'S
 TRANSITIONAL  REVIEW  MECHANISM  
 
Communication from China  
 
 
 The following communication, dated 31 October 2005, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of China.  
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1. Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQ) 
-  Administration of TRQs on a transparent, pr edictable, uniform, fair and non-discriminatory 
basis using clearly specified timeframes, administrative procedures and requirements and evidence of a consistent national alloca tion (and reallocation) policy, including: 
 (i) Provision of volume/value of th e quota or TRQ made available; 
Regarding the tariff rate quota for importa tion of agricultural products, pursuant to the Interim 
Measures on the Administration of Tariff Rate  Quota for Importation of Agricultural Products , the 
National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of the People’s Republic of China 
promulgated on 30 September 2004 the Quantities, Application Conditio ns and Allocation Methods of 
Tariff Rate Quota for Importa tion of Grain and Cotton of 2005  in its Announcement No. 58 of 2004. 
The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) of the People’s Republic of China promulgated on 
29 September 2004  Allocation Methods of Tariff Rate Quot a for Importation of Palm Oil, Soybean 
Oil, Rape Seed Oil and Sugar of 2005  in its Announcement No.60 of 2004,  and Implementing Rules on 
the Administration of Tariff Rate Quota for Im portation of Wool an d Wool Tops of 2004  in its 
Announcement No.61 of 2004 . 
 
Regarding the tariff rate quota for importation of fertilizers, pursuant to the Interim Measures 
on the Administration of Tariff Rate Quota for Importation of Fertilizers , MOFCOM promulgated on 
8 October 2004  the Quantities, Allocation Principles and Application Procedures of Tariff Rate 
Quota for Importation of Fertilizers of 2005  in its Announcement No.62 of 2004.  
 All the Announcements mentioned above can be obtained from both the official website of 
MOFCOM (WWW.MOFCOM.GOV.CN) and  the China Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation 
Gazette .  
 G/MA/W/74 
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       According to the Announcements, quantities of the TRQs of 2004 are as follows: 
 
Products Quantity 
Agricultural products 
Wheat 9,636,000 tons 
Maize 7,200,000 tons 
Rice 5,320,000 tons 
Soybean oil 3,587,100 tons 
Rape seed oil 1,243,000 tons 
Palm oil 3,168,000 tons 
Sugar 1,945,000 tons 
Cotton 894,000 tons 
Wool 287,000 tons 
Industrial products 
Wool tops 80,000 tons 
Urea  2,800,000 tons 
Diammonium phosphate 6,560,000 tons 
NPK 3,290,000 tons 
 
(ii) Reallocated quota or TRQs applied for 
On 15 August 2005, NDRC and MOFCOM jointly promulgated Announcement No.49 of 
2005,  on reallocation of tariff rate quota for im portation of agricultural products of 2005.  
 On 24 August 2005, MOFCOM promulgated Announcement No.56 of 2005, on reallocation of 
tariff rate quota for importation of fertilizers of 2005. 
 
(iii) The volume/value of requests for allocation or reallocation denied 
Volumes of requests for allocati on denied in 2005 are as follows: 
 
Products Quantity applied for (tons) Quantity denied (tons) 
Wheat 18,663,400 9,027,400 
Maize 19,193,000  11,993,000 
Rice 7,347,500  2,580,500 
Soybean oil 23,011,400  19,424,400 
Rape seed oil 6,768,500  5,525,500 
Palm oil 24,310,100   21,142,100 
Sugar 8,560,300 6,615,300 
Cotton 4,960,000 4,066,000  
  G/MA/W/74 
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 (iv) Fill rates for the quota or TRQ 
Import volumes under TRQ and the fill rates as of 31 July 2005 are as follows: 
 
Products Import volume (tons) Fill rate 
Wheat 2,940,000  30.5% 
Maize <5,000  0% 
Rice 250,000  4.7% 
Soybean oil 942,000  26.3% 
Rape seed oil 132,000  10.6% 
Palm oil 1,586,000   50.1% 
Sugar 724,000  37.2% 
Cotton 894,000 100% 
Wool 136,000 47.4% 
Wool tops 13,000 16.3% 
Urea 20,000 0.7% 
NPK 1,350,000 41% 
Diammonium phosphate 1,420,000 21.6% 
 
(v) For TRQs, the amount of any goods entered at the over quota rate; and 
None. 
 
(vi) Time taken to grant a quota or TRQ allocation. 
According to the Interim Measures on the Administration of Tariff Rate Quota for Importation 
of Agricultural Products , NDRC and MOFCOM allocate TRQs for importation of agricultural 
product in two month. 
 According to the Interim Measures on the Administration of Tariff rate Quota for Importation 
of Fertilizers,  MOFCOM allocates TRQs for importation of fertilizers in two months. 
 
2. Non-Tariff Measures including Quantitative Import Restrictions 
(a) The introduction, re-introduction or applica tion of any non-tariff measures other than those 
listed in Annex 3 of the Protocol a nd elimination of non-tariff measures 
None. 
 
(b) Implementation of the schedule for phased elimination of the measures contained in Annex 3 
Since accession, the Chinese government has been promulgating annually, through MOFCOM 
(and the former Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation,  MOFTEC) Announcement, 
the Catalogue of Products under Import License Administration and the Catalogue of Products under 
Automatic Import Licensing Administration , which list by tariff item all the products under the 
administration of import quota, import license and au tomatic import licensing. On 10 December 2004, G/MA/W/74 
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 the Catalogue of Products under Import License Administration of 2005 is published in 
Announcement No.72 of 2004 of MOFCOM and the General Administration of Customs of the 
People’s Republic of China , and the Catalogue of Products under Automatic Import Licensing 
Administration of 2005 is annexed to the new  Measures on the Administration of Automatic Import 
Licensing of Goods,  which is  published in Decree No.26 of 2004 of MOFCOM and General 
Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China . All the decrees and announcements 
mentioned above can be obtained both fro m the official website of MOFCOM 
(WWW.MOFCOM.GOV.CN) and the China Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Gazette . As 
shown in the Catalogue of Products under Import License Administration of 2005,  the Chinese 
government has fulfilled its commitments on reduc tion of non-tariff measures according to the 
timetable contained in Annex 3 to the Protocol on the Accession of the People’s Republic of China. 
The remaining non-tariff measures are in conf ormity with the timetable in Annex 3.  
 
(c) Quota allocation and reallocation in confor mity with WTO requirements, including the 
Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures follo wing criteria set out in the Report of the 
Working Party on the Accession of China 
 According to the Catalogue of Products under Import License Administration of 2004  and 
Annex 3 to the Protocol on the Accession of the People’s Republic of China, import quota 
administration was eliminated on 1 Jan, 2005. 
  
(d) Distribution of licenses, quotas, tariff rate quotas or any other means of approval for 
importation is not subject to conditions set out in Section 7, paragraph 3 of the Protocol  
 According to all the regulations and ministry decrees related to quota, license and TRQ 
administration, the distribution of import licenses,  quotas, TRQs, or any othe r means of approval for 
importation are not subject to the conditions set out  in Section 7, paragraph 3 of the Protocol.  
 
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