. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/MA/W/108 
21 October 2011 
 (11-5243) 
Committee on Market Access  
  
 
AMENDMENT TO THE PROCEDURES LEADING TO THE 
CERTIFICATION OF HS2007 CHANGES
1 
 
Decision of … 
 
 
 The General Council , 
  Having regard to  paragraph 1 of Article IV, and pa ragraph 1 of Article IX of the 
Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Tr ade Organization (the "WTO Agreement"); 
 
 Conducting  the functions of the Ministerial Conference in the interval between meetings of 
the Ministerial Conference pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article IV of the WTO Agreement;   Recalling that the CONTRACTING PARTIES to GATT 1947, by their Decision of 
26 March 1980
2 (the "1980 Decision"), established procedures for the modification and rectification 
of schedules of tariff concessions; 
  Noting  that the CONTRACTING PARTIES to GATT 1947, by their Decision of 
8 October 1991
3 (the "1991 Decision"), established simplif ied procedures to introduce changes in the 
Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System ("HS") to schedules of concessions; 
 
 Recalling  that, at its meeting of 27 November 1998, the Committee on Market Access 
approved the Consolidated Tariff Schedules ("C TS") Database technical co-operation project4; 
  Recalling  further that the General Council, by its Decision of 15 December 2006
5 
(the "2006 Decision"), established a procedure for the introduction of HS 2007 changes to Members' 
schedules of concessions using the CTS Database, and that this procedure requires the 
WTO Secretariat to prepare and to make available a draft CTS schedule for each Member;    Recognizing  the importance of having complete certified schedules that reflect Members' 
concessions in the correct nomenclature and of the wo rk already done by the Secretariat in order to 
achieve such objective expeditiously; 
  Decides  as follows: 
 1. Paragraph 2 of the 2006 Decision is amended to read as follows: 
 
                                                      
1 This document was circulated previously as JOB/MA/92/Rev.3. 
2 L/4962, BISD 27S/25-26. 
3 L/6905, BISD 39S/300. 
4 G/MA/M/16.  See also G/MA/63 concerning details of the CTS Database project. 
5 WT/L/673. G/MA/W/108 
Page 2  
 
  "2.  Developed country Member s shall prepare their own tran sposition.  The Secretariat 
shall transpose the schedules of  developing country Members, except for those who undertake 
to prepare their own transposition and submit a notification to this effect no later than 
31 December 2011.
6  Members who decide to undertake th eir own transposition shall submit all 
the required information in elec tronic form to the Secretariat no later than 31 March 2012.7 8 A 
description of the required info rmation is provide d in Annex 1." 
 
2. Paragraph 16 of the 2006 Decisi on is amended to read as follows: 
 
"16. When there is no objection remaining on a draft HS07 file at a multilateral review session, such 
file will then be considered approved by the Committee on Market Access.  The file will be 
certified as provided for in pa ragraph 17 below, with the exception of any draft HS07 file 
released under paragraph 12 where the Memb er concerned has still neither provided any 
comments nor approved the file.  The latter files shall also be certified as provided for in paragraph 17 below, unless the Memb er submits in writing to the Se cretariat a reservation on its 
HS07 file within one month from the date of the a pproval of its file at the multilateral review 
session. 
 
Members having submitted such a reservation are also required to provide in writing to the 
Secretariat details of the specific reasons for su ch a reservation no later than 2 months from the 
date of their initial communication containing their reservation.  If such specific reasons are not 
provided within the deadline, the certification of their HS07 file shall take place as provided for 
in paragraph 17 below.  In case any amendment is introduced to the HS2007 file, the multilateral review process provided for in Part III shall be resumed for such a file." 
 
 
__________  
 
                                                      
6 It is noted that the following Members have alread y submitted a notification to  this effect:  Brazil, 
China, El Salvador, Korea, Para guay, Chinese Taipei and Turkey. 
7 It is noted that the following Members have already submitted the required information:  Australia, 
Brazil, Canada, El Salvador and Chinese Taipei. 
8 Some Members noted that while they might not be able to meet the deadline, they would accelerate 
their work in order to subm it it as soon as possible.