RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/MA/M/50 
22 October 2009 
 (09-5236) 
Committee on Market Access Original:   English 
  
 
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 2 OCTOBER 2009 
 
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/42) ................................................................................................................. .....2 
2. Extension of the HS2002 waiver (G/C/W/624) .......................................................................2  
3. Extension of the HS2007 waiver (G/C/W/625) .......................................................................2  
4. 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).................................................................3  
5. Introduction of Harmonized System 2002 changes to schedules of concessions using the CTS Database (WT/L/605) ......................................................................................3
 
6. Introduction of Harmonized System 2007 changes to schedules of concessions using the CTS Database (WT/L/673) ......................................................................................4
 
7. Modalities and operation of th e Integrated Data Base..........................................................5  
(i) Status of submission of the required documentation (G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.30) ..............................5  
(ii) Report by the Secretariat on the status of work..........................................................................5  
8. Consolidated Tariff Sche dules (CTS) Database.....................................................................6  
9. Improving the timeliness and completeness of notifications.................................................6  
10. Transitional Review under Paragraph 18 of the Protocol of  Accession of the 
People's Repub lic of China ..................................................................................................... .7 
11. Draft Report (2009) of the Committee to the Council for Trade in Goods 
(G/MA/SPEC/43) ................................................................................................................. ...10 
12. Election of the Vi ce Chairperson...........................................................................................10  
13. Other Bu siness................................................................................................................. ........10  
 
  The Committee adopted
 the agenda as reproduced in WTO/AIR/3423.  An annotated agenda 
was circulated in document JOB(09)/109. 
 G/MA/M/50 
Page 2  
 
  1. Periodic report of the Committee to the Council for Trade in  Goods (G/MA/SPEC/42) 
1.1 The Chairman
 drew attention to document G/MA/SPEC /42 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 there were no requests for extensions of HS96 waivers so 
no factual information on this issue had been provided in the Annex.  
 1.2 The Committee took note
 of the periodic report1 and agreed  to forward it to the CTG for 
appropriate action.  2. Extension of the HS2002 waiver (G/C/W/624) 
2.1 The Chairman
 recalled that a number of Members were  given an extension or granted a new 
waiver, through the form of a "collective deci sion", in order to introduce HS2002 changes 
domestically and to subsequently introduce these ch anges to their respective schedule of concessions 
and to undertake negotiations if required. This wa iver decision was contained in document WT/L/744 
and would expire on 31 December 2009.  Further he noted  that as Nicaragua and Chinese Taipei had 
certified documentation resulting from the HS02 tr ansposition exercise, their names had been 
removed from the annex.  However, there still remain ed a number of Members covered by this wavier 
who had yet to complete the HS2002 exercise an d he proposed that the waiver be extended for 
another year.  If the Committee was in agreement, he proposed that the Committee forward the draft 
waiver decision to the CTG for approval.   
 
2.2 The Committee agreed  to forward the draft decision to the CTG for approval. 
 
3. Extension of the HS2007 waiver (G/C/W/625) 
3.1 The Chairman  recalled that a number of Members had been granted a waiver through the 
form of a "collective decision" in order to introduce HS2007 changes domestically and to 
subsequently introduce these changes to their r espective schedule of concessions and to undertake 
negotiations if required. This decision was contai ned in document WT/L/745 and would expire on 
31 December 2009. Given that the HS2007 exercise was far from over, he proposed that the waiver be 
extended for a year.  If the Committee could agree to that, then he proposed that the Committee 
forward the draft waiver decision to the CTG for approval.  
 
3.2 The Committee agreed  to forward the draft decision to the CTG for approval. 
 
4. Introduction of HS96 changes to schedules of concessions 
(i) Submission of HS96 documentation 
4.1 The Chairman  drew attention to document G/MA/TAR/2/Rev.43. He noted that this 
document differed from the previous version insofa r as references to the document symbols which 
contained waiver extensions granted to Argentina and Panama had been included. He also informed 
the Committee that Panama had now concluded the process, and  its certified documentation had been 
circulated in WT/Let/648.    
4.2 The Committee took note
 of the document and the statement. 
 
                                                      
1 Issued as G/MA/240 .  G/MA/M/50 
 Page 3 
 
 
  (ii) Decision on Procedures leading to the verification and certification of HS96 changes relating 
to the schedules of 64 Members (WT/L/756) 
4.3 The Chairman  recalled that this decision was adopted in the General Council on 
27 May 2009.   As required by it, the Secretaria t had now posted the HS96 files on the website and 
notice of this posting had been circulated in do cument G/SECRET/HS96/CTS/1 dated 3 August 2009.   
In accordance with the procedur es, the Committee would meet approximately six months from the 
date of the notification to conduct a multilateral re view of these files; i.e. early next year.  
  The Committee took note
 of this statement.  
 5. 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
 
 
5.1 A representative from the Secretariat  (Mr. Jurgen Richtering) stat ed that a revised full report 
was issued as JOB(06)/8/Rev.10 on 25 September 2009.   The status of the HS2002 transposition was 
shown on the first page of the report.   It showed  that: 3 draft HS02 files remained to be prepared; 
7 draft HS02 files had been recently completed and sent to Members for their first review;  76 HS02 files were released for multilateral review most of which were approved by all Members; 32 HS02 
files which were certified (of these one file was in the pipeline to be certified).   
5.2 Regarding the certification of files that were  approved, he pointed out that the number of 
certified files would be much higher if more Me mbers signalled approval for their own files.  He 
further noted that some Members' files stayed on th e agenda of more than two dedicated sessions.  A 
number of files from today's dedicated session fell into  this category. There were two reasons: (1) the 
concerned Member did not react quickly to take into account the comments received in spite of the 
Secretariat's assistance which could be provided in order to prepare a revised version of the Member's 
file.; and  (2)  the comments,  in specific and de tailed form, were often not transmitted to the Member 
concerned during or soon after the meeting by the Member making the reservation.  Although the 
Secretariat took note of the HS02 files with comments/reservations made by Members during the multilateral review meeting, the weak point was the follow-up activity of making sure that the 
comments raised were effectively delivered to the Member concerned.  In many cases nothing 
happened between the end of the meeting and the next  meeting 4 to 6 months later because of a lack 
of communication.  As a result, no progress was made between meetings since the comments raised 
first needed to be included in a revised version of the HS02 file before the file was reviewed again in 
a multilateral meeting.    
5.3 It was clear that there needed to be more "discipline" in the foll ow-up activities if Members 
wanted the process to conclude su ccessfully.  The Secretariat wished to help facilitate the exchanges 
between Members.  That was to say by reminding them when there was a qu estion they needed to 
respond to or when they had a reservation or comme nt to elaborate.  It would be done informally, 
probably in the shape of a phone call or email; the main objective being to have these issues on delegations' radar screen more often than just a few weeks before an informal dedicated session. 
 
5.4 In reference to document JOB(06)/8/Rev.10, the representative of the Bolivarian Republic of 
Venezuela  noted that footnote 8, on page 3 read as fo llowed: "The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela 
had requested an extension of the 60-day period unt il 2 June 2009 to provide comments on its file."  
He wished to point out that only a few days after that request, his delegation had submitted comments.  
He had already flagged this to the Secretariat, but wi shed to flag it again as this had not been reflected 
in the document.  G/MA/M/50 
Page 4  
 
  5.5 The representative of Canada
 supported the suggestion made by the Secretariat about 
following-up with delegations between the informal  meetings to facilitate the transposition process. 
He also wished to take this opportunity to reaffi rm to the Committee Canada's understanding that the 
purpose of this HS transposition exercise was to make the necessary changes to the tariff 
nomenclature in the Members' schedule of concessions  as a result of changes to the HS tariff code as 
determined by the WCO.  In other words that the transposition exercise was not meant to result in an 
increase in the  level of a Member's tariff binding. 
 
5.6 The Committee took note  of the report and the statements.  
 
6. Introduction of Harmonized System 2007 chan ges to schedules of concessions using the 
CTS Database (WT/L/673) 
 - Transposition of Members' CTS Files to  the HS2007 Nomenclature – Notes on 
Methodology (JOB(09)/24 and Add.1)  
 
6.1 The Chairman  recalled that at the informal mee ting of 26 March 2009, the Committee had 
considered the document JOB(09)/24 by the Secretar iat.  In this document, the Secretariat had 
provided some practical solutions aimed at simplifyi ng as much as possible the structure of Members' 
WTO schedule of concessions, while preserving their rights and obligations.  The basic idea was to 
develop common rules that could be applied to all schedules that the Secretariat was going to process 
and verify. There were no comments at that meeting on this document.  The Secretariat had subsequently circulated an addendum  to that document which was consid ered at the formal meeting of 
28 April 2009.  Following an intervention, the Committee had agreed that  document JOB(09)/24 and 
its addendum would be considered  approved provided that no comments were forthcoming by any 
Member within two week from the date of the m eeting.  However, comments were submitted and the 
documents remained unapproved.     6.2 On another matter but also linked to the HS07 exercise, he noted that the Committee had agreed at its April meeting that those Members prep aring their own files should submit such files by 
31 October of this year.  Only Australia and Ca nada had submitted such  documentation, actually 
already by the time of the original deadline in 2007, and the Secretariat had examined the submissions 
and provided comments to those delegations.     6.3 A representative from the Secretariat
 (Mr. Jurgen Richtering) stated that in light of the 
comments received from Members on the HS2007 methodol ogy the Secretariat had raised the issues 
in consultations with several Members.  In these discussions, it had become clear that apart from some 
specific technical issues there was al so a more general concern  relating to the  timing of the HS2007 
transposition exercise in the light of the ongoi ng DDA negotiations.  A conclusion of the DDA 
negotiations was likely to lead to modifications in  the nomenclature of  Members'  schedules.  This 
would thus modify the basis on which the HS2007 transposition would take place compared to the 
situation at this point in time.  As a result,  the Secretariat would be obliged to restart the transposition 
process with the new DDA schedules.  Therefore, from the Secretariat point of view, it made better sense to put the current HS07 transposition exercise  on hold for the time being and to review the 
situation again at the next meeting of the Committee.   In this context, it was also worth mentioning 
that up to now no further HS transpositions had been received by the Secretariat.         
 
6.4 The Chairman
 thought that the Secretariat's proposal  appeared reasonable.  He wondered 
whether the Committee could agree to put on ho ld the HS2007 transposition work and re-assess the 
situation at the next meeting of the Committee in 2010.    
6.5 The Committee so agreed
.  G/MA/M/50 
 Page 5 
 
 
  6.6 In light of this, the Chairman  further proposed that the Committee re-consider document 
JOB(09)/24 and its addendum at the time it agreed to  move ahead with the HS2007 exercise; and that 
it look into the question of the deadline for t hose Members submitting their own HS07 files also 
around that time.   
6.7 The Committee so agreed
. 
 
7. Modalities and operation of the Integrated Data Base 
(i) Status of submission of the required documentation (G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.30)  
7.1 The Chairman  drew attention to document G/MA/IDB /2/Rev.30 which presented the situation 
of IDB submissions as of  24 September 2009.   In this connection, he noted that the Committee had 
taken two decisions in July, on enhancing notif ication compliance and on broader dissemination, 
which it was hoped would improve the status of s ubmissions to the IDB as well its visibility and 
usage.  
 
7.2 The Committee took note  of the document. 
 
(ii) Report by the Secretariat on the status of work 
7.3 A representative from the Secretariat  (Mr. Jurgen Richtering) stat ed that since the circulation 
of the Status of Submissions document, G/MA/I DB/2/Rev.30, the Secretariat had received the 
following submissions:  Albania 2008 imports; Ca pe Verde 2008 imports and 2009 tariff data; 
Malawi 2008 and 2009 tariff data; Indonesia 2008 impor ts and 2009 tariff data; Peru 2009 tariff data; 
Singapore 2009 tariff data; Thailand  2007 and 2 008 imports and 2008 and 2009 tariff data.  The 
following Members had not yet submitted any inform ation to the IDB: Cambodia, Central African 
Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of th e Congo, Guinea Bissau and Viet Nam. 
 7.4 The Secretariat had loaded information onto the IDB Internet File Transfer Facility on a 
monthly basis. Currently,  875 country-periods, c overing 115 out of 125 Members and seven acceding 
countries, were available on the website.
2 
 
7.5 On technical assistance, sin ce the last meeting of the Committee in April 2009, the IDB and 
CTS were presented at the following regional NAMA  workshops:   Malaysia for Asian economies; 
Jamaica for the Caribbean; UAE for Arab countries; and Colombia for Latin American countries.  The 
IDB and CTS were also presented in the re gional Trade Policy Course in Swaziland.  
 7.6 On software development, following the decision of the Committee at its last meeting to 
allow public access to the IDB and CTS as of Ja nuary 2010 (with certain access conditions), the 
Secretariat was working to have a public version of the internet analysis facility (IAF).  Members would have continued access to the full version of th e IAF.  The Secretariat would also incorporate 
tariff data at the detailed level in the Tariff Download Facility. 
 7.7 The representative of the United States
 referred to the decision adopted by the Committee in 
July (G/MA/239) which laid out ways by which info rmation could be secured by the Secretariat  for 
those Members who had either not submitted to the IDB or who had significant gaps in their 
submissions.  He was curious about how the decision was being implemented.  
 
                                                      
2 The information provided by the European Communities covers its 27 member States as of 
1 January 2007;  the information provided by  Switzerland covers also Liechtenstein.  G/MA/M/50 
Page 6  
 
  7.8 A representative of the Secretariat
 (Mr. Jurgen Richtering) stated that the Secretariat had only  
recently started to compile an inventory of sour ces.  The focus of work in his section (the IDB 
section) had been to catch up with the back log in  respect of processing IDB submissions.  However, 
he would report more at the next meeting on the Committee on how the Secretariat was implementing 
this decision.  
7.9 The representative of Argentina
 noted that his delegation had provided information to the IDB 
and he wished to make sure th at it had been duly registered. 
 
7.10 A representative of the Secretariat  (Mr. Jurgen Richtering) stated that this matter could be 
clarified with his colleague who w as responsible for IDB submissions.  
 
7.11 The Committee took note  of the report and the statements.  
 
8. Consolidated Tariff Schedules (CTS) Database 
 -  Consolidated Tariff schedules Database form ats for tariff commitments as well as 
specific commitments in agriculture in HS2002 nomenclature (JOB(09)/32)  
 
8.1 The Chairman  recalled that the Secretariat document JOB(09)/32 was put before the 
Committee at its formal meeting of 28 April.  The document  presented revised formats that would be 
used in the new version of the CTS database in th e HS2002 nomenclature.  It covered Members' tariff 
commitments as well as specific commitments in agriculture in the HS2002 nomenclature.  In light of 
the intervention made at that meeting, the Committee had agreed that document JOB(09)/32 would be considered approved by the Committee provided no comments were forthcoming by any Member 
within two weeks from the date of that meeti ng.  However, comments were submitted by two 
delegations concerning the agriculture section.   The Secretariat was now looking at preparing a 
revised version of that document taking on board  some of those comments. In the meantime, he 
understood that the Secretariat had included in the new CTS database, the information of Members with no specific commitments in ag riculture as the comments had mainly concerned the format of the 
additional agricultural commitments.   8.2 In relation to JOB(09)/32 and the concession ta ble appearing on page 3, the representative of 
Thailand
 wondered whether it would be possible to include a field which indicated the source of the 
concession. She was making this proposal as it woul d help determine whether the concession resulted 
from a transposition exercise or from some other source.    8.3 A representative of the Secretariat
 (Ms. Alya Belkhodja) responded that this information was 
already included.  There was the "Present Instrument" field which re flected the name of the legal 
document containing the present concession. Then there was another field called "Source" which provided information on the source of the concession, i.e. whether it was a concession emanating  from the HS96 or HS2002 transposition exercise or alternatively whether it originated from inter alia 
the ITA or the Uruguay Round.    
8.4 The Committee took note
 of the statements.  
 
9. Improving the timeliness and completeness of notifications 
- Report by the Chairman  
 9.1 The Chairman
 recalled that the Committee had been dea ling with this issue since the start of 
the year.  Quite early on, on the Decision on reverse notification of non-tariff measures , Members had 
agreed that six months before a review of these notifications was supposed to take place (which was  G/MA/M/50 
 Page 7 
 
 
  every two years at the same time as the review of  quantitative restrictions),  the Chairman would send 
a letter to Members drawing their attention to the f act there was a venue for such types of notification 
and that the Committee would be assessing such notifica tions at its meeting which would take place in 
six months.  So, the letter would be going out soon in  order for this issue could be on the agenda of 
the spring meeting.  
 
9.2 In respect of IDB submissions, the Comm ittee had adopted the decision contained in 
document G/MA/239 entitled "Framework to  enhance IDB notifications compliance ". This new 
framework was expected to improve the status of submissions to the IDB.   
9.3 On the Decision on Notification Procedures for Quantitative Restrictions
, he recalled that a 
number of consultations were held.  The last one was held on 25 May of this year.  At that 
consultation, one step which was proposed in order to move the discussion forward was to see where 
quantitative restrictions were notified in-house.  This would give the Committee clarity on the 
measures that had only this decision as a venue for notification. The Secretariat was still gathering 
information concerning this matter.  Once the information was gathered he intended to hold 
consultations, provided that negotiations  did not get everyone too busy.  
 9.4 The Committee took note
 of the report. 
 
10. Transitional Review under Paragraph 18 of the Protocol of  Accession of the People's 
Republic of China 
 -  Questions and/or Comments submitted to China by the European Communities 
(G/MA/W/97), Japan (G/MA/W/96) and  the United States (G/MA/W/98)  
 
10.1 The Chairman  noted that the Committee would be c onducting its eighth tr ansitional review. 
With respect to the review, a number of comments/qu estions had been put to China from  Japan, the 
European Communities and the United States.   China had also circulated information.  
 10.2 The representative of China
 took note of the documents/questions submitted by Japan, US 
and the EC under this agenda item. A study of these questions indicated that most of them concerned 
the export regulatory regime of China.  China believed that questions of this type were not within the 
mandate of this agenda item of this Committee, a nd wished to remind the delegations concerned to 
revisit the relevant paragraphs of the Protocol of Accession and its annexes.  He had also understood 
that last year, questions of this type were discuss ed in the context of the transitional review in the 
CTG and did not understand why delega tions had difficulties in raising this set of issues in that forum 
rather than this one.  
 
10.3 With regard to the issue ra ised by US on the value-added-tax (VAT) applied to diammonium 
phosphate (DAP).  China was of the view that it was difficult to agree with the US claim that the VAT 
policy for DAP was discriminatory.  In China DAP was directly applied to manure, while MAP was 
mainly used to produce compounds or special fertiliz ers. Therefore, MAP and DAP were not directly 
competitive or substitutable products in China. Th ere had also been domestic production of DAP in 
China since 1965 and the VAT had been in place both for domestic and imported products. Therefore 
China's view was that imported DAP enjoyed national treatment.   10.4 On the issue of the medicine reimbursement cat alogue raised by the EC, he noted that China 
was in the process of modifying the catalogue of me dicine for basic medical insurance, occupational 
injury insurance and maternity insurance. He expected the new catalogue  to be published soon. 
However, he wished to draw Memb ers' attention to the fact that the Government agencies in China 
were only responsible for the organisation of th e process of modifying this catalogue, while the 
application and recommendations for medicines were  done by a group of experts which consisted of G/MA/M/50 
Page 8  
 
  more than 300 consultants and 20,000 experts. The expert group would decide whether some 
medicines including innovative new medicines should be  listed in the catalogue or not on the basis of 
coverage, capacity, health, economic assessments a nd other appraisal thresholds and criteria.  
 10.5 With regard to the issue raised by th e EC on China Compulsory Certification (CCC) 
Regulation.  China took note of the concern express ed by the EC, but believed that this question of 
certification was within the mandate of the forthc oming transitional review of the TBT Committee. 
Therefore his delegation would be ready to deal with that issue in that Committee.   10.6 The representative of Japan
 stated that the transitional review was an important opportunity to 
ensure transparency and a regulatory update of  the state of China's implementation of its 
commitments under the WTO and to mutually im prove the understanding of the interests and 
concerns among Members. In this regard, his dele gation wished to thank China for its efforts. 
However, as pointed out in document G/MA/W/96, Jap an was of the view that there still remained a 
number of unresolved issues of which many relate d to export restrictions and export taxes. 
Concerning the communication from China, Japan appreciated that China had provided this 
document. However, he had seen the document only recently and needed to consult his capital in 
order to see whether it answered Japan's questions and concerns.    10.7 The representative of the European Communities
 noted that this was  the eighth transitional 
review under China's Protocol of Accession to th e WTO. The EC continued to find it a useful 
instrument as it embodied the fundamental principle of transparency in the WTO. In this respect, it 
gave China the opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to this principle and allowed Members to better understand and assess progress China had made in complying with WTO rules and disciplines. 
The EC saw it as a mutually beneficial and supportive process.  
10.8 In EC submissions to previous such exercises as well as to this one, his delegation had raised 
concerns and questions regarding Chinese trade re strictive measures that negatively affected EC 
companies' ability to trade with China.  His dele gation appreciated the responses given by China in 
previous transitional reviews and the comments made  today. However, many of those responses had 
often remained quite general in nature and had not always addressed the specific concerns expressed 
by the EC. In particular the questions relating to Chinese measures that continued, in his delegation's  
view, to be incompatible with China's WTO accession commitments and WTO rules. 
 10.9 He wished to highlight some of the main areas of concern raised in the EC submission 
(G/MA/W/97) which had been circulated to Members well ahead of this meeting. First on the issue of 
the export restrictions, as pointed out, China contin ued to impose export restrictions in the form of 
export duties, export quotas and minimum export prices on a large and expanding number of raw 
materials.  This was a continued cause for concern from the EC perspective. This reason was that China was the main source and sometimes the on ly source in the world for many of these raw 
materials which were very important inputs for EC's manufacturing industry.   China's export 
restriction on rare earths, seve ral non-ferrous metals, potassium ch loride, ammonium phosphate and a 
number of other raw materials were in his delegati on's view not consistent with Article XI of the 
GATT and China's commitments under its Protocol of Accession to the WTO. In this respect the EC 
wished to recall the following commitments:  - To eliminate all taxes and charges to export unless specifically provided for in Annex 6 of the 
Accession Protocol. Annex 6 listed 84 products at 8-digit level w ith a maximum duty rate that 
could be applied. According to his informati on, China applied export duties on 373 tariff lines 
at 8-digit level. 
- Part of the commitments also was to e liminate upon accession export restraints unless they 
could be justified under WTO rules (paragraph 165 of the Working Party Report). To date  G/MA/M/50 
 Page 9 
 
 
  although there had been discussions in previous transitional reviews on this issue, no detailed 
justification for keeping tho se measures had been heard. 
- Lastly China had also committed to notify any possible export restrictions to the WTO.   10.10 His delegation had raised these concerns sin ce the start of the transitional review and in 
numerous bilateral occasions including at the politi cal level. On 23 June 20 09, the EC and US had 
requested WTO consultations with China on export rest rictions on a number of ke y raw materials.  He 
underlined that the EC continued to seek an amicable  and mutually satisfactory solution with China.  
During this transitional review, his delegation would be grateful to receive answers regarding China's 
intentions to remove the export restrictions on raw materials in accordance with its accession 
commitments.  
 10.11 Turning now to the CCC, this was also an i ssue that his delegation had raised on a number of 
occasions as it continued to impede EC exports to Ch ina. The EC welcomed the fact that China had 
previously reviewed this mechanism and include d some improvements. However, the fundamental 
complexity in the length and the cost of the proce dure remained. In this respect, his delegation also 
welcomed the recent notification made by China to review this mechanism again and looked forward 
to working very closely with Ch ina in order to see how the certification scheme could be further 
simplified and based more on a risk-based approach as mandated by Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement. His delegation had seen that the CCC had very wide coverage and that it basically treated 
all types of products across-the-board without due account  of the inherent risk of those products.  His 
delegation wished more specifically in this tr ansitional review to ask China to give positive 
consideration to  proposals to simplify the system pending a more fundamental review of the system. Those proposals were detailed in para graph 2.5 of the EC submission.  
 10.12 Turning to the third point which was re lated to pharmaceuticals and the national drug 
reimbursement list (NDRL).  Hi delegation had raised  this issue on a number of occasions and he took 
positive note of the statement by China that they were now reviewing the national drug 
reimbursement list. He looked forward to receiving  more detailed information on that as soon as 
possible.  10.13 The representative of the United States
 stated that most of his delegation's comments were 
related to China's export restrictions. His delegati on shared the comments that  had already been made 
on the subject. His delegation noted China's statemen t that it would be more appropriate to discuss 
this issue in the CTG and looked forward to subm itting the questions in that forum and obtaining a 
response at that time.   
10.14 The representative of Cuba
 offered greetings and congratulations to the government and 
people of China for the anniversary celebrated the prev ious day. It coincided almost perfectly with the 
creation of the GATT.  China in a very short time had become a strong and growing economy, a peaceful power and more importantly for most of the Members a partner acting in solidarity with those countries that had not yet found the path to de velopment. China had done so much more than 
any other country  in such a short period of time a nd the only thing that Cuba felt was satisfaction and 
a need to express heartfelt thanks for the strong re lations that China maintain ed with Cuba. China was 
one of Cuba's main partners.  China was a key part ner for almost all Members of this organisation.  
He thanked China for what it had done to meet its  commitments when entering the WTO which had 
been of benefit to the Cuban economy in the di fficult situation it had been going through because of 
lack of access to its main and closest market. 
 
10.15 The representative of Korea
 referred to document G/MA/W/99 and stated that as it had been 
circulated only shortly before this meeting,  his capital had not had sufficient time to review it.  If there were comments or questions arising from that  review, they would be transmitted to China.  
 G/MA/M/50 
Page 10  
 
  10.16 The representative of China
 thanked Members for their comment s, in particular for the kind 
words from Cuba.  China was ready to continue this  dialogue with Members.  China believed that it 
was in the interest of all through their joint effo rts that bilateral and multilateral trade continued to 
grow.  
10.17 The Chairman
 believed that all delegations wishing to  take the floor had done so. Regarding 
the report3 of the review to the CTG, as in previous years, it would be a brief factual paragraph 
indicating that the review had taken place, an  acknowledgment of the documentation submitted 
pursuant to the review, and a reference to the discuss ions that took place, as reflected in the minutes 
of this meeting.   
 
10.18 The Committee took note  of the statements.  
 
11. Draft Report (2009) of the Committee to the Council for Trade in Goods 
(G/MA/SPEC/43) 
11.1 The Chairman  noted that the Committ ee was required to submit annually a report on its 
activities to the CTG.  A draft report, covering th e activities of the Committee in 2007, was circulated 
in document G/MA/SPEC/43.  The report w ould be updated in light of the meeting4.  
 11.2 Further, he noted that following the previous  year's procedure, the updated draft report would 
be sent to Members by fax, and if no comments were  forthcoming within a certain time period then it 
would be considered adopted.  If there were minor ch anges, a revised report would be circulated with 
the changes marked clearly and if no comments were submitted within a certain time frame, the 
revised report would be considered adopted.   11.3 The Committee so agreed
.     
 
12. Election of the Vice Chairperson 
12.1 The Chairman  noted that he had completed his informal consultations on a Vice-Chair, and on 
that basis, he proposed to elect Ms. Juntra Siriut haikorn (Thailand) as Vice -Chair of this Committee 
by acclamation.   
12.2 The Committee elected
 Ms. Juntra  Siriuthaikorn as Vice-Chair.  
 
13. Other Business 
- Date of the next meeting  
 
13.1 The Committee took note  that its next meeting would take place in the spring of 2010.   
      
__________  
                                                     
 
3 Issued as G/MA/241 . 
4 Final report was circulated as G/L/896.