WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
G/MA/M/55 
22 May 2012 
 (12-2691) 
Committee on Market Access  
  
 
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 26 APRIL 2012 
 
Chairman: Mr. Attila Bastirmaci (Turkey) 
   
Subjects discussed                      Page 
 
1.  Periodic Report of the Committee to the Council for Trade in Goods 
(G/MA/SPEC/50) ................................................................................................................ ...... 2 
2.  Introduction of Harmonized System 1996 (HS96) changes to schedules of 
concessions (L/6905 AND WT/L/756) ..................................................................................... 2  
3.  Introduction of Harmonized System 2002 changes to schedules of concessions 
using the Consolidated Tariff Schedules (CTS) database (WT/L/605) – Report by the Secretariat on th e Status of work ................................................................................. 2  
4.  Introduction of Harmonized System 2007 changes to schedules of concessions 
using the CTS database (WT/L/673) - Transposition of Members' CTS files to 
the HS2007 nomenclature - Notes on methodology (JOB/MA/97/Rev.1) ............................ 3  
5.  Operation of the Integrated Database including status of submissions 
(G/MA/IDB/2/Rev. 35), and the Consolidated Tariff Schedules Database - Report by the Secretariat ..................................................................................................... .... 4 
6.  Draft Decision on notification pr ocedures for quantitative restrictions 
(G/MA/W/110) .................................................................................................................. ......... 5 
7.  Situation of schedules of WT O Members (G/MA/W/23/Rev.8) ............................................ 5  
8.  Cost savings in document production and meetings - Recommendations by the 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration which were adopted by the General Council ............................................................................................................... ......... 6 
9.  Other Busi ness ................................................................................................................ ........... 6 
(i)  Turkey - Tariff increases on textil es - statement by the US......................................................... 6  
(ii)  Proposed derestriction of certain bilatera l negotiating documentation  relating to 
earlier GATT Rounds of negotiations; ........................................................................................ 7  
(iii) - Date of next meeting ........................................................................................................ ......... 7 
10.  Election of th e Chairman ...................................................................................................... ... 7 
 A
NNEX  .............................................................................................................................. ................. 9  
 
_______________ 
 G/MA/M/55 
Page 2  
 
  1. Periodic Report of the Committee to the Council for Trade in Goods (G/MA/SPEC/50) 
1.1 The Chairman drew the Committee's attenti on to G/MA/SPEC/50 which contained the draft 
periodic report.  He noted that this report, which w ould be finalized in the light of the discussion that 
would take place at this meeting, would be subm itted to the Council for Trade in Goods (CTG) for 
examination.   He further noted that there were no requests for extensions of waivers so no factual 
information on this issue had been provided in the annex.   
 1.2 The Committee took note of the periodic report and the statement and agreed to forward it
1 to 
the CTG.    2. Introduction of Harmonized System 1996 (HS96) changes to schedules of concessions 
(L/6905 AND WT/L/756) 
2.1 The Chairman noted that there were two pr ocedures which had been used by Members to 
introduce HS96 changes to schedules of concessions . The general procedure contained in GATT 
document L/6905 dated 20 September 1991 and th e specific one contained in WTO document 
WT/L/756 dated 29 May 2009.  He recalled that unde r the first procedure, Members had to transpose 
their own schedules, whereas under the second one the S ecretariat had been tasked to transpose the 
schedules of 64 developing countries and LDCs.  2.2 The situation under the general procedure rema ined unchanged since October of last year.   
The status of HS96 submissions by Members following these procedures was contained in document 
G/MA/TAR/2/Rev.47 dated 6 October 2011.  Vene zuela's documentation (where the Committee was 
waiting for feedback from the capital), and Aust ralia's documentation (whi ch required relevant 
domestic approval) remained open at present.    2.3 Concerning the situation of Members who had followed the more recent procedures contained 
in WT/L/756, the files of only three Members were pending:  Bangladesh, Ecuador and South Africa.   
In the case of Bangladesh, errors were found in the file that was pr epared by the Secretariat, so it 
would be circulated again for multilateral review once the corrections had been introduced.  In the 
case of Ecuador, its HS96 file was linked to the HS2002  work and awaited completion of that work.   
Concerning South Africa's file, questions were rais ed on this file and the Committee would need to 
come back to it at its next HS96 multilateral review session.  
 
2.4 The representative of Ecuador informed that  Committee that on 29 March, his delegation had 
held bilateral consultations on a technical level with experts from the US on 6 pending items which 
related to the transposition of Ecuador's HS96 files to HS2002. Ecuador felt that the meeting was very 
positive and that some doubts had been clarified,  but not all. His delegation had committed to 
submitting additional information in order to conclude in the medium term this process. He wished to 
inform Members of these developments so that they would know that Ecuador was on track to 
resolving the matter.  2.5 The Committee took note of the statements.  
 3. Introduction of Harmonized System 2002 chan ges to schedules of concessions using the 
Consolidated Tariff Schedules (CTS) database (WT/L/605) – Report by the Secretariat 
on the Status of work  
3.1 A member of the Secretariat (Mr. Jurgen Richtering) reported that a revised full report was 
issued as JOB/MA/42/Rev.4 on 6 March 2012.  The status of the HS02 transposition after the 
                                                      
 1 Updated report was circulated as G/MA/284.  G/MA/M/55 
 Page 3 
 
 
  multilateral review held on 19 Ma rch 2012 was:  99 HS02 files were certified and two HS02 files 
were in the process of being certified; 14 HS02 file s were released for multilateral review and had 
comments from other Members; one draft HS02 file had been completed and sent to Members for their first review; and two draft HS02 files remained to be prepared.  
3.2 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) - Transposition of Members' CTS files to the HS2007 nomenclature - Notes on methodology (JOB/MA/97/Rev.1) 
4.1 The Chairman recalled that document JO B/MA/97/Rev.1 containing notes on methodology 
for the HS 2007 transposition work was reviewed at  an informal meeting of the Committee held on 
19 March 2012.  The Secretariat at that meeting ha d pointed out the changes it had introduced to the 
document in relation to an earlier version of th e document.  Members had no objections to the 
document. 
 
4.2 However, in reviewing the document, the Secr etariat had noticed that reference to certain 
Member-specific concessions, such as certain concessions pertaining to agricultural specific 
commitments had been omitted.  This omission w as also true in respect of the HS07 reference 
information posted on the Member s' website. Clearly additional ta bles containing other relevant 
concessions and commitments should be included in orde r to comply with paragraph 5 of the decision 
in WT/L/673.  To this end, the draft HS07 files pr epared by the Secretariat would include an Excel 
file listing the additional elements affected by the HS07 changes and the corresponding correlations, if 
applicable.  This information should also be provide d in the draft HS07 files prepared by Members.  
This was not a new requirement and had already been part of the HS02 exercise.   
4.3 In order to rectify this omission in the documen t, the Secretariat had prepared a paragraph that 
it would propose to include between paragraphs 7.2 and 7.3 under section VII relating to format and 
contents of the HS07 transposition files.  Th e paragraph was circulated as a room document 
(RD/MA/3).   4.4 Given the short notice, he proposed that the Committee approve the document including the 
new paragraph on an ad referendum basis and that Members be given until 17 May 2012 to voice any 
concerns.  If there were concerns expressed, he pr oposed that the Committee return to the document at 
the next meeting, otherwise the document with the new paragraph would be considered approved
2.   
  4.5  The Committee agreed to this way of proceeding.  
 
4.6 The Chairman stated that he had two additiona l points to make under this agenda item.  First 
was to draw the Committee's attention to a date.   He recalled that the procedures related to the HS07 
transposition exercise were contained in document WT/L/673 and the amendment to these procedures 
was contained in WT/L/830.  According to the latter, developed country  Members and developing 
country Members who had so indicated by 31 December 2011 were required to submit their HS07 
documentation by 31 March 2012.   Footnote 7 also observed that "Some Members noted that while 
they might not be able to meet the deadline, they would accelerate their work in order to submit it as 
soon as possible."  4.7 Among the developed country Members, Aust ralia, Canada, New Zealand and the US had 
submitted the relevant documentation. The following developing country Members had indicated that 
                                                      
 2 No comments were submitted by 17 May, so the document with the new paragraph is now considered 
approved and has been re-issued as G/MA/283.  G/MA/M/55 
Page 4  
 
  they would do their own HS07 transposition: Brazil, China, El Salvador, Indonesia, Korea, Paraguay, 
Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago  and Turkey. Among them, El Salvador and 
Chinese Taipei had already submitte d the required information.   
 
4.8 The Committee took note of the statement.   
 
4.9 The second point, he wished to bring up was that at the end of the last formal meeting of the Committee it had been agreed that the Committee would discuss further the subject of the non-
consensus correlated items. The Secretariat was requ esting that Members come back to this question 
in the summer when the Secretariat would have ga ined more experience with the HS07 transposition 
exercise.   He wondered whether th e Committee could agree to this.  
 4.10 The Committee so agreed.    
 
5. Operation of the Integrated Database including status of submissions 
(G/MA/IDB/2/Rev. 35), and the Consolidated Tariff Schedules Database - Report by the 
Secretariat  
5.1 The Chairman drew the Committee's atte ntion to document G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.35 which 
contained the status of submissions to the IDB.   
 5.2 A member of the Secretariat (Mr. Jurgen Ri chtering) stated that since the circulation of 
G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.35, the Secretariat had received the following submissions:  Albania: tariffs 
for 2012; Hong Kong, China:  tariffs for 2011 and 2012 and imports for 2011; Morocco:  preferential 
duties for 2010 and 2011; and the Former Yugoslav Re public of Macedonia: tariffs for 2012.  On IDB 
dissemination, 1337 country-periods covering all 125 WTO Members and eight acceding countries, 
were now available on the IDB websites, the Tariff Analysis Online (TAO) and in the File Transfer 
Facility (FTF).  
5.3 On the CTS database, the Secretariat currently had files for 111 Members in the new CTS 
formats (described in G/MA/244) available on th e File Transfer Facility site.  Out of these 
111 Members, 99 Members were shown to have certified HS02 schedules; six Members had acceded 
using the HS02 nomenclature; and one Member had acceded using the HS07 nomenclature.  For five 
more Members, HS02 versions of their schedul es were already shown in the CTS but the HS02 
changes had not yet been certified.   The rema ining 14 Members were still in HS96 nomenclature 
using the previous CTS format.  They would be updated to the new format once their HS02 changes 
were certified.  The CTS database would also soon be updated with the CTS files for the newly 
acceded Members, Montenegro and Samoa.  
5.4 A new release of the CTS files would be issu ed on DVD by early July.  It would include for 
most Members their CTS file in HS02 nomenclatur e with certified HS02 changes.  In addition, the 
Secretariat would include a compilation of the el ectronic version of rele vant GATT and WTO legal 
instruments for all Members.  This compilation wo uld be updated once a year and would be provided 
to Members together with the CTS files.   
 
5.5 The representative of the United States stated that her delegation had noted that some large 
Members were several years behind in their tariff a nd import data submissions to the IDB.  She urged 
all Members to develop the necessary resources to submit data to the IDB in a timely manner.  Her delegation would also appreciate if the Secretar iat could disseminate all data submitted by WTO 
Members as soon as possible. In cases where Members had submitted partial data, she requested that 
the Secretariat post those submissions to the provisional IDB database. 
 5.6 The Committee took note of the document G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.35 and of the statements.   G/MA/M/55 
 Page 5 
 
 
  6. Draft Decision on notification procedu res for quantitative restrictions (G/MA/W/110) 
6.1 The Chairman stated that the Committee's discu ssion on the subject first started in 2009 when 
a letter dated 26 February 2009 from the Chairman of the General Council was received by the Chairs 
of all WTO bodies.  In that letter, each Chair wa s requested to consult with Members on ways to 
improve the timeliness and completeness of notif ications and other information flows on trade 
measures falling within their respective area of responsibility.   
 6.2 The Committee had identified three notifi cation requirements under its purview:  (i) the 
Decision on Notification Procedures for Quantitative Restrictions (G/L/59); (ii)  the Decision on Reverse Notification of Non-Tariff Measures (G/L/60) ; and (iii) the notification of trade and tariff 
data to the IDB pursuant to WT/L/225.  
 6.3 Starting with the IDB, the Committee had taken a decision on 13 July 2009 aimed at 
improving the notification levels to the IDB. This decision was contained in document G/MA/239.  In 
respect of the Decision on Reverse Notification of Non-Tariff Measures, the Committee had agreed at 
an informal consultation held on 16 April 2009 that six months before a review of these notifications 
was supposed to take place (which was every two year s at the same time as the review of quantitative 
restrictions),  the Chairman would send a letter to Members drawing their attention to the fact that a 
venue existed for such types of notifications a nd that the Committee would be assessing them at a  
meeting to take place in six months' time.  This ag reement was reported to the formal meeting of the 
Committee held on 28 April 2009.  
 
6.4 On the Decision on Notification Procedures for Quantitative Restrictions, he recalled that 
JOB/MA/71/Rev.5 containing the draft decision was on the agenda of the Committee's formal 
meeting in October 2011.  In light of the reserva tions expressed by Brazil, the Committee had agreed 
to hold informal consultations on the subject.  In formal consultations we re held on 19 March 2012 
and at that meeting, the Committee was informed by Brazil that it had withdrawn its reservations.  At 
that meeting, India had proposed that the deadline for the first submission of quantitative restriction 
notifications be moved from 31 Ma rch to 30 September.  The draft decision which had now been 
issued as G/MA/W/110 contained that change.   6.5 The representative of Brazil confirmed that Brazil found itself in a position to lift its previous 
reservation and to accept provision 5 of document G/MA/110. He added that as a result of internal consultations which aimed at clarifying the scope of the proposal of notification procedures and the 
obligation they entailed,  Brazil understood that th e measures contained in Annex II shall be notified 
only insofar as they could be characterized as or assumed the nature of quantitative restrictions.  
 
6.6 The Committee approved the decision contained in G/MA/W/110 and agreed to forward it to 
the CTG for adoption.  
 
7. Situation of schedules of WTO Members (G/MA/W/23/Rev.8) 
7.1 The Chairman drew the Committee's attenti on to a document prepared by the Secretariat 
concerning the current status of schedules which was circulated in G/MA/W/23/Rev.8.  Its usefulness 
derived from the fact that it compiled in one place a ll the legal instruments relating to each Member's 
schedule.  It also provided an overview of the pro cedures that remained outstanding and in particular, 
a number of renegotiations under Article XXVIII wh ere there had been no information for many 
years. In this connection, he believed that the S ecretariat intended to produce a document which gave 
more detailed information on the state of play of Ar ticle XXVIII negotiations.  Finally, he encouraged 
each Member to use this document as a guide to ma ke sure that any pending issues were solved. 
 7.2 The Committee took note of the statement.  G/MA/M/55 
Page 6  
 
  8. Cost savings in document production and meetings - Recommendations by the 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administra tion which were adopted by the General 
Council  
8.1 The Chairman drew the Committee's atten tion to the recommendations concerning cost 
savings in document production and meetings drawn up by the Committee on Budget, Finance and 
Administration which were adopted by the Genera l Council on 30 November 2011 (paragraphs 29 to 
31 of document WT/BFA/128, see annex).    8.2 As already mentioned at the Committee's in formal meeting on 19 Ma rch, he believed the 
main message was that the WTO was moving to a paperless environment where distribution of hard 
copies of documentation within the Secretariat a nd to Members had been or would soon cease.  
Additionally, there was a directive to reduce the overall volume of official documents, which would 
include reducing the length of reports , annexes and statements.  This was with a view to cutting back 
on translation and interpretation costs.  There was also  a request to all Chairs to systematically seek to 
improve the scheduling and conduct of meetings with a view to reducing the number and length of 
such meetings.  So for example, Chairs had been requested to start meetings on time and to try and 
avoid the cancellation of meetings.  8.3 He invited the Committee to take note of th e recommendations listed in paragraphs 29 to 31 
of document WT/BFA/128 and agree to follow them wherever possible.    
8.4 The Committee so agreed.  
 
9. Other Business  
(i) Turkey - Tariff increases on textil es - statement by the US  
9.1 The representative of the United States in formed the Committee about discussions her 
delegation had held with Turkey in the context of its  trade policy review and bilaterally with regard to 
increases in its applied tariff rate on more than 10 00 textile and apparel tariff lines at the HS 12-digit 
level.  In her delegation's view, the issue had cau sed much concern in the global trading community. 
From the consultations, her delegation had been able to ascertain th at the increases appeared to affect 
MFN suppliers and some preference beneficiaries.  Her delegation would also continue to examine 
how these tariff increases worked w ithin the framework of the comm on external tariff under Turkey's 
customs union with the European Union.  
 9.2 The representative of Turkey st ated that last year Turkey had made some changes to its textile 
and clothing sector.  At the outset, he wished to point out that most of the products subject to tariff 
increases were unbound items.  For the other products , Turkey's bound tariffs were higher than the 
measure.  Therefore, he wished to underline that Tu rkey had increased the applied rates to the level of 
the bound rates set out in its schedule pursuant to Article II.1(a) and II.1(b) of GATT 1994.  Coming to the legal basis of this action,  according to the Turkish customs legislation, the Council of Ministers 
had the authority to increase customs duty to a certa in degree and there was no legal obligation to 
proceed to an examination before increasing MFN ra tes.  In this case, following an application from 
domestic producers, an examination had been launched in order to assess the relevance of an increase 
in applied tariffs.  The Decree of Council of Ministers regarding the increase in MFN rates was 
published in the Gazette dated 15 Se ptember 2011.  Therefore as pointed out in Turkey's last trade 
policy review, the basis for this increase in the a pplied tariff rates was not the Safeguard Agreement, 
but an examination initiated by the Minister of Ec onomy which concluded that there was a need for an 
increase in applied tariffs in that sector.  Comi ng to the question of the customs union arrangement 
and rules of origin, the increased rates would be implemented in respect of all countries with the 
exception of the EU and countries with which Turkey had an FTA.  Moreover, Turkey thought that  G/MA/M/55 
 Page 7 
 
 
  the customs union between Turkey and the EU had enough flexibility to allow Turkey to make these 
changes to its applied rates.   9.3 The Committee took note of the statements.  
 (ii) Proposed derestriction of certain bilateral ne gotiating documentation  relating to earlier 
GATT Rounds of negotiations;  
9.4 The Chairman noted that efforts to derest rict certain bilateral negotiating documentation 
relating to earlier GATT Rounds of negotiations had been on-going since 2010.  A report of this was 
first made at the 11 October 2010 meeting of the Committee and an update was presented last year.   
 
9.5 The objective was to de-restrict documenta tion relating to bilateral request and offer 
negotiations from the 1940s and the 1950s under th e GATT and covered the first four rounds of 
negotiations.  Such transparency would enable Me mbers and the public to have access to this 
information which was of high historical and research value.   
 
9.6 The situation today was that out of the 28 Members who were contacted on the subject, 23 Members had signed authorizations to derestrict their negotiating material.  They were: Australia; 
Brazil; Canada; Chile; Colombia; Cuba, Dominican  Republic; Guatemala; India; Japan; Korea; 
New Zealand; Nicaragua; Norway; Pakistan; Peru ; Philippines; South Africa; Sri Lanka; Turkey; 
United States; Uruguay; and Zimbabwe.   Members from whom no response had been forthcoming 
were: El Salvador, EU, Haiti, Indonesia and Myanmar  
 9.7 The representative of El Salvador reported th at consultations were moving forward in capital 
where positive consideration was being given to der estricting the GATT documents in question.  Her 
delegation was waiting for the official reply from the capital so as to be able to inform the Committee 
as soon as possible. 
 9.8 The representative of Indonesia was pleased to inform the Committee that the Indonesian 
government had given approval for the derestric tion of the proposed documents.  His delegation 
would be in touch with the Secretariat to follow up on that decision.   
9.9 The Chairman urged Members to make every effo rt to try and obtain such authorization.  It 
was unfortunate that after two years Members were still unable to take action on a matter which they 
all agreed was of interest to the WTO membership but  also the public at large.   It was also action 
which would further reinforce WTO' s drive towards transparency.  
 
9.10 Finally, he noted that in the context of th is overall exercise of derestricting old negotiating 
material, the Secretariat would soon be turning its  attention to the next rounds of negotiations. 
 9.11 The Committee took note of the statements.   
 
(iii) - Date of next meeting  
9.12 The Committee took note that its next mee ting had been scheduled for 16 October 2012.  
 
10. Election of the Chairman 
10.1 The Committee elected Mr Bipin Menon (India) as Chairman for 2012. 
 
10.2 The Chairman wished to put on record hi s sincere appreciation for the excellent work 
undertaken by Attila Bastirmaci in carrying forwar d the agenda of this Committee and bringing to G/MA/M/55 
Page 8  
 
  fruition some important decisions such as the De cision on Notification Procedures for Quantitative 
Restrictions and the way forward on many of the HS96 and 2002 schedules.  Concerning the Vice-Chair of the Committee, he referred to the statement made by the Chair of the CTG in the meeting last 
week, as well as to rules of the procedures of th e Committee on Market Acce ss which provided that 
the Committee "may elect a Vice-Chairperson".  In this  regard, he intended to hold consultations with 
Members. He invited delegations w ho were interested in being Vice-Chairperson to contact him or the 
Secretariat on the issue.       G/MA/M/55 
 Page 9 
 
 
  ANNEX  
(paragraphs 29 to 31 of document WT/BFA/128 are reproduced below) 
 
B. COST SAVINGS IN DOCUMENT PRODUCTION AND MEETINGS  
… 
29. In view of fact that the 2012-2013 biennial budget only provides sufficient funding for a 
document production process with a maximum input volume1 of 22.8 million words in 2012 and 
21.7 million words in 2013, it is necessary to have mo re effective controls on this input volume by all 
WTO bodies.  To this end, all WTO bodies should u ndertake efforts with a vi ew towards achieving a 
reduction in the overall volume of official documents  by 5 per cent in 2012 and by a further 5 per cent 
in 2013.  Accordingly, we direct that: 
(a). In order to remain within this global limit, the Chairs of all WTO bodies are 
instructed to work with their Members to reduce the overall volume of official 
documents submitted for production.  Th ese measures may include, inter alia, 
reducing the length of reports, annexes a nd statements without jeopardizing their 
content or the appropriate reflection of speci fic Members' positions.  It is recognized 
that each body would have to devise ways to  achieve reductions that are consistent 
with its particular work and mandate. 
(b). The Secretariat shall continue to fu rther enhance its document processing 
productivity while retaining some flexibility to accommodate sudden changes in volume. 
 
30. It is also necessary to undertake various meas ures aimed at substantially reducing the printing 
and distribution of documents.  To achieve this objectiv e, the Secretariat is instructed to undertake the 
following changes in the 2012-2013 biennium: 
(a). Discontinue the internal distribution within the Secretariat of official documents in 
printed form as of 1 January 2012. 
(b). Review the list of subscribers of official documents in printed fo rm and the number of 
copies dispatched to each subscriber with  the objective of creating an electronic 
subscription model as of 1 April 2012.  In revising such lists, the Secretariat will base 
its revisions on information obtained from Members. 
(c). Provide ad hoc services to Members to subscribe to electronic distribution of 
documents or obtain specific documents on request in printed form. 
(d). Establish common practices and tools for all committee secretaries to feed the 
electronic "Docs for Meetings" module so as to enable delegations to obtain timely 
download of electronic packs containing a ll the documents for specific meetings. 
(e). After consulting with Members, discontinue the distribution of certain document series 
in printed form as early as practicable in 2012:  including TBT and SPS notifications 
and any other documents acceptable to Memb ers for electronic distribution.  Committee 
Chairs shall also take steps to move towards the online submission and distribution of notifications. 
(f). Discontinue the distribution of official documents, previously circulated, in meeting 
rooms and at the document centre as of 1 January 2012. 
 
                                                      
1 The "input volume" is the number of words in the original language submitted for translation, printing 
and distribution. 
 G/MA/M/55 
Page 10  
 
  31. The General Council also requests that all Chairs systematically seek to improve the 
scheduling and conduct of meetings with a view towards reducing the overall number and length of 
such meetings and optimizing the use of ex isting resources supporting official meetings. 
 
__________