WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/MA/195 
17 April 2007 
 (07-1542) 
Committee on Market Access  
 
 
 
 
PERIODIC REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE TO THE 
COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS   
 
 1. The Committee met on 4 April 2007 and examined the following issues: 
 2. The Committee took note of the factual informa tion provided by Member s who were requesting 
a waiver extension for the introduction of HS96 changes to their schedule. The information is 
summarized in the Annex to this report. 
 
3. The Committee took note of the status of submis sions of HS96 documentation as set out in 
document G/MA/TAR/2/Rev.39.  4. On the introduction of HS02 changes to schedul es using the CTS database, the Chairman 
informed the Committee that he had begun to meet individually with those Members who had not as 
yet approved their HS02 files, but whose files had been approved by all other Members.  There were 
39 Members in this situation. The Secretariat also informed Members of the situation of work on the 
HS02 files (to be reflected in JOB(06)/8/Rev.5).    5. Concerning the HS07 changes, the Chairman in formed Members that Thailand had requested 
to be part of the HS07 collective waiver decision a nd that their communication had been circulated as 
an addendum to the original waiver decision cont ained in document WT/L/675.  The Committee also 
noted that in respect of the HS07 changes, the Secretariat would star t work on LDC schedules and on 
the schedules of those Members who had certified commitments in the HS02 nomenclature.  6. With reference to the modalities and operation of the Integrated Data Base, the Committee 
examined the status of IDB submissions on the basis of the document G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.25. The 
Committee also took note of the report by the Secret ariat on work undertaken on the IDB and the CTS 
database. Members were informed that th e IDB and CTS data had been used, for inter alia the 
calculation of AVEs, responding to requests arising from the negotiations, and for the preparation of 
the World Tariff Profiles which had been co-produced with the ITC and UNCTAD.  
 
7. The Committee took note of a Secretariat documen t which provided details on the most recent 
information available in the tariff library and the website addresses where more recent national tariffs 
could be found (G/MA/TAR/3/Rev.11).   
8. The Committee re-elected Dr. Saeed (Pakistan) as Chairman for 2007.  
 9. The Committee took note that its next meeting was scheduled for 5 October 2007
1. 
                                                      
1 Due to unforeseeable circumstances, this date ha s been changed. The mee ting is now scheduled to 
take place on 1 October 2007.  
  G/MA/195 
Page 2 
ANNEX  
 
FACTUAL INFORMATION RELATING TO A WAIVER REQUESTED FOR THE PURPOSE OF  
INTRODUCING HS 96 CHANGES TO A SCHEDULE OF CONCESSIONS 
 
Member Date of 
original 
waiver Date of submission of 
HS documentation N° of 
extensions 
and dates N° of Members 
with which 
Article XXVIII 
negotiations have 
been initiated N° of Members with 
which 
Article XXVIII 
negotiations have 
been concluded 
 Status of 
outstanding 
Article XXVIII 
negotiations Outlook for 
concluding the 
process Request for a waiver 
and draft decision 
1. Argentina 13.12.1995  G/SECRET/HS96/30  
(16.10.1996)  
G/SECRET/HS96/30/
Corr.1  (16.05.2000)
 Sixteen 18.07.1996 24.04.1997 
22.10.1997 
24.04.1998 14.10.1998 
15.06.1999 
04.11.1999 03.05.2000 
08.12.2000 
08.05.2001 13.05.2002 
15.10.2003 
24.07.2003 20.10.2004 27.07.2005 
28.07.2006 
 Four Three Information is still 
being exchanged with the EC with 
regard to a series of 
tariff headings.
 An extension is requested in order to complete the ongoing 
process with the EC. 
 Requested one year.  
G/L/815 G/C/W/576  
   G/MA/195
 Page 3Member Date of 
original 
waiver Date of submission of 
HS documentation N° of 
extensions 
and dates N° of Members 
with which 
Article XXVIII 
negotiations have 
been initiated N° of Members with 
which 
Article XXVIII 
negotiations have 
been concluded 
 Status of 
outstanding 
Article XXVIII 
negotiations Outlook for 
concluding the 
process Request for a waiver 
and draft decision 
2. Panama 24.04.1998 G/SECRET/HS96/48 
(04.04.2001) 
 G/SECRET/HS96/48/
Add.1 
(18.03.2002)   
G/SECRET/HS96/48/
Rev.1 (4 June 2002) 
 
G/SECRET/HS96/48/Rev.1/Corr.1 
(26.02.03) 
  Eleven: 
14.10.1998 
15.06.1999 04.11.1999 
03.05.2000 
08.12.2000 08.05.2001 13.05.2002 
24.07.2003 
17.05.2004 27.07.2005 
28.07.2006 
  None (Currently, 
of the four, two 
Members have withdrawn their 
reservation. Two 
are still verifying documents circulated by 
Panama)    Panama is waiting for  
the Secretariat to 
complete the review of its documents as 
requested by the two 
delegations.  Requested one year.  
G/L/816 
G/C/W/575 
 
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