RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/MA/111
12 October 2000
(00-4224)
Committee on Market Access
PERIODIC REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE TO THE
COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS
1. The Committee met on 12 October 2000 and examined the following issues:
2. On 13 December 1995, several Members were granted individual waivers for the introduction
of HS96 changes (WT/L/124 + Corr.1); for operational reasons the waivers were grouped into one
single decision.  These waivers were extended by successive decisions by the General Council until
31 October 2000 (WT/L/351).  At its meeting of 12 October 2000, the Committee took note of the
requests for further extension of the waiver to carry out possible consultations/negotiations under
Article XXVIII after the introduction of HS96 changes in national tariffs.  This information issummarized in Annex I of the report.  The Committee agreed to forward the draft decision granting
the waiver extensions and contained in document G/C/W/228 to the Council for Trade in Goods for
further action.  Certain delegations indicated that they were prepared to accept the current waiver
decision this time, but wished to revert to the practice of individual decisions for waivers and waiver
extensions in the future.  Other Members stated that the decision taken at this meeting should notprejudice any future decisions regarding waivers and waiver extensions.
3. The Committee took note of the factual inform ation provided by the Members under current
waivers regarding the transposition into the Harmonize d System or the renegotiation of their schedules.
This information is summarized in Annex II of this  report. The Committee agreed to forward the draft
decisions granting the waivers and contained in documents G/C/W/225, 226 and 227 to the Council for
Trade in Goods for further action.
4. The Committee examined the situation related to the submission of HS96 documentation set out
in document G/MA/TAR/2/Rev.23.  It noted that three Members under waiver had not submitted the
relevant documentation.  Two of these Member s indicated that their documentation would be
forthcoming soon. The submissions of twenty-one Me mbers, whether they had requested an extension
of waivers or not, remained pending due to ongoi ng consultations and/or negotiations. The Committee
agreed to the Chairman's proposal to have anothe r special session of the Committee dedicated to the
review of the situation of HS96 submissions based on a revision of an informal list prepared by the
Secretariat which detailed the situation.
5.  The Committee took note of the Chairman's report on the informal consultations held on
2 October 2000 concerning a possible procedure to introduce future HS2002 changes to schedules of
concessions.  The Committee also took note that the informal consultations would continue on thissubject.
6. With reference to the modalities and operation of the Integrated Data Base (IDB), the
Committee examined the status of IDB submissions  on the basis of the document G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.9.
As of 3 October 2000, 74 Members and 2 acceding countries had provided IDB submissions. Since
the document was prepared, additional submissions had been received from three Members. TheSecretariat presented an oral report on the status of processing of IDB submissions, the status of
software development and ongoing technical assistance activities.  The Committee took note of theG/MA/111
Page 2
Chairman's report on the informal consultations held  in connection with the review of the operation of
the IDB and IDB technical assistance activities, and of the fact that informal consultations would be
pursued.
7. The Secretariat reported to the Committee on the status of the Consolidated Tariff Schedules
(CTS) Database Project. Certain developed country Members also provided a status report on theirwork in the preparation of their consolidated schedules of concessions.  On the technical matter of the
linkage between the CTS database and the IDB, it wa s agreed that the Chairm an would follow-up this
issue with the Secretariat and then, if necessary, convene an informal meeting so that technical
clarifications may be provided.
8. On the review of paragraph 1 of the Understanding on the Interpretation of  Article XXVIII of
GATT 1994, the Committee agreed to report to the Council for Trade in Goods that the review had
been carried out as mandated by that body and that, at this stage, there was no basis to change thecriterion contained in paragraph 1 of the aforementioned Understanding.  The Committee was of the
view that any Member that so wished, could bring up the matter of a further review in the Council in
the future.
9. On the request for observer status in the Committee from the Gulf Organization for Industrial
Consulting, the Committee agreed to revert to the requ est at an appropriate time in the future, in light
of the fact that consultations were still ongoing in the General Council on the question of observer
status for international inter-governmental organizations.
10. The Committee took note of the status of quantitative restriction notifications contained in
document G/MA/NTM/QR/1/Add.7.  Members were urged to comply with their notification
obligations pursuant to the "Decision on Notification Procedures for Quantitative Restrictions"contained in document G/L/59.   The Committee also agreed to consider at its next formal meeting, on
the basis of a document to be prepared by the Secr etariat, the problem concerning the recording in the
Quantitative Restriction Database of notifications made by some Members in the area of textiles and
clothing.  The Committee also agreed to review, at its next formal meeting, the reverse notifications of
non-tariff measures made pursuant to the decision contained in document G/L/60 entitled "Decisionon Reverse Notification of Non-Tariff Measures" on the basis of a document to be prepared by the
Secretariat.
11. Under "other business", Hong Kong, China informed the Committee that as a result of its
commitments in APEC, it would be binding another 10% of its imports at zero per cent in 2000 on an
autonomous basis and would be notifying these additional tariff concessions as legally binding
commitments to the WTO.G/MA/111
Page 3
ANNEX I
REQUESTS FOR INCLUSION IN AND EXTENSION OF THE HS96 WAIVERS
Country Document
(G/SECRET/HS96 series)Reservations
(Number of
countries)Reasons for requesting waiver
or extension of waiver
ARGENTINA /30 + Corr.1 3 Extension needed to finalize consultations and
negotiations with various Members having
general reservations.
BRAZIL /36 + Corr.1 + 2 5 Extension needed to conclude consultations with
Members having raised specific reservations.
BRUNEIDARUSSALAM/14 + Rev.1 1 Extension needed in view of a response which is
pending from one Member to BruneiDarussalam's letter.
BULGARIA /46  (to be issued) Extension needed to allow for consultations with
interested Members as may be necessary.
EGYPT G/MA/TAR/RS/50/Rev.111 Extension needed to continue the process of
consultations with one Member who has alreadyreceived replies from Egypt to its questions and
comments.
EL SALVADOR /44 3 Extension needed as consultations are ongoing.
GUATEMALA /41 3 Extension needed to finalize consultations.
HONDURAS /43 + Corr.1 + 2 1 Extension needed to finalize consultations with
one Member.
ICELAND /38 + Corr.1 +  Add.1 1 Extension needed  to finalize consultations and
possible negotiations with one Member.
ISRAEL /26 +  Add.1 + Add.1/Corr.1 2 Extension needed as consultations need to be
finalized.
MALAYSIA /31 + Rev.1 1 Extension needed to conclude consultations.
MEXICO /45 Extension needed as documentation was recently
circulated and additional time may be necessary
for consultations with Members, as necessary.
MOROCCO Extension needed to finalize documentation.
NEW ZEALAND /20 + Corr.1 2 Extension needed to allow more time to resolve
questions raised on New Zealand's schedule by
two Members.
NORWAY /11 1 Extension needed to finalize consultations with
one Member.
PAKISTAN /40 2 Extension needed as bilateral negotiations are
still ongoing.
                                                     
1 Contains also rectifications to the schedule.G/MA/111
Page 4
Country Document
(G/SECRET/HS96 series)Reservations
(Number of
countries)Reasons for requesting waiver
or extension of waiver
PANAMA Extension needed to finalize the correlation
tables.
PARAGUAY /29 3 Extension needed to conclude consultations and
negotiations with Members having raised
general reservations.
SWITZERLAND /10 1 Extension needed to conclude consultations.
THAILAND /17 2 Extension needed as consultations are still
ongoing with two Members.
URUGUAY /28 1 Extension needed to conclude consultations and
negotiations with one Member having a general
reservation.
VENEZUELA,
BOLIVARIANREPUBLIC OF/12 + Rev. 1 1 Extension needed to conclude negotiations with
one Member having a general reservation.G/MA/111
Page 5ANNEX II
FACTUAL INFORMATION RELATED TO THE EXTENSION OF WAIVERS
RELATED TO THE TRANSPOSITION OF SCHEDULES INTO THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM
Country Date of
original
waiverDate of
submission of HS
documentationN° of
extensions and
datesN° of countries
with which
Article XXVIII
negotiations have
been initiatedN° of countries with
which
Article XXVIII
negotiations have
been concludedStatus of
outstanding
Article XXVIII
negotiationsOutlook for
concluding the
processRequest for
extension and draft
decision
1. Nicaragua 26.01.199828.06.1995
G/SECRET/HS/3Ten:
09.12.1994
13.12.1995
18.07.199624.04.1997
22.10.1997
24.04.199814.10.1998
15.06.1999
3
04.11.1999
03.05.2000Two One - - Extension requested
G/L/394
G/C/W/227
2. Sri Lanka 08.11.198812.01.1990
SECRET/HS/26Twenty-one:
24.07.1989
16.07.1990
07.12.1990
01.07.1991
04.12.199120.07.1992
03.12.1992
19.07.199317.01.1994
21.07.1994
09.12.199431.08.1995
13.12.1995
18.07.199616.07.1997
22.10.1997
24.04.199814.10.1998
15.06.1999
3
04.11.1999
03.05.2000Five Three Sri Lanka has
sought clarificationon the status of the
reservations made
by the remainingtwo Members.   Continues to make
every effort toconclude
negotiations.Extension requested
G/L/391G/C/W/225G/MA/111
Page 6
Country Date of
original
waiverDate of
submission of HS
documentationN° of
extensions and
datesN° of countries
with which
Article XXVIII
negotiations have
been initiatedN° of countries with
which
Article XXVIII
negotiations have
been concludedStatus of
outstanding
Article XXVIII
negotiationsOutlook for
concluding the
processRequest for
extension and draft
decision
3. Zambia 26.11.199312.03.1996
G/SECRET/HS/8Nine:
13.12.1995
18.07.1996
24.04.199722.10.1997
24.04.1998
14.10.1998
15.06.1999
3
04.11.1999
03.05.2000Two - Process is slow. Depends on the
responses of the two
Members.Extension requested
G/L/393G/C/W/226
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