WORLD TRADE G/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1
27June 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-2650)
Committee onMarket Access
MODALITIES AND OPERATION OFTHE INTEGRATED DATA BASE
Revision
This paper describes thePCIntegrated Data Base (IDB) andconsists offoursections, namely:
thePCIDB, participation intheIDB, dissemination oftheIDB, andtariff bindings.
A. PCIDB
1. ThePCIDB would beoperational bytheendof1997 (refer toAttachment 3),andwould be
undertaken within theexisting budget including theexpenses relating tothetraining ofsome SISD
personnel onthenew software (e.g. MSExcel, MSAccess, MSVisual Basic) tobeused forits
development andoperation. Regular reporting totheMarket Access Committee would takeplace during
thedevelopment ofthisproject.
2. ThePCIDB would consist offour modules, namely, members 'submissions inanynational
PCformat, aPCconversion facility, aPCdatabase, andadissemination module covering theprovision
ofcountry data andtheir updates onCD-ROM, diskettes and/or viatheInternet.
3. Theprime focus would beonaccepting what isreadily available innational capitals inorder
tominimize their response burden andtoimprove thequality ofdata byavoiding complicated data
transformation. When computerized dataarenotavailable incapitals orarebeing set-up, theSecretariat
could provide technical assistance toMembers intheform oftheexisting PCdataentry application
once revised toinclude new facilities requested byMembers. This would take place after thebasic
system isoperational. ThePCIDB willcontain only datasubmitted bythereporting WTO Member
totheSecretariat; data from other sources would notbeincluded intheIDB ifobjected tobythe
reporting Member.
4. Theprimary objective istoimprove theparticipation intheIDBwith useful, quality andtimely
data. Thereafter, theSecretariat would concentrate oncreating anIDB"Data Warehouse" containing
rawdataandsummary files forthecreation byusers ofIDBreports using standard PCsoftware such
asLotus, Excel, PCDBMS fordistribution toMembers. ThePCIDBdesign isdeliberately flexible
sothatadditional data elements could beadded atalater date.
Thefollowing isanoverview ofthemodules anddata elements ofthePCIDB.
5. Module 1-Data Elements: IDB submissions would consist ofimports andtariffs foryear
n-1,tariffs foryear nandreference information. Theinformation under "References" would beused
bytheSecretariat tostandardize certain data from submissions received from individual Members.
National tariff correlation tables would befurnished byMembers showing differences between the
tariff nomenclatures foryear nandyear n-1where thenomenclature changed. ForMFN duties, the
following willbeprovided:
- current bound duties, and
- current applied duties.G/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1
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G/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1
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6. Module 2-ThePCIDBConversion Facility: thisisdescribed inmore detail inAttachment 1.
Itprovides fortheconversion ofnational submissions intoacommon format andliststheediting and
validation checks tobeperformed bytheSecretariat using programmed validations. These would consist
ofvalidation oftheHScodes, country codes andquantity units, andmatching andreconciling the
nomenclature oftariffs using thetariff correlation tables provided byMembers. Manual checking would
only becarried outtoascertain areasonable level ofaccuracy intheoverall results.
7. Module 3-ThePCIDB Database: thiswould consist ofindividual databases, oneforeach
reporting country containing tariffs, product descriptions, imports, national reference files, andnational
tariff correlations. Inaddition, there would betwoseparate databases, onecontaining reference file
information common toallcountries, andonecontaining theapplications. Refer toAttachment 2for
more detail.
8. Module 4-Dissemination: thiswould provide Members andusers ofthedatawith avariety
oftools toaccess andmanipulate theIDBdata. Theobjective istocontinue producing theIDBCD-ROM
tobesourced now from thePCDatabase rather than themainframe. Country updates atthetariff
linelevel would bemade available onCD-ROM ordiskettes and/or through theInternet. Inthelonger
term, thecurrent application formanipulating thedataontheIDBCD-ROM could berewritten using
Internet technology thereby facilitating themanipulating ofdatabyauthorized users. TheSecretariat
would alsodevelop tools toextract dataatthetariff linelevel andpossibly toproduce certain summaries
atvarious levels oftheHSnomenclature.
B. Participation intheIDB
9. InitsDecision of10November 1987 (BISD 34S/66), theGATT Council "stresses theneed
toassure thebroadest possible participation ofcontracting parties intheIntegrated Data Base". The
possible uses oftheIDB were demonstrated during theUruguay Round when theSecretariat was
instructed toprepare reviews andassessments ofoffers intheMarket Access negotiations. TheIDB
would facilitate theTrade Policy Review Mechanism ifitincorporated recent information forallWTO
Members. TheIDBwould alsofacilitate thecompilation ofinformation requested from theSecretariat
intheframework oftheoperation ofArticle XXIV andArticle XXVIII. IfdataforallWTO Members
were included intheIDB, thestatistical work under these twoArticles would besimplified and
accelerated since thebasic information which would beavailable from theIDB would only need to
besupplemented bytheMember concerned with recent imports andchanges inthecustoms duties.
Inthiscontext, Members recognize thatthemore Members thatparticipate intheIDB intheshort
term, themore useful thedatabase willbe.
10. Inorder tosecure timely andquality data submitted fortheIDB, allrelevant data elements
requested inIDBsubmissions should beincluded inthelistofnotifiable measures. These notification
requirements asagreed intheDecision onNotification Procedures oftheresults oftheUruguay Round
multilateral trade negotiations, include:
"Tariffs (including range andscope ofbindings, GSP provisions, rates applied tomembers
offree-trade areas/customs unions, other preferences);
Tariff quotas andsurcharges;
Quantitative restrictions, including voluntary export restraints and orderly marketing
arrangements affecting imports; and
Other non-tariff measures such aslicensing andmixing requirements; variable levies."G/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1
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C. Dissemination oftheIDB
11. TheIDB contains information already inthepublic domain -customs tariffs published inthe
national tariff schedules, concessions available intheWTO listofconcessions andimport statistics
available from national statistical authorities. This IDB information hasbeen available toallWTO
Members andtointernational organizations fortheir internal use. This isthepresent policy followed
bytheSecretariat inthedissemination oftheIDBontheCD-ROM, butitmay need tobereviewed.
12. When thePCIDB becomes operational thecoverage andquality oftheinformation should
beimproved, thus providing foranup-to-date, reliable andefficient IDB.
13. Moreover, thisregularly updated IDBcould again beused asthereference fortheparticipants
inmultilateral negotiations. Members could alsoexchange their trade negotiations files bymeans of
astandardized andsimplified IDB format.
D. Tariff Bindings
14. Once certified loose-leaf schedules areavailable inelectronic format (i.e. after theHS1996
verification exercise andthepresently conducted loose-leaf schedules verification have been concluded),
these electronic schedules could beused toverify thetariff bindings inIDBsubmissions. This would
lead tohaving areliable IDB forfurther negotiations.G/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1
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ATTACHMENT 1
PCIDB Conversion Facility
TheSecretariat would convert intoacommon format thenational submissions, standardize
certain dataandcheck thequality ofthedatasubmitted byMembers. Theformatting andstandardization
wouldbedoneusingcomputer-assistedintervention,dependingonthenationalformatandonthecontents
ofthesubmission. Among thesteps tobeundertaken bytheSecretariat are:
- Formatting ofPCnational submissions toacommon PCformat. This includes standardizing
certain data(e.g. removing percentsigns from theadvalorem duty rate, conversion ofnational
notations indicating thebinding status, etc.).
- Conversion ofnational country andquantity codes andnational currencies intostandard country
andquantity codes andintoUSdollars.
- Editing andValidation: thismainly refers toprogrammed validations andconsists ofthe
following checks:
a) Tariffs
N.B. Thecurrent year applied duties should beprovided assoon asavailable in
national capitals, even though import statistics would relate totheprevious
year.
Asetofprogrammed validations would beundertaken which covers:
Tariff linenumber : ForHS-based submissions, positions 1-6(e.g. 010111 001)
should beavalid HSnumber fortheHSnomenclature inforce
forthereference year (HS1992, HS1996). There would be
nochecking onthenational part ofthetariff linenumber
(e.g. 010111 001)which would berecorded starting in
position 7ofthetariff line. Similar checking would becarried
outforCCCN-based submissions.
Tariff suffix : Should beblank oralpha-numeric (refer toAttachment 4)
Product description :Product descriptions ofthenational customs tariff should be
provided. When provided inaseparate file, alltariff line
numbers should have acorresponding entry inthetariffs. If
not,aproduct description with"notprovided" inthetextcould
begenerated toreconcile thenomenclature. The product
descriptions would betransferred toaseparate fileinthePC
IDB, where codes would begenerated byprogram, inorder
toprovide forafeature toobtain complete descriptions ofthe
products (e.g. forproducts having thedescription "other", it
would show theother related product descriptions uptothe
HS4-digit level).G/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1
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Duty: Atleast oneMFN duty should beprovided.
Iftheduty isrecorded under tariff suffix ("01"-"99"), there
should alsobeanentry under thecorresponding principal item
(tariff suffix '00')fortheduty.
Ifatariff lineisbound, theapplied duty should belower than
orequal totheMFN bound duty.
Partner : Would berecorded where applicable, toidentify thepartner
towhich theduty applies.
Advalorem
duty rateor
Advalorem Ifnospecific duty isprovided, theadvalorem duty rate(or
equivalent: advalorem equivalent) should benumeric.
Specific orother Specific duties should beprovided when thecorresponding
duty (text): advalorem duties arenotprovided.
Binding situation : Should beavalid binding situation (bound, ceiling, bound at
different levels, orunbound). Aseparate indication would
beused toindicate partial binding.
Apart from thevalidation ofcodes, formats, etc., other electronic validations could becarried
outusing thenational tariff correlations provided byMembers. Thelevels ofduties could becompared
tothose oftheprevious year. Other validations could include theidentification oftariff peaks, tariff
averages, etc.Anydiscrepancies would befollowed-up bytheSecretariat with theMember concerned.
b) Imports
Thevalidation isdone bycomparing thevalue ofimports submitted with thestatistics
published bytheUNortheIMF. Validation isdone byHSchapter andbycountry
oforigin. Ifunexplained differences account formore than5%,thereporting country
would becontacted foradditional information. Once thetotals areaccepted, a
programmed validation ofdata elements would take place:
Tariff linenumber : Alltariff items recorded intheimport statistics should have
acorresponding entry inthetariffs.
Partner : Should beavalid national partner code forthereporting
country. Should notrepresent agroup oftrading partners.
Customs value : Should notbezero1.
Quantity 1: Should benumeric.
1Imports with zero value would notphysically bestored inthePCIDB. However, itwould bepossible toidentify these
cases asdescribed inAttachment 4-"Analysis ofImports".G/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1
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Quantity unit1: Should beavalid national quantity code.
Quantity 2: Ifprovided, should benumeric.
Quantity unit2: Ifprovided,shouldbeavalidnationalquantitycodeandshould
notbeequal toquantity unit1.G/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1
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ATTACHMENT 2
PCIDB Database
From theinformation provided inModule 1andtheconversion ofthese dataintoastandardized
format (Module 2),aPCIDB Database (Module 3)would becreated.
Thedatabase would consist of3components: standard WTO files; country-specific files;
andapplications. One database would becreated foreach reporting country.
Standard WTO files Foreach reporting
country ,adatabase
containing:Applications*
• Countries • Tariffs • Queries
• Country Groups • Product
Descriptions• Reports
• Quantity Units • Imports • Macros
• HSCodes • National Reference
Files• Specific-purpose
applications
• Product Groupings -Countries *For useprimarily bythe
Secretariat
• Product Group
Descriptions-Quantity Units
-Reporter
Information
-Duty Type
Definitions
• National Tariff
CorrelationsG/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1
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ATTACHMENT 3
PCIDB -Tentative Development Schedule for1997
June :Order equipment andsoftware fordevelopment.
Windows NTandsoftware installation fordevelopers.
Arrange andundertake training (one week).
Preparation ofMSaccess database design including possible set-up formulti-user environment.
July -August :
Start transfer ofIDB mainframe database files (those reported byWTO Members) toPCand
convert some ofthem toMSAccess format fortesting. (Full format IDB files were created
during thepreparation oftheIDB CD-ROM forthepossible migration oftheIDB files from
themainframe toPC.)
Test database design, conduct performance testing.
Windows NTandsoftware installation andtraining forIDB statisticians.
Convert available Access Basic conversion programs (16-bit) toAccess Basic 97(32-bit)
(1week).
Start PCIDB conversion facility (6weeks).
Start programs forthetransformation totheIDB CD-ROM format (6weeks).
Start migration /deletion ofother IDB mainframe files (on-going until completed).
September- October :
Finish PCIDB conversion facility andtheformat transformation programs fortheIDB
CD-ROM.
Implementation, maintenance, tuning anduser training.
Format andconvert submissions (on-going asnew PCsubmissions arereceived).
November -December :
Develop MS-Access extraction tools.
Establishpassword-protectedInternetsiteforfiledistributionandIDBCD-ROMcountryupdates
distribution (access rights only forMembers).
Dependingonnumberofsubmissionsreceived,convertedandvalidated,producenewCD-ROM.
Investigate possibilities ofmoving other mainframe activities relating toIDB subject matter
(such asanalysis oftariffs andimports carried outbyTPRD andother WTO divisions) toPC.G/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1
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ATTACHMENT 4
UseoftheTariff Suffix
Thetariff suffix canbeused incases where thecustoms tariff ismore detailed thanthestatistical
nomenclature, i.e.statistics arenotalways collected inthedetail ofthecustoms tariff. Intheexample
below, import statistics contain only oneitem for"lentils" while thecustoms tariff contains twoitems
forlentils towhich areattached different duties. Tocalculate theduties collected on"lentils", itis
therefore necessary torecord aduty which would beanaverage oftheduties ofthetwotariff sub-items
(duty-free forlentils imported inpacks over 5kilograms and20%forlentils imported inpacks of
5kgorless). Thetariff item number ("07134000" intheexample below) would beused tolinkthe
twotariff sub-items totheimport statistics. Inthetariff file,theprincipal item would berecorded with
suffix "00" andthetwosub-items could berecorded respectively with suffixes "01" and"02". The
tariff average recorded under theprincipal item could beatrade-weighted average (when supplied by
thereporting country) oranarithmetic average oftheduties recorded under thesub-items.
Imports Tariffs
Tariff
itemPartner ValueTariff
itemSuffix Product DescriptionAdvalorem
duty
07134000 ARG 100 07134000 00 Lentils 10%
BRA 200 01 -inpackages over
5KG0%
USA 300 02 -Other 20%
Thetariff item suffix could alsobeused torecord duties which change during thecourse of
theyear andwhere separate import statistics arenotavailable:
Imports Tariffs
Tariff
itemPartner ValueTariff
itemSuffix Product DescriptionAdvalorem
duty
07134000 ARG 100 07134000 00 Lentils 10%
BRA 200 01 -January -June 0%
USA 300 02 -July -December 20%
Analysis ofImports
There arePCprograms available fortheanalysis ofimports. Reports areproduced showing
total imports bycountry oforigin atthelevel ofallproducts, agricultural products, industrial products
andoptionally bylevels oftheHSnomenclature (Chapter, HS4-digit, HS-6 digit).
This information would bestored (atthelevel ofHSChapter andHS4-digit) andasnewimports
areavailable, compared with theimports oftheprevious year. There could beextraction facilities
toprint items where theimports ofatrading partner differs by+-percentage points (orby+-value
threshold) from thetrade oftheprevious year orwhere there isnotrade foratrading partner.
1998 -0101 TOT 50 NOR 10 MEX 40 ROM 0
1997 -0101 TOT 70 NOR 30 MEX 20 ROM 20
Percentage change: -28% -66% +100% -100%
(1998 versus 1997)
Tariff lines having noimports canbeidentified bycomparing thetariff nomenclature with
theimports nomenclature andprinting thetariff lines which aremissing intheimports file.G/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1
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ATTACHMENT 5
Example ofTariffs
Module 1:Example ofSubmitted Tariffs -TheSecretariat would receive aLotus/Access filecontaining
thefollowing information intheformat displayed below.
National Tariff Submission
Tariff number Bound dutyApplied
duty
0210.11.39 010.5$/KG ormax
0.50$/each35%
2931.00.10 0- 5%
Module 2:Using thePCIDB Conversion Facility, theSecretariat would standardize thesubmission
andincorporate theresulting standardized files intothePCIDB Database displayed below:
Module 3:PCIDB Database (fortariffs file)
Tariff
numberDuty type Partner Rate Specific dutyBinding code,
coverage
021011390 01(MFN
Bound)N.A. 10.5$/KG ormax
0.50$/eachBound
021011390 02(MFN
Applied)35 Bound
293100100 02(MFN
Applied)5 Unbound
Example ofImports
Module 1:Example ofSubmitted Imports -TheSecretariat would receive aLotus/Access filecontaining
thefollowing information intheformat displayed below.
Imports Submission
Tariff numberNational
PartnerValue Quantity 1 Qtyunit1Quantity 2Qtyunit2
0210.11.390 AUS 100 200 KG 10 Each
0210.11.390 BRA 200 400 KG 20 Each
0210.11.390 HUN 300 600 KG 30 Each
0210.11.390 CZE 50 100 KG 5 Each
0210.11.390 SVK 50 100 KG 5 Each
0210.11.390 BOL 700 1300 KG 70 Each
2931.00.100 AUS 100 200 TON
2931.00.100 BRA 200 400 TON
2931.00.100 HUN 100 200 TON
2931.00.100 CZE 200 400 TON
2931.00.100 SVK 100 200 TON
2931.00.100 BOL 200 400 TON
2931.00.100 LKA 50 100 TON
2931.00.100 BUR 10 20 TON
2931.00.100 ZMB 300 600 TONG/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1
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Module 2:Using thePCIDB Conversion Facility, theSecretariat would standardize thesubmission
andincorporate theresulting standardized files intothePCIDB Database displayed below:
Module 3:PCIDB Database (forimports file)
Tariff
numberPartner Value Quantity 1 Qtyunit1 Quantity 2 Qtyunit2
021011390 000(TOT) 1400 2700 068(KG) 140 380(Each)
021011390 998(WTO) 1400 2700 068(KG) 140 380(Each)
021011390 900(MFN) 500 1000 068(KG) 50 380(Each)
021011390 036(AUS) 100 200 068(KG) 10 380(Each)
021011390 076(BRA) 200 400 068(KG) 20 380(Each)
021011390 348(HUN) 300 600 068(KG) 30 380(Each)
021011390 203(CZE) 50 100 068(KG) 5 380(Each)
021011390 703(SVK) 50 100 068(KG) 5 380(Each)
021011390 068(BOL) 700 1300 068(KG) 70 380(Each)
293100100 000(TOT) 1260 2520 168(TON)
293100100 998(WTO) 1260 2520 168(TON)
293100100 900(MFN) 500 1000 168(TON)
293100100 036(AUS) 100 200 168(TON)
293100100 076(BRA) 200 400 168(TON)
293100100 348(HUN) 100 200 168(TON)
293100100 203(CZE) 200 400 168(TON)
293100100 703(SVK) 100 200 168(TON)
293100100 068(BOL) 200 400 168(TON)
293100100 144(LKA) 50 100 168(TON)
293100100 108(BUR) 10 20 168(TON)
293100100 894(ZMB) 300 600 168(TON)