WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/L/511
20 January 2003
(03-0280)
INTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 2002   CHANGES INTO
WTO SCHEDULES OF TARIFF CONCESSIONS
Decision of 12 December 20021
The General Council,
Having regard  to Articles IV:2 and IX:3 of the Ma rrakesh Agreement establishing the World
Trade Organization (the "WTO Agreement");
Considering that the Members of the WTO, by their Decisions of 13 May 20022 and
8 July 20023, acting pursuant to the provisions of Artic les IV:2 and IX:3 of the WTO Agreement,
suspended the application of the provisions of Article II of GA TT 1994 for certain Members for periods
up to one year for each respective Member to the extent necessary to implement domestically the
"HS2002 changes"4 pending incorporation of such changes in to their Schedules of Concessions, subject
to certain conditions;
Noting  that the Members listed in Annex A to this Decision have requested an extension of their
respective waivers;
Considering  that the Members listed in Annex A to this Decision would need more time to
proceed with consultations and/or possible Article XXVIII negotiations;
Considering  that the Members listed in Annex B to this Decision have implemented
domestically the HS2002 changes pending incorpora tion of such changes into their Schedules of
Concessions and submitted the documentation required together with a notification to the Committee
on Market Access of their desire to be covered by the present waiver;
Considering that other Members not listed in the A nnexes to this Decision may already have
implemented domestically the HS2002 changes, or ma y intend to do so, pending incorporation of such
changes into their Schedules of Concessions, and ma y also desire to be covered by this waiver;
Decides, in view of the exceptional circumstances, to  suspend the application of the provisions
of Article II of GATT 1994:
(a) for those Members listed in Annex A for up to one year until 31 December 2003;  and
                                                     
1 Adopted in accordance with the Decision-Making Procedures under Articles IX and XII of the WTO
Agreement agreed by the General Council in November 1995 (WT/L/93).
2 WT/L/469 in respect of 23 Members.
3 WT/L/477 in respect of Romania.
4 "HS2002 changes" are defined as the amendments to the Harmonized Commodity Description and
Coding System recommended by the Council of the World Customs Organization in its Recommendationadopted on 25 June 1999 which came into force on 1 January 2002.  "Harmonized System" refers to
Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System.WT/L/511
Page 2
(b) for those Members listed in Annex B and any other Member not listed in the Annexes
to this Decision who desire to be covered by the present waiver and who implement
domestically the HS2002 changes, and notify the Committee on Market Access accordingly,
for the period from the date of implementation of the HS2002 changes for that Member until
31 December 2003;
to the extent necessary for the purpose of enablin g such Members to implement domestically the
recommended amendments to the Harmonized System  nomenclature pending incorporation of such
changes into their Schedules of Concessi ons, subject to the following conditions:
(i) Members not listed in the Annexes to this Decision wishing to be covered by this
waiver shall submit the documentation required under paragraph 1 of the Proceduresin Attachment B (read along with Section 2 of Attachment A) adopted by the General
Council to implement HS2002 changes to Schedules of Concessions (WT/L/407),
prior to submitting their respective notification to the Committee on Market Access
of their desire to be covered by the present  waiver;
(ii) Members covered by paragraphs (a) and (b) of this Decision shall, where necessary,
promptly enter into negotiations and/or consultations with interested Members
pursuant to paragraphs 1-3 of Article XXVIII of GATT 1994;
(iii) The negotiations and/or consultations mentioned above shall, to the extent possible,
be completed by 31 December 2003; and
(iv) In accordance with the provisions of  Article XXVIII:3 of the GATT 1994, applied
mutatis mutandis  to the present waiver, pending the en try into force of the results of the
negotiations and/or consultations mentioned above, the other Members will be free tosuspend concessions initially negotiated with  the Member concerned to the extent that
they consider that adequate compensation is not offered by the Member concerned.WT/L/511
Page 3
ANNEX A
Members which have requested an extension of the time-limit
of the waivers granted in the Decisions recited
1. Argentina
2. Australia
3. Bulgaria
4. Canada
5. Croatia
6. Czech Republic
7. Estonia
8. European Communities
9. Hong Kong, China
10. Hungary
11. Iceland
12. India
13. Republic of Korea
14. Latvia
15. Lithuania
16. Mexico
17. Norway
18. Romania
19. Singapore
20. Slovak Republic
21. Slovenia
22. Switzerland
23. Thailand
24. United States
ANNEX B
Certain other Members wishing to be covered by this waiver
1. China
2. Macao, China
3. Nicaragua
4. Uruguay
__________