. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/L/284
4 December 1998
(98-4881)
REPORT (1998) OF THE COMMITTEE ON MARKET ACCESS
1. The Committee on Market Access held four formal meetings in 1998:  on 26 March, 18 June,
22 September and 27 November 1998.   The minutes of these meetings are contained in documents
G/MA/M/13 to G/MA/M/16.  In addition, two periodi c reports  giving an overview of the issues
discussed in the Committee and providing factual info rmation related to the requests for waivers, both
for the introduction of HS96 changes and for the transposition of schedules into the Harmonized
System are contained in doc ument G/MA/59 and G/MA/601.
2. At its meeting of 18 June 1998  the Committee took note of the nomination of Mr. Ole  Lundby of
Norway as Chairman of the Committee for the current year and elected him by acclamation.  On
22 September, the Committee agreed not to elect a Vice-Chairperson during the present term, without
however creating any precedent for the election of a Vice-Chairperson for the Committee in thefuture.
3. As concerns the introduction on 1 January 1996 of the changes to the nomenclature of the
Harmonized System and the submission of documentation related to these changes, the Committee
examined the situation at every meeting on the basis of updated documents prepared by theSecretariat.  On 13 December 1995 several Members were granted individual waivers, for operational
reasons grouped into one single decision, for the introduction of HS96 changes into their schedules.
These waivers which presently concern 37 Members were, by successive decisions by the General
Council, extended until 30 April 1999 (see doc. WT/L/281).  In addition to these waivers four
Members obtained an extension until 30 April 1999 of their waivers in connection with the
transposition of their pre-Uruguay Round schedules into the Harmonized System.
4. At its meeting of 27 November 1998 the Committee took note of the status of quantitative
restriction notifications contained in document G/MA/NTM/QR/1/Add.5 .  In addition, the Committee
was informed that the Quantitative Restrictions database had been moved from mainframe computer
tapes to a PC database.
5. As concerns the submission of the required documentation related to the introduction of HS96
changes in the respective WTO schedules of concessions on goods, the Committee noted that as of
27 November 1998, out of the 37 Members under waivers nine of them had not yet submitted the
required documentation, and the submissions of 29 members, whether they had requested an
extension or not, remained pending due to ongoing consultations and/or negotiations.  Since the lastreport, seven submission have been approved and certified.
6. A communication on trade in pharmaceutical products was circulated on 13 November 1998
in document G/MA/W/18  informing the Committee Members of the successful completion of the
second revision of the pharmaceutical products covered by the understanding.
7. With reference to the modalities and operation of the Integrated Data Base, the Committee
examined the status of IDB submissions at its  meetings of 26 March, 18 June, 22 September and
27 November 1998 on the basis of documents G/MA /IDB/2, G/MA/IDB/2/Rev .1, G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.2
                                                     
1 By reference to paragraph 7 of document G/MA/60, refer to paragraph 10 below.G/L/284
Page 2
and G/MA/IDB/2/Rev.3.  At the meetings of 26 Ma rch, 18 June and 22 September, several Members
stressed the need for all Members to supply this data in order to fulfil their notification obligations. It
was further noted that technical assistance was availa ble to assist Members in the submission of data to
the IDB. As of 27 November 1998, 40 Members a nd three acceding countries had provided IDB
submissions.
8. At the meeting of 26 March 1998, the Committee examined document G/MA/IDB/W/3/Rev.1,
which described the modalities of a technical assistance programme for the IDB.  At the meeting of
22 September 1998, the Secretariat presented an oral re port on the technical assistance activities that had
been carried out thus far.
9. At the meeting of 27 November 1998, the Committee was informed that a letter had been sent
by the Chairman to the delegations that had not yet provided their IDB submissions, to seek
clarification on the problems they were facing in this regard, and on their possible requirements fortechnical assistance.  Members concerned have been requested to reply by 29 January 1999.
10. At the meetings of 26 March and 18 June 1998, the Committee considered matters concerning
the dissemination of the information contained in the IDB, on the basis of informal papers prepared by
the Secretariat, dated 16 March (Job No. 1483) and 28 May 1998 (Job No. 1483/Rev.1) respectively.
At the meeting of 22 September 1998, on the basis of the revised note dated 18 September 1998(Job No. 1483/Rev.2), the Committee adopted , in the absence of one delegation that had expressed its
opposition at previous meetings, the proposals for dissemination of the IDB, as described in the
document prepared by the Secretariat, which woul d be issued as an addendum to G/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1.
Many Members expressed serious concerns on elements of the proposals that were adopted;  these
concerns are reflected in the minutes of the meeting (G/MA/M/16).  It was agreed that the Chairmanwould conduct open-ended informal consultations to address the matter.
11. With respect to the preparation of consolidated  loose-leaf schedules on goods, at the meeting of
26 March 1998, the Committee examined an informal note by the Secretariat dated 16 March 1998 (Job
No. 1484). The note described potential means of esta blishing a database of Members' consolidated
tariff concessions.  The database would be establishe d as a working tool without implications as to the
legal status of the information contained therein, but would accurately reflect Members' concessions.
Delegations observed that such a database could be  a very useful and important tool for the future
activities of the Committee and Members.  Delegations  supported the idea of carrying out a pilot project
for the schedule of one Member.  The pilot project  would provide a basis for estimating the resources
that might be required to establish the database for all Members.  It would also permit the identification
of problems that might be encounter ed and would help to determine the extent of Members' involvement
in the exercise. At the meetings of 22 September and 27 November 1998, the Secretariat presented
oral reports on the status of the pilot project.
12. At the meeting of 27 November 1998, the Secretariat also provided details concerning a
technical co-operation project to be carried out to  achieve a consolidated tariff schedules data base.An informal paper dated 27 November 1998 outlining the work to be done under this project was
circulated to delegations.  The Secretariat would prepare the information for developing countries and,
in parallel, developed countries would prepare their consolidated tariff schedules, according to the
electronic format developed by the Secretariat.  The project would be funded through special
contributions to the technical cooperation programme.  The project would be carried out within atimeframe of one year and the information contained in the database would be made available to all
Members at the same time.
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