RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/MA/IDB/W/1
22August 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-1658)
Committee onMarket Access
ISSUES REGARDING THE FUTURE
OFTHE INTEGRATED DATA BASE
Note bytheSecretariat
Itwould seem that,inthelightofanumber ofserious problems thathavearisen covering theIDB,
certain decisions needtobetaken byWTO Members. Themain problems areidentified below:
todate, fewparticipants havereported their1993 imports and1994 tariffs (refer to
Annex 4)asrequested inwriting on19July1994;
theinformation intheIDBtoday covers tariffnegotiations files, which means thedata
areoutdated (refer toAnnex 3);
many oftherecent submissions havenotfollowed theIDBformat.
Theresult isanoutdated databasewhich hasimpaired theWTO Secretariat 'sability toservice the
needs ofMembers intheareas ofmarket access, economic analysis, Article XXIV andArticle XXVIII
negotiations, accession negotiations, etc.
1. Background
1. Byadecision inNovember 1987 (BISD 34S/66), theGATT Council launched theIntegrated
DataBase(IDB) andestablished theInformal Advisory Group ontheIDBinwhich experts from all
Contracting Parties wereinvited toparticipate withaviewtoguiding theSecretariat inthepreparation
oftheIDBandreporting totheCouncil ontheprogress ofthework. TheCouncil decision recommended
thatparticipants intheIDBsubmit toGATT, onanannual basis, theirimport statistics, theircustoms
tariff duties, bound andunbound, andtheQR'swhich theymaintain. Allinformation wastobe
submitted atthetarifflinelevel. Thecouncil decision states inAnnex 2ofdocument L/6290 that"the
precise format inwhich governments would furnish thedatawould needtobediscussed intheInformal
Advisory Group, having regard tothepossibilities of(a)individual governments tosubmit thedata
incomputerized form, and(b)thesecretariat toprovide technical assistance where needed."
2. TheInformal Advisory Group heldmeetings every three months in1988 and1989 andthe
Secretariat organised twoone-week seminars ontheIDBinJune1988 andinOctober 1989, which
wereattended bydelegations andexperts fromcapitals. Attheendof1989, theSecretariat prepared
theIDBdocumentation which wascirculated indocuments IDB/W/4, 5and6.Thedocumentation
contained theformats andcontents forthesubmission ofthedataandthedesign oftheIDB, which
were agreed upon byparticipants atthese meetings. National submissions were tobefurnished on
computer media inthese formats which were usedasthebasis toprepare theIDBConversion and
Update computer programs. Furthermore, itwasagreed thattheIDBsubmissions could beprovided
ineither thefullIDBformats orin"simplified" formats inwhich onlytheminimum information
would besupplied. Ageneral overview oftheIDBisprovided inAnnex 1ofthisdocument. Alist
oftheinformation tobesubmitted iscontained inAnnex 2ofthisdocument.G/MA/IDB/W/1
Page2
2. UsesoftheIDB
3. TheIDBcontains dataforsome fiftycountries -Members oftheWTO orcountries negotiating
theiraccession totheWTO. Annex 3ofthisdocument provides alistoftheparticipants. TheIDB
wasusedatdifferent stages oftheUruguay Round toprepare reviews andassessments oftariff
concessions offered byparticipants intheMarket Access negotiations andtoprepare anoverview of
theresults oftheRound. TheIDBfileswerealsoexchanged among participants during thenegotiations
onareciprocal basis. TheIDBisusedinArticle XXIV andArticle XXVIII negotiations andby
Members inthecontext ofaccession negotiations totheWTO. Copies oftheIDBfilescontaining
theresults oftheUruguay Round negotiations arenowavailable toallWTO Members oncomputer
tapes orPCdiskettes. Inaddition, theSecretariat frequently prepares upon request bydelegations,
extracts andreports ofIDBdataatthetariff linelevel, based onvarious criteria: value ofimports,
levelofduties, rankandshare ofasupplier intotalimports, etc.Theoutputs ofthese extracts and
reports aremade available todelegations onpaper oronPCdiskettes.
4. Inthisconnection, Members should beaware thatthedegree towhich theIDBcanprovide
avaluable service toMembers depends crucially ontheIDBitselfcontaining themostup-to-date tariff
andtradeinformation available. Suchdataareparticularly necessary inproviding calculations ofsimple
andweighted averages ofbound, statutory andapplied (including temporary) tariffs -important in
areas including market access analyses fordeveloping countries, tariff analyses contained inTrade
Policy Reviews, andeconomic analysis work requested byMembers (theNovember 1993 and
November 1994 evaluations ofthemarket access results oftheUruguay Round, forexample, would
havebeenimpossible without theIDB). Thiswork cannot beaccomplished without theupdating of
theIDB.
5. Until now, users ofIDBinformation havehadnodirect access totheIDBaswasoriginally
envisaged. Toimprove thissituation, ajointproject between theSecretariat andtheWorld Bank was
established in1993, withtheviewtoreleasing toWTO Members theIDBinformation onCD-ROM.
Atestversion oftheCD-ROM which alsocontains anapplication system toanalyze thedatausing
apersonal computer (PC)wasdistributed toWTO Members inJune1995. TheSecretariat scheduled
demonstrations oftheIDBCD-ROM fordelegations inJune1995.
6. TheIDBCD-ROM isdesigned topermit theanalyses ofIDBinformation forindividual markets
fromthetariff lineleveluptoanoverall level. Thereports available are:Tariff LineQuery, Tariff
Averages andImports, Tariff andTrade Profiles, Imports Summary, Principal Suppliers, Status of
Bindings andGSP/LDC Preferences. These reports canbecompiled forseveral product classifications:
forlevels oftheHSnomenclature: 2-digit, 4-digit, 6-digit andHSSections; forvarious definitions
ofproduct categories; fortheISICRevision 3classification; andfortheSITC Revision 3classification.
Anadditional feature oftheapplication istheprovision oftools forselecting products according to
varioustariffandtradecriteria.TheIDBCD-ROMpermitsusersinmissions,capitalsandtheSecretariat
toundertake theirownanalyses ofIDBinformation. Thetestversion oftheIDBCD-ROM contains
information forthirty-four HSmarkets.
3. Problems withtheIDB
7. TheSecretariat iscurrently converting totheIDBformat, the1993 or1994 tariffs and
1993 imports forthose governments thathavesubmitted theinformation. Formore information refer
toAnnex 4.However, intheselatestsubmissions, thereareserious problems withthematerial prepared
incapitals fortheIDB. These submissions arenotinagreement withthecommitment undertaken
byparticipants regarding theformats andcontents ofIDBfiles. Asaresult, theworkload ofthe
Secretariat inchecking andconverting asubmission intouseable formissignificantly increased. The
following paragraphs summarize theproblems faced bytheSecretariat inprocessing recent IDBG/MA /IDB/W/1
Page3
submissions. Foramore detailed description, refertoAnnex 5which compares thework undertaken
toprocess incomplete submissions innational formats withthatrequired toprocess relatively complete
submissions provided inIDBformats.
3.(a) Formats oftheinformation provided fortheIDB
8. Aserious problem concerns theformats ofthefilesprovided bydelegations oncomputer tapes
orPCdiskettes. When theIDBwasinitiated, submissions from participants were expected tobe
submitted intheIDBformats agreed bytheInformal Advisory Group ontheIDB(document IDB/W/4).
Itwould thusbepossible toprocess thesubmissions without adjustments andusing standard verification
andconversion procedures. In1990, seventeen countries wereproviding import filesinIDBformat
andtencountries were providing tariff filesinIDBformat.
9. Today, onlyahandful ofcountries stillprovide complete submissions inIDBformat. One
reason forthiscould bethatduring theperiod from 1990 through 1994, participants furnished
information onlyfortheTrade Negotiations files, comprising thepre-Uruguay baseduties andoffers
fortheMarket Access negotiations, which theSecretariat complemented. Another reason could be
theshiftincapitalsfromamainframecomputerenvironmenttoaPCenvironmentsincetheestablishment
oftheIDB.ManycountriesnowpreparetheirIDBsubmissionsusingvariousPCdatabases,spreadsheet
ortext-processing software, some ofwhich arenotalways available intheSecretariat. TheSecretariat
must convert these filesfrom thenative format ofthePCsoftware usedintheircreation toASCII
filesinorder totransfer them tothemainframe computer. Depending onthetypeofsoftware used
tocreate thefiles,theconversion toASCII filesisdoneusing either generalized PCconversion software
orfacilities provided withthenative software. Thetext-processing filesreceived areusually formatted
forprinting andcontain special characters (e.g. tabcharacters andunderlining characters) which must
beindividually removed. Inaddition, textfilesandspreadsheet filesareoftenprepared innon-structured
manner andcannot beconverted intofixedformats automatically. Insome cases, conversion issimply
notpossible. Furthermore, afterthetransfer ofASCII filestothemainframe, adhoccomputer programs
often needtobewritten inorder tore-format thefilestotheIDBsubmission formats andadjust their
contents before theycanbeprocessed through theIDBconversion system. After these extensive
manipulations ofthedata, athorough verification oftheconversion results needs tobecarried out
bytheSecretariat, tariff linebytariff line,anextremely time-consuming process. Experience has
shown thatonaverage 5-10percentoftariff codes contain errors. Inaddition, theother IDBcodes
associated withtheduties (e.g. nature, bindings) arenotnormally reported, andwhen reported, the
error rateisaround 25percent.
3.(b) Contents andconsistency ofthematerial provided fortheIDB
10. Another problem isthatinmostcases thefilesareincomplete. Forinstance, itwasagreed
thatimports would berecorded withspecial codes identifying thetariffrelationship (MFN, GSP, FTA,
etc.)between theimport market andeachofitstrading partners andalso,foreachtariff line,imports
which benefitted effectively frompreferences orwhich wereadmitted attheMFN duty, the"general"
duty, etc.These twoelements, which areusually notcollected bystatistical offices, weretobeadded
bycustoms authorities. Sofar,veryfewcountries haveprovided import dataintheagreed detail and
when thecodes areprovided, theirrecording isusually incorrect.G/MA/IDB/W/1
Page4
11. With regard totariffs, forthemajority ofcountries, onlyMFN applied duties arerecorded
inthesubmissions andonlyahandful ofcountries provide information onpreferential tariffs. Ithad
beenagreed intheInformal Advisory Group thatthefollowing MFN duties would berecorded inthe
tariff file:
- theGATT bound dutyforthereference yearofthesubmission;
- thelegal/applied MFN duty;
- where applicable, temporary MFN duties;
andduring theperiod ofimplementation oftariff concessions:
- thepre-Uruguay Round duty; and
- thepost-Uruguay Round duty.
12. Ifonlythelegal/applied MFN duties areprovided, theSecretariat hastoresearch theGATT
bound duties inloose-leaf schedules which arenot,inmostcases, inthetarifflinenomenclature (usually
beyond theHSsix-digit level) corresponding totheyearofthesubmission, andtoresearch the
pre-Uruguay andpost-Uruguay duties intheMarrakesh schedules ofconcessions which usetariff
nomenclatures inforce fortheyears 1988, 89,90,91,92,93or94,depending onthecountry.
13. Another problem concerns thepossible integration ofquantitative restrictions (QR) which has
beenprojected forsome timebutnever realized. These havenotbeenreported onaregular basis
byWTO Members. Furthermore, theinformation received onQRscannot always beconcorded to
thecustoms tariff linelevel.
14. Furthermore, theIDBwasdesigned toincorporate information contained intheloose-leaf
schedules ofconcessions. Initial Negotiating Rights (INRs) onthepresent concessions wereidentified
asoneofthedataelements tobeincluded inthe"simplified" IDBsubmissions. Fewparticipants have
provided thisinformation todate.
4. Simplifying theformats ofIDBsubmissions
15. Theformats andcontents ofIDBsubmissions, which aredifferent forimports, tariffs andQRs,
were defined atatimewhen thedatabaseincluded onlydeveloped countries, andIDBsubmissions
weremade oncomputer tapes using amainframe computer. Today, mostparticipants prepare their
IDBsubmissions onPCsandthefilesareprovided onPCdiskettes. Most participants donotfollow
theIDBformats proposed indocument IDB/W/4, either because people preparing thedataincapitals
arenotaware ofthisdocument orbecause theproposed formats arenotadapted tothePCenvironment.
16. Theadoption ofsimplified formats usedinconjunction withcommercially available software
(forexample, ASCII filesconverted fromdatabasesoftware suchasParadox, dBaseorFoxPro, failing
that,ASCII fullydelimited files1)toprepare thedataincapitals, willsolve theproblem ofreceiving
submissions informats which aresometimes unusable (text-processing formats) orwhich aredifficult
toconvert toIDBformats. TheSecretariat could thenprepare standard programs converting datafrom
simplified PCformats totheIDBmainframe formats.
1IDBsubmissions prepared using text-processing formats areunusable because theinformation
isnotentered systematically inspecific rowsandcolumns withproper delimiters, which would permit
theinformation tobeeasily converted toASCII files. Filesreceived inspreadsheet formats (e.g.Lotus
andExcel) often share thisproblem. Furthermore, spreadsheet fileshavelimitations intheamount
ofdatathatcanbestored (8000 or12,000 records compared toanaverage country submission containing
40,000 records fortariffs and80,000 records forimports). Thisresults intheneed tosplitthe
information intodozens offiles, making theconversion andtransfer tothemainframe difficult.G/MA /IDB/W/1
Page5
17. TheSecretariat proposes thatsimplified formats beadopted forthesubmission ofdataforthe
IDBtoencourage more countries toparticipate intheIDBandtoimprove thequality ofsubmissions.
Thesimplified formats willincorporate theminimum dataelements agreed bytheInformal Advisory
Group in1989 (refer toAnnex 2,page1).
5. Future development oftheIDB
5.(a) Increasing thenumber ofparticipants
18. Since allWTO Members havethesameobligations withregard tonotifiable measures, logically
allWTO Members should beincluded intheIDB. TheSecretariat willhavetoprovide technical
assistance forthepreparation ofthedataortoprepare allinformation except import statistics, which
iscurrently thesituation.
19. Furthermore, some countries donotsystematically collect tradedatainsufficient detail (i.e. at
thetariff linelevel) orthetrade dataarecollected inthedetail ofthecustoms tariff butthedataare
notverified. Pastexperience hasshown thatinsome submissions, many HSsix-digit orfour-digit
items aresometimes incorrectly coded andproducts cannot beidentified. Athreshold ofaccuracy
willneedtobeagreed upon forsuchcases.
5.(b) Moving theIDBfrom themainframe computer toaPCenvironment
20. Long-term costsavings might beachieved byprogressively moving theIDBoperations (data
entry,verificationandconversionofnationalsubmissions,compilationofanalyticalreportsanddatabase
updating) from themainframe computer toaPCenvironment. Inthiscontext, another issue for
consideration isthecreation ofaPCapplication topermit theformatting, dataentry, checking and
integration ofIDBsubmissions incapitals inorder toexpand thecontents andimprove thequality
ofnational submissions. However thiswillrequire further study because:
(a)theIDBprograms (currently 1375modules) would needtobere-designed andre-written
forthePCenvironment;
(b)evaluation, selection andmaintenance ofhardware andsoftware would needtotakeplace;
(c)thenewhardware andsoftware would need tobeintegrated intotheWTO network
environment;
(d)training ofstaffinthenewenvironment would needtobecarried outand;
(e)asubstantial investment would berequired fortheacquisition ofhardware andsoftware.
21. Costsavings fortheSecretariat would mainly result fromreductions incomputer processing
costs attheInternational Computing Centre where theIDBresides, andincreased staffproductivity.
Furthermore, theexercise would giveusers anopportunity toreview thedatabasecontents, design
andorganization taking intoaccount thecurrent andfuture needs ofdelegations anddivisions ofthe
Secretariat.
22. Feasibility studies would berequired before embarking onsuchanexercise. Asafirststep
inthisdirection, theSecretariat recommends thatstudies beundertaken, bothtoassess thetechnical
issues related tohardware, systems software andnetwork considerations, andtoevaluate means of
progressively moving theIDBoperations fromthemainframe. These studies willinclude acost-benefit
analysis.G/MA/IDB/W/1
Page6
5.(c) Expansion oftheinformation recorded intheIDB
23. Datasubmitted totheMarket Access Committee intheareaofquantitative restrictions, which
arenotcontained intheIDBatpresent, could beincluded intheIDBsubject toitssimplification.
Once thethree areas ofimports, tariffs andQRsareintegrated, theCommittee maywishtoconsider
expanding information included intheIDBineachofthethreeareasorinnewareas. Annex 1-PartVI
ofthisdocument provides asummary ofpossible future developments which were envisaged when
theIDBwasestablished. Theexpansion oftheinformation recorded intheIDBwasraised inthelast
meeting oftheInformal Advisory Group inMay1994. Thepossibility ofextending theusefulness
oftheIDBtomeetother current andfuture needs ofparticipants andtheSecretariat could usefully
bestudied asalong-term objective. Thiscould bedoneinconjunction withtheexercise ofmoving
theIDBtoaPCenvironment, should theCommittee agree thattheSecretariat pursue thismatter.
6. Access toIDBdata
24. TheMarket Access Committee nowoversees "thecontent andoperation of,andaccess to,
theIntegrated DataBase". Inaddition toWTO Members which haveaccess totheIDB,theCommittee
might consider giving access toWTO observers, International Organizations andperhaps totheprivate
sector.
25. Since theWTO should maintain aninventory ofalltrade measures, andinorder toavoid the
proliferationofunverifiedtradedatabasesinotherinternationalorganizations,atleasttheseorganizations
could haveaccess toIDBdatatogether withanyrecorded QRs.
26. Thiswillgreatly alleviate theadministrative burden oftheSecretariat which nowhastorequest
written authorization fromeachIDBparticipant, whenever anoutside userwants copies ofIDBfiles
oranextract ofinformation from theIDB.
27. More generally, trade statistics, customs tariffs andUruguay Round Schedules arealready
inthepublic domain. Therefore, itcould beargued thatthereisnoreason whytheIDBwhich contains
precisely only these variables (butintegrated) should notbeinthepublic domain.
28. Making IDBdataavailable tothepublic, forexample viatheIDBCD-ROM orasanon-line
databaseservice, would beasource ofrevenue -perhaps quite animportant source ofrevenue -for
theWTO. Non-profit institutions could becharged amodest fee,andprivate sector users charged
ahigher "commercial" rateinlinewithanestimation ofthemarket value ofthedata.G/MA /IDB/W/1
Page7
ANNEX 1
RESTRICTED
GENERAL AGREEMENT IDB/URM/1
19April 1994
ONTARIFFS AND TRADE Special Distribution
INTEGRATED DATA BASE
IDBUSER REFERENCE MANUAL
PART I
GENERAL OVERVIEW
Note bytheSecretariatG/MA/IDB/W/1
Page8
IDB/URM/1
Page2
GENERAL OVERVIEW
I.Background
TheGATT Secretariat hasmaintained adatabaseontariffs andtrade since theearly seventies. The
firstGATT database, known astheTariff Study, contained information oncustoms tariffs andimports
ofeleven OECD markets (including theEuropean Communities counted asonemarket). TheTariff
Study wasdesigned toanalyze thetariff situation inthedeveloped markets aftertheKennedy Round.
Under theguidance ofagroup oftechnical experts fromgovernments, theSecretariat prepared several
analyses ofthetariff situation during theearly seventies. Afinalanalysis waspublished before the
Tokyo Round infourvolumes known as"theBasic Documentation fortheTariff Study".
During theTokyo Round, theTariff Study exercise wascontinued toassist theparticipants inthe
negotiations. Access totheTariff Study datawasrestricted tothe11contracting parties participating
intheexercise. However, during andaftertheTokyo Round, theparticipants authorised theSecretariat
toprovide developing countries withsummary information extracted from theTariff Study files
concerning products ofexport interest tothem.
Between 1980 and1987, theTariff Study filescontinued tobeupdated onanannual basis tofollow
theapplication oftheTokyo Round concessions which wereimplemented ineightannual stages starting
1January 1980.
In1983, agroup oftechnical experts from governments wasconvened toanalyze thefeasibility of
establishing adatabasecontaining information tobeusedinArticle XXVIII negotiations which were
necessary before theHarmonised System could beimplemented. Article XXVIII negotiations concern
themodification ofGATT Schedules, i.e.,acontracting party maymodify orwithdraw aconcession
"bynegotiation andagreement withanycontracting party withwhich suchconcession wasinitially
negotiated andwithanyothercontracting partydetermined bytheContracting Parties tohaveaprincipal
supplying interest ...andsubject toconsultation withanyother contracting party determined bythe
Contracting Parties tohaveasubstantial interest insuchconcession". TheSecretariat established,
inparallel withtheTariff Study, theHScommon databaseinwhich onlythefivemajor developed
markets participated.
From 1986, theGroup ofexperts ontheHSdatabasestudied thefeasibility ofreplacing theTariff
Study exercise byanewdatabaseinwhich allGATT Contracting Parties would beinvited toparticipate
andwhich would cover notonlycustoms tariffs andimports butalsonon-tariff measures and,iffeasible
inthefuture, anyadditional statistics which could be"integrated" withtheabove three areas.
InNovember 1987, theGATT Council launched theIntegrated DataBase(IDB) andtheGroup of
experts ontheHSdatabasebecame theInformal Advisory Group (IAG) ontheIDBinwhich experts
from allContracting Parties were invited toparticipate withaviewtoguiding theSecretariat inthe
preparation oftheIDBandreporting totheCouncil ontheprogress ofthework.
TheIAGheldmeetings every threemonths in1988and1989andtheSecretariat organised twoone-week
seminars ontheIDBinJune1988andinOctober 1989. Initially, theSecretariat proposed draftformats
forthesubmission ofthedataandatentative design oftheIDBindocuments IDB/W/1, 2and3.
Theviews expressed byparticipants inthesemeetings andseminars werereflected inarevised version
oftheIDBdocumentation contained indocuments IDB/W/4, 5and6.G/MA /IDB/W/1
Page9
IDB/URM/1
Page3
II.TheGATT Council decision ofNovember 1987
Before theCouncil decision ofNovember 1987, theContracting Parties hadtwoobligations withregard
tothenotification ofinformation: tonotify toGATT theirconsolidated customs duties (bound duties)
and,every twoyears, tonotify thequantitative restrictions (QRs) which theyapplied.
TheCouncil decision recommends thatparticipants intheIDBsubmit toGATT, onanannual basis,
theirimport statistics, theircustoms tariffduties, bound andunbound, andtheQRswhich theymaintain.
Allinformation istobesubmitted atthetariff linelevel.
TheCouncil decision alsorecommends that,when theIDBisoperational, allContracting Parties will
haveaccess tothedatabase. Although theCouncil decision doesnotindicate when theIDBcould
beconsideredasoperational,participantshavestatedthatthedatabasecouldbeconsideredasoperational
when itcovers atleast90%ofGATT trade.
Contracting Parties were invited tonotify theSecretariat iftheyintended toparticipate intheIDB.
Sofar,some forty-five contracting parties (theE.C. being counted asone)participate intheIDB.
Theforty-five contracting parties account forover97percentofthetotalmerchandise tradeofGATT
Contracting Parties.
III.Information tobeprepared incapitals fortheIDB
Theinformation tobesubmitted fortheIDBisclearly defined intheNovember 1987Council decision.
However, participants stressed thattheIDBshould bedesigned sothatitcould beusednotonlyto
follow overtimethemarket access measures taken bytheparticipants butalsotoofferauseful tool
forthenegotiations, whether multilateral, bilateral, under Article XXVIII (modification ofconcessions)
etc.. Inviewalsoofthelimited staffavailable intheSecretariat, theinformation should besubmitted
oncomputer media, using, asfaraspossible, astandard format.
Under theguidance oftechnical experts oftheIAG,theSecretariat identified allelements ofinformation
which were necessary toanswer theneeds expressed inprevious GATT negotiations. Asaresult,
thedefinition oftheelements ofinformation included inthevarious domains oftheIDBisverytechnical
andoften complex.
Basically,eachparticipantshouldpreparefourfiles:importstatistics,customstariff,GATTconsolidated
schedule andQRs. Thefourfilesshould berecorded inthesame nomenclature, thatis,thecustoms
tariffnomenclature, andinthedetail ofthecustoms tarifflines. Thefollowing paragraphs summarize
theinformation recorded ineachofthefiles. Finally, ifimport statistics arenotcollected intheexact
detail ofthecustoms tariff, i.e.ifanitemintheimport filecovers agroup ofproducts subject to
different duties inthecustoms tariff, afeature isoffered toassociate totheimport itemanaverage
oftheduties applicable.
A. Import statistics
Theimport statistics filecontains, foreachtariff line,thevalue andquantity(ies) ofimports
bycountries oforigin. Thevalue ofimports should bethevalue usedforthepurpose of
collecting customs duties. Ifthecustoms value isnotthecost,insurance andfreight (CIF)
value, theCIFvalue should alsobeprovided, ifpossible. Foreachcountry oforigin, there
should beanindication ofthetypeof"relationship" existing between theimport market and
thecountry oforigin andanindication ofthetypeof"tariff treatment" accorded, byproduct,
toeachcountry 'sexports.G/MA/IDB/W/1
Page10
IDB/URM/1
Page4
Theexample below illustrates theuseof"relationship" and"tariff treatment" indicators.
TheUnitedStatesimportshirts,glassesandcontainersfromCanada,ArgentinaandSwitzerland.
CanadahasapreferentialrelationshipwiththeU.S.undertheU.S.-Canadafree-tradeagreement
(FTA). Argentina hasapreferential relationship withtheU.S.under theGeneralised System
ofPreferences (GSP). Switzerland hasamost-favoured-nation (MFN) relationship withthe
U.S.. Forthethree countries, intheU.S.import statistics file,the"relation" indicators is
respectively FTA, GSPandMFN.
Fortheabove threeproducts, Canada benefits fromduty-free preferential treatment. Argentina
benefits fromduty-free GSPpreferential treatment forcontainers only. Switzerland benefits
ofcourse fromMFN treatment forthethree products. ForCanada, the"treatment" indicator
is"FTA" forshirts, glasses andcontainers. ForArgentina, the"treatment" indicator is"MFN"
(nopreference) forshirts andglasses and"GSP" forcontainers. ForSwitzerland, the
"treatment" indicator is"MFN" forthethree products.
Inother words, the"relation" indicator iscountry-specific andthe"treatment" indicator is
product-specific.
The"relation" or"treatment" codes which canbeusedarethefollowing:
Code
0-MFN: most-favoured-nation
1-FTA: free-trade area(e.g., EFTA, U.S./Canada, U.S./Israel, Australia/New Zealand,
Andean countries, Asean countries, etc.)
2-ZONE: regional preferential agreement (e.g.E.C. trade withEFTA countries)
3-OTHER: other preferential arrangements (e.g.E.C./Israel, Bangkok agreement, etc.)
4-GSP/MFN: GSPpreference todeveloping countries which, intheabsence ofGSP, are
entitled toMFN treatment
5-GSP/PREF: GSPpreference todeveloping countries which, intheabsence ofGSP, are
entitled toFTA, ZONE orother preferences
6-GSP/GEN: GSPpreference todeveloping countries which, intheabsence ofGSP, are
entitled togeneral treatment asspecified below
8-GENERAL: general treatment (lessfavourable thanMFN) applied tonon-GATT Members
insome import markets
9-UNSPEC.: unspecified treatment (e.g.imports from unknown origin)
B. Customs tariff
(1) Thecustomscodedtarifffilecontains,foreachtariffline,thecustomsdutiesapplicable,
forthereference yearcovered, under eachoftheabove tariff treatments, where
relevant.G/MA /IDB/W/1
Page11
IDB/URM/1
Page5
(a)ForMFN duties, thefilecontains three types ofduties:
-MFN bound duty: foreachtarifflineonwhich aGATT concession hasbeenoffered,
themost recent MFN concession offered.
-MFN statutory duty: "Statutory" duties, alsoknown as"legal" or"autonomous"
duties, arethelegalcustoms duties which arenormally published inthecustoms tariff
lawvoted byParliament. Usually the"statutory" dutyapplies when thetariff line
isunbound or, ifthetariff lineisbound, when itislower thantheGATT bound
duty.
-MFN temporary duty: "temporary" duties refertocustoms duties which areapplied
foralimited period oftime(sometimes foran"undetermined" period oftime). These
"temporary" duties aresometimes voted byParliament or,more often, decided by
thegovernment foreconomic reasons (inflation, balance ofpayments etc.).
Ifthetariff lineisbound, theMFN statutory dutycanbelower thanorequal tothe
MFN bound duty, butitcannot behigher. Similarly, theMFN temporary dutycan
belower orhigher thantheMFN statutory dutybut,ifthetarifflineisbound, itcannot
behigher thantheMFN bound duty. Inaddition, thecustoms tarifffilecontains the
MFN duties which wereusedasabaseforthelastround ofnegotiations. When the
Uruguay Round negotiations arecompleted, thefileswillcontain:
-thepre-Uruguay duties, i.e.,bound duties asof1988and,forunbound items, duties
applicable asofSeptember 1986;
-theduties offered during theUruguay Round.
(b) Forpreferential duties, thefilecontains allduties applicable under FTA
agreements, regional agreements, other preferential arrangements andGSP.
If,under theGSP, acountry grants adifferentiated treatment totheleast
developed among developing countries (LDCs), thedutyapplicable toLDCs
isalsorecorded. Itispossible, under theIDBformat, toassociate toeachduty
thecountry orthegroup ofcountries towhich thedutyapplies.
(c) Duties applicable under thegeneral treatment (see definition of
relation/treatment codes above) could alsoberecorded.
Eachdutyisidentified byathree-digit code: thedutytype. Thefirstdigitoftheduty
typeisthetreatment codeasrecorded intheimport file.Inaddition, aseparate field
canbeusedtoidentify towhich country thedutyapplies. Thelinkbetween thecustoms
tarifffileandtheimport fileisthetarifflinenumber, the"treatment" codeand,where
applicable, thecodeofthecountry towhich thedutyapplies. Forexample, iffor
agiven tariff lineacountry isrecorded intheimport filewith"treatment" code"2",
thedutyapplicable canbefound inthetariff fileunder dutytypes starting withthe
digit"2". Ifseveral duties startwiththedigit"2",thecountry codepreceding the
dutytype, identifies thedutyapplicable. Inorder tofollow overtimethechanges
inthecustoms tariff, theperiod oftimeduring which thedutyisinforce isrecorded
foreachoftheabove dutytypes, byindicating thedatefromwhich thedutyhasbeen
inforce and,where applicable, thedateatwhich thedutyceased tobeinforce.G/MA/IDB/W/1
Page12
IDB/URM/1
Page6
Eachdutyisrecorded under record type"1",inpercentage withthreedecimal places.
Inaddition, various codes areattached tothedutytoidentify thenature oftheduty
(advalorem, specific, compound, mixed, variable orother), itsbinding status (bound
orunbound) andwhether there isornotalimitwithin which thedutyisapplicable
(quota, ceiling orother limitations).
Ifadutyisnotadvalorem, theparticipants calculate anadvalorem equivalent (AVE)
ofthedutyandthemethod usedtocalculate theAVE isindicated byacode. The
codeindicates, forexample, thattheAVE isbased onactual dutycollection (duty
collected divided bythevalue ofimports) orthatitisestimated onthebasis ofthe
unitvalue oftotalimports, import fromGATT member countries, imports fromMFN
origin, etc.. Ifthedutyisnotadvalorem, itshould alsoberecorded, under record
type"2",in aform allowing computer-programmed calculations or,ifnotfeasible,
intextual form,under record type"3". Afootnote canalsobeattached toeachduty
under record type"4".
Finally, ifimport statistics arenotcollected intheexact detail ofthecustoms tariff,
i.e.ifanitemintheimport filecovers agroup ofproducts subject todifferent duties
inthecustoms tariff, afeature isoffered toassociate totheimport itemanaverage
oftheduties applicable. Theduties tobeassociated withtheimport itemarerecorded
inthetariff fileassub-items, using asuffix attached tothetariff linenumber. The
typeofaverage calculated (arithmetic ortrade-weighted) would beidentified byacode.
(2) Thecustoms textual tarifffile(GATT consolidated schedule) contains, foreachtariff
line,afull("legal") product description and/or anabbreviated product description and,
forconsolidated (bound) tariff lines, theinformation reported incolumns 4,5,6and
7oftheGATT loose-leaf schedule notified byeachcontracting party. Column 4
contains areference tothelegal instrument containing themost recent concession,
column 5contains theinitial negotiating rights (INRs) onthemostrecent concession,
column 6contains areference tothelegalinstrument containing thefirstconcession
made forthetariff lineandcolumn 7contains theINRs onallprevious concessions
offered forthetariff line.
C. Non-tariff measures
Theinformation concerning thequantitative restrictions isrecorded intwofiles. Thefirst
file(the"coded" non-tariff file)contains theQRsandrelated information. Thesecond file
(the"textual" non-tariff file)contains, where necessary, descriptions oftheproducts affected
bytheQRs. Inthetwofiles, information isrecorded atthetariff linelevelusing thesame
customs tariff nomenclature asintheimport andtariff files.
(1) Thecoded non-tariff filecontains alltariff linesaffected byoneormore QR. The
QRswhich should benotified bytheContracting Parties havebeendefined bythe
GATT Council asfollows:
1-Licensing (automatic ornon-automatic)
2-Quotas (bilateral orglobal)
3-Prohibition
9-Other QRs:
1-"voluntary" restraint ofexports
2-minimum price triggering aQR
3-mixing regulations
4-QRmade effective through state-trading
9-other QRsG/MA /IDB/W/1
Page13
IDB/URM/1
Page7
Adistinction ismade, foreachoftheabove QRs, between seasonal andnon-seasonal
QRsandbetween QRsonimports andQRsonexports.
EachQRisidentified byanumeric codeandanother codeidentifies whether theQR
affects imports orexports. Theperiod oftimeduring which theQRisinforce is
recorded byindicating thedatefrom which theQRhasbeeninforce and,where
applicable, thedateatwhich theQRceased tobeinforce.
Inaddition, itispossible torecord thecountry orgroup ofcountries affected bythe
QR,theGATT body(ies) towhich theQRwasnotified (Committee onAgriculture,
QRsTechnical Group orGATT inventory ofQRs), theGATT Article(s) invoked to
justify theQRandthesymbol oftheGATT document containing thenotification of
theQR. Textual information canalsoberecorded togivedetails onthemodalities
ofapplication ofthemeasure ortoattach footnotes tooneormore elements attached
totheQR. Theinformation intheQR"coded" non-tariff filecanbelinked tothe
other fileswiththetariff linenumber.
IfQRsapply topartsofatariff line,afeature similar totheoneoffered inthetariff
file,allows therecording ofsub-items.
(2) Descriptions ofproducts covered bysub-items arerecorded inthe"textual" non-tariff
file.Theinformation intheQR"textual"non-tariff filecanbelinked totheother files
withthetariff linenumber.
IV.Processing ofIDBsubmissions bytheSecretariat
Thesubmissions totheIDBareprocessed intheSecretariat inthree steps. Inthefirststep, the
"conversion" phase, thefilesarecontrolled andconverted (codes, currency, etc.)tothestandard data
baseformat. Inthesecond step,the"work database" phase, thefilesare,if necessary, arecomplemented
andcorrected using anupdate system. Inthelaststep,the"user database" phase, thefilesareloaded
intotheuserdatabasesothattheycanbeaccessed byusers inthefuture. Refer toAnnex 2fora
listofsteps ineachphase.
A. Conversion phase
Theconversion phase concerns theprocessing ofthefilesfromtheirreception intheSecretariat
totheloading ofthefilesonthework database. When asubmission isreceived, thefiles
arecopied ontoaGATT computer tapeandthefilesareregistered inanIDBsystem file
(conversion logfile). Thissystem filecanbequeried byauthorised users toobtain information
onthestatus oftheconversion ofthesubmission. Theformat andcontents ofthefilesare
thenanalyzed (mapping program) andareport isprinted toshow allvalues recorded inthe
various dataelements. Thefilesareprinted onmicrofiche forfuture reference. Alldata
elements areverified anddiscrepancies areprinted witherror messages (editing program).
Subsequently, allnational codes areconverted toIDBstandard codes using national reference
filescreated bytheSecretariat.
Intheimport statistics file,theconversion program creates anew fieldtorecord import values
inU.S.dollars andcreates, foreachtariff line,atotalforallcountries oforigin, atotalfor
GATT Members, atotal, where applicable, fortheleastdeveloped countries (LDCs) andtotals
bytypeofrelation. Theconversion program alsoverifies therelation andtreatment codes
andtheaccuracy ofthecombinations ofthetwocodes.G/MA/IDB/W/1
Page14
IDB/URM/1
Page8
Before thefilesareloaded intothework database, themapping report isagain produced to
show thecontents ofthefilesafterediting (which could entail thedeletion ofsome records
afterfollow up)andconversion. Finally, thenomenclature usedineachfileiscompared with
thatofthe"coded" tariff file(matching programs). The"coded"tariff fileisthebasefilefor
thecomparison since foreachtariff linethere should beatleastoneMFN dutyrecorded in
the"coded" tariff file:the GATT dutyorthelegalduty.
B. Work database
Theresults ofthe"conversion phase"are thenloaded intothe"work database" (WIDB). First,
errors which might havebeendiscovered intheconversion phase arecorrected. Ifaparticipant
wasnotinaposition toprepare some dataelements, thecorresponding information isentered
bytheSecretariat. Finally, theconsistency ofthedatarecorded among thefilesisverified
andafinalreport issenttotheparticipant concerned toobtain itsauthorization fortherelease
oftheinformation tousers.
Thecorrection oferrors andtheaddition ofmissing dataisdone using anupdate system.
Therequired update operations arespecified bymeans ofcoded transactions (create, modify,
delete) andareprocessed inbatch. Allchanges made totheWIDB filesarenotified tothe
participant concerned bymeans ofupdate reports. Itisexpected thattheSecretariat willhave
toenteralargevolume ofdatausing theupdate system. Ineffect, many countries donothave
theircustoms tariff incomputerised form anditislikely thatmany notifications ofGATT
loose-leaf schedules andQRswillbemade byparticipants onpaper.
C. Userdatabase
Thelastphase isthe"user database" (UIDB) phase inwhich thefilesarestored inadata
basewhich canbeaccessed byusers inthefuture. Thisphase isstilltobeanalyzed inview
ofthesoftware which willbeusedandinview ofthedecisions tobetaken withregard to
thedissemination ofthedata.
Atthetariff linelevel, theuserdatabasecontains foreachparticipant, uptothree years of
information. Several options canbeenvisaged toprovide access totheUIDB information.
First, users which areconnected totheInternational Computing Centre (ICC),a mainframe
facility inGeneva,could access theUIDB on-line, using software provided bytheSecretariat.
Another option could betoprovide copies ofthedatabaseonCDROMs oroncomputer tapes.
Finally, extracts ofthedatabasecould beprovided onpersonal computer (PC)diskettes. The
useofPCdiskettes ishowever difficult, given thelargevolume ofinformation tobedownloaded
andgiven thetimenecessary totransfer thedatafromthemainframe ontodiskettes (partition
ofthefiles, useofseveral diskettes foreachfile,etc.).
V.Application programs developed bytheSecretariat
TheSecretariatwilldevelopapplicationprogrammeswhichwilloffertousersthepossibilityofextracting
datafromtheIDBstored intheICCorofrequesting summary reports onpaper orsummary datawhich
could befurther processed onPCs.
Theapplication computer programs which willbedeveloped willanalyze theIDBdatafromthetariff
lineleveluptolevels ofaggregation which willbeleftfortheusers tochoose. Thebasic levels of
aggregation which willbeoffered tousers willbethesix-digit leveloftheHSandthefour-digit level
oftheHSorCCCN, inaddition tothetariff linelevel.G/MA /IDB/W/1
Page15
IDB/URM/1
Page9
A. Analyses atthetariff linelevel
Thefirstapplication program willallow users torequest extractions fromtheIDBinformation
atthetarifflinelevel. Tolimitthevolume ofdataextracted, thesystem willofferthepossibility
ofselecting thetariff lineseither byproduct sectors oraccording toselected criteria based
onthecontents ofthefilesforeachtariff lineextracted. Forexample, ausercould extract
from thefilesofaparticipant tariff lineswhere:
Import value isbelow, equal orabove agiven threshold;
Agiven exporter isfirstsupplier oramong thefirst2,3,etc.suppliers;
Agiven exporter 'sshare intotalimports isabove agiven threshold;
Agiven exporter hasaninitial negotiating right;
Adutyisbelow, equal toorabove agiven percentage orwithin agiven range;
Agiven duty(MFN, GSP, LDC orother type) isrecorded;
Agiven QRisrecorded (byspecifying theQRcode).
Thislistofcriteria isonlyillustrative ofthepossibilities since extractions could bemade by
specifying combinations ofthecriteria associated withspecified value(s) ofanycodes recorded
inthefiles.
Tariff linescould alsobeextracted within arange oftariff lines, of6-digit, 4-digit categories
orwithin Chapter(s) oftheHS.
Another possibility could betocreate aglossary ofkeywords associated withtheHS6-digit
numbers whose descriptions contain thekeyword orarelisted inthealphabetical index. This
feature would allow extracting tariff linesbyspecifying oneormore keywords.
Theinformation extracted foreachtarifflinecould cover, onrequest, anydataelement recorded
inthefilesforone,twoorthree years. Thereport could bedisplayed onaterminal screen,
printed onpaper, copied ontapeordownloaded ontheharddiskofaPCoronPCdiskettes.
B. Analyses ataggregate levels
Thelowest levelofaggregation which iscommon toallparticipants istheHS6-digit level.
Summary information would becompiled foreachsix-digit sub-heading andpossibly stored
intheIDB. Thesummary six-digit fileswould becompiled foreachyearandeachnewyear
would beadded tothefiletooffer atimeseries ofimports, tariffs andQRs.
Counterpart exports ofeachcountry toallparticipants intheIDBcould alsobecompiled from
thesix-digit import filesandstored atsix-digit level.
Foreachsix-digit sub-heading, thefollowing summaries could beprepared.
(1) Tariff averages ofMFN duties (arithmetic andtrade-weighted) would becompiled
foralltarifflinesandfordutiable tarifflinesonly. Inaddition thereport would show
thenumber oflines(duty-free anddutiable), minimum andmaximum duties, total
imports (duty-free anddutiable) andimports bytypeofrelation subdivided according
to:duty-free onaMFN basis, dutiable onaMFN basis, ofwhich, where relevant,
covered bypreferences andnotcovered bypreferences. Summaries could becompiled
foreachofthethree types ofMFN duties (bound, statutory andtemporary) andfor
thebasedutyandconcessions oftheUruguay Round.G/MA/IDB/W/1
Page16
IDB/URM/1
Page10
(2) Tariff andtrade profiles showing thenumber oftariff linesandthevalue ofimports
byMFN dutyranges, e.g.,duty-free, between 0.1% and5%,5.1% and10%, ...,
over200%.
(3) Imports fromprincipal suppliers bytypeofrelation and/or bytypeoftarifftreatment.
These files, created atthesix-digit level, willserve asabasis tocompile summary
analyses atthefour-digit ortwo-digit leveloftheHSorforthe21HSsections. In
addition, users could havethepossibility ofdefining product categories fortheirown
use,suchastheproduct categories which hadbeendefined fortheTariff Study: 33
categoriessub-divided,wherefeasible,accordingtothestageofprocessingoraccording
tothetypeofmanufacturing process.
With regard toQRs, theinformation recorded atthisstage intheQRfilesisnotsufficient
tocompile summaries since noinformation isquantified. QRsarerecorded bycodes without
forinstance identifying thesizeofquotas, thetimenecessary toobtain anon-automatic license,
etc.Participants intheInformal Advisory Group ontheIDB(IAG) stated thattheSecretariat
should notattempt, atthisstage, tosummarize information onQRsataggregate levels. QRs
willbereported atthetariff linelevelonly.
Other summaries willbecreated toanswer theneeds ofGATT bodies andparticipants and
fortheregular work ofDivisions oftheGATT Secretariat.
VI.Possible future developments
FuturedevelopmentsoftheIDBwillbediscussedintheInformalAdvisoryGroupandwillbetransmitted
totheCouncil forfinaldecision.
Some participants havealready indicated thatitwould beuseful toinclude intheIDB, exports and
re-exports. Thepossibility ofrecording exports isalready provided forinthepresent IDBdesign.
Exports would berecorded inthetradefiletogether withimports. Acodeidentifies atpresent imports
("direction" oftrade, code"1"). Codes "2"and"3"would identify respectively exports andre-exports.
Some participants haveindicated alsothattheidentification ofQRscould beimproved byrecording
forexample, thesizeofquotas, thetimenecessary toobtain alicense, etc.Thisfeature would have
tobediscussed further intheIAGbefore theSecretariat canadjust theformat oftheQRfiles. Some
delegations havealsostated thatnon-tariff measures (NTMs), other thanQRs, could beincluded in
thefile.
Asaresult oftheUruguay Round, other elements mayhavetobeadded totheIDB. These elements
might concern: thebinding ofNTMs, therecording ofcharges other thancustoms duties (excise
tax,consular fees,etc.), theseparate recording oftariff equivalents ofNTMs.
Finally, sincetheIDBwillcontain threeyears ofinformation atthetarifflinelevelandachronological
series ofdataattheHS6-digit level, anychanges intheHSnomenclature willentail abreak inthe
series. Asystem willtherefore have tobedeveloped toreconcile changes overyears intheHS
nomenclature.G/MA /IDB/W/1
Page17
ANNEX 2
Minimum datatoberecorded inIDBsubmissions
Variables Import Coded Textual Coded QR Textual
Tariff linenumber X X X X X
Non-tariff suffix X X
Partner country/country affected X X X
CIForcustoms value X
Quantity unitcode X
Quantity X
Duty type(MFN/GSP) X
Duty rate X
Binding status X
Partial binding coverage X
Element number X X
Sequence number X X
Product description X X
Type ofmeasure X
Measure code X
INRonpresent concession X
Note: Refer todocument IDB/W/4 formore detail onthecontents ofthefilesandofeachdata
element. Atpresent, although thesimplified IDBsubmissions canbeconverted andloaded
intheIDB,itisnotyetpossible toupdate allelements ofinformation intheCoded andTextual
QRfilesusing theIDBupdate program.
Page 1G/MA/IDB/W/1
Page18
ANNEX 2
Additional datathatcanberecorded inIDBsubmissions
Variables Import Coded tariff Textual tariff Coded QR Textual QR
Year X X X X X
Reporting country X X X X X
Direction oftrade X
Tariff treatment X
Type ofrelation X
Supplementary quantity unit X
Supplementary quantity X
Duty collected X
Validity period X X
Partner country X
Record type X X
Language X X
Sequence number X X
Text X X
Footnotes X X X
Nature code X
Estimation code X
AVEcalculation method X
Sub-items duties averaging method X
Limitation Status X
Partial dutycoverage X
Normalized coding fornon-ad valorem X
Present concession information X
Legal instruments containing present, first X
INR'sonprevious concessions (codes or X
Previous concessions 'duties (intextform) X
Customs Union Member X X
WTO body towhich aQRisnotified X
WTO document number X
GATT Article number X
Note: Refer todocument IDB/W/4 formore detail onthecontents ofthefilesandofeachdata
element. Atpresent, although thefullIDBsubmissions canbeconverted andloaded inthe
IDB, itisnotyetpossible toupdate allelements ofinformation intheTextual Tariff fileand
intheCoded andTextual QRfilesusing theIDBupdate program.
Page2G/MA /IDB/W/1
Page19
ANNEX 3
Participants intheIntegrated Data Base
Country Year ofimports Year oftariff Nomenclature Descriptions
Argentina 1986 1986 CCCN No
Australia 1988 1988 HS6 English
Austria 1988 1988 HS6 No
Brazil 1989 1989 HS6 No
Bulgaria 1992 1992 HS6 English
Canada 1988 1988 HS6 English
Chile 1986 1986 CCCN Spanish
China 1992 1992 HS6 English
Colombia 1991 1992 HS4 Spanish
Costa Rica 1988 1990 CCCN No
Cuba 1989 1989 HS4 Spanish
Czech Republic 1990 1992 HS6 English
Ecuador 1992 1992 HS4 No
Egypt 1988 1986 CCCN English
European Union 1988 1988 HS6 English
Finland 1988 1988 HS6 No
Hong Kong 1992 1992 HS6 English
Hungary 1991 1992 HS6 English
Iceland 1988 1988 HS6 No
India 1988 1990 HS6 English
Indonesia 1989 1989 HS6 English
Jamaica 1991 1991 HS4 No
Japan 1988 1988 HS6 English
Korea 1988 1988 HS6 No
Macau 1991 1991 HS6 English
Malaysia 1988 1988 HS6 English
Mexico 1988 1988 HS4 No
NewZealand 1991 1992 HS6 English
Norway 1988 1988 HS6 No
Panama 1992 1992 CCCN Spanish
Peru 1986 1986 CCCN Spanish
Philippines 1991 1991 HS6 English
Poland 1989 1989 HS6 English
Romania 1991 1992 HS6 English
Salvador 1989 1991 CCCN Spanish
Senegal 1989 1986 CCCN No
Singapore 1989 1989 HS6 English
Slovak Republic 1990 1992 HS6 English
South Africa 1988 1989 HS6 English
SriLanka 1991 1990 HS6 English
Sweden 1988 1988 HS6 No
Switzerland 1988 1988 HS6 French
Thailand 1988 1988 HS6 No
Tunisia 1989 1990 HS6 No
Turkey 1989 1989 HS6 No
United States 1989 1989 HS6 English
Uruguay 1987 1988 CCCN No
Venezuela 1990 1990 HS4 Spanish
Zimbabwe 1987 1982 CCCN No
Note: Thefilescontain thepre-Uruguay andpost-Uruguay duties, aswellasGATT concessions,
and,where applicable, applied andGSPduties.G/MA/IDB/W/1
Page20ANNEX 4
1993 IMPORTS AND 1994 TARIFF RECEIVED asof20JULY 1995
1993 Imports/1994
Tariff
IDBFormat1993 Import/1994
Tariff
National Format1993 Imports Only
IDBFormat1993 Imports Only
National Format1994 Tariff Only
National Format1993 Tariff Only
IDBFormat
Australia Argentina Finland Cyprus (1993 Tariff) Iceland Brazil
Austria Korea (Rep. of) Hungary India Philippines
EC(1993 Tariff) Singapore
(National 94Tariff)Macau Venezuela
Hong Kong (Free Tariff) Switzerland Malaysia
Thailand NewZealand
Romania
Turkey (1993 Tariff)G/MA /IDB/W/1
Page21
ANNEX 5
Processing ofIDBsubmissions
ThefollowingtablesillustratethestepsundertakenbytheSecretariattoprocessIDBsubmissions.
Thefirsttabledescribes thework required toconvert import statistics andthesecond tablethesteps
required toconvert tariff submissions.
Theitems listed under thecolumn "Incomplete -national format" refertothework required
toconvert anincomplete submission furnished innational format. Following aretwoexamples of
thetypeofincomplete submissions received:
- theimport fileissupplied onacomputer tapeinnational format. Nodocumentation
accompanies thesubmission;
- thenational tariff issupplied in20Lotus files. Thetariff filescontain applied duties
andproduct descriptions. Nodocumentation accompanies thesubmission.
Theitemslistedunderthecolumn"RelativelyComplete-IDBformat"refertotheworkrequired
toconvert arelatively complete submission furnished inIDBformat. Following aretwoexamples
ofthetypeofrelatively complete submissions received:
- theimport fileissupplied onacomputer tapeinIDBformat. Documentation onthe
tapeandfilecharacteristics hasbeenprovided. Inaddition, anexplanation ofthecodes
usedforcountries andquantity units, together withanindication ofthetypeoftariff
relation foreachtrading partner havebeenprovided withthesubmission asrequested;
- theIDBformat tarifffileissupplied inASCII ononecompressed file.Thefilecontains
pre-andpost-Uruguayduties,theMFNboundduties,statutorydutiesandappliedduties.
Asecond fileissupplied withproduct descriptions inIDBformat. Documentation
onthetariff fileaccompanies thesubmission.G/MA/IDB/W/1
Page22
Imports conversion from magnetic tapes
Steps Incomplete -National format Relatively complete -IDBformat
DataReceipt 1.Send tapetoICCandobtain
tapemaptodetermine file
characteristics.
2.Using special utilities, copy
tapetoWTO tape.1.Send tapetoICCandobtain
tapemaptodetermine file
characteristics.
2.Using standard utility, copy
tapetoWTO tape.
Check formats 1.Research contents andformats. 1.Verify contents andformat.
Correction of
formats1.Write adhocprograms to
extract import statistics andto
compute annual imports.
2.Write adhocprograms to
convert thenational format to
IDBformat.
Establish IDB
reference files1.Using published statistics of
import values, research the
national country codes to
determine thecountry
correspondence andthetypeof
tariff relation witheachtrading
partner.
2.Enter thenational country
codes andquantity units inthe
IDBreference files.1.Enter thenational country
codes andquantity units inthe
IDBreference files.
IDBConversion
programs
(each program
needs toberun
sequentially in
order toverify
theresults before
continuing with
thenextstep)1.Summary report oncontents of
theimports submission (codes,
number ofrecords, etc.)
2.Comparison report ofthe
import nomenclature withthat
ofthetariff submission
3.Research nomenclature
differences inorder toadjust
theimports nomenclature to
correspond tothatofthetariff
andcodetheadjustment
transactions
4.Nomenclature adjustment
program
5.Editprogram
6.Conversion ofnational codes
toWTO standard codes
7.Summary report oncontents of
theconverted imports (codes,
number ofrecords, etc.)
8.Other summary reports
9.ADABAS formatting program
10.Load theconverted imports file
inthedatabase1.Summary report oncontents of
theimports submission (codes,
number ofrecords, etc.)
2.Comparison report ofthe
import nomenclature withthat
ofthetariff submission
3.Research nomenclature
differences inorder toadjust
theimports nomenclature to
correspond tothatofthetariff
andcodetheadjustment
transactions
4.Nomenclature adjustment
program
5.Editprogram
6.Conversion ofnational codes
toWTO standard codes
7.Summary report oncontents of
theconverted imports (codes,
number ofrecords, etc.)
8.Other summary reports
9.ADABAS formatting program
10.Load theconverted imports file
inthedatabaseG/MA /IDB/W/1
Page23
Tariff conversion from PCdiskettes
Steps Incomplete -National format Relatively complete -IDBformat
DataReceipt 1.Copy 20filesfrom diskettes to
aharddisk.1.Copy 2filesfrom diskette toa
harddiskanddecompress.
Check formats 1.Research contents andformats
using thepaper version ofthe
customs tariff1.Verify contents andformats.
Corrections of
formats1.Ifthetariff information was
notproperly entered inLotus
(e.g.notcoded systematically
intheproper rows and
columns), apply required
changes oneachofthe20files
received atthetariff linelevel.
Convert toASCII 1.Useconversion software (e.g.
Software Bridge) toconvert the
20Lotus filestoASCII files.
Transfer to
mainframe1.Transfer 20filestothe
mainframe computer using file
transfer software. (This may
needtoberepeated if
transmission errors occur).1.Transfer 2filestothe
mainframe computer using file
transfer software. (This may
needtoberepeated if
transmission errors occur).
Reformat thefiles 1.Merge the20filesintoone
file.
2.Write computer programs to
reformat filestructure (e.g.
splittextfrom duties, create
IDBformats).
3.Write programs toreformat the
product descriptions inIDB
format.
Copy totape 1.Copy theIDBformat filesto
tape1.Copy theIDBformat filesto
tape
IDBCoded Tariff
conversion
programs
(each program
needs toberun
sequentially in
order toverify
theresults before
continuing with
thenextstep)1.Summary report oncontents of
thetariff submission (codes,
number ofrecords, etc.)
2.Editprogram
3.Adjustment ofmis-coded data
elements
4.Editafteradjustment
5.Conversion ofnational codes
toWTO standard codes
6.Summary report oncontents of
theconverted tariff submission
(codes, number ofrecords,etc.)
7.ADABAS formatting program
8.Load theconverted tariff filein
thedatabase1.Summary report oncontents of
thetariff submission (codes,
number ofrecords, etc.)
2.Editprogram
3.Adjustment ofmis-coded data
elements
4.Editafteradjustment
5.Conversion ofnational codes
toWTO standard codes
6.Summary report oncontents of
theconverted tariff submission
(codes, number of
records,etc.)
7.ADABAS formatting program
8.Load theconverted tariff file
inthedatabaseG/MA/IDB/W/1
Page24
Tariff conversion from PCdiskettes (continued)
Steps Incomplete -National format Relatively complete -IDBformat
IDBTextual
Tariff conversion
programs
(each program
needs toberun
sequentially in
order toverify
theresults before
continuing with
thenextstep)1.Format checking ofthefile
2.Summary report oncontents of
thetextual tariff submission
(codes, number ofrecords,
etc.)
3.Editprogram
4.Adjustment ofmis-coded data
elements
5.EditAfter adjustment
6.Reformatting oftheedited file
7.Summary report oncontents of
theedited textual tariff
submission (codes, number of
records, etc.)
8.ADABAS formatting program
9.Load theconverted textual
tariff fileinthedatabase1.Format checking ofthefile
2.Summary report oncontents of
thetextual tariff submission
(codes, number of
records,etc.)
3.Editprogram
4.Adjustment ofmis-coded data
elements
5.EditAfter adjustment
6.Reformatting oftheedited file
7.Summary report oncontents of
theedited textual tariff
submission (codes, number of
records, etc.)
8.ADABAS formatting program
9.Load theconverted textual
tariff fileinthedatabase
Research to
complement the
files1.Research nature ofduties in
thepaper version ofthetariff.
2.Code rateexpressions ifthe
dutyisnotadvalorem.
3.Research bindings toestablish
thedutytype(MFN Bound or
Statutory) andtodetermine
ceiling bindings, using the
latest loose-leaf available.
4.Compare thetariff
nomenclature withthatofthe
previous yearintheIDBorin
theMarrakesh Schedules in
order toestablish thePreand
Post-Uruguay duties.
5.Code theabove information as
IDBupdate transactions.
6.Research theresults ofthe
comparison oftheimport and
tariff nomenclatures to
determine thecreation oftariff
sub-items.
7.Code thetariff sub-items as
update transactions.1.Research anyerrors detected
intheconversion programs
andcreate update transactions
tocorrect theerrors.
2.Research theresults ofthe
comparison oftheimport and
tariff nomenclatures to
determine thecreation oftariff
sub-items.
3.Code thetariff sub-items as
update transactions.
IDBtariff update
programs1.Using theIDBupdate
program, apply IDBupdate
transactions created above to
thefilesloaded inthedata
base.
2.Create additional update
transactions tocorrect coding
errors.1.Using theIDBupdate
program, apply IDBupdate
transactions created above to
thefilesloaded inthedata
base.
2.Create additional update
transactions tocorrect coding
errors.G/MA /IDB/W/1
Page25
Tariff conversion from PCdiskettes (continued)
Steps Incomplete -National format Relatively complete -IDBformat
Final checking 1.Verify theinformation
recorded inthethree files
using finalchecking programs.
2.Manual verification ofall
customs duties, tariff lineby
tariff line.
3.Create additional update
transactions tocorrect errors.1.Verify theinformation
recorded inthethree files
using finalchecking programs.
2.Create additional update
transactions tocorrect errors.