RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IDB/URM/1/Rev.1
15February 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0585)
INTEGRATED DATA BASE
IDBUSER REFERENCE MANUAL
PART I
GENERAL OVERVIEW
Note bytheSecretariatIDB/URM/1/Rev.1
Page2
Table ofContents
Page
A. Background ........................................ 3
B. TheGATT Council decision ofNovember 1987 ................... 4
C. Information tobeprepared incapitals fortheIDB ................. 4
1. Import statistics file ............................... 5
2. Customs coded tariff file ............................ 6
3. Customs textual tariff file ............................ 7
4. Quantitative Restrictions files ......................... 7
D. Processing ofIDBsubmissions bytheSecretariat .................. 8
1. Theconversion phase .............................. 8
2. Theupdate phase ................................. 9
E. Dissemination ofIDBinformation ........................... 9
1. TheIDBCD-ROM ................................ 9
2. Analytical reports compiled onthemainframe computer ......... 10
F. Possible future developments ............................... 11
1. Expansion oftheinformation recorded intheIDB ............ 11
2. Improving theIDBCD-ROM ......................... 11
3. IDBsubmission preparation system ...................... 12
4. Downsizing theIDB ............................... 12
ANNEX Documentation available fortheIDB ..................... 13IDB/URM/1/Rev.1
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A.Background
TheSecretariat hasmaintained adatabaseontariffs andtrade since theearlyseventies. Thefirstdata
base, known astheGATT Tariff Study, contained information oncustoms tariffs andimports ofeleven
OECD markets (including theEuropean Communities counted asonemarket). TheTariff Study was
designed toanalyze thetariff situation inthedeveloped markets aftertheKennedy Round. Under the
guidance ofagroup oftechnical experts fromgovernments, theSecretariat prepared several analyses
ofthetariffsituation during theearlyseventies. Afinalanalysis waspublished before theTokyo Round
infourvolumes known as"The Basic Documentation fortheTariff Study".
During theTokyo Round, theTariff Study exercise wascontinued toassist theparticipants inthe
negotiations. Access totheTariff Study datawasrestricted totheeleven GATT Contracting Parties
participating intheexercise. However, during andaftertheTokyo Round, theparticipants authorised
theSecretariat toprovide developing countries withsummary information extracted from theTariff
Study filesconcerning 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 (HS)could beimplemented. Article XXVIII negotiations
concern themodification ofGATT Schedules, i.e.,aContracting Party maymodify orwithdraw a
concession "bynegotiation andagreement withanyContracting Party withwhich suchconcession was
initially negotiated andwithanyother Contracting Party determined bytheContracting Parties tohave
aprincipal supplying interest ...andsubject toconsultation withanyotherContracting Party determined
bytheContracting 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 information 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.
In1995, theSecretariat revised theIDBdocumentation which isnowavailable intheIDB/URM series
ofdocuments. Theannex contains alistofthese documents.IDB/URM/1/Rev.1
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B.TheGATT Council decision ofNovember 1987
TheCouncil decision ofNovember 1987recommended thatparticipants intheIDBsubmit toGATT,
onanannual basis, theirimport statistics, theircustoms tariff duties, bound andunbound, andevery
twoyears, thequantitative restrictions (QRs) which theymaintained. Allinformation wastobe
submitted atthetariff linelevel.
TheCouncil decision alsorecommended that,when theIDBwasoperational, allContracting Parties
would haveaccess tothedatabase. Although theCouncil decision didnotindicate when theIDB
could beconsidered asoperational, participants havestated thatthedatabasecould beconsidered as
operational when itcovered atleast90%ofGATT trade. Contracting Parties wereinvited tonotify
theSecretariat iftheyintended toparticipate intheIDB.
With theestablishment oftheWTO on1January 1995, theIAGceased toexistandtheCommittee
onMarket Access wasmade responsible foroverseeing theIDB. Atthefinalmeeting oftheIAG
which tookplace inMay1994, participants agreed thatallGATT Members would haveaccess tothe
IDBfiles.
Atpresent, some fiftycountries (theE.U. being counted asone)participate intheIDB. Thefifty
participants account forover97percentofthetotalmerchandise trade ofWTO Members.
C.Information tobeprepared incapitals fortheIDB
Theinformation tobesubmitted fortheIDBisclearly defined intheNovember 1987Council decision.
Moreover, participants stressed thattheIDBshould bedesigned sothatitcould beusednotonlyto
follow overtimethemarket access measures taken bytheparticipants, butalsotoofferauseful tool
fortradenegotiations,whethermultilateral,bilateral,underArticleXXVIII(modificationofconcessions)
etc. Inview ofthelimited staffavailable intheSecretariat forthemaintenance oftheIDB, the
information wastobesubmitted 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, each participant should prepare thefollowing files: import statistics, customs tariff,
consolidated loose-leaf schedule andQRs. Thefilesshould berecorded using thesamenomenclature,
thatis,thecustoms tariff nomenclature, andinthedetail ofthecustoms tariff lines. Forthose cases
where import statistics arenotcollected intheexact detail ofthecustoms tariff, i.e.where anitem
intheimport filecovers agroup ofproducts subject todifferent duties inthecustoms tariff, afeature
isavailable toassociate totheimport itemanaverage oftheduties applicable.
Because many IDBparticipants havebeenunable toprovide theirIDBsubmissions intheagreed upon
formats, in1995 theSecretariat designed new"simplified" formats forsubmission ofIDBtariff
information andimport statistics, containing onlytheessential dataelements. The"simplified"
submissions consist offourfiles: import statistics, customs tariff, Initial Negotiating Rights (INRs)
andproduct descriptions. Computer programs areavailable tocarry outthenecessary reformatting
ofsubmissions provided using the"simplified" formats.IDB/URM/1/Rev.1
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Thefollowing paragraphs summarize theinformation recorded ineachoftheIDBfiles.
1.Import statistics file
Theimport statistics filecontains foreachtariffline,thevalue andquantity(ies) ofimports bycountries
oforigin. Thevalue ofimports should bethevalue usedforthepurpose ofcollecting customs duties.
Ifthecustoms value isnotthecost,insurance andfreight (CIF) value, theCIFvalue should alsobe
provided, ifpossible. Foreachcountry oforigin, thereshould beanindication ofthetypeofcustoms
tariff "relationship" existing between theimport market andthecountry oforigin and,anindication
ofthetypeoftariff "treatment" accorded, byproduct, toeachcountry 'sexports (thetariff treatment
isnotrecorded inthe"simplified" formats).
Thefollowing example illustrates theuseofrelationship andtariff treatment indicators.
TheUnited States import shirts, glasses andcontainers from Canada, Argentina andSwitzerland.
Canada hasapreferential tariff relationship withtheU.S. under theNorth American Free-Trade
Agreement (FTA). Argentina hasapreferential relationship withtheU.S.under theGeneralised System
ofPreferences (GSP). Switzerland hasamost-favoured-nation (MFN) relationship withtheU.S..
Forthethree countries, intheU.S.import statistics file,therelationship indicators arerespectively
FTA, GSPandMFN.
Fortheabove threeproducts, Canada benefits fromduty-free preferential tariff treatment. Argentina
benefits from duty-free GSPpreferential treatment onlyforcontainers. Switzerland benefits from
MFN treatment forthethreeproducts. ForCanada, thetreatment indicator is"FTA" forshirts, glasses
andcontainers. ForArgentina, thetreatment indicator is"MFN" (nopreference) forshirts andglasses
and"GSP" forcontainers. ForSwitzerland, thetreatment indicator is"MFN" forthethree products.
Inother words, therelationship indicator iscountry-specific andthetreatment indicator is
product-specific.
Therelationship ortreatment codes which canbeusedarethefollowing:
Code
0- MFN: most-favoured-nation
1- FTA: free-trade area(e.g., EFTA, NAFTA, U.S./Israel, Australia/New Zealand,
etc.)
2- ZONE: regional preferential agreement (e.g.E.C. trade withEFTA countries)
3- OTHER: otherpreferential arrangements (e.g.Lomé Convention, Bangkok agreement,
etc.)
4- GSP/MFN: GSPpreference todeveloping countries which, intheabsence ofGSP,
areentitled toMFN treatment
5- GSP/PREF: GSPpreference todeveloping countries which, intheabsence ofGSP,
areentitled toFTA, ZONE orother preferences
6- GSP/GEN: GSPpreference todeveloping countries which, intheabsence ofGSP,
areentitled togeneral treatment asspecified belowIDB/URM/1/Rev.1
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8- GENERAL: general treatment (less favourable thanMFN) applied tonon-WTO
Members insome import markets
9- UNSPEC.: unspecified treatment (e.g.imports from unknown origin)
Ifparticipants donotprovide thetariff treatment indicator intheirimport submissions, thetreatment
indicator ismade equal tothetypeofrelationship indicator inthedatabase.
2.Customs coded tariff file
Thecustoms coded tarifffilecontains foreachtariffline,thecustoms duties applicable forthereference
yearcovered, under eachoftheabove tariff treatments where relevant.
ForMFN duties, thefilecancontain fivetypes ofcustoms duties:
- MFN bound duty: foreachtarifflineonwhich aGATT concession hasbeenoffered, themost
recent MFN concession offered.
- MFN statutory duty: "Statutory" duties, alsoknown as"legal" or"autonomous" duties, are
thelegal customs duties which arenormally published inthecustoms tariff lawvoted by
Parliament. Usually thestatutory dutyapplies when thetariff lineisunbound or,ifthetariff
lineisbound, when itislower thantheMFN bound duty.
- MFN effectively applied duty: "effectively applied" duties refertocustoms duties which are
applied foranundetermined period oftimeorforalimited period oftime("temporary" duty).
These effectively applied duties aresometimes voted byParliament or,more often, decided
bythegovernment foreconomic reasons (inflation, balance ofpayments, etc.).
- thepre-Uruguay duties: theduties which wereusedasabasisfortheUruguay Round oftrade
negotiations, i.e.MFN bound duties asof1988 and,forunbound items, statutory duties
applicable asofSeptember 1986.
- thepost-Uruguay duties: theduties offered asconcessions fortheUruguay Round oftrade
negotiations.
Ifthetariff lineisbound, theMFN statutory dutycanbelower thanorequal totheMFN bound duty,
butitcannot behigher. TheMFN effectively applied dutycanbelower orhigher thantheMFN
statutory dutybut,ifthetarifflineisbound, itcannot behigher thantheMFN bound duty. TheMFN
bound dutyorthestatutory duty(ifthedutyisunbound) should berecorded forevery customs tariff
line.
Forpreferential duties, thefilecancontain allduties applicable under FTA agreements, regional
agreements, other preferential arrangements andGSP. If,under theGSP, acountry grants a
differentiated tariff treatment totheleastdeveloped countries (LDCs), thedutyapplicable toLDCs
should alsoberecorded. TheIDBformat provides ameans toassociate toeachdutythecountry or
thegroup ofcountries towhich thedutyapplies.
Duties applicable under thegeneral treatment (seedefinition ofrelationship/treatment codes above)
canalsoberecorded.
Each customs dutyisidentified byathree-digit code: thedutytype. Thefirstdigitofthedutytype
isthetreatment indicator asrecorded intheimport file.Fornon-MFN duties, thecountry codecanIDB/URM/1/Rev.1
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beusedtoidentify thecountry orgroup ofcountries towhich thedutyapplies. Thetarifflinenumber,
thetreatment codeand,where applicable, thecodeofthecountry towhich thedutyapplies areused
tolinktheinformation inthecustoms tariff filewiththatintheimport file. Forexample, iffora
given tariff lineacountry isrecorded intheimport filewithtreatment code"2",theapplicable duty
canbefound inthetariff fileunder dutytypes starting withthedigit"2". Ifseveral duties startwith
thedigit"2",thecountry codepreceding thedutytype,identifies thedutyapplicable. Inorder tofollow
overtimethechanges inthecustoms tariff, thedates during which thedutyisinforce arerecorded
foreachoftheabove dutytypes. These dates arenotrecorded inthe"simplified" formats.
Each dutyisrecorded under record type"1",inpercentage withthree decimal places. Inaddition,
various codes areattached tothedutyincluding forexample, thenature oftheduty(advalorem, specific,
compound, mixed, tariffied, variable orother), itsbinding status (bound orunbound) andanylimitations
applicable (quota, ceiling, safeguard orcountry exclusion), etc.
Ifadutyisnotadvalorem, theparticipants should calculate anadvalorem equivalent (AVE) ofthe
duty. Themethod usedtocalculate theAVE isidentified byacodeindicating, forexample, thatthe
AVE isbased onactual dutycollection (duty collected divided bythevalue ofimports) orthatitis
estimated onthebasis oftheunitvalue oftotalimports, imports fromWTO Members, imports from
MFN origin, etc.Ifthedutyisnotadvalorem, itshould alsoberecorded under record type"2"which
wasdesigned topermit computer-programmed calculations or,ifnotfeasible, intextual form, under
record type"3". Afootnote canalsobeattached toeachdutyunder record type"4".Record types
"2","3"and"4"arenotrecorded inthe"simplified" formats.
Ifimport statistics arenotcollected intheexact detail ofthecustoms tariff, afeature isavailable to
associate totheimport itemanaverage oftheduties applicable.
3.Customs textual tariff file
Thecustoms textual tariff filecontains, foreachtariff line,afull("legal") product description and/or
anabbreviated product description. Forconsolidated (bound) tariff lines, thetextual tariff filealso
includes theinformation reported incolumns 4,5,6and7oftheconsolidated loose-leaf schedule notified
byeachWTO Member. Column 4contains areference tothelegalinstrument containing themost
recentconcession,column5containstheInitialNegotiatingRights(INRs)onthemostrecentconcession,
column 6contains areference tothelegalinstrument containing thefirstconcession made forthetariff
lineandcolumn 7contains theINRs onallprevious concessions offered forthetariff line.
Inthe"simplified" formats, onlytheproduct descriptions (fullorabbreviated) andtheinformation
recorded incolumn 5(INRs onthemost recent concession) areretained.
4.Quantitative Restrictions files
Theinformation concerning quantitative restrictions isrecorded intwofiles. Thefirstfile(thecoded
QRfile)contains theQRsandrelated information. Thesecond file(thetextual QRfile)contains, where
necessary, descriptions oftheproducts affected bytheQRs. Inthetwofiles, information isrecorded
atthetariff linelevelusing thesame customs tariff nomenclature asintheimport andtariff files.
Thecoded QRfilecontains alltariff linesaffected byoneormore QR. TheQRswhich should be
notified were defined asfollows:
1-Licensing (automatic ornon-automatic)
2-Quotas (bilateral orglobal)
3-ProhibitionIDB/URM/1/Rev.1
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9-Other QRs:
1-"voluntary" restraint ofexports
2-minimum price triggering aQR
3-mixing regulations
4-QRmade effective through state-trading
9-other QRs
Adistinction ismade, foreachoftheabove QRs, between seasonal andnon-seasonal QRsandbetween
QRsonimports andQRsonexports.
Each QRisidentified byanumeric code. Another codeidentifies whether theQRaffects imports
orexports. Thedates during which theQRisinforce arealsorecorded.
Inaddition, itispossible torecord thecountry orgroup ofcountries affected bytheQR,theWTO
agreement under which theQRwasnotified, theGATT Article(s) invoked tojustify theQRandthe
symbol oftheWTO document containing thenotification oftheQR. Textual information canalso
berecorded togivedetails ontheapplication ofthemeasure ortoattach footnotes totheQR. The
information inthecoded QRfilecanbelinked totheother fileswiththetariff linenumber.
IfQRsapply toparts ofatariff line,afeature similar totheoneoffered inthetariff file,allows the
recording ofsub-items.
Descriptions ofproducts covered bysub-items arerecorded inthetextual QRfile.Theinformation
inthetextual QRfilecanbelinked totheother fileswiththetariff linenumber.
D.Processing ofIDBsubmissions bytheSecretariat
From thereception ofIntegrated DataBase(IDB) submissions intheSecretariat tothedissemination
oftheinformation tousers, various dataprocessing operations arerequired tointegrate theinformation
provided. These operations arecarried outasfollows:
1.Theconversion phase
Atreception, submissions aretransferred tothemainframe computer attheInternational Computing
Centre (ICC), where theWTO mainframe applications reside. Thecontents andformats ofthefiles
received areanalyzed (using mapping programs) andreports areprinted toshow allvalues recorded
inthevarious dataelements. Alldataelements areverified anddiscrepancies areprinted (using edit
programs).Subsequently,allnationalcodesareconvertedtoWTOstandardcodes(conversionprograms)
using reference fileswhich associate thenational codes provided inthesubmissions totheWTO standard
codes. Thedataareverified forcorrectness andcompleteness andthefilesareprepared forloading
intothedatabase.
Theimport statistics conversion program creates anadditional dataelement torecord import values
inU.S. dollars andcreates, foreachtariff line,atotalforallcountries oforigin, atotalforWTO
Members, atotal, where applicable, fortheleastdeveloped countries (LDCs) andtotals bytypeof
relationship. Theconversion program alsoverifies therelationship andtreatment codes andtheaccuracy
ofthecombinations ofthetwocodes.
Before thefilesareloaded intothedatabase, a"mapping" report isagain produced toshow thecontents
ofthefilesafterediting andconversion. Finally, thenomenclature usedineachfileiscompared withIDB/URM/1/Rev.1
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thatofthecoded tariff file(matching programs). Thecoded tariff fileisusedasthebasis forthe
comparison since foreachtarifflinethereshould beatleastoneMFN dutyrecorded inthecoded tariff
file:theMFN bound dutyorthestatutory duty.
2.Theupdate phase
Theconverted submissions arestored inthedatabase. Anyerrors oromissions identified inthe
conversion phase arecorrected. Adjustments tothedatabasefilesareperformed using anupdate system
developed bytheSecretariat. Theupdate operations arespecified bymeans ofcoded transactions (create,
modify, delete) andareprocessed inbatch mode.
Finally, theconsistency ofthedatarecorded among thefilesisverified. Discrepancies inthe
nomenclature recorded among thefilescanbecorrected using anomenclature adjustment feature. A
finalreport issenttotheparticipant concerned toobtain authorization fortherelease oftheparticipant 's
filestousers.
E.Dissemination ofIDBinformation
When anIDBsubmission isconsidered asfinal, theinformation ismade available toWTO Members.
Copies ofIDBfilesatthetariff linelevelcanbedistributed inseveral formats, either oncomputer
tapes oronPCdiskettes. Inaddition, computer application systems areavailable intheSecretariat
fortheanalysis ofIDBinformation.
1.TheIDBCD-ROM
TheSecretariat hasdeveloped aPCapplication system (asajointproject withtheWorld Bank) which
provides IDBinformation andtools fordataanalysis onCD-ROM.
TheIDBCD-ROM contains information relating totariffs, import statistics andproduct descriptions
atthetariff linelevel, aswellasreference filescontaining bothinformation common toallmarkets
andmarket specific information. Since fewparticipants havefurnished IDBsubmissions containing
INRs andQRs, thisinformation willbeadded atalaterstage.
ThePCapplication system wasdesigned topermit theanalysis ofIDBinformation fromthetariffline
level uptoanoverall level foranindividual market. Thereports canbeproduced forseveral
classifications ofproducts -forlevels oftheHSnomenclature: two-digit, four-digit, six-digit andHS
Sections, forvarious groupings ofproducts, fortheISICRev.3 classification andfortheSITC Rev.3
classification. Anadditional feature oftheapplication istheprovision oftools fortheselection of
tariff linesbased ontariff andtrade criteria, suchas:
- import value isbelow, equal orabove agiven threshold orwithin agiven range foranexporter
orgroup ofexporters;
- anexporter isfirstsupplier oramong thefirst2,3,etc.suppliers;
- theshare intotalimports isabove agiven threshold foranexporter orgroup ofexporters;
- acustoms dutyisbelow, equal toorabove agiven percentage orwithin agiven range;
- selection ofcustoms duties bytheirbinding status (bound, unbound, etc.);
- selection ofcustoms duties bythepresence ofalimitation (quota, safeguard, etc.);
- selection ofcustoms duties bythenature oftheduty(advalorem duties, specific duties, etc).IDB/URM/1/Rev.1
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Thereports available intheIDBCD-ROM aredescribed below. Unless otherwise indicated, thereports
canbecompiled using anysupplier ofimports, group ofsuppliers orstandard trade aggregate and,
where applicable, foranytypeofcustoms duty.
Tariff LineQuery Thisreport shows allinformation recorded foreachtariff linefalling within
theproduct selection.
Tariff Averages Thisreport shows arithmetic andtrade-weighted averages, thenumber oftariff
lines, minimum andmaximum duties, imports fromWorld andimports from
thetrade weight usedtocompile theweighted average. Where applicable,
thefigures areshown separately foralltariff linesanddutiable tariff lines.
Tariff andTrade Profiles
Thisreport distributes thenumber oftarifflinesandvalue ofimports according
toranges ofdutylevels, e.g.duty-free, between 01.% and5%,between 5.1%
and10%, etc.Twosetsofcustoms dutyranges canbeused-summary ranges
anddetailed ranges.
Imports Summary Thisreport shows import values andcorresponding percentages ofWorld
imports according tothetypeoftariff relationship andwithin eachtypeof
relationship according tothetarifftreatment received. Inaddition topresenting
information forthestandard trade aggregates (WTO Members, MFN, GSP,
LDC, FTA, Zone, Pref., General andUnspecified origins), imports foragiven
supplier ofgroup ofsuppliers canalsobeshown.
Principal Suppliers Thisreport presents import information (values, quantities, percentages) for
allsuppliers insequence ofdescending value ofimports foranytradeaggregate
relevant forthemarket.
Status ofBindings Thisreport shows thenumber oflines, imports andcorresponding percentages
according tothebinding status ofMFN duties (bound, partially bound,
unbound, etc.)foralltarifflines, dutiable tarifflinesandduty-free tarifflines.
Itcanbecompiled foranytypeofMFN duty.
GSP/LDC Preferences
Thisreport iscompiled foragiven MFN andagiven GSPtypeofcustoms
duty. Imports canbeselected foreither theGSPtrade aggregate, theLDC
trade aggregate, anindividual GSP/LDC supplier oragroup ofGSP/LDC
suppliers. Thereport presents arithmetic andtrade-weighted averages ofMFN
tariffs, theircorresponding number oflinesandtheircorresponding imports
from allorigins (World) andfrom theselected GSP/LDC origins. The
information isdistributed according totheabsence orpresence oflimitations
(quotas, ceilings, etc.)ontheGSP/LDC duties when theMFN dutyisnotduty
free(when theMFN dutyisfree,there cannot beanypreference).
2.Analytical reports compiled onthemainframe computer
TheSecretariathasdevelopedstandardanalyticalreportswhicharepreparedattherequestofDelegations
andusers within theSecretariat. Thereport computer programs operate ontheICCmainframe. The
output isproduced inhard-copy form. Certain reports canalsobeproduced onPCdiskettes ina
formatted manner, suitable forusewithPCsoftware suchasspreadsheets. Reports areavailable atIDB/URM/1/Rev.1
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thetarifflinelevelandatsummary levels andaresimilar tothereports available intheIDBCD-ROM
(described above).
Inaddition, analytical reports havebeencreated onanadhocbasis toservice specific needs ofWTO
bodies andWTO Members andforthework ofDivisions oftheWTO Secretariat.
Withregard toQRs, theinformation recorded atthisstageisnotsufficient tocompile summaries since
theinformation isnotquantified -theformats donotcontain forinstance, thesizeofquotas, thetime
necessary toobtain anon-automatic license, etc.Participants intheIAGstated thattheSecretariat
should notattempt, atthisstage, tosummarize information onQRsataggregate levels. QRsarereported
onlyatthetariff linelevel.
F.Possible future developments
Future developments oftheIDBwillbediscussed intheCommittee onMarket Access andwillbe
transmitted totheCouncil forfinaldecision.
1.Expansion oftheinformation recorded intheIDB
Some participants haveindicated thatitwould beuseful toinclude intheIDB,exports andre-exports.
Thepossibility ofrecording exports isalready provided forinthepresent IDBformats. Thecode
usedtoidentify imports (direction oftrade, code"1")could beusedtoidentify respectively exports
(code "2")andre-exports (code "3").
Inthepast,some participants haveindicated thattheinformation provided forQRscould beimproved
byrecording forexample, thesizeofquotas, thetimenecessary toobtain alicense, etc.Thiswould
needtobediscussed further intheCommittee onMarket Access. Some Delegations havealsostated
thatnon-tariff measures (NTMs), other thanQRs, could beincluded inthefile.
Asaresult oftheUruguay Round, other elements mayneedtobeadded totheIDB. These elements
might concern: thebinding ofNTMs, therecording ofcharges other thancustoms duties (excise tax,
consular fees,etc.), theseparate recording oftariff equivalents ofNTMs.
Thecommon denominator forproduct identification intheIDBistheHSsix-digit nomenclature which
isdefined bytheWorld Customs Organization (WCO). Periodically theWCO undertakes revisions
totheHSnomenclature. Since theIDBwillcontain information atthetarifflinelevelforseveral years,
asystem mayberequired toreconcile changes intheHSnomenclature.
2.Improving theIDBCD-ROM.
IDBCD-ROM users havebeeninvited toprovide theSecretariat withsuggestions fornewfeatures.
Suggestions received include:
- aggregation ofinformation forseveral markets,
- improved printfacilities,
- creation offilesforusewithother software and
- inclusion ofQRsandINRs.IDB/URM/1/Rev.1
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3.IDBsubmission preparation system
APCapplication which would permit theformatting, dataentry, checking andintegration ofIDB
submissionsincapitalsmightbeusefulinordertoexpandthecontentsandimprovethequalityofnational
submissions. Furthermore, itwould relieve participants oftheneedtodevelop theirownsystems for
thepreparation ofIDBsubmissions.
4.Downsizing theIDB
Overrecent years, thetrendininformation technology hasbeentomigrate fromthemainframe computer
environment toclient-server architecture, inorder tobetter exploit modern technology andtoreduce
costs. TheIDBoperations (dataentry, verification andconversion ofnational submissions, compilation
ofanalyticalreportsanddatabaseupdating)mightprogressivelybemovedfromthemainframecomputer
toaPCenvironment. Thecontents, design andorganization oftheIDBcould bereviewed totake
intoaccount thecurrent andfuture needs ofDelegations andDivisions oftheSecretariat. Thisexercise
would require anin-depth study astocosts, benefits andtechnical considerations. Suchaproject would
evolve overthelong-term andwould presumably require there-design andre-programming ofthe
mainframe IDBapplication systems.IDB/URM/1/Rev.1
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Annex
Documentation available fortheIDB
PART I General Overview Thisdocument provides ageneral
description oftheIDB.
PART II Glossary ofTerms Thisdocument contains definitions ofthe
terms andconcepts associated withtheIDB.
Itcanbeusedasanaccompanying reference
toallIDBdocuments
PART III Reference Manual for
thePreparation ofIDB
SubmissionsThisdocument contains theformats ofthe
IDBsubmissions, explanations ofthevarious
dataelements andtheirrelationships,
examples ofcoding andother relevant
information forthefurnishing of
submissions.
PART III-Addendum IReference Manual for
thePreparation ofIDB
"Simplified"
SubmissionsThisdocument contains theformats ofthe
IDB"simplified" submissions, explanations
ofthevarious dataelements andtheir
relationships, examples ofcoding andother
relevant information forthefurnishing of
"simplified" submissions.
PART IV Lists ofWTO Codes
Used intheIDBFilesThisdocument liststhecontents oftheIDB
reference files.
PART V Processing ofIDB
Submissions bythe
SecretariatThisdocument provides anoverview ofthe
computer programs developed bythe
Secretariat tosupport theconversion and
updating ofIDBsubmissions, thedatabase
design andinformation onhardware and
software usedintheIDB.
PART VI Dissemination ofIDB
InformationThisdocument provides information onthe
analytical reports available, possibilities for
obtaining copies ofIDBfilesandtheformats
available forfilecopies.
PART VI-Addendum ITheIDBCD-ROM Thisdocument isanoverview ofthefeatures
available ontheCD-ROM.