RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/MA/SPEC/1
22June1995
ORGANIZATION(95-1672)
Committee onMarket Access
FIRST DRAFT REPORT OFTHE COMMITTEE ONMARKET ACCESS
TOTHE COUNCIL FOR TRADE INGOODS
1. TheCommittee onMarket Access hasbeenestablished under Article IV,paragraph ofthe
WTO bytheGeneral Council atitsmeeting of30January 1995 andtheterms ofreference ofthe
Committee arecontained indocument WT/L/47. Mr.JeanSaint-Jacques ofCanada hasbeenelected
Chairman oftheCommittee.
2. During theperiod under consideration theCommittee hadtwoformal meetings, on25April
andon26June 1995. Inaddition totheformal meetings, theChairman heldseveral informal
consultations.
3. Atitsmeeting of25April 1995, themembers elected Mrs.Marie Gosset oftheCôted'Ivoire
asVice-Chairperson oftheCommittee. Regarding therulesofprocedures fortheCommittee, itagreed
tofollow thesame course ofaction astheCouncil forTrade inGoods andtoamend those procedures
asnecessary totakeaccount ofthespecific requirements oftheCommittee.
4. Onthequestion ofobservers, theCommittee agreed thatgovernments which wereintheprocess
ofacceding totheWTO orhadinitiated negotiations todoso,orhaddeclared theirintention todo
sointhenearfuture would bewelcome toattend themeetings oftheCommittee. TheCommittee
alsoagreed that,pending theapproval ofthecriteria andcondition forobserver status forinternational
intergovernmental organizations intheWTO, thefollowing fiveorganizations: FAO, IMF, UNCTAD,
WCO andtheWorld Bankwould beinvited toattend thenextmeetings oftheCommittee inthecapacity
ofobservers.
5. On25April 1995, theCommittee examined thequestion ofimplementation ofconcessions
relating totariffs andnon-tariff measures andagreed tofollow thesame approach asaftertheTokyo
Round, i.e.torelyoncross orreverse notification ifanyproblem arose withtheimplementation of
concessions.G/MA/SPEC/1
Page2
6. Under theagenda itemrelated tothe"Introduction ofHS96 changes andtheestablishment of
loose-leaf schedules", theChairman reminded theCommittee thatinorder toimplement theHSchanges
thatareplanned tocome intoforce on1January 1996, members would needtohavecompleted all
thenecessary procedures, i.e.submission ofthedocumentation andtheholding ofpossible Article
XXVIII negotiations before thatdate. Healsoreminded theCommittee members oftheimportance
ofestablishing consolidated schedules inloose-leaf format thatwould replace allprevious GATT
schedules. Since anumber ofprocedural andtechnical issues related tothestatus andcontents of
theloose-leaf schedules wereraised bymembers, theSecretariat wasrequested toprepare background
notes onspecific issues likeInitial Negotiating Rights andtheexact content ofthevarious columns
intheschedules, andtheChairman suggested holding informal consultations withaviewtosolving
these problems. [tobecompleted]
7. Regarding thestatus ofcountries under waivers forthetransposition oftheirschedules, the
Committee agreed topursue theprocedures inforceunder theGATT Committee onTariff Concessions
totheextent thatcountries seeking extension ofexisting waivers would provide factual information
onthestatus oftheirwaivers forinclusion intheCommittee 'sreport totheCouncil forTrade inGoods.
Thefactual information submitted bythecountries under waivers isreproduced intheAnnex.
8. Withreference todocument G/MA/TAR/W/2 which contains anupdated listofnational tariffs
available intheSecretariat, itwasnoted thatseveral members hadrecently submitted thelatest edition
oftheirtariffs. Delegations which havenotdonesoyetwereurged toprovide theSecretariat with
twocopies oftheirmost recent national tariffs.
9. Onthequestionof"notificationsrelatedtoquantitativerestrictionsandothernon-tariffmeasures"
theSecretariat hadprepared anotecontained indocument G/MA/W/1 summarizing thenotification
requirements andthepresent stateoftheresulting documentation inthisarea. Informal consultations
arebeing carried outbytheChairman onthissubject.
10. Asfarasthe"Integrated DataBase" isconcerned, theChairman pointed outthatthere had
beensome gapsinthefunctioning oftheIDBandthatnotalltherequirements andcommitments had
been fulfilled since ithadbeen putintooperation. TheSecretariat wasrequested toprepare a
background document which would setoutthepresent situation andgivesuggestions astohowthis
issue canbeapproached. Thisdocument (G/MA/W/IDB/1) hasnowbeencirculated toallmembers
oftheCommittee.G/MA/SPEC/1
Page3
11. Atthemeeting of25April 1995, several members raised thequestion oftariffmeasures taken
byBrazil onacertain number ofproducts, which weresubject toanincrease above thebound levels.
Therepresentative ofthecountry concerned explained thattheywere temporary measures andthat
hisauthorities were considering whatneeded tobedoneunder theirWTO obligations.
[This report willbefinalized inthelightofthediscussions thatwilltakeplace inthemeeting
of26June1995.]G/MA/SPEC/1
Page4Annex
FACTUAL INFORMATION RELATED TOTHE EXTENSION OFWAIVERS
Country Date of
original
waiverDate of
submission
ofHS
documentationNof
extensions
anddatesNofcountries
withwhich
Article XXVIII
negotiations
have been
initiatedNof
countries
withwhich
Article
XXVIII
negotiations
have been
concludedStatus of
outstanding
Article XXVIII
negotiationsOutlook for
concluding
theprocessRequest
for
extension
anddraft
decision
1.Bangladesh 18.07.1988 06.12.1990
SECRET/HS/29Twelve:
24.07.1989
05.12.1989
16.07.1990
13.12.1990
12.08.1991
04.12.1991
20.07.1992
03.12.1992
19.07.1993
17.01.1994
21.07.1994
09.12.1994Six One Consultations areprogressing. Adelegation from
Dacca esexpected in
Geneva inSeptember
tofinalize the
negotiations.G/L/8
G/C/W/9
2.Bolivia 03.12.1992 Documentation not
submitted dueto
technical problemsThree:
17.01.1994
21.07.1994
09.12.1994Documentation tobe
submitted inthe
coming weeks.G/L/15
G/C/W/16
3.ElSalvador 26.01.1994 07.04.1995
G/SECRET/HS/1One:
09.12.1994Documentation under
examination. Todateno
delegation hasrequested
consultations.Toconclude the
process of
transposition inJuly.Noextension
requested.
4.Guatemala 26.01.1994 Documentation not
submitted yetdueto
technical problemsOne:
09.12.1994Documentation tobe
submitted inthenear
future. Technical
assistance requested
from theSecretariat.G/L/12
G/C/W/13G/MA/SPEC/1
Page5Country Date of
original
waiverDate of
submission
ofHS
documentationNof
extensions
anddatesNofcountries
withwhich
Article XXVIII
negotiations
have been
initiatedNof
countries
withwhich
Article
XXVIII
negotiations
have been
concludedStatus of
outstanding
Article XXVIII
negotiationsOutlook for
concluding
theprocessRequest
for
extension
anddraft
decision
5.Israel 03.12.1987 22.01.1992
SECRET/HS/31Fourteen:
18.07.1988
08.11.1988
24.07.1989
05.12.1989
16.07.1990
07.12.1990
12.08.1991
04.12.1991
20.07.1992
03.12.1992
19.07.1993
17.01.1994
21.07.1994
09.12.1994Three None Replies forwarded byIsrael to
thedelegations which raised
questions.Toterminate
negotiations within the
nextfewmonths.G/L/14
G/C/W/15
6.Jamaica 20.08.1993 Documentation not
yetsubmitted dueto
technical problems.Two:
21.07.1994
09.12.1994Following CARICOM
decision toallow
Jamaica tomaintain
thelevel ofbound
ratesoncethe
domestic procedures
aresettled, the
necessary
documentation willbe
submitted.G/L/9
G/C/W/10
7.Malawi 03.12.1992 Sept. 1992 (partial
documentation -
statistics missing)Three:
17.01.1994
21.07.1994
09.12.1994Technical problems were
encountered inthe
transposition oftheschedule
intotheHarmonized System,
andinthecompilation ofthe
required statistics.Technical assistance
tobeextended to
Malawi bythe
Secretariat.Norequest received
yet.G/MA/SPEC/1
Page6Country Date of
original
waiverDate of
submission
ofHS
documentationNof
extensions
anddatesNofcountries
withwhich
Article XXVIII
negotiations
have been
initiatedNof
countries
withwhich
Article
XXVIII
negotiations
have been
concludedStatus of
outstanding
Article XXVIII
negotiationsOutlook for
concluding
theprocessRequest
for
extension
anddraft
decision
8.Morocco 20.07.1992 08.06.1995
G/SECRET/HS/2Four:
19.07.1993
17.01.1994
21.07.1994
09.12.1994Documentation under
examination.Toconclude
negotiations before
theendoftheyear.G/L/11
G/C/W/12
9.Nicaragua 26.01.1994 Documentation
submitted for
circulation on
20.6.1995.One:
09.12.1994Documentation being
processed for
circulation.G/L/5
G/C/W/6
10.Pakistan 29.11.1977 Thedocumentation
related tothe
original waiver was
circulated indoc.
L/4567 andL/4609
andAdd.1-2. HS
documentation not
submitted.Eighteen:
22.11.1982
07.11.1983
30.11.1984
26.11.1985
24.11.1986
03.12.1987
23.01.1989
24.07.1989
05.12.1989
16.07.1990
01.07.1991
04.12.1991
20.07.1992
03.12.1992
19.07.1993
17.01.1994
21.07.1994
09.12.1994Nine Seven Negotiations withthetwo
remaining contracting parties
areinprogress.Hopes toreach
settlement before the
endoftheyear.G/L/6
G/C/W/7G/MA/SPEC/1
Page7Country Date of
original
waiverDate of
submission
ofHS
documentationNof
extensions
anddatesNofcountries
withwhich
Article XXVIII
negotiations
have been
initiatedNof
countries
withwhich
Article
XXVIII
negotiations
have been
concludedStatus of
outstanding
Article XXVIII
negotiationsOutlook for
concluding
theprocessRequest
for
extension
anddraft
decision
11.Senegal 07.12.1990 18.11.1993
SECRET/341 and
Add.1Seven:
04.12.1991
20.07.1992
03.12.1992
19.07.1993
17.01.1994
21.07.1994
09.12.1994Two None Questions transmitted tothe
relevant authorities.Adelegation is
expected inGeneva
theweek of26June
toconclude the
negotiations.G/L/7
G/C/W/8
12.SriLanka 08.11.1988 12.01.1990
SECRET/HS/26Eleven:
24.07.1989
16.07.1990
07.12.1990
01.07.1991
04.12.1991
20.07.1992
03.12.1992
19.07.1993
17.01.1994
21.07.1994
09.12.1994Five One Conclusion isexpected with
onecountry verysoon, and
theother negotiations arein
progress.Expects toconclude
thenegotiations within
twomonths.G/L/10
G/C/W/11
13.Trinidad &Tobago 20.08.1993 Technical problems
encountered inthe
preparation ofthe
documentationTwo:
21.07.1994
09.12.1994Following the
decision by
CARICOM toallow
T.&Tobago to
suspend theCET rates
andapply thebound
rates, thenecessary
documentation willbe
submitted verysoon.G/L/13
G/C/W/14