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ON THIS PAGE: Introduction The Harmonized System Modifications of schedules Renegotiations under GATT Article XXVIII Current situation Annex |
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GOODS SCHEDULES: CURRENT SITUATION OF SCHEDULES Current Situation of Schedules of WTO Members(1) It was agreed at the Market Access Committee meeting of June 1999 that Annex II of document G/MA/63, setting out the situation of schedules of WTO Members, would be updated periodically.(2) In this connection, the attached table is an update of the status of Members’ schedules incorporating information up to 15 May 2006. The introductory text contained in Annex II of the original Document G/MA/63 has been updated to take into account developments since the last revision. |
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All WTO Members have a WTO schedule of tariff concessions which is either annexed to the Marrakesh Protocol to the GATT 1994 or to a Protocol of Accession. Some Members have also schedules pre-dating the Uruguay Round which reflect concessions granted previously.(3) Determining a Member’s concession for a specific tariff line could involve, in some cases, the examining of several different legal instruments. The attached table reflecting the situation of schedules of WTO Members has been prepared for information purposes.(4) The pending work on the schedules of concessions derives from obligations related to the introduction of the Harmonized System and its subsequent amendments, the results of the Uruguay Round, technical modifications or rectifications of the schedules, as well as renegotiations under GATT Article XXVIII. Some background information on these issues has been provided for ease of reference. The table consists of the following columns: Column 1: Lists the WTO Members in alphabetical order. It also indicates whether or not the Member is a party to the Harmonized System Convention. Column 2: Indicates the Roman numeral assigned to the Member’s schedule. Its equivalent Arabic numeral is included in parenthesis for ease of reference. Column 3: Indicates the situation of the Pre-Uruguay Round schedule, if any. Column 4: Indicates whether the schedules of WTO Members are annexed to the Marrakesh Protocol or to a Protocol of Accession. The date of accession and references to the relevant documentation is included for the latter. Column 5: Provides information on the transposition of Uruguay Round schedules into the Harmonized System and its subsequent amendments. In the case of Members having acceded after 1 January 1995, it also indicates the tariff nomenclature used in the schedule annexed to the its protocol of accession. Column 6: Provides information on the rectifications/modifications requested by the Member, if any. Column 7: Provides information on the renegotiations under GATT Article XXVIII initiated by the Member, if any. II. The Harmonized System and its amendments back to top A. Introduction of the Harmonized System Following the entry into force of the Harmonized System(5) (HS) on 1 January 1988 (HS88), the pre-UR schedules of those GATT contracting parties which were also contracting parties to the HS Convention were required to be transposed into the HS nomenclature(6). The GATT Committee on Tariff Concessions developed procedures for this purpose(7). A certain number of schedules were transposed, certified and annexed to Protocols.(8) Some Members undertook to renegotiate their schedules in connection with the implementation of the HS. The situation regarding pre-UR schedules is set out in column
3 of the table. The term “None” is used for those Members that had no GATT schedule of concessions. It should, however, be noted that these Members did submit a schedule either during the Uruguay Round or at the time of their accession. B. First amendment to the HS (HS92) The Harmonized System Committee of the World Customs Organization (WCO) undertakes a periodic review of the HS to take account of changes in technology and patterns in international trade and recommends amendments to the HS. The first set of such changes came into force on 1 January 1992 (HS92). A second, more substantial, set of amendments came into force on 1 January 1996 (HS96), and a third one on 1 January 2002 (HS2002). A fourth amendment is scheduled to enter into force on 1 January 2007 (HS2007).(9) With a view to keeping the authentic texts of GATT schedules up to date and in conformity with the national customs tariff, the Committee on Tariff Concessions adopted in 1991 simplified procedures to implement the HS92 and any future changes relating to the HS.(10) Eleven GATT contracting parties followed these procedures and submitted the required documentation, but one of them was not formally concluded.(11) C. Second amendment to the HS (HS96) Members made use of the same procedures for introducing modifications resulting from HS96 changes. A total of 49 Members submitted HS96 documentation out of which: 29 were full loose-leaf schedules(12), 19 included only the HS96 changes and 1 included information on a preliminary basis.(13) The General Council granted, subject to certain conditions, a collective waiver to 19 Members.(14) This initial waiver was renewed on ten occasions with a varying number of Members.(15) The General Council noted at its last renewal that, although it would be the last time that an extension of the HS96 waiver would be granted collectively, Members were not precluded from requesting the suspension of Article II on an individual basis.(16) Since then, the General Council has approved 40 individual waiver requests from 13 Members.(17) D. Third amendment to the HS (HS2002) The General Council established in 2001 new procedures for the introduction of HS2002 changes into the schedules of concessions.(18) Although the HS2002 is being currently applied by most WTO Members, only 35 of them submitted the documentation required by these procedures.(19) The General Council has granted five collective waivers and one individual waiver suspending the application of GATT Article II(20), the most recent of which provided a waiver until 31 December 2006 and included a total of 26 Members (counting the EC-25 as one).(21) The General Council established, in addition, a set of procedures that would need to be fulfilled by those Members not covered by the waiver in case they requested to be included therein.(22) With a view to further facilitating and simplifying the introduction of HS2002 changes in the schedules of concessions of all Members, the General Council adopted on 15 February 2005 amendments to the procedures in which the Consolidated Tariff Schedule (CTS) database would be used as a working tool. Furthermore, the Secretariat was instructed to transpose the schedules of concessions of all developing countries.(23) The status of HS92 changes is included in Column 2 of the table as it relates to pre-UR schedules. Column 5 reflects the situation of HS96 and HS2002 changes. This column also indicates, in the case of unfinished transposition procedures, whether or not the Member is currently under a GATT Article II waiver. III. Rectifications/Modifications of schedules back to top Following the Uruguay Round, a number of WTO Members submitted rectifications and modifications to UR schedules. The procedures for such rectifications/modifications were adopted by the GATT Contracting parties on 26 March 1980(24). These rectifications/modifications include concessions made in the context of the Ministerial Declaration on Trade in Information Technology Products (ITA), the revisions and additions to the Pharmaceutical Understanding (Pharma), as well as bilateral sectoral negotiations (distilled spirits). These procedures have also been used in connection with Annex 5 of the Agreement on Agriculture. Other notifications include autonomous improvements in concessions, changes pursuant to provisions of WTO Agreements, information on other duties and charges (ODCs) and changes of a technical nature. Column 6 reflects the situation on rectifications and modifications of schedules. Rectifications/modifications pertaining to the ITA, the Pharma, ODCs, Annex 5 of the Agreement on Agriculture, and the results of bilateral negotiations on distilled spirits have been expressly identified. All others have been referred to as “other”. Some of these changes have been certified, while a number of them remain pending for varying reasons (reservations, domestic approval procedures, etc.). IV. Renegotiations under GATT Article XXVIII back to top Members are allowed to modify or withdraw concessions from their schedule through negotiation and agreement with other Members. Article XXVIII entitled “Modification of Schedules” is the main GATT 1994 provision dealing with the renegotiation of a tariff concession.(25) A 1957 note by the GATT Secretariat, concerning arrangements for negotiations under Article XXVIII, set out the procedural guidelines that were used until November 1980 when the current guidelines for procedures were adopted.(26) Although the early practice makes it difficult to determine the exact number of renegotiations that took place under the GATT, the Secretariat’s records show that at least 42 contracting parties initiated approximately 300 renegotiations between 1951 and 1994.(27) The 1980 procedures indicate that a Member invoking Article XXVIII should submit to the Secretariat for distribution the following documentation: (i) a report and a joint letter upon completion of each bilateral negotiation and (ii) a final report upon completion of all its bilateral negotiations. In practice, however, only 19 final reports were received by the Secretariat for the 79 renegotiations initiated between 1981 and 1994.(28) The status registered by the Secretariat for renegotiations lacking a final report is varied. While in a few cases the contracting parties withdrew the invocation of Article XXVIII, in others they only submitted partial information regarding the bilateral agreements reached. No further information was received by the Secretariat after the initiation of many renegotiations and a few of them were carried-over into the WTO. It remains unclear for the majority of these Pre-UR renegotiations whether they were: (i) concluded with the relevant contracting parties and their results incorporated into the Schedule annexed to the Marrakesh Protocol to the GATT 1994 (MP), (ii) concluded but its results overridden by the Schedule annexed to the MP, (iii) concluded with all the relevant contracting parties, but never reported or included in a schedule, or (iv) are still ongoing. There have been 24 renegotiations under GATT Article XXVIII since the establishment of the WTO in 1995, 4 of which have been certified, 3 have been withdrawn, 4 have been concluded but have not been certified for various reasons, and 2 relate to procedures under GATT Article XXIV:6. The remaining 13 renegotiations are still ongoing. Column 7 reflects the status registered by the Secretariat for all renegotiations invoked from 1 January 1981 when the current procedures started being implemented. The table also includes renegotiations related to GATT Article XXIV:6. The term “unclear” has been used for all those GATT renegotiations carried between 1981 and 1994 in which there is no final report or any other formal document indicating the conclusion of such negotiations. Please note that 19 Article XXVIII renegotiations invoked by the EEC-9 and the individual EC-15 member states are not reflected therein.(29) V. Current situation of schedules back to top Members are at very different stages with respect to their schedules. Some Members currently applying the HS, and even HS2002, still have pre-UR schedules which are set in a different nomenclature. In these cases, and in order to ensure consistency between the customs tariff and schedule of concessions, the Member needs to transpose its schedule into the HS. Other Members have pre-UR schedules which have already been transposed into the HS, but only into the 1988 or 1992 versions, and the HS96 and HS2002 transpositions are still pending.
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Annex back to top Situation of Schedules of Concessions in Goods |
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