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The texts reproduced here do not have the legal standing of the original paper documents.
  

One of the achievements of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade talks was to increase the amount of trade under binding commitments (see table). In agriculture, 100% of products now have bound tariffs. The result of all this: a substantially higher degree of market security for traders and investors.

The Uruguay Round increased number of bindings
Percentages of tariffs bound before and after the 1986-94 talks

(These are tariff lines, so percentages are not weighted according to trade volume or value)

Source: The Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations: Market Access for Goods and Services — Overview of the Results, Geneva, 1994.  

Each schedule consists of four parts:

• Part I : Most-favoured-nation or MFN concessions, maximum tariffs to goods from other WTO members. Part I is further divided into:
  - Section 1A — tariffs on agricultural products
  - Section 1B — tariff quotas on agricultural products
  - Section II — Other products
    
• Part II: Preferential concessions (tariffs relating to trade arrangements listed in GATT Article I)
    
• Part III: Concessions on non-tariff measures (NTMs)
    
• Part IV: Specific commitments on domestic support and export subsidies on agricultural products

Each schedule contains the following information:

• Tariff item number
• Description of the product
• Rate of duty
• Present concession established
• Initial Negotiation Rights (or INR, such as main suppliers of product)
• Concession first incorporated in a GATT Schedule
• INR on earlier occasions
• Other duties and charges
• For agricultural products special safeguards may also be defined

The tariff schedules follow the format called the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (“Harmonized System”), established by the World Customs Organization (WCO) (opens in new window). This system for classifying goods trade internationally entered into force in 1988 for those countries which were members of WCO and contains more than 5,000 six-digit subheadings, which may be subdivided further to reflect national administrative and statistical requirements.

The Harmonized System consists of 21 sections covering 99 chapters. These are:

Section I (Chapters 1-5, live animals and animal products);
Section II (Chapters 6-14, vegetable products);
Section III (Chapter 15, animal or vegetable fats and oils);
Section IV (Chapters 16-24, prepared foodstuffs, beverages and spirits, tobacco);
Section V (Chapters 25-27, mineral products);
Section VI (Chapters 28-38, chemical products);
Section VII (Chapters 39-40, plastics and rubber);
Section VIII (Chapters 41-43, leather and travel goods);
Section IX (Chapters 44-46, wood, charcoal, cork);
Section X (Chapters 47-49, wood pulp, paper and paperboard articles);
Section XI (Chapters 50-63, textiles and textile products);
Section XII (Chapters 64-67, footwear, umbrellas, artificial flowers);
Section XIII (Chapters 68-70, stone, cement, ceramic, glass);
Section XIV (Chapter 71, pearls, precious metals);
Section XV (Chapters 72-83, base metals);
Section XVI (Chapters 84-85, electrical machinery);
Section XVII (Chapters 86-89, vehicles, aircraft, vessels);
Section XVIII (Chapters 90-92, optical instruments, clocks and watches, musical instruments);
Section XIX (Chapter 93, arms and ammunition);
Section XX (Chapters 94-96, furniture, toys, miscellaneous manufactured articles);
Section XXI (Chapter 97, works of art, antiques).

For more details see World Customs Organization website, (opens in new window).

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