The amendment of Argentina’s Goods Schedule was necessary to reflect changes resulting from the 2002 version of the Harmonized System, an international nomenclature developed by the World Customs Organization and used by WTO members to classify goods for customs purposes.

Although reference is normally made to “the” schedule of concessions of a WTO member, there are often different legal instruments that comprise it, as each amendment to the schedule must be officially recorded in order to take effect. These changes are usually called “rectifications” and “modifications” and can result from a number of different procedures, ranging from the formal correction of errors to the renegotiation of a tariff commitment. Recently, members have modified their goods schedules to record new tariff commitments under the expanded Information Technology Agreement and to eliminate farm export subsidies in line with the 2015 Nairobi Ministerial Decision.

In order to amend a goods schedule, a member must follow specific procedures which were agreed back in 1980. Through them, all WTO members have an opportunity to review the proposed change and make comments if necessary. To date, more than 97% of the procedures amending goods schedules have been successfully concluded.

To know more about WTO goods schedules and their changes see:

• What is a WTO schedule?
• Modifications of schedules to reflect ITA expansion commitments
• Modification of schedules to eliminate farm export subsidies under the Nairobi Decision