RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/MA/TAR/W/4
18October 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-3159)
Committee onMarket Access
ESTABLISHMENT OFCONSOLIDATED LOOSE-LEAF SCHEDULES
Note bytheChairman
Following consultations withMembers oftheCommittee, theChairman issubmitting, for
discussion bytheCommittee onMarket Access, thefollowing proposals withregard tothepreparation
ofconsolidated schedules inloose-leaf format.
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Objective, andlegal implications
Theloose-leaf schedules would bebinding instruments, replacing allprevious schedules for
allpurposes relating toaMember 'srights andobligations under theWTO. Theschedules therefore
should contain allnecessary information inorder toreflect theexact situation ofeachconcession.
Coverage ofunbound items
WTO schedules cannot create obligations withrespect tounbound items, norcanMembers
berequired toinclude unbound items intheirschedules. Nevertheless, inorder toensure thecomplete
coverage ofalltariffitems, Members maywishtoinclude allitems intheirloose-leaf schedule, including
anyunbound items.
Where necessary inorder toprovide acomplete description ofabound item, members should
include inthedescription anyrelevant unbound items. Forexample, inthecasewhere onlyasub-item
isbound, thedescription provided should ensure thatasmany elements ofthedescription asnecessary
areprovided. Forexample, Members mayelecttodescribe theitemfromwhich thesub-item isderived:
3501 CASEIN, CASEINATES AND OTHER CASEIN DERIVATIVES: CASEIN GLUES
3501.90 -Other
3501.90.10 --Caseinates andother casein derivatives....15.0%
Theabove fulldescription should beprovided; theinclusion onlyofsub-item 3501.90.10 in
theschedule would notbesufficient toprovide thenecessary details ontheconcession.
Inthecaseofconcessions thathavebeenbound onthebasis of"ex-out" items, acomplete
description oftheconcession should beprovided.G/MA/TAR/W/4
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Advalorem, specific andmixed duties
Where bothadvalorem andspecific duties areshown inaMember 'sschedule, bothshould
beindicated intheloose-leaf schedule. Ithasbeenproposed toshow specific ratesinbrackets: however,
thismight giverisetointerpretations astowhether oneortheother ratehasgreater validity. Inorder
toprevent suchoccurrences, itispreferable toindicate bothrates inanidentical manner. Where
necessary, members should indicate, forexample through aheadnote, howtheseratesaretobeapplied.
Rates andstaging
Inorder tofullyreflect Members 'Uruguay Round schedules, theloose-leaf schedule should
contain bothbaseandfinalUruguay Round rates, along withanynecessary information onstaging.
Such information could beprovided intheschedules orinanannex totheschedules. Theschedule
would alsohavetoinclude unbound baseratesforproducts thathavebeenbound inaMember 'sUruguay
Round schedule, andthatwillbesubject tostaging. Inthecaseoffinalbound ratesthatentered into
effect onJanuary 1,1995, andthatarenotsubject tostaging, onlythefinalbound ratewould need
tobeshown.
Other duties andcharges (ODCs)
Normally, Members would indicate these incolumn 8.Where aMember 'sschedule doesnot
contain anyODCs, itcould soindicate atthebeginning ofitsschedule anddispense withcolumn 8.
Similarly, Members whose ODCs cover alimited number ofproducts (say10-20), aswellasMembers
thatapply acommon ODC toallproducts, could provide suchinformation either through aheadnote
orappropriate footnotes.
Treatment ofagriculture
Members 'Uruguay Round schedules contain specific commitments inagriculture which would
havetobereflected intheirloose-leaf schedules. TheUruguay Round schedules separated agricultural
tariffs from those ofnon-agricultural products, thussevering thehitherto sequential order ofthe
schedules. Therationale fortheseparation stems from thedifferent negotiating modalities inthe
agricultural sector which resulted indifferent staging periods andtheaddition ofacolumn forthespecial
safeguard, etc.Forpractical reasons, itcould bepreferable, therefore, tomaintain theseparateness
oftheagricultural tariffs intheloose leafschedules. Theother "new" agricultural commitments (tariff
quotas andthedomestic support andexport subsidy commitments) could beshown astheyareinthe
Uruguay Round schedules.
Initial negotiating rights (INRs)
Inorder fortheloose-leaf schedule toreplace allexisting schedules, itmustadequately safeguard
INRs acquired byMembers.
EachMember 'sschedule should include allexisting INRs intheirschedule. Itwould beopen
toother Members torequest theinclusion ofanyhistorical INRthathadbeengranted tothem.
Inthecaseofagricultural products thatwere subject totariffication intheUruguay Round,
existing andhistorical INRs ontheproducts would beconverted intoINRs onthein-quota rateand
theapplicable quota levelaswellasontheex-quota rate.G/MA/TAR/W/4
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Date offirstinclusion ofaconcession
Members would include incolumn 6thedateonwhich anitemwasfirstincorporated ina
GATT schedule.
Verification
Inorder toprovide afinite timeframe fortheconclusion ofthisexercise, Members would
haveoneyearfrom thedateoftheDecision onthecontent oftheloose leafschedules totabletheir
schedules. Members would thenhave180daystocontest anyelement ofthose schedules, including
theomissionofanyhistoricalINRs.AnyMembercommentingonanotherMember'sloose-leafschedule
would havetoprovide specific comments, ageneral reservation would notbesufficient toenterareserve
inrespect oftheloose-leaf schedule (thisissuewould havetobereviewed inlightofMembers 'intentions
withrespect totheimplementation oftheHS1996 inconjunction withtheirloose-leaf schedules).