Status of HS transpositions
Report by the Secretariat[1]
Revision
This report by the Secretariat seeks
to provide an overview of the overall state of play of the different exercises to transpose the WTO Schedules of concessions to take account of
amendments of the Harmonized System (hereafter referred to as "HS
Transpositions"). It complements the existing reports on different aspects
of the changes to the Schedules of concessions.[2]
1._
Background
Each WTO Member has a Schedule
of concessions[3], sometimes referred to as a "Goods Schedule", which is
either annexed to the Marrakesh Protocol to the GATT 1994 or to a Protocol of
Accession. Following the entry into force of the Harmonized System (HS) on 1 January 1988
(HS88), the pre‑WTO Schedules of those GATT Contracting Parties that were also
contracting parties to the HS Convention were required to be transposed
into the HS nomenclature.[4] The
GATT Committee on Tariff Concessions developed procedures to this end.[5]
Since then, the World Customs
Organization (WCO) has adopted partial amendments to the Harmonized System
Convention which came into force on 1 January 1992 (HS92), 1 January 1996
(HS96), 1 January 2002 (HS2002), 1 January 2007 (HS2007),
1 January 2012 (HS2012), 1 January 2017 (HS2017), and on 1 January 2022
(HS2022).
With a view to keeping the
authentic texts of the Schedules of concessions up to date and in conformity
with the national customs tariff, GATT contracting parties and WTO Members have
adopted a series of Decisions to transpose the Schedules of concessions in
order to reflect the amendments to the HS. These transposition procedures require
Members to update the nomenclature used to express their concessions, including
the bound duties, in their Schedules of concessions, thereby allowing a comparison
with their MFN applied duties.
[1] This document has been prepared
under the Secretariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice to the
positions of Members or to their rights and obligations under the WTO.
[2] For example, the "Situation
of Schedules of WTO Members" that periodically circulate under the
G/MA/W/23/Rev document series and the "Factual Report on the Status of
Renegotiations under Article XXVIII of the GATT 1994" that
periodically circulate under the G/MA/123/Rev document series.
[3] See Article XI of the WTO
Agreement.
[4] Article 3 of the HS Convention
obliges HS contracting parties to ensure that their customs tariff and
statistical nomenclatures are in conformity with the Harmonized System. It is
to be noted that those GATT Contracting Parties that were not
contracting parties to the HS, but nevertheless applied the HS in their
national customs tariff, also undertook this exercise in order to keep the
authentic texts of their Schedules up to date and in conformity with their
national customs tariff.
[5] Decision of 12 July 1983, GATT
BISD 30S/17.