SITUATION
OF SCHEDULES OF WTO MEMBERS
Note by the Secretariat[1]
Revision
It was agreed at the Market
Access Committee meeting of 22 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, please find attached an update of the status of Members'
schedules incorporating information up to 11 March 2024. 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.
_______________
1 introduction
1.1. Each WTO Member has a Schedule of
concessions[3],
sometimes referred to as a "Goods Schedule", most of which are either
annexed to the Marrakesh Protocol to the GATT 1994 or to a Protocol of
Accession.[4] The
Uruguay Round Schedules of some Members incorporate by reference concessions
pre-dating the Uruguay Round or indicated that the new concessions are
"without prejudice" to their GATT Schedule and, as a result, many of
these concessions remain valid under the WTO.[5] Although it is frequent to refer to
"the" Schedule of a Member, tariff and other concessions can be
contained in several legal instruments that, together, set out that Member's
obligations.
1.2. The attached table reflecting the current situation of schedules of
WTO Members has been prepared for information purposes in order to assist, inter alia, the Secretariat updating the
CTS files into HS1996[6],
HS2002[7],
HS2007[8], HS2012[9],HS2017[10],
and HS2022.[11]
The pending work on Schedules of concessions derives from obligations related
to the introduction of the Harmonized System and its subsequent amendments, the
results of the Uruguay Round, modifications or rectifications to the Schedules,
as well as renegotiations under Article XXVIII of the GATT 1994. Some
background information on these issues has been provided for ease of reference.
1.3. The table consists of the following columns:
Column 1: Indicates the item number in the table.
Column 2: Lists the WTO Members in alphabetical order, in accordance with
document _WT/INF/43/Rev.22.
It also indicates whether or not the Member is a party to the Harmonized System
Convention.
Column 3: Indicates the Roman
numeral assigned to the Member's schedule. Its equivalent Arabic numeral is
included in parenthesis for ease of reference.
Column 4: Indicates the situation
of the Pre-Uruguay Round schedule, if any.
Column 5: Indicates whether the
schedule is annexed to the "Marrakesh Protocol to the GATT 1994"
(MP) or to a Protocol of Accession (PA). The date of accession and references
to the relevant documentation is included for the latter.
Column 6: 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 its protocol of accession.
Column 7: Provides information on
the rectifications/modifications undertaken by the Member, if any.
Column 8: Provides information on
renegotiations under Article XXVIII of the GATT 1994 initiated by the Member,
if any. For additional information on these procedures, please refer to _G/MA/W/123
and revisions.
[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] See _G/MA/M/19, paragraph 4.1.
[3] Paragraph 1 of the Marrakesh
Protocol to the GATT 1994 provides: "The schedule annexed to this Protocol
relating to a Member shall become a Schedule to GATT 1994 relating to that
Member on the day on which the WTO Agreement enters into force for that
Member." This usage followed the convention in earlier GATT 1947 tariff
protocols under which a "Schedule" of proposed concessions became a
legally-binding "Schedule" upon its entry into force. See also
Article XI of the WTO Agreement.
[4] Certain commitments are not
directly reflected in the Schedules. For example, supporting Tables relating to
commitments on agricultural products (AGST Supporting Tables) and specifically
identified in Part IV of the Schedules annexed to the Marrakesh Protocol can be
found in WTO document series _G/AG/AGST. Supporting Tables of acceded Members are now
circulated in the _WT/ACC or _WT/ACC/SPEC document series. These documents can be
obtained from the WTO website http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/agric_e/supporting_tables_e.htm.
[5] The situation of Pre-Uruguay Round
schedules can be found in GATT documents TAR/W/7 and TAR/W/85.
[6] Decision of 27 May 2009 (_WT/L/756), Procedures Leading to the Verification and
Certification of HS96 Changes Relating to the Schedules of 64 Members.
[7] Decision of 15 February 2005 (_WT/L/605), A Procedure for the Introduction of
Harmonized System 2002 Changes to Schedules of Concessions Using the
Consolidated Tariff Schedules (CTS) Database.
[8] Decision of 15 December 2006 (_WT/L/673), A Procedure for the Introduction of
Harmonized System 2007 Changes to Schedules of Concessions Using the
Consolidated Tariff Schedules (CTS) Database.
[9] Decision of 30 November 2011 (_WT/L/831), Procedure for the Introduction of
Harmonized System 2012 Changes to Schedules of Concessions Using the
Consolidated Tariff Schedule (CTS) Database.
[10] Decision of 7 December 2016 (_WT/L/995), Procedure for the Introduction of
Harmonized System 2017 Changes to Schedules of Concessions Using the
Consolidated Tariff Schedule (CTS) Database.
[11] Decision
of 23 November 2021 (_WT/L/1123), Procedure for the Introduction of
Harmonized System 2022 Changes to Schedules of Concessions Using the
Consolidated Tariff Schedule (CTS) Database.