this report is divided into two parts : part i : body and

Note : Shaded parts will be removed when documents are placed on the WCO documentation database available to the public. Copyright © 2008 World Customs Organization. All rights reserved. Requests and inquiries concerning translation, reproduction and adoption rights should be addressed to [email protected].

WORLD CUSTOMS ORGANIZATION

ORGANISATION MONDIALE DES DOUANES

Established in 1952 as the Customs Co-operation Council

Créée en 1952 sous le nom de Conseil de coopération douanière

HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE

NC1377E1b (HSC/42/Oct. 2008)

- 42nd Session O. Eng./Fr.

- Brussels, 3 October 2008.

REPORT TO THE CUSTOMS CO-OPERATION COUNCIL

ON THE 42nd SESSION OF THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE __________________________________________________________

Note : This Report is divided into two parts : Part I : Body and Annexes A to K Part II : Annexes L to Q

1. The Harmonized System Committee held its 42nd Session from 22 September to

3 October 2008 at the Headquarters of the World Customs Organization (WCO) in Brussels. The meeting was chaired by Mr. E. HURNI (Switzerland).

2. The following 63 Members (62 countries and one Customs and Economic Union) were represented :

Countries : ANDORRA ARGENTINA AUSTRALIA BANGLADESH BELARUS BELGIUM BENIN BOLIVIA BRAZIL BURKINA FASO CANADA CHINA (People’s Rep. of) COLOMBIA CONGO (Rep. of the) COTE D’IVOIRE CROATIA CZECH REPUBLIC DEM. REP. OF THE

CONGO DENMARK DOMINICAN REPUBLIC EGYPT

FINLAND GABON GHANA GUINEA ICELAND INDIA INDONESIA JAPAN KAZAKHSTAN KOREA (Rep. of) MADAGASCAR MALAYSIA MEXICO MOLDOVA NETHERLANDS NIGERIA NORWAY PANAMA PARAGUAY PERU PORTUGAL ROMANIA

RUSSIAN FEDERATION SENEGAL SERBIA SINGAPORE SOUTH AFRICA SPAIN SRI LANKA SUDAN SWEDEN SWITZERLAND THAILAND THE FORMER YUGOSLAV

REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA TUNISIA TURKEY UKRAINE UNITED STATES VIETNAM YEMEN ZIMBABWE

mailto:[email protected]

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Customs and Economic Union : EUROPEAN COMMUNITY (EC).

3. The following 4 Members of the WCO and 3 international organizations were represented by observers : Members of the WCO : ANGOLA COMOROS GAMBIA HONG KONG, CHINA International organizations : INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (ICC) INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF FREIGHT FORWARDERS ASSOCIATIONS (FIATA) ORGANISATION FOR THE PROHIBITION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS (OPCW)

4. A list of the delegates and observers who attended the meeting is reproduced in Annex Q to this Report.

I. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA (Doc. NC1312E1e)

5. Item VII.20 was deleted from the Agenda and postponed to the next session at the

request of the Delegate of Canada.

6. The Delegate of South Africa requested to postpone or to have only a preliminary discussion on Agenda Item VIII.16 because of an ongoing lawsuit on the matter in South Africa and the late publication of the working document. The Committee agreed to have a preliminary discussion on Agenda Item VIII.16.

7. The US Delegate asked for postponing Agenda Item VII.6 to the next session of the Committee, because her Administration’s arguments had been published as a non-paper just a few days before the opening of the present session. With the agreement of the EC, Agenda Item VII.6 was postponed to the next session of the Committee.

8. At the request of the US Delegate, Agenda Item VIII.13 was also deleted from the

Agenda and postponed to the next session.

9. At the request of the EC Delegate, and with agreement of the US Delegation, Agenda Item IX.1 was postponed to the next session of the Committee.

10. At the request of the EC, noting that the French version of the working document had been published only two weeks before the opening of the session, it was agreed to have only a preliminary discussion on Agenda Item VIII.17.

11. The US Delegate also requested the Committee to discuss Agenda Item VII.9 without taking a decision, since her administration needed more time for additional study. The Committee agreed to have a discussion on this agenda item and not to take any classification decision at the present session.

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12. At the request of the Delegate of the Russian Federation, Agenda Item VII.10 was to

be dealt with before Agenda Item VII.2. At the request of the Administration of the Russian Federation, the examination of Agenda Item VII.2 would be preceded by a video clip.

13. Subject to the foregoing, the Committee adopted the Agenda, which is reproduced at Annex A to serve as the Table of Contents of this Report. II.1. POSITION REGARDING CONTRACTING PARTIES TO THE HS CONVENTION AND

RELATED MATTERS (Doc. NC1314E1a)

14. The Chairperson informed the Committee of recent developments regarding the

application of the Harmonized System by Contracting Parties and non-Contracting Parties since the previous session of the HS Committee, as described in the above-mentioned reference document.

15. The Secretariat expressed its concern that there were still 25 Contracting Parties which were not yet applying the 2007 version of the HS. It recalled that it was essential that the business community apply the most recent version of the HS as opposed to earlier versions which constituted barriers to trade and gave rise to complicated trade negotiations. The Secretariat stressed that it was extremely important for administrations to display a more active commitment to the fulfilment of their obligations in order to safeguard the effectiveness of the Harmonized System. The Secretariat also reiterated that it remained at the disposal of administrations for any technical assistance they might require.

16. The Secretariat also pointed out that under the new practice adopted, information on the current situation regarding implementation of the HS by Contracting Parties and administrations which applied the HS was no longer appended to the working document.

17. The Secretariat additionally drew the attending delegations’ attention to the obligation of Contracting Parties to inform the Secretariat of any decisions taken by the HSC which they were not in a position to apply (see the Annex to Doc. NC1314E1a). In this connection, the Delegate of the EC recalled that for the moment it was still not in a position to apply the decision referred to, since the EC had to comply with European Court of Justice (ECJ) rulings. However, the Delegate of the EC indicated that it would be in a position to apply this HSC decision beginning 1 January 2012, when the 2012 version of the HS entered into force.

18. On the subject of the most recent notifications received by the Secretariat after Doc. NC1314E1a had been issued, the Secretariat informed the Committee that the Republic of Yemen had been implementing the HS 2007 since 16 August 2008, bringing the number of Contracting Parties applying the HS 2007 to 109. The Secretariat also highlighted paragraphs 9 and 10 of the working document and invited all other administrations already implementing the HS 2007 to officially notify the Secretariat to that effect.

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II.2. REPORT ON THE LAST MEETINGS OF THE POLICY COMMISSION (59th SESSION) AND THE COUNCIL (111th/112th SESSIONS)

(Doc. NC1315E1a)

19. Referring to the working document, the Director reported a summary of the HS related issues considered by the Policy Commission (59th Session) and the Council (111th/112th Sessions) in June 2008.

20. He emphasised that the Secretary General’s report pointed out that, compared to the

Membership to the WCO, the number of Contracting Parties to the HS Convention was considerably high. However, implementation of the WCO Recommendations was low and, in this connection, it was suggested that the Secretariat try to establish the reasons for non-acceptance by sending a questionnaire to the Members concerned.

21. He also informed the Committee that the Council approved an updated new Strategic Plan which was divided into projects which were broken down into actions. Other very important documents approved by the Council were a paper concerning the “Customs in the 21st Century” and a Resolution giving the WCO and the Secretary General Elect a road-map on the same issue.

22. As for technical matters, the Director noted that the Council referred certain issues back to the HC Committee for re-examination and those issues had already been placed on the Agenda for the Committee’s present session.

23. The Committee took note of the developments in the Policy Commission and the Council.

II.3. APPROVAL OF DECISIONS TAKEN BY THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE AT ITS 41st SESSION

(Docs. NC1311B1a, NC1316E1a, NG0139E1a and NG0144E1a)

24. The Chairperson indicated that with respect to four issues, reservations had been entered following the close of the 41st Session of the Committee.

25. The Japanese Administration had entered a reservation concerning the classification of "ice hockey pants in Section XI". Since the Japanese Administration had requested that the issue should be referred directly to the Committee in accordance with Council Decision No. 298, this classification question had been placed on the Agenda of the Committee’s current session (see Item VII.5 on Agenda).

26. The EC had entered two reservations, one concerning the classification of "vehicles by the name "***" in heading 87.09 (subheadings 8709.11 and 8709.19, respectively)" and the other one concerning "classification of certain jojoba products in heading 34.04 (subheading 3404.90)". The Brazilian Administration had entered a reservation concerning the "classification of polyurethane foam in aerosol containers in heading 32.14 (subheading 3214.10)".

27. The EC had specified that its two questions should be submitted to the Council, and since the Brazilian Administration had requested the procedure provided for in Article 8 of the HS Convention, the issues were submitted to the Council at its 111st/112nd Sessions in June 2008, pursuant to Article 8.2 of the Harmonized System Convention. The Council subsequently decided to refer the questions back to the Committee for re-examination.

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These classification questions had been placed on the Agenda of the Committee’s current session (see Items VII.3, VII.4 and VII.6 on Agenda).

28. The Committee took note of the Secretariat’s report that the other decisions taken by the Committee at its 41st Session had been deemed approved by the Council, in accordance with Article 8.2 of the HS Convention.

II.4. CAPACITY BUILDING ACTIVITIES OF THE NOMENCLATURE AND CLASSIFICATION SUB-DIRECTORATE

(Doc. NC1317E1a)

29. The Director summarised the capacity building activities of the Nomenclature and Classification Sub-Directorate which were listed in the working document. He noted that, in the future, there will be certain changes in the mode of training activities, with greater participation by the Sub-Directorate. He also thanked the administrations who provided HS experts to the regional seminars held in early summer and the Japanese Administration for organising a “train-the trainers” course for the accreditation of HS trainers in the Regional Training Centre in Malaysia in November 2008.

30. The Committee took note of the information provided in the working document.

II.5. CO-OPERATION WITH OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS (Doc. NC1318E1a)

31. The Chairperson informed the Committee about the important activities which had

occurred during the intersession with respect to co-operation with other international organisations. He highlighted the co-operation with the WHO, OPCW, ICC, Basel Convention and UN Statistics Division which were reported in the working document.

32. The Director drew the Committee’s attention to the results of a meeting he attended, organized in Paris by the ICC on 15-16 September 2008, in which views regarding core Customs matters, including Nomenclature issues, were exchanged. He underlined the importance of the ongoing cooperation between the WCO Secretariat and the ICC.

33. The Committee took note of the above-mentioned activities.

II.6. NEW INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THE WCO WEB SITE (Doc. NC1319E1a)

34. The Chairperson informed the Committee of the latest developments with regard to the

Public and Members’ areas of the WCO Web site. He asked delegations to verify whether the information in the list of e-mail addresses of HS officials in Customs administrations and the Internet addresses of Customs tariffs, provided on the Public area of the Web site, and the list of HS Contact Points on the Members’ area of the WCO Web site, was up-to-date and to inform the Secretariat about any missing or incorrect information.

35. The Deputy Director informed the Committee that the Secretariat’s surveys on the percentage of national revenue represented by Customs duties and on free trade agreements (FTAs) and their importance vis-à-vis the Harmonized System had been made available on the WCO Web site for the public.

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36. In respect of the ongoing difficulties with the WCO Web Site regarding the availability of the Classification Advice for the Members and the Historical Documentation Database, the Director informed the Committee that efforts were being made to solve the problem soon. The delegates who took the floor stressed the importance of these web tools for their administrations and expressed the hope that the problems could be solved in a short time.

37. Responding to a question of one delegate about the on-line version of the Harmonized System Explanatory Notes and of the Harmonized System Database, the Chair explained that this was a payable service. The Member price for subscription, however, differed from the price for the Private Sector.

38. The Committee took note of the information referred to in the working document and of the latest developments with regard to the WCO Web site.

II.7 ANNUAL SURVEY TO DETERMINE THE PERCENTAGE OF NATIONAL REVENUE REPRESENTED BY CUSTOMS DUTIES

(Doc. NC1320E1b)

39. In opening this Agenda item, the Chairperson explained that this year’s survey covered 142 countries for the five years from 2001 to 2005. He noted that in case of 16 % of the countries surveyed (19 countries), more than 30 % of national revenue came from Customs duties, and that for over half (57 %) of the countries (68 countries) surveyed, over 10 % of national revenues were derived from Custom duties. He stressed that Customs duties continued to play an important role in national revenues in many countries even though the average percentages of national revenues represented by Customs duties had gradually decreased during the referenced five years.

40. Following this explanation, the Committee took note of the result of the survey.

II.8 SURVEY ON FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS (Doc. NC1321E1b)

41. In opening this Agenda item, the Chairperson informed the Committee that

178 countries were involved in one or more FTAs and Customs Unions and over 40 % of world trade in goods took place among the member countries. He noted that for 53 countries, over 50 % of total import came from FTA and Customs Union member countries.

42. The Delegate of Argentina took the floor to read the following declaration and requested it to be reproduced in the report of this meeting :

“With regard to Annexes I to III of Document NC1321E1b, which make reference to the Malvinas, South Georgias and South Sandwich Islands and to the so called British Antarctic Territory – which includes the Argentine Antarctic Sector -, as separate from Argentina, under a status that they do not have and as overseas countries and territories of the European Community, the Argentine Government recalls that the Malvinas, South Georgias and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime spaces are an integral part of the territory of the Argentine Republic and, being illegitimately occupied by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, are the subject of a sovereignty dispute between both countries, recognized by the UN among other international and regional organizations.

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The United Nations General Assembly has adopted resolutions 2065 (XX), 3160 (XXVIII), 31/49, 37/9, 38/12, 39/6, 40/21, 41/40, 42/19 and 43/25, by which it recognizes the existence of a sovereignty dispute relating to the “Question of the Malvinas Islands” and requests the Governments of the Argentine Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to resume negotiations in order to find as soon as possible a peaceful and definitive solution to the sovereignty dispute. Similarly, the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization has repeatedly stated its position along the same lines, most recently through the resolution adopted on 12 June 2008. Furthermore, the General Assembly of the Organization of American States adopted a new declaration on the matter in similar terms on 3 June 2008.

Likewise, the Argentine Government notes that the alleged claim to include the South Atlantic Argentine archipelagos, which are an integral part of the Argentine national territory, within the list of overseas territories to which the regime of “Association of the Overseas Countries and Territories” of the Treaty Establishing the European Community is applied, is subject to formal protests ever since the Treaty of Accession of the United Kingdom to the European Communities was signed in 1972.”

43. The Delegate of Brazil supported Argentina’s declaration. The Director has stated that

the WCO is not a political organization. This Committee, as has been mentioned during this session, is a technical committee. The information contained in the survey contains essentially the same listings contained in previous surveys and is primarily from the WTO. The survey was presented in good faith as technical information for the Committee, and the Secretariat had no intention by its presentation of upsetting the political sensibilities of any administration.

44. The Delegate of Norway informed the Committee that a free trade agreement between EFTA and SACU entered into force on 1 May 2008. The Delegate of Nigeria stated that his country was a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which was a Customs Union. The Delegate of Mexico also stated that Mexico had free trade agreements with Colombia and Uruguay.

45. In response to those delegates who pointed out that some regional trade agreements were not listed in the Annexes I, II and III of the working document, the Deputy Director reminded the Committee that the survey was based on WTO information sources, and it therefore only included the regional trade agreements which were notified to the WTO as a Free Trade Agreement or Customs union as of 20 May 2008.

46. The Director drew delegates’ attention to paragraphs 8 and 9 of the working document and explained the rationale behind the Secretariat’s proposal that the Committee consider discontinuing the survey on free trade agreements in the future. He explained that the Origin Sub-Directorate was creating a database of preferential agreements, and after its launch next year, the survey would most likely be a duplication of efforts.

47. Certain delegates saw no need for the survey to remain an item on the Committee’s agenda in the future when this information is made available on the WCO’s Web site.

48. The Delegate of Mexico, however, requested that the survey remain an item on the agenda for the Committee.

49. Following this exchange of views, the Committee took note of the results of the survey and agreed to reconsider, at its fall session in 2009, after the anticipated launch of the

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database on preferential agreements by the WCO, the Secretariat’s proposal to discontinue the survey.

II.9. OTHER

SECRETARIAT STAFF CHANGES

50. Mr. Manga informed the Committee that Mr. Patrick JOFFRE (France) had recently joined the Secretariat as a Technical Officer.

OPENING OF THE SESSION BY THE SECRETARY GENERAL ELECT

51. Mr. K. MIKURIYA, Secretary General Elect, declared the 42nd Session of the Harmonized System Committee open and welcomed delegates and observers, expressing his gratitude to them for the work done within this Committee. Thinking back to his presence at the Commemorative Session to celebrate the 40th Session of the Committee in September 2007, he recalled that the Harmonized System Convention was one of the most important tools for international trade and that the Harmonized System had been capable of adapting to provide trade with a suitable infrastructure that matched current realities.

52. The Secretary General Elect also made the Committee aware of the importance he

would place on governance issues within the Organization during his term of office. In closing, he hoped that communication would be further encouraged between the Secretariat and Members through the WCO’s regional Vice-Chairs.

III. GENERAL QUESTIONS

53. The Committee's conclusions concerning Agenda Item III are reproduced in Annexes C and N to this Report.

IV. RECOMMENDATIONS (Doc. NC1323E1a)

54. The Committee's conclusions concerning Agenda Item IV are reproduced in Annexes D

and O to this Report.

V. REPORT OF THE REVIEW SUB-COMMITTEE (37th Session)

55. The Harmonized System Committee examined the conclusions reached by the Review

Sub-Committee at its 37th Session.

56. The results of this examination are set out in Annexes E/1 to E/6, L/1 to L/9 and M/13, M/14 and M/16 to this Report.

57. On behalf of the Committee, the Chairperson thanked the Review Sub-Committee and its Chairperson for the excellent work accomplished at the 37th Session of the Review Sub-Committee.

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VI. REPORT OF THE WORKING PARTY (42nd Session)

58. The Harmonized System Committee examined the conclusions reached at the Working

Party’s presessional meeting. The conclusions of the Committee are reproduced in Annexes F/1 to F/7 to this Report.

59. The texts finalized by the Working Group and adopted by the Committee are set out in Annexes M/6 to M/11 and M/18 to this Report.

60. On behalf of the Committee, the Chairperson congratulated the Working Party and its Chairperson on their excellent work.

VII. FURTHER STUDIES

61. The Committee's conclusions concerning Agenda Item VII are reproduced in Annexes G/1 to G/21 and M/1 to M/3 and M/12 to this Report.

VIII. NEW QUESTIONS

62. The Committee's conclusions concerning Agenda Item VIII are reproduced in Annexes H/1 to H/19, L/10, L/11 and M/4, M/5, M/15 and M/17 to this Report.

IX. ADDITIONAL LIST

63. The Committee's conclusions concerning Agenda Item IX are reproduced in Annexes IJ/1 and IJ/2 to this Report.

X. OTHER BUSINESS

LIST OF QUESTIONS WHICH MIGHT BE EXAMINED AT A FUTURE SESSION (Doc. NC1370E1a)

64. The Committee's conclusions concerning Agenda Item X.1 (the list of questions which

might be examined at a future session) are reproduced in Annexes K and P to this Report.

XI. DATES OF NEXT SESSIONS

65. The provisional dates of the next meetings of the Review Sub-Committee, the Scientific Sub-Committee, the Working Party and the Harmonized System Committee and other meetings related to the Harmonized System matters are as follows : (a) Review Sub-Committee (38th Session) Monday, 17 November 2008 (10:00 a.m.) to Friday, 28 November 2008.

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(b) Scientific Sub-Committee (24th Session) Monday, 12 January 2009 (10:00 a.m.) to Thursday, 15 January 2009. (c) Working Party

Wednesday, 4 March 2009 (10:00 a.m.) to Friday, 6 March 2009. (d) Harmonized System Committee (43rd Session) Monday, 9 March 2009 (11:00 a.m.) to Friday, 20 March 2009.

E. HURNI, Chairperson.

* * *

Annex A to Doc. NC1377E1b (HSC/42/Oct. 2008)

A/1.

TABLE OF CONTENTS ___________________

Agenda Item

Subject

Paragraphs in Report or

Annexes

I. Adoption of the agenda 5 to 13

II. Report by the Secretariat 1. Position regarding Contracting Parties to the HS Convention and

related matters 14 to 18

B/1 to B/5 2. Report on the last meeting of the Policy Commission

(59th Session) and the Council (111th/112th Sessions) 19 to 23

3. Approval of decisions taken by the Harmonized System

Committee at its 41st Session 24 to 28

4. Capacity building activities of the Nomenclature and

Classification Sub-Directorate 29 and 30

5. Co-operation with other international organisations 31 to 33 6. New information provided on the WCO Web site 34 to 38 7. Annual survey to determine the percentage of national revenue

represented by Customs duties 39 and 40

8. Survey on Free Trade Agreements 41 to 49 9. Other 50 to 52

III. General questions 53 1. Possible amendment of Article 8 of the HS Convention with a

view to removing the Council from its purely administrative role with regard to HS reservations, and to making the fast-track procedure the default reservation procedure (Reservation by the US)

C, N

IV. Recommendations 54 1. Draft Recommendation of the Customs Co-operation Council on

the insertion in national statistical nomenclatures of subheadings for substances controlled under the Convention on the Prohibition of the development, production, stockpiling and use

D, O


A/2.

of Chemical Weapons and on their destruction

V. Report of the Review Sub-Committee 55 to 57 1. Report of the 37th Session of the Review Sub-Committee E/1, L/1 to L/8 2. Matters for decision M/13, M/14

and M/16 3. Possible amendment of heading 24.03. E/2, L/9 4. Possible amendment to the General Explanatory Note to

Chapter 41 to clarify the words "whole hides and skins" and "split hides and skins”

E/3, M/16

5. Scope of the provisionally adopted new subheading 9504.50 E/4 6. Possible misalignment between the English and French texts of

the Explanatory Note to heading 95.04 E/5, M/13

7. Possible amendment of Note 1 to Chapter 38 E/6, M/14

VI. Report of the presessional Working Party 58 to 60 1. Amendments to the Compendium of Classification Opinions to

reflect the classification of pumpkin seeds in subheading 1212.99 F/1, M/6

2. Amendments to the Compendium of Classification Opinions to

reflect the classification of a coconut water beverage in subheading 2202.90

F/2, M/7


reflect the classification of correction tapes in subheading 3824.90

F/3, M/8

4. Amendments to the Explanatory Notes to headings 84.28 and

84.79 to reflect the classification of Passenger Boarding Bridges in heading 84.79

F/4, M/9


reflect the classification of a separately presented power distribution block in subheading 8536.69

F/5, M/10


reflect the classification of a warming blanket in subheading 9018.90

F/6, M/11


reflect the classification of ”***“in subheading 9504.10 F/7, M/18

VII. Further studies 61


A/3.

1. Classification of separately presented outdoor units of

compression-type split-system air conditioning machines (Reservation by the EC)

G/1

2. Classification of products containing more than 99.2 % of sodium

sulphate and more than 98.5 % of sodium sulphate, respectively (Reservation by Russia)

G/2

3. Classification of vehicles by the name “***” (Reservation by the

EC) G/3

4. Classification of polyurethane foam in aerosol containers

(Reservation by Brazil) G/4

5. Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to heading 95.06

(Reservation by Japan) G/5

6. Classification of certain jojoba products (Reservation by the EC) G/6 7. Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to GIR 3 (b) G/7 8. Classification of certain methanol or ethanol mixtures with

gasoline G/8

9. Scope of headings 22.06 and 22.08 G/9 10. Scope of Note 1 to Chapter 25 G/10 11. General study on pegylation and its effects on the classification

of pegylated pharmaceutically active substances G/11

12. Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to Chapter 29 G/12, M/1 13. Classification of “linaclotide (INN)” G/13 14. Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to heading 84.15

(Proposal by Brazil) G/14

15. Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to heading 85.09 G/15, M/2

and M/3 16. Classification of lamp posts (Request from Madagascar) G/16 17. Classification of “lonaprisan (INN)” G/17 18. Classification of a coconut preparation (Request by Norway) G/18 19. Classification of an *** power distribution unit (model ***

(Request by Belarus) G/19

20. Possible amendment of the Explanatory Notes to GIR1 and

GIR2 (a) (Proposal by Canada) G/20


A/4.

21. Possible amendments to Classification Opinions 9503.00/5, 9503.00/8 and 9503.00/9

G/21, M/12

VIII. New questions 62 1. Classification of an ironing machine (Request by Belarus) H/1 2. Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to heading 09.02

(Request by China) H/2, M/15

3. Classification of the “***” (Request by Peru) H/3 4. Separate identification of “wood pellets” in heading 44.01

(Proposal by the UNECE) H/4, L/10

5. Classification of a milk protein preparation (Request by the EC) H/5 6. Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to heading 15.02 H/6, M/17 7. Classification of protein powder containing flavouring matter

(Request by Norway) H/7

8. Classification of a cheese substitute (Request by Argentina) H/8 9. Possible contradiction between the legal terms of heading 12.09

and the Explanatory Note to this heading H/9

10. Use of the expression “mutatis mutandis” in the Explanatory

Notes H/10

11. Possible amendment of the Explanatory Notes concerning the

“Thiofentanyl” H/11, M/5

12. Classification of the “***” (Request by Peru) H/12 13. Classification of certain types of monitors (Request by Norway) H/13 14. Possible Council Recommendation on the insertion in national

statistical nomenclatures of subheadings for certain agricultural products (Request by Japan)

H/14

15. Possible amendment of Subheading Note 1 to Chapter 84

(Request by the EC) H/15, L/11

16. Classification of a dumper (“***”) (Request by Korea) H/16 17. Classification of three kinds of apparatus for television

transmission (Request by Korea) H/17

18. Study on the possible definition of “articles of luxury” (Request by

Mexico) H/18

19. Possible amendment of Classification Opinion 4811.10/2 H/19, M/4


A/5.

(Request by Switzerland)

IX. Additional list 63 1. Classification of network analyzers (Request by the US) IJ/1 2. Possible amendment of the French version of the Explanatory

Note to heading 91.11 IJ/2

X. Other business 64 1. List of questions which might be examined at a future session K, P

XI. Dates of next sessions 65 List of delegates and observers Q

* * *

Annex B/1 to Doc. NC1377E1b (HSC/42/Oct. 2008)

B/1.

LIST OF CONTRACTING PARTIES TO THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM CONVENTION

Situation as of 3 October 2008

(133 countries and 1 Customs and Economic Union)

Algeria Andorra Argentina Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Belarus Belgium Benin Bhutan Bolivia Botswana Brazil Bulgaria Burkina Faso Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Congo (Dem. Rep. of the) Congo (Rep. of the) Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Dominican Republic Egypt Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon Germany Ghana

Greece Guinea Haiti Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Ireland Israel Italy Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Korea (Rep.) Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Moldova Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Myanmar Namibia Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Níger Nigeria Norway

* * *

Pakistan Panama Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia and Montenegro Singapore Slovakia Slovenia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Rep. Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand The Former Yugoslav

Republic of Macedonia Togo Tunisia Turkey Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uzbekistan Venezuela Vietnam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe EC


* * * B/2. Notes : + Acceptance (i.e., Contracting Party to the Harmonized System Convention). x Indicates application only. +x Some Members are Contracting Parties to the Harmonized System Convention.

LIST OF COUNTRIES, TERRITORIES AND CUSTOMS OR ECONOMIC UNIONS USING THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM

Situation as of 3 October 2008

(TOTAL 204)

Afghanistan x Albania x Algeria + Andorra + Angola x Antigua & Barbuda x Argentina + Armenia x Australia + Austria + Azerbaijan + Bahamas x Bahrain + Bangladesh + Barbados x Belarus + Belgium + Belize x Benin + Bermuda x Bhutan + Bolivia + Bosnia and Herzegovina x Botswana + Brazil + Brunei Darussalam x Bulgaria + Burkina Faso + Burundi x Cambodia + Cameroon + Canada + Cape Verde + Central African Republic + Chad + Chile + China + Colombia + Comoros x Congo (Dem. Rep.) + Congo (Rep.) + Cook Islands x Costa Rica x Côte d'Ivoire + Croatia + Cuba + Cyprus + Czech Republic + Denmark + Djibouti x Dominica x Dominican Republic + Ecuador x Egypt + El Salvador x Equatorial Guinea x Eritrea + Estonia + Ethiopia + Fiji + Finland + France + Gabon + Gambia x Georgia x Germany + Ghana + Greece + Grenada x Guatemala x Guinea + Guinea Bissau x

Guyana x Haiti + Honduras x Hong Kong, China x Hungary + Iceland + India + Indonesia + Iran + Ireland + Israel + Italy + Jamaica x Japan + Jordan + Kazakhstan + Kenya + Kiribati x Korea (Rep.) + Kuwait + Kyrgyzstan + Laos x Latvia + Lebanon + Lesotho + Liberia x Libyan Arab Jamahiriya + Liechtenstein x Lithuania + Luxembourg + Macau, China x Madagascar + Malawi + Malaysia + Maldives + Mali + Malta + Marshall Islands x Mauritius + Mauritania + Mexico + Micronesia x Moldova + Mongolia + Montenegro + Morocco + Mozambique x Myanmar + Namibia + Netherlands + Nepal + New Caledonia (French Terr.) x New Zealand + Nicaragua x Niger + Nigeria + Niue x Norway + Oman x Pakistan + Palau x Panama + Papua New Guinea x Paraguay + Peru + Philippines + Poland + Polynesia (French Terr.) x Portugal + Qatar + Romania + Russia +

Rwanda + Saint Kitts and Nevis x Saint Lucia x Saint Pierre and Miquelon (French Terr.) x Saint Vincent and the Grenadines x Samoa x Saudi Arabia + Senegal + Serbia + Seychelles x Sierra Leone x Singapore + Slovakia + Slovenia + Solomon Islands x South Africa + Spain + Sri Lanka + Sudan + Suriname x Swaziland + Sweden + Switzerland + Syrian Arab Republic + Tajikistan + Tanzania + Thailand + The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia + Togo + Tonga x Trinidad and Tobago x Tunisia + Turkey + Turkmenistan x Tuvalu x Uganda + Ukraine + United Arab Emirates + United Kingdom + United States + Uruguay x Uzbekistan + Vanuatu x Venezuela + Viet Nam + Wallis and Futuna (French Terr.) x Yemen + Zambia + Zimbabwe + EC + Andean Community (CAN) +x Caribbean Community (CARICOM) +x Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) +x Commonwealth of the Independent States (CIS) +x Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) +x Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS) +x Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) +x Latin American Integration Association (LAIA) +x Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR) +x West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) +x


Position as of 03-10-2008 (Contracting Parties)

B/3/1/Rev.

Country Customs Union

HS Contracting Parties HS 2002 HS2007 Acceptance of Recommendations

(by date of receipt of the notifications or date of implementation1)

Date of

accession

Date of implemen-

tation

Implemen-tation

Implementation

Pre-entry

Classification 1996

UNSD Trade Data

1997

Good Classification Work Model

Ozone 1995 1999* 2003** 2006***

Chemical Weapons 1996/1999*/2006**

Hand-made Products

2000

Units of Quantity

2001/ 2006*

Application of HSC

Decisions 2001

Firearms 2002

Algeria 24-10-1991 01-01-1992 X 01-01-2007 12-04-2007

Andorra 11-07-2006 01-08-2006 X 01-01-2007

Argentina 11-01-1994 11-01-1994 X 24-05-2007 18-03-1997 24-05-2007*** 24-05-2007*** 24-05-2007***

Australia 22-09-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 06-08-2002 06-08-2002 05-03-2003 27-02-2003

Austria 22-09-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 07-01-1997 04-03-2003 26-05-2003 07-10-1996 10-10-2003 11-03-2003

Azerbaijan 07-07-2000 07-07-2000 X 01-01-2007 10-11-2004 10-11-2004 16-01-2002 16-01-2002

Bahrain 14-12-2001 01-01-2002 X 01-01-2007

Bangladesh 22-09-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-07-2007

Belarus 21-10-1998 01-01-2000 X 01-07-2007 01-07-2006 15-02-2005 15-02-2005 15-02-2005** 15-02-2005 15-02-2005

Belgium 22-09-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 07-01-1997 04-03-2003 26-05-2003 07-10-1996 10-10-2003 11-03-2003

Benin 24-07-2006 01-01-2008 X ---

Bhutan 27-10-2006 01-01-2007 X 01-01-2007

Bolivia 27-04-2004 01-01-2006 X 01-01-2007 10-10-2000

Botswana 13-02-1987 01-01-1988 X 25-05-2007

Brazil 08-11-1988 01-01-1989 X 01-01-2007 12-07-1996 01-03-2005 01-03-2005 19-06-1996 01-01-2007* 01-03-2005

Bulgaria 30-10-1990 01-01-1992 X 01-01-2007 07-01-2003 10-06-2005 10-06-2005 20-02-1996 01-01-2006 10-06-2005

Burkina Faso 25-09-1990 01-01-1992 X 01-01-2007

Cambodia 27-06-2002 01-01-2003 X 01-01-2007

Cameroon 16-05-1988 01-07-1989 X --- 25-03-1998

Canada 14-12-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 18-09-1996 29-09-1998 05-05-1999 23-03-1998 23-03-1998 14-02-2001 09-03-2004 10-11-2003

Cape Verde 19-05-2008 01-01-2010 X 01-07-2007 01-07-2007 01-07-2007

Central African Republic

11-06-1998 18-05-1998 --- 01-01-2007

Chad 05-09-1990 01-01-1992 --- ---

Chile 17-02-2005 01-01-2007 --- 01-01-2007

China 23-06-1992 01-01-1993 X 01-01-2007 01-04-2000 01-07-1997 01-04-2000 01-01-2000* 01-01-2000 27-06-2002 27-06-2002

Colombia 21-10-2002 21-10-2002 X --- 29-11-2002 29-11-2002* 29-11-2002 29-11-2002

Congo (Dem. Rep.) 10-11-1987 01-01-1988 X --- 01-04-2007 28-02-2007***1 28-02-2007*1 28-04-2005

Congo (Rep. of the)

27-03-2007 01-01-2009 --- 01-06-2007

Côte d'Ivoire 25-01-1990 01-01-1991 X 01-07-2007



B/3/2/Rev.




Date of

accession

Date of implemen-

tation

Implemen-tation

Implementation

Pre-entry

Classification 1996

UNSD Trade Data

1997


Ozone 1995 1999* 2003** 2006***


Hand-made Products

2000

Units of Quantity

2001/ 2006*

Application of HSC

Decisions 2001

Firearms 2002

Croatia 29-09-1994 29-09-1994 X 01-01-2007 01-01-2000 28-02-20071 12-04-2007 01-01-2007*** 01-01-2007* 01-01-2007* 28-02-20071

Cuba 03-11-1995 01-01-1997 X 01-01-2008 09-02-1998 23-07-1996 09-02-1998

Cyprus 21-03-1994 21-03-1994 X 01-01-2007 22-01-2002 20-11-2003 01-05-2004 22-01-2002 01-05-2004 20-11-2003

Czech Rep 16-11-1993 16-11-1993 X 01-01-2007 01-05-2004 07-08-2001 01-05-2004 01-05-2004 01-05-2004 01-05-2004

Denmark 22-09-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 07-01-1997 04-03-2003 26-05-2003 07-10-1996 10-10-2003 11-03-2003

Dominican Republic 07-09-2006 01-01-2008 X 01-01-2007

Egypt 27-05-1999 01-01-2001 X 05-02-2007 13-03-2006 13-03-2006 13-03-2006** 13-03-2006 13-03-2006 13-03-2006 13-03-2006

Eritrea 17-01-2003 17-01-2003 --- ---

Estonia 26-05-1993 01-01-1995 X 01-01-2007 01-05-2004 08-12-1997 01-05-2004 13-11-1995 01-05-2004 01-05-2004

Ethiopia 01-03-1995 01-03-1995 X --- 09-01-2003* 09-01-2003 09-01-2003 01-01-2003

Fiji 23-12-1997 01-01-1998 X 09-03-2007 18-06-1996 01-06-1997

Finland 22-09-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 07-01-1997 04-03-2003 26-05-2003 07-10-1996 10-10-2003 11-03-2003

France 22-09-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 07-01-1997 04-03-2003 26-05-2003 07-10-1996 10-10-2003 11-03-2003

Gabon 07-07-2000 01-01-2002 X --- 02-06-2003

Germany 22-09-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 07-01-1997 04-03-2003 26-05-2003 07-10-1996 10-10-2003 11-03-2003

Ghana 29-06-2007 01-01-2009 X 01-01-2008

Greece 15-07-1988 01-01-1990 X 01-01-2007 07-01-1997 04-03-2003 26-05-2003 07-10-1996 10-10-2003 11-03-2003

Guinea 23-09-1997 01-01-1998 X ---

Haiti 17-01-2000 17-01-2000 --- ---

Hungary 27-08-1990 01-01-1991 X 01-01-2007 03-09-2002 13-01-1998 01-05-2004 01-05-2004 18-03-2002 01-05-2004

Iceland 28-10-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007

India 23-06-1986 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007

Indonesia 05-07-1993 01-01-1995 X 01-01-2007 30-10-1998

Iran 28-02-1995 01-01-1997 X --- 07-09-2004 07-09-2004 10-03-1999 07-09-2004* 07-09-2004 19-01-2002 07-09-2004

Ireland 22-12-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 07-01-1997 04-03-2003 26-05-2003 07-10-1996 10-10-2003 11-03-2003

Israel 05-08-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007

Italy 31-05-1989 01-01-1991 X 01-01-2007 07-01-1997 04-03-2003 26-05-2003 07-10-1996 10-10-2003 11-03-2003

Japan 22-06-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 24-03-1997 29-11-2005 29-11-2005 29-11-2005

Jordan 10-06-1985 01-01-1988 X 01-03-2007

Kazakhstan 26-03-2004 01-01-2006 X 01-01-2008 15-07-2002 01-01-2004 01-01-2004



B/3/3/Rev.




Date of

accession

Date of implemen-

tation

Implemen-tation

Implementation

Pre-entry

Classification 1996

UNSD Trade Data

1997


Ozone 1995 1999* 2003** 2006***


Hand-made Products

2000

Units of Quantity

2001/ 2006*

Application of HSC

Decisions 2001

Firearms 2002

Kenya 29-07-1988 01-07-1989 X ---

Korea (Rep. of) 27-11-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 07-08-1996 26-10-1998 22-11-2003 01-01-1997 01-01-1997 01-01-2002 01-01-2002 01-01-2007

Kuwait 27-11-2003 01-01-2005 X 01-01-2007 21-05-1997

Kyrgyzstan 04-01-2007 01-01-2009 --- 01-01-2007

Latvia 04-01-1996 01-06-1996 X 01-01-2007 19-07-1999 25-01-1999 01-05-2004 10-11-2000 31-07-2002 01-05-2004

Lebanon 03-05-1996 03-05-1996 X 01-01-2007 06-06-2007 06-06-2007 06-06-2007 06-06-2007 06-06-2007

Lesotho 12-12-1985 01-01-1988 X 23-03-2007

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

17-05-1993 01-01-1995 X 01-04-2007

Lithuania 20-06-1994 01-01-1995 X 01-01-2007 25-08-1997 08-12-1997 09-11-1998 03-08-1998 30-09-2003 30-09-2003

Luxembourg 11-07-1988 11-07-1988 X 01-01-2007 07-01-1997 04-03-2003 26-05-2003 07-10-1996 10-10-2003 11-03-2003

Madagascar 22-12-1987 01-01-1988 X 02-01-2007 01-01-20071 01-01-20071 01-01-20071 01-01-2007**1 01-01-20071 01-01-20071 01-01-20071 01-01-20071 01-01-20071

Malawi 25-10-1988 01-04-1989 X 01-01-2007

Malaysia 15-12-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2008 10-06-1997

Maldives 07-07-2000 01-01-2002 X 01-01-2008 05-10-2006 11-07-2002 05-10-2006***1 05-10-20061

Mali 15-06-1994 01-01-1995 X ---

Malta 20-12-1989 01-01-1990 X 01-01-2007 01-05-2004 27-01-1998 01-05-2004 01-05-2004 01-05-2004 01-05-2004

Mauritania 03-04-2001 01-01-2003 X ---

Mauritius 10-06-1985 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 15-11-1999 11-11-2002

Mexico 06-09-1991 06-03-1992 X 01-07-2007 20-08-1996

Moldova 10-06-2004 01-01-2006 X ---

Mongolia 30-09-1991 01-01-1993 X 01-01-2007 04-11-2003

Montenegro 23-03-2007 23-03-2007 X 01-05-2007

Morocco 27-02-1992 01-07-1992 X 01-01-2008 24-04-2001 25-02-2002 25-02-2002

Myanmar 05-12-1994 01-01-1995 X 01-04-2007 20-09-1995

Namibia 05-05-2004 01-01-2006 --- 01-01-2007

Nepal 25-08-2006 28-07-2006 X 17-07-2007

Netherlands 22-09-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 07-01-1997 04-03-2003 26-05-2003 07-10-1996 10-10-2003 11-03-2003

New Zealand 22-09-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007

Niger 16-03-1990 01-01-1991 X 01-11-2007

Nigeria 15-03-1988 15-03-1988 X --- 12-02-1998



B/3/4/Rev.




Date of

accession

Date of implemen-

tation

Implemen-tation

Implementation

Pre-entry

Classification 1996

UNSD Trade Data

1997


Ozone 1995 1999* 2003** 2006***


Hand-made Products

2000

Units of Quantity

2001/ 2006*

Application of HSC

Decisions 2001

Firearms 2002

Norway 27-08-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 18-09-1996 07-01-1998 8-12-1999* 19-12-2001

Pakistan 22-09-1987 01-07-1988 X 01-07-2007 03-12-2001 03-12-2001

Panama 24-08-1998 01-01-2000 X ---

Paraguay 12-01-2007 01-01-2009 --- 15-01-2007

Peru 09-07-1998 01-01-2000 X 01-04-2007 09-03-2006** 13-02-2001 01-04-2007 01-04-2007

Philippines 28-06-2001 28-01-2001 X ---

Poland 12-09-1995 01-01-1996 X 01-01-2007 03-07-2001 01-05-2004 01-05-2004 01-05-2004 01-05-2004 01-05-2004

Portugal 04-11-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 07-01-1997 04-03-2003 26-05-2003 07-10-1996 10-10-2003 11-03-2003

Qatar 28-09-2004 01-01-2006 X ---

Romania 05-12-1996 01-01-1997 X 01-01-2007 23-06-1997 02-04-2003 01-01-2007 02-04-2003* 02-04-2003 02-04-2003

Russia 18-06-1996 01-01-1997 X 01-01-2007 15-07-2002 18-05-2005 18-05-2005 15-07-2002* 04-08-2002 18-05-2005

Rwanda 29-07-1992 01-01-1994 --- 20-12-2007

Saudi Arabia 10-03-1988 01-01-1990 X 01-01-2007 30-08-2001 08-01-2001

Senegal 21-09-1989 01-01-1991 X 01-01-2008 24-10-2002* 24-10-2002 24-10-2002

Serbia 09-01-2002 01-07-2002 X 01-01-2008 01-04-2006 01-04-2006

Singapore 30-11-2005 01-01-2006 X 01-02-2007

Slovakia 07-06-1993 07-06-1993 X 01-01-2007 04-06-1997 08-11-2000 01-05-2004 01-05-2004 01-05-2004 01-05-2004

Slovenia 23-11-1992 23-11-1992 X 01-01-2007 02-06-1997 01-05-2004 01-05-2004 01-05-2004 01-05-2004 01-05-2004

South Africa 25-11-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 26-09-19791 06-03-1998 26-09-19791 01-01-2007**1 01-01-20071 01-01-20021 20-09-20051 01-01-20071

Spain 28-09-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 07-01-1997 04-03-2003 26-05-2003 07-10-1996 10-10-2003 11-03-2003

Sri Lanka 03-05-1988 01-01-1989 X 14-05-2007 14-02-2005** 26-02-2003

Sudan 10-12-1993 10-12-1993 --- 21-01-2007

Swaziland 26-11-1985 01-01-1988 X ---

Sweden 22-09-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 07-01-1997 04-03-2003 26-05-2003 07-10-1996 10-10-2003 11-03-2003

Switzerland 22-09-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 06-02-1997 11-02-1998 01-09-2007 01-07-2007*** 01-07-2007* 13-09-2002

Syrian Arab Republic 12-11-2007 01-01-2009

--- 26-04-2007

Tajikistan 06-07-2005 01-01-2007 --- 01-01-2008

Tanzania 24-01-2008 01-01-2008 --- ---

Thailand 16-12-1991 01-01-1993 X 01-01-2007 01-03-2005** 01-01-20061



B/3/5/Rev.




Date of

accession

Date of implemen-

tation

Implemen-tation

Implementation

Pre-entry

Classification 1996

UNSD Trade Data

1997


Ozone 1995 1999* 2003** 2006***


Hand-made Products

2000

Units of Quantity

2001/ 2006*

Application of HSC

Decisions 2001

Firearms 2002

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

31-03-1995 31-03-1995 X 01-01-2007 01-07-2004 01-01-2008* 01-07-2004

Togo 12-02-1990 01-01-1991 --- 01-01-2007

Tunisia 28-10-1987 01-01-1989 X 06-07-2007 12-09-1997

Turkey 15-12-1988 01-01-1989 X 01-01-2007 06-10-1997 24-07-1998 21-01-2003 31-01-2007***1 31-01-2007*1 31-01-20071 21-01-2003

Uganda 11-07-1989 01-01-1991 X 01-01-2008

Ukraine 26-08-2002 01-01-2004 X 01-01-2009 01-06-20051 01-01-2008 01-06-20051 01-01-2008** 01-06-20051 01-01-2008* 01-06-2005 01-01-2008

United Arab Emirates 27-06-2002 01-07-2002 X 01-01-2007

United Kingdom 22-09-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 07-01-1997 04-03-2003 26-05-2003 07-10-1996 10-10-2003 11-03-2003

United States 31-10-1988 01-01-1989 X 03-02-2007 27-02-1997 06-11-1998 06-11-1998 13-12-2006**1 27-04-2007 13-12-20061 01-06-2005

Uzbekistan 17-11-1998 01-01-2000 X --- 30-11-2002

Venezuela 23-10-1998 02-11-1998 X ---

Viet Nam 26-03-1998 01-01-2000 X 01-01-2008

Yemen 30-09-2002 01-01-2003 --- 16-08-2008

Zambia 22-12-1986 01-01-1988 X 01-02-2007

Zimbabwe 05-11-1986 01-01-1988 X 02-02-2007

European Community (EC)

22-09-1987 01-01-1988 X 01-01-2007 07-01-1997 04-03-2003 26-05-2003 07-10-1996 10-10-2003 11-03-2003

TOTAL Contracting Parties

134

118

111 64 52 47

58

20 5 55 55 8

°

° °


Position as of 03-10-2008 (Non Contracting Parties)

B/3/6.

Country / Territory / Organization

HS 2002 Implementation


Acceptance of Recommendations (by date of receipt of the notifications or date of implementation1)

Pre-entry

Classification 1996

UNSD Trade Data

1997


1998

Ozone 1995 1999* 2003** 2006***

Chemical Weapons

1996/1999*/2006** **

Hand-made Products

2000

Units of Quantity

Application of HSC

Decisions 2001

Firearms 2002

Afghanistan X

Albania

Angola X

Antigua and Barbuda

Armenia X

Bahamas

Barbados

Belize

Bermuda X

Bosnia and Herzegovina X

Brunei Darussalam X

Burundi X

Comoros

Cook Islands

Costa Rica X

Djibouti

Dominica

Ecuador

El Salvador 11-05-2006 11-05-2006 11-05-2006 11-05-2006** 11-05-2006 11-05-2006 11-05-2006 11-05-2006 11-05-2006

Equatorial Guinea

Gambia X

Georgia X

Grenada

Guatemala X

Guinea Bissau X

Guyana X

Honduras

Hong Kong, China X

Jamaica

Kiribati



B/3/7/Rev.





Pre-entry

Classification 1996

UNSD Trade Data

1997


1998

Ozone 1995 1999* 2003** 2006***

Chemical Weapons

1996/1999*/2006** **

Hand-made Products

2000

Units of Quantity

Application of HSC

Decisions 2001

Firearms 2002

Laos X

Liberia X

Liechtenstein X 06-02-1997 11-02-1998 18-09-2000* 13-09-2002 13-09-2002

Macau, China ¹ X

Marshall Islands

Micronesia

Mozambique X

New Caledonia (French Territory) X X

Nicaragua

Niue

Oman X

Palau

Papua New Guinea X

Polynesia (French Territory) 2 X

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia/Sainte-Lucie

Saint Pierre and Miquelon (French Territory) 2

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Samoa X

Seychelles

Sierra Leone X

Solomon Islands

Suriname

Tonga

Trinidad and Tobago X

Turkmenistan

Tuvalu

Uruguay X

Vanuatu

Wallis and Futuna Islands (French Territory)

20-12-2002 20-12-2002



B/3/8.





Pre-entry

Classification 1996

UNSD Trade Data

1997


1998

Ozone 1995 1999* 2003** 2006***

Chemical Weapons

1996/1999*/2006** **

Hand-made Products

2000

Units of Quantity

Application of HSC

Decisions 2001

Firearms 2002

Latin American Integration Association (ALADI) X 13-08-1999 13-08-1999 13-08-1999

Andean Community (CAN)

Caribbean Community (CARICOM)

Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)

X

Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC)

Commonwealth of the Independent States (CIS)

Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS)

Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC)/ X

Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR) X

West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA)

X

_____________________

¹ The government of the People’s Republic of China informed the Secretary General that his Government had decided to extend the application of the HS Convention to the Macau Special Administrative Region (01-01-2007).

² France informed the Secretary General that the HS Convention is extended to the Territories of New Caledonia (01-01-1988), to the French Polynesia (01-01-1989) and to the Territorial Entity of Saint

Pierre and Miquelon (01-01-1988).

* * *


HS POSITION as of 03-10-2008

B/3/10/Rev.

Country / Territory / Organization HS 2002

Implementation HS 2007

Implementation Acceptance of Recommendations


Pre-entry Classification

1996

UNSD Trade Data

1997


1998

Ozone 1995 1999* 2003** 2006***


**

Hand-made Products

2000

Units of Quantity

Application of HSC Decisions

2001

Firearms 2002

Total Non- contracting parties applying HS

60 Countries or Territories + 10 Organizations 70 Applications

26 7 2 2 1 4 3 1 3 2 1

Total Contracting Parties

133 Countries or Territories _+ 1 (EC) 134

118 111 64 52 47 58 20 5 55 55 8

Total

134 Contracting Parties _70 Applications 204

144 118 66 54 48 62 23 6 58 57 9

* * *


LIST OF HS-BASED TARIFFS / NOMENCLATURES 03-10-2008

B/4/1/Rev.

HS CPs On Internet (latest version) In the Secretariat

Tariff Web Site Address Remarks Language Language Version

Algeria http://www.douanes-cnis.dz/cnis/tarif/sections.asp

French French 1999

Andorra http://www.duana.ad/ Catalan

Argentina http://www.afip.gov.ar/servicios_y_consultas/consultas_en_linea/arancel_integrado/arancel_integrado.asp

Spanish Spanish 2002

Australia http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page.cfm?nav_id=781&area_id=5&level_2_id=1#1

English English 2005

Austria

http://www.bmf.gv.at/zoll/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)

EC Combined Nomenclature / TARIC

German (EC German) (2006)

Azerbaijan www.az-customs.net/tarif80.htm Azeri (CIS Russian) (1996)

Bahrain

Arabic / English (GCC) (GCC Arabic)

2002

(2003)

Bangladesh http://www.nbr-bd.org/nbrweb/CustomsFiles/cusTariffindex.asp


Belarus http://www.customs.gov.by

Belarusian Russian 1997

Belgium

http://fiscus.fgov.be/interfisc/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


French / Dutch (BLEU)

French / Dutch (BLEU)

2005

Benin (UEMOA) Benin (IZF)

http://www.uemoa.int/actes/2002/TarifExterieurCommun.htm http://www.izf.net/izf/TEC/afrique%20de%20l’ouest/index_ao.htm

UEMOA Tariff French (ECOWAS) (1998)

Bhutan English 2002

Bolivia (ALADI Tariff) Bolivia (CAN Tariff)

http://www.aladi.org/nsfaladi/naladi02.nsf/naladisaweb http://www.comunidadandina.org/union/arancel.htm

ALADI Tariff CAN Tariff (Decisiones 465 / anexos + 535 / anexos + 370)

Spanish Spanish (CAN)

1999

Botswana

Brazil http://www.receita.fazenda.gov.br/srf.www/Aduana/TabelaTec/Sumario.htm

Portuguese Portuguese (MERCOSUR)

2002

Bulgaria (Bulgarian) Bulgaria (English)

http://www.customs.government.bg/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


Bulgarian English

Bulgarian English

2000 1996

Burkina Faso (UEMOA) Burkina Faso (IZF)


UMEOA Tariff French French (ECOWAS)

1998

http://www.douanes-cnis.dz/cnis/tarif/sections.asp



http://www.duana.ad/buscaart.asp

http://www.duana.ad/buscaart.asp

http://www.afip.gov.ar/servicios_y_consultas/consultas_en_linea/arancel_integrado/arancel_integrado.asp




http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page.cfm?nav_id=781&area_id=5&level_2_id=1#1



http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/de/archive/2001/l_27920011023de.html

http://www.bmf.gv.at/zoll/

http://www.az-customs.net/tarif80.htm

http://www.az-customs.net/tarif80.htm

http://www.nbr-bd.org/nbrweb/CustomsFiles/cusTariffindex.asp




http://www.customs.by/tnsearch/tnved.html

http://www.customs.gov.by/

http://tarweb.minfin.fgov.be/

http://fiscus.fgov.be/interfisc/

http://www.uemoa.int/actes/2002/TarifExterieurCommun.htm

http://www.izf.net/izf/TEC/afrique%20de%20l'ouest/index_ao.htm





http://www.aladi.org/nsfaladi/naladi02.nsf/naladisaweb

http://www.comunidadandina.org/union/arancel.htm





http://www.receita.fazenda.gov.br/srf.www/Aduana/TabelaTec/Sumario.htm



http://www.customs.bg/index_bg.html

http://www.customs.bg/english/index_eng.html

http://www.customs.government.bg/








B/4/2/Rev.



Cambodia http://www.camnet.com.kh/customs/TARIFF%20AND%20DUTY%20RATES.htm

Duty rates only English

Cameroon http://www.izf.net/izf/TEC/afrique%20centrale/index_ac.htm

CEMAC Tariff French (CEMAC French)

(1998)

Canada (English) Canada (French)

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/general/publications/customs_tariff-e.html http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/general/publications/customs_tariff-f.html

English French

English French

2003 2003

Cape Verde

Portuguese (ECOWAS)

1998

Central African Rep.

http://www.izf.net/izf/TEC/afrique%20centrale/index_ac.htm


(1998)

Chad http://www.izf.net/izf/TEC/afrique%20centrale/index_ac.htm


(1998)

Chile (HTML) Chile (PDF)

http://www.aduana.cl/norm/Arancel.htm http://www.aduana.cl/norm/Arancel%202002.pdf


China http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apeccgi.cgi?CN

APEC Tariff English Chinese / English

2007

Colombia

http://www.dian.gov.co/Dian/normatividad.nsf/2435423366a9d258052569e700739b2a/74b10d052209297405256b30005f6b21?OpenDocument


Congo (Dem. Rep.)

French 2003

Congo (Rep.) http://www.izf.net/izf/TEC/afrique%20centrale/index_ac.htm


(1998)

Côte d’Ivoire (UEMOA) Côte d’Ivoire (IZF)

http ://www.uemoa.int/actes/2002/TarifExterieurCommun.htm http ://www.izf.net/izf/TEC/afrique%20de%20l’ouest/index_ao.htm


Croatia http://www.carina.hr/

Carinska tarifa CUSTOMS TARIFF ACT

Croatian English

Croatian English

1996 1996

Cuba http://www.aladi.org/nsfaladi/naladi02.nsf/naladisaweb


Cyprus

http://www.mof.gov.cy/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


(EC Greek)

(2006)

Czech Rep.

http://www.cs.mfcr.cz/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


Czech (EC Czech) (2006)

Denmark

http://www.toldskat.dk/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


Danish (EC Danish) (2006)

http://www.camnet.com.kh/customs/TARIFF%20AND%20DUTY%20RATES.htm






http://www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca/customs/general/publications/customs_tariff-e.html

http://www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca/customs/general/publications/customs_tariff-f.html




http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/general/publications/customs_tariff-f.html










http://www.aduana.cl/norm/Arancel.htm

http://www.aduana.cl/norm/Arancel%202002.pdf

http://www.aduana.cl/norm/Arancel%202002.pdf

http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apeccgi.cgi?CN

















http://www.carina.hr/tar/czakon.htm

http://www.carina.hr/




http://www.mof.gov.cy/

http://www.cs.mfcr.cz/scripts/sazebnik/index.idc

http://www.cs.mfcr.cz/

http://vita.toldskat.dk/vita.htm

http://www.toldskat.dk/


B/4/3/Rev.



Dominican Republic

http://198.186.239.122/Aranceles/Aranceles.asp?Forma=ar1.asp&banner=op01e.jpg

see FTAA for English / Portuguese / French

Egypt English 2005

Eritrea

Estonia

http://www.customs.ee/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


Estonian (EC Estonian) (2006)

Ethiopia Ethiopian / English

2003

Fiji English 1997

Finland

http://www.tulli.fi/fi/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)

EC Combined Nomenclature / TARIC Finnish (EC Finnish) (2006)

France

http://www.douane.gouv.fr/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


French (EC French) (2005)

Gabon http://www.izf.net/izf/TEC/afrique%20centrale/index_ac.htm

CEMAC Tariff French French 2002

Germany

http://www.zoll.de/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


German (EC German) (2006)

Greece

http://www.e-oikonomia.gr/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


Greek (EC Greek) (2006)

Guinea French (ECOWAS)

1998

Haiti French 1996

Hungary

http://openkkk.vpop.hu/TARICWeb http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:2004:327:SOM:HU:HTML (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


(EC Hungarian)

(2006)

Iceland (Icelandic) Iceland (English)

http://www.tollur.is/tollur/handbok/handbok2/handbok2.html http://www.tollur.is/english/customs/manuals/manual2/manual2.html

Icelandic English

Icelandic English

1994 1994

India http://www.cbec.gov.in/cae/customs/cs-abc.html

English English 2005-2006

Indonesia (Indonesian) Indonesia (English)

http://www.beacukai.go.id/tarif/ http://www.beacukai.go.id/english/

ASEAN Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature (AHTN) Path : Tariff

Indonesian English

Indonesian / English

2004






http://trip.rk.ee/cgi-bin/thw?$%7bBASE%7d=akt&$%7bOOHTML%7d=rtd&ID=VVm_RT_I_2002,_108,_646

http://www.customs.ee/

http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/fi/archive/2001/l_27920011023fi.html

http://www.tulli.fi/fi/

http://www.douane.gouv.fr/fwebpaged.asp?page=http://tarif.douane.finances.gouv.fr/

http://www.douane.gouv.fr/




http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/de/tarhome.htm

http://www.zoll.de/

http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/el/tarhome.htm

http://www.e-oikonomia.gr/

http://openkkk.vpop.hu/TARICWeb

http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:2004:327:SOM:HU:HTML



http://www.tollur.is/tollur/handbok/handbok2/handbok2.html

http://www.tollur.is/english/customs/manuals/manual2/manual2.html





http://www.cbec.gov.in/cae/customs/cs-abc.html



http://www.beacukai.go.id/tarif/

http://www.beacukai.go.id/english/

http://www.beacukai.go.id/tarif/

http://www.beacukai.go.id/english/


B/4/4/Rev.



Iran (Farsi) Iran (English)

http://www.irica.gov.ir/FHomeIE.htm http://www.irica.gov.ir/LhomeIE.htm

/اطلاعات تجاري عرفه گمرك و عوارض و حقوق گمركي Business Information / Tariff

Farsi English

Farsi 1998

Ireland

http://www.revenue.ie/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


English (EC English) (2006)

Israel

http://www.mof.gov.il/taxes/ http://www.mof.gov.il/customs/eng/mainpage.htm

Hebrew/ English

English 1997

Italy

http://www.agenziadogane.it (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


Italian (EC Italian) (2006)

Japan http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apeccgi.cgi?JP

APEC Tariff English Japanese / English

2006

Jordan (Arabic) Jordan (English)

http://www.customs.gov.jo/ARABIC/tariff_tables.shtm http://www.customs.gov.jo/tariff_tables.shtm

Arabic English

Arabic / English

2002

Kazakhstan

http://www.customs.kz/exec/stat/showdoc?id=297

Commodity Nomenclature of Eurasian Economic Association

Kazakh, Russian

English 2004

Kenya English 2002

Korea (Rep. of) http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apeccgi.cgi?KR

APEC Tariff English Korean / English

1999

Kuwait http://www.customs.gov.kw/ie/tariffs.shtml

Path : Tariffs for the year 2003 (xls)

English Arabic (GCC) (GCC Arabic)

2003

Kyrgyzstan

Latvia

http://www.vid.gov.lv/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


Latvian English

(EC Latvian)

(2006)

Lebanon http://www.customs.gov.lb/customs/English/tariffs/national/tariff1.asp

English

Lesotho English 1993

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Arabic 1998

Lithuania

http://www.cust.lt/index (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


Lithuanian English

(EC Lithuanian)

(2006)

Luxembourg

http://www.do.etat.lu/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)

EC Combined Nomenclature/ TARIC

French (BLEU French)

(2006)

http://www.irica.gov.ir/FHomeIE.htm

http://www.irica.gov.ir/LhomeIE.htm

http://www.irica.gov.ir/FHomeIE.htm

http://www.irica.gov.ir/LhomeIE.htm

http://www.revenue.ie/pdf/TAR03-FRONT.pdf

http://www.revenue.ie/

http://www.mof.gov.il/taxes/

http://www.mof.gov.il/customs/eng/mainpage.htm

http://www.mof.gov.il/customs/eng/mainpage.htm

http://taric.finanze.it/taric/wptini0h.htm

http://www.agenziadogane.it/

http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apeccgi.cgi?JP



http://www.customs.gov.jo/ARABIC/tariff_tables.shtm

http://www.customs.gov.jo/tariff_tables.shtm







http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apeccgi.cgi?KR



http://www.customs.gov.kw/ie/tariffs.shtml



http://www.fm.gov.lv/page.php?id=484

http://www.vid.gov.lv/

http://www.customs.gov.lb/customs/English/tariffs/national/tariff1.asp



http://www.ekic.lt/muitai/emuitai.HTM

http://www.cust.lt/index

http://tarweb.minfin.fgov.be/

http://www.do.etat.lu/


B/4/5/Rev.



Madagascar http://www.mefb.gov.mg/tx_lois/douane/tarif/tarif_index.htm

French French 2005

Malawi English 2007

Malaysia http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apeccgi.cgi?MY

APEC Tariff English English 1996

Maldives http://www.customs.gov.mv/tariff.html English English 2000

Mali (UEMOA) Mali (IZF)


UEMOA Tariff French French 1997

Malta

http://mfin.gov.mt/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


English (EC English) 2006

Mauritania French 2000

Mauritius http://ncb.intnet.mu/mof/department/customs/tariff.htm

Scheduled Customs Tariffs (pdf or xls)


Mexico http://www.economia.gob.mx/?P=955 Scheduled Customs Tariffs (pdf)


Moldavia

Mongolia Mongolian / Russian / English

1998

Montenegro

Morocco http://www.douane.gov.ma/tarif/tarif.htm French French 1997

Myanmar English 1996

Namibia

Nepal English 2001

Netherlands

http://www.belastingdienst.nl (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


Dutch (EC Dutch) (2006)

New Zealand http://www.customs.govt.nz/library/working+tariff+of+new+zealand/default.asp


Niger (UEMOA) Niger (IZF)


UEMOA Tariff French French (ECOWAS)

1998

Nigeria http://www.customs.gov.ng/Tariff/index.php

CET Tariff English (ECOWAS) 2005

Norway http://www.toll.no/templates_TAD/Tolltariffen/StartPage.aspx?id=75998&epslanguage=EN

Norwegian English

Norwegian 2007

Pakistan http://www.cbr.gov.pk/newcu/tariff/tariff_main.htm


Panama http://198.186.239.122/Aranceles/Aranceles.asp?Forma=ar1.asp&banner=op01e.jpg


Spanish

Paraguay http://www.aduana.gov.py/html/nomen/nom.htm

Spanish (MERCOSUR Spanish)

(1996)

http://www.mefb.gov.mg/tx_lois/douane/tarif/tarif_index.htm



http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apeccgi.cgi?MY



http://www.customs.gov.mv/tariff.html

http://www.customs.gov.mv/tariff.html







http://customs.business-line.com/Taricsearch.asp

http://mfin.gov.mt/

http://ncb.intnet.mu/mof/department/customs/tariff.htm



http://www.economia.gob.mx/?P=955

http://www.economia.gob.mx/?P=955

http://www.douane.gov.ma/tarif/tarif.htm

http://www.douane.gov.ma/tarif/tarif.htm

http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/nl/archive/2001/l_27920011023nl.html

http://www.belastingdienst.nl/

http://www.customs.govt.nz/library/working+tariff+of+new+zealand/default.asp









http://www.customs.gov.ng/Tariff/index.php

http://www.customs.gov.ng/Tariff/index.php

http://www.toll.no/tariff/

http://www.toll.no/templates_TAD/Tolltariffen/StartPage.aspx?id=75998&epslanguage=EN



http://www.cbr.gov.pk/newcu/tariff/tariff_main.htm







http://www.aduana.gov.py/html/nomen/nom.htm




B/4/6/Rev.



Peru http://www.aduanet.gob.pe/aduanas/operatividad/operatividad.htm

From the homepage : Arancel Integrado / Tratamiento Arancelario

Spanish Spanish (CAN)

1998

Philippines http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apeccgi.cgi?PH


Poland

http://www.mf.gov.pl (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


Polish (EC Polish)

(2006)

Portugal

http://www.dgaiec.min-financas.pt/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


Portuguese (EC Portuguese)

(2006)

Romania

http://www.customs.ro/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


Romanian Romanian 1997

Russia http://customs.consultant.ru/doc.asp?ID=50010

Russian English

2002 1994

Rwanda

Saudi Arabia (Arabic) Saudi Arabia (English)

http://www.customs.gov.sa/arabic/trfsys/trfmain.htm http://www.customs.gov.sa/trfsys/trfmain.htm

Arabic English

Arabic (GCC Arabic)

2003

Senegal (UEMOA) Senegal (IZF)


UEMOA Tariff French (UMEOA) (2003)

Serbia http://www.fcs.yu/srpski/TarifaZakonObrasci.htm

Carinska Tarifa.zip

Serbian

Singapore (Nomencla-ture) Singapore (Dutiable goods)

http://www.tradenet.gov.sg/trdnet/index_extra.jsp?url=admin/search.jsp&artName=9&catName=0 http://www.gov.sg/customs/trade/trde1_3.html

Nomenclature without duties Dutiable goods only


Slovakia

http://www.colnasprava.sk/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


Slovak (EC Slovak) (2006)

Slovenia

http://carina.gov.si/angl/index.htm (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


(EC Slovene) (2006)

http://www.aduanet.gob.pe/aduanas/informai/tra_ar.htm

http://www.aduanet.gob.pe/aduanas/operatividad/operatividad.htm

http://www.aduanet.gob.pe/aduanas/operatividad/operatividad.htm

http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apeccgi.cgi?PH



http://www.mf.gov.pl/sluzba_celna/dokument.php?dzial=516&id=31803

http://www.mf.gov.pl/

http://pauta.dgaiec.min-financas.pt/

http://www.dgaiec.min-financas.pt/

http://www.customs.ro/

http://customs.consultant.ru/doc.asp?ID=50010

http://customs.consultant.ru/doc.asp?ID=50010

http://www.customs.gov.sa/arabic/trfsys/trfmain.htm

http://www.customs.gov.sa/trfsys/trfmain.htm











http://www.fcs.yu/srpski/TarifaZakonObrasci.htm



http://www.tradenet.gov.sg/trdnet/index_extra.jsp?url=admin/search.jsp&artName=9&catName=0

http://www.gov.sg/customs/trade/trde1_3.html






http://www.colnasprava.sk/cssr/www/CssrHomePage.nsf/pages/Sadzobnik_allframes

http://www.colnasprava.sk/

http://carina.gov.si/angl/index.htm


B/4/7/Rev.



South Africa

http://www.sars.gov.za Path to schedules : « Legislation » on Menu Bar at the top of the page – « customs and excise amendments »


Spain

http://www.agenciatributaria.es/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


Spanish (EC Spanish) (2005)

Sri Lanka CD-Rom (English)

2006

Sudan http://www.customs.gov.sd/index2.htm English Arabic 1992

Swaziland

Sweden

http://www.tullverket.se/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


Swedish English

(EC Swedish) (2005)

Switzerland (French) Switzerland (German) Switzerland (Italian)

http://www.zoll.admin.ch/f/firmen/import/generaltarif_f.pdf http://www.zoll.admin.ch/d/firmen/import/generaltarif_d.pdf http://www.zoll.admin.ch/i/firmen/import/generaltarif_i.pdf The electronic version is also available under: www.tares.ch

French German Italian

French 2007

Syrian Arab Republic

Tanzania http://tra.go.tz/Harmonized.html

English

English 1996

Tajikistan

Thailand http://www.customs.go.th/Tariff/Tariff.jsp Thai / English Thai / English 2002

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

http://www.customs.gov.mk/Uploads/tarifa_2003_1_za_server.pdf

Macedonian Macedonian 2002

Togo (UEMOA) Togo (IZF)



Tunisia www.douane.gov.tn NDP Tariff Arabic/French Arabic/French 2007

Turkey (Turkish) Turkey (English)

http://www.gumruk.gov.tr/

Turkish English

English 1997

Uganda http://www.ugrevenue.com/tax_tarrifs/ English English 1997

Ukraine Ukrainian 1993

United Arab Emirates

Arabic (GCC) (GCC Arabic)

2003

United Kingdom

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ (for EC Combined Nomenclature and TARIC see also “European Community”)


English (EC English) (2006)

United States http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/ English 2003

Uzbekistan

http://www.sars.gov.za/

https://www3.aeat.es/L/intenatu/adtwng0w.nsp

http://www.agenciatributaria.es/

http://www.customs.gov.sd/index2.htm

http://www.customs.gov.sd/index2.htm

http://taric.tullverket.se/taric/bin/tagVarukoder.cgi

http://www.tullverket.se/

http://www.zoll.admin.ch/f/firmen/import/generaltarif_f.pdf

http://www.zoll.admin.ch/d/firmen/import/generaltarif_d.pdf

http://www.zoll.admin.ch/i/firmen/import/generaltarif_i.pdf







http://www.tares.ch/

http://tra.go.tz/Harmonized.html

http://www.customs.go.th/Tariff/Tariff.jsp

http://www.customs.go.th/Tariff/Tariff.jsp













http://www.douane.gov.tn/

http://www.gumruk.gov.tr/tarife2003/index.htm

http://www.gumruk.gov.tr/Turkish_Customs_English/tariff/guide.htm

http://www.gumruk.gov.tr/

http://www.ugrevenue.com/tax_tarrifs/

http://www.ugrevenue.com/tax_tarrifs/

http://www.hmce.gov.uk/

http://dataweb.usitc.gov/

http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/


B/4/8/Rev.



Venezuela http://www.seniat.gov.ve/portal/page?_pageid=62,50040&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL


Viet Nam Vietnamese / English

1996

Yemen Arabic 2002

Zambia English 1997

Zimbabwe English 1997

European Community (EC Combined Nomenclature) European Community (EC TARIC)

http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030en00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/en/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML

Bulgarian Bulgarian 2007


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/cs/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030cs00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dd/cs/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML

Czech Czech 2007


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/da/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030da00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/da/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML

Danish Danish 2007

http://www.seniat.gov.ve/portal/page?_pageid=62,50040&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL




http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/da/archive/2001/l_27920011023da.html


http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/da/tarhome.htm


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030en00010877.pdf



http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/en/tarhome.htm


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML







http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/cs/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030cs00010877.pdf



http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/cs/tarhome.htm

http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/cs/tarhome.htm








http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/da/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030da00010877.pdf









B/4/9/Rev.




http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/nl/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030nl00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/nl/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML

Dutch Dutch 2007


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030en00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/en/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML



http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/et/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030et00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/et/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML

Estonian Estonian 2007



http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/nl/tarhome.htm


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/nl/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030nl00010877.pdf








http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/archive/2001/l_27920011023en.html

http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/archive/2001/l_27920011023en.html













http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/fi/tarhome.htm


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/et/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030et00010877.pdf



http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/et/tarhome.htm

http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/et/tarhome.htm





B/4/10/Rev.




http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/fi/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030fi00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/fi/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML

Finnish Finnish 2007


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/fr/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030fr00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/fr/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML

French French 2007


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/de/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030de00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/de/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML

German German 2007





http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/fi/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030fi00010877.pdf








http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/fr/archive/2001/l_27920011023fr.html

http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/fr/archive/2001/l_27920011023fr.html

http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/fr/tarhome.htm


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/fr/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030fr00010877.pdf












http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/de/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030de00010877.pdf









B/4/11/Rev.




http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/el/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030el00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/el/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML

Greek Greek 2007


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/hu/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030hu00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/hu/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML

Hungarian Hungarian 2007


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/it/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030it00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/it/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML

Italian Italian 2007





http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/el/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030el00010877.pdf












http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/hu/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030hu00010877.pdf



http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/hu/tarhome.htm

http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/hu/tarhome.htm




http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/it/archive/2001/l_27920011023it.html


http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/it/tarhome.htm


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/it/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030it00010877.pdf









B/4/12/Rev.




http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/lv/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030lv00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/lv/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML

Latvian Latvian 2007


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/lt/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030lt00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/lt/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML

Lithuanian Lithuanian 2007


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/pl/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030pl00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/pl/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML

Polish Polish 2007

http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/pt/archive/2001/l_27920011023pt.html


http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/pt/tarhome.htm


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/lv/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030lv00010877.pdf



http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/lv/tarhome.htm

http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/lv/tarhome.htm








http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/lt/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030lt00010877.pdf



http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/lt/tarhome.htm

http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/lt/tarhome.htm








http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/pl/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030pl00010877.pdf



http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/pl/tarhome.htm

http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/pl/tarhome.htm





B/4/13/Rev.




http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/pt/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030pt00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/pt/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML

Portuguese Portuguese 2007


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/fr/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030fr00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/fr/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML

Romanian Romanian 2007


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/es/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030es00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/es/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML






http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/pt/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030pt00010877.pdf




















http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/es/archive/2001/l_27920011023es.html

http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/es/archive/2001/l_27920011023es.html

http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/es/tarhome.htm


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/es/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030es00010877.pdf









B/4/14/Rev.




http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/sk/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030sk00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/sk/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML

Slovak Slovak 2007


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/sl/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030sl00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/sl/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML

Slovenian Slovenian 2007


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/sv/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030sv00010877.pdf http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/sv/tarhome.htm The HS 2007 version of the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Common Customs Tariff can be found in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006) : http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:301:SOM:EN:HTML

Swedish Swedish 2007

°

° °





http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/sk/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030sk00010877.pdf



http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/sk/tarhome.htm

http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/sk/tarhome.htm








http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/sl/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030sl00010877.pdf



http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/sl/tarhome.htm

http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/sl/tarhome.htm




http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/sv/archive/2001/l_27920011023sv.html

http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/sv/archive/2001/l_27920011023sv.html

http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/sv/tarhome.htm


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/sv/oj/2004/l_327/l_32720041030sv00010877.pdf









B/4/15/Rev.

Countries / Territories applying HS

On Internet (latest version) In the Secretariat


Afghanistan

Albania

Angola http://www.minfin.gv.ao/alfan/pauta.htm

Portuguese

Antigua and Barbuda http://198.186.239.122/Aranceles/Aranceles.asp?Forma=ar1.asp&banner=op01e.jpg


Spanish (CARICOM English)

(1993)

Armenia http://www.customs.am/pdf_eng/custcod.pdf

page 35 English

Bahamas http://198.186.239.122/Aranceles/Aranceles.asp?Forma=ar1.asp&banner=op01e.jpg


Spanish English 1996

Barbados http://198.186.239.122/Aranceles/Aranceles.asp?Forma=ar1.asp&banner=op01e.jpg



(1993)

Belize http://198.186.239.122/Aranceles/Aranceles.asp?Forma=ar1.asp&banner=op01e.jpg



(1993)

Bermuda http://www.customs.gov.bm/tariff01042003.pdf


Brunei Darussalam http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apeccgi.cgi?BN


Burundi

Comoros French 1993

Cook Islands English 1989

Costa Rica http://www.hacienda.go.cr/tssac/arancel.asp


Djibouti

Dominica http://198.186.239.122/Aranceles/Aranceles.asp?Forma=ar1.asp&banner=op01e.jpg


(CARICOM English)

(1993)

Ecuador (ALADI) Ecuador (CAN)

http://www.aladi.org/nsfaladi/naladi02.nsf/naladisaweb http://www.comunidadandina.org/union/arancel.htm

ALADI Tariff CAN Tariff (Decisiones 465 / anexos + 535 / ane-xos + 370)

Spanish

El Salvador http://www.elsalvadortrade.com.sv/estadisticas/html/sac.phtml

Spanish

Equatorial Guinea http://www.izf.net/izf/TEC/afrique%20centrale/index_ac.htm

CEMAC Tariff

French (CEMAC French)

(1998)

Gambia (ECOWAS) (1998)

Georgia

Ghana http://www.cepsghana.org/gov_corp.cfm?GovCorpID=3

Path : Tariff Structure

English (ECOWAS) (1998)

Grenada http://198.186.239.122/Aranceles/Aranceles.asp?Forma=ar1.asp&banner=op01e.jpg


(CARICOM English)

(1993)

http://www.minfin.gv.ao/alfan/pauta.htm







http://www.customs.am/pdf_eng/custcod.pdf















http://www.customs.gov.bm/tariff01042003.pdf



http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apeccgi.cgi?BN



http://www.hacienda.go.cr/tssac/arancel.asp













http://www.elsalvadortrade.com.sv/estadisticas/html/sac.phtml






http://www.cepsghana.org/gov_corp.cfm?GovCorpID=3








B/4/16/Rev.




Guatemala http://www.sat.gob.gt/pls/publico/portal.documentos?codigo=55

Spanish

Guinea Bissau (UEMOA) Guinea Bissau (IZF)


UEMOA Tariff

French (ECOWAS) (1998)

Guyana http://198.186.239.122/Aranceles/Aranceles.asp?Forma=ar1.asp&banner=op01e.jpg


(CARICOM English)

(1993)

Honduras http://ns3.sieca.org.gt/ArancelCA2002/Arancel.asp

SIECA Tariff

Spanish

Hong Kong, China http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apeccgi.cgi?HK

APEC Tariff English Chinese / English

2002

Jamaica http://spider.fiscal.org.jm/jacustoms/tariff.htm


Kiribati English 1989

Laos

Liberia (ECOWAS) (1998)

Liechtenstein http://www.zoll.admin.ch/d/firmen/import/generaltarif_d.pdf

Switzerland Tariff

German French (Switzerland)

(2002)

Macau, China Chinese / Portuguese / English

2002

Marshall Islands

Micronesia

Mozambique http://www.alfandegas.org.mz/pauta_ad.htm

Portuguese Portuguese 1991

New Caledonia (French Territory)

http://www.douane.gouv.nc/douane/tarif/tarif.html

La nomen-clature tarifaire

French

Nicaragua http://ns3.sieca.org.gt/ArancelCA2002/Arancel.asp

SIECA Tariff

Spanish

Niue English 1989

Oman Arabic (GCC Arabic)

2003

Palau

Papua New Guinea http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apeccgi.cgi?NG

APEC Tariff English

Polynesia (French Territory)


France Tariff

French

Qatar Arabic (GCC) (GCC Arabic)

1999 (2003)

Saint Kitts and Nevis http://198.186.239.122/Aranceles/Aranceles.asp?Forma=ar1.asp&banner=op01e.jpg


(CARICOM English)

(1993)

Saint Lucia http://198.186.239.122/Aranceles/Aranceles.asp?Forma=ar1.asp&banner=op01e.jpg


(CARICOM English)

(1993)

Saint Pierre and Miquelon (French Territory)

http://www.sat.gob.gt/pls/publico/portal.documentos?codigo=55













http://ns3.sieca.org.gt/ArancelCA2002/Arancel.asp



http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apeccgi.cgi?HK



http://spider.fiscal.org.jm/jacustoms/tariff.htm






http://www.alfandegas.org.mz/pauta_ad.htm










http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apeccgi.cgi?NG

















B/4/17/Rev.




Saint Vincent and the Grenadines



English 1998

Samoa Seychelles

Sierra Leone English (ECOWAS)

1998

Solomon Islands English 1998

Suriname http://198.186.239.122/Aranceles/Aranceles.asp?Forma=ar1.asp&banner=op01e.jpg


(CARICOM English)

(1993)

Tonga English 1995

Trinidad and Tobago http://198.186.239.122/Aranceles/Aranceles.asp?Forma=ar1.asp&banner=op01e.jpg


English 1993

Turkmenistan

Tuvalu English 1989 Uruguay (ALADI) Uruguay (MERCOSUR)

http://www.aladi.org/nsfaladi/naladi02.nsf/naladisaweb http://www.mercosur.org.uy/espanol/snor/aec/ncm_2002.htm

ALADI Tariff MERCO-SUR Tariff

Spanish (MERCOSUR Spanish)

(1996)

Vanuatu

Wallis and Futuna Islands (French Territory)

°

° °















http://www.mercosur.org.uy/espanol/snor/aec/ncm_2002.htm






B/4/18/Rev.

Organizations On Internet (latest version) In the Secretariat


Latin American Integration Association (ALADI) (Spanish) Latin American Integration Association (ALADI) (Portuguese)

http://www.aladi.org/nsfaladi/naladi02.nsf/naladisaweb http://www.aladi.org/nsfaladi/nalash02.nsf/naladisaweb

Spanish Portuguese

Spanish 1996

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

http://www.apectariff.org To be registered

English

Andean Community (CAN)


Decisiones 465 / anexos + 535 / ane-xos + 370


Caribbean Community (CARICOM)

English 1993

Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)

Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC)


French

Commonwealth of the Independent States (CIS)

Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS)

Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)

http://198.186.239.122/Default.htm

English / French / Spanish / Portuguese

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

Arabic 2003

Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR)

http://www.mercosur.org.uy/espanol/snor/aec/ncm_2002.htm http://www.mercosur.org.uy/portugues/snor/aec/ncm_2002.htm

Spanish Portuguese

Spanish (Portuguese)

1996 (2002)

Secretariat of Central American Economic Integration (SIECA)


Spanish

West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA / IZF)

http://www.uemoa.int/actes/2002/TarifExterieurCommun.htm http://www.izf.net/izf/TEC/afrique%2de%20l'ouest/index_ao.htm

French French 2003

* * *


http://www.aladi.org/nsfaladi/nalash02.nsf/naladisaweb





http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apeccgi.cgi

http://www.apectariff.org/










http://www.mercosur.org.uy/portugues/snor/aec/ncm_2002.htm













Annex B/5 to Doc. NC 1377E1b (HSC/42/Oct. 2008)

B/5/Rev.

NOT APPLIED DECISIONS AS A RESULT OF

MEASURES TAKEN BY A DOMESTIC AUTHORITY

Contracting Party Not applied Decision Notification to the Secretariat

Canada Decision taken by the Committee at its 11th Session classifying “throat pastilles or cough drops, consisting essentially of sugar and flavouring agents” in subheading 1704.90. The Canadian Trade Tribunal had classified these throat pastilles in heading 30.04.

16 April 2004

Canada Decision taken by the Committee at its 35th Session classifying “***” in subheading 2106.90. The Canadian Trade Tribunal had classified this syrup in heading 30.04.

9 December 2005

Canada Decision taken by the Committee at its 35th Session classifying a liquid micronutrient preparation for plants in subheading 3824.90. The Canadian Trade Tribunal had classified this product in heading 31.05.

8 May 2006

EC Decision taken by the Committee at its 20th Session classifying a transdermal administration system used as an alternative source of nicotine by smokers who are attempting to stop smoking, in subheading 3824.90. The Court of Justice of the European Communities had classified this product in heading 30.04.

19 July 2006

* * *

Annex C to Doc. NC1377E1b (HSC/42/Oct. 2008)

C/1.

ANNEX C

GENERAL QUESTIONS

Working Doc.

Subject Classifi-cation

Opinions

E.N. amend-ments

Nomen-clature amend-ments

Other

1 2 3 4 5 6

NC1322E1a Possible amendment of Article 8 of the HS Convention with a view to removing the Council from its purely administrative role with regard to HS reservations, and to making the fast-track procedure the default reservation procedure.

See Annex N.

DECISIONS OF THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE (O. Eng.) 1. After presenting the working document, the Chairman invited delegates to examine the

text of Article 8 proposed in Annex I, together with the Note sent by the United States Administration containing its proposed text, as set out in Annex II.

2. Opening the discussion, the US Delegate thanked the Committee for taking her

Administration’s proposal into consideration and explained its intentions and objectives in putting forward this new draft, while recalling the US arguments set out in paragraphs 5 to 18 of Doc. NC1322E1a.

3. Following these explanations, the Chairperson asked the Committee to choose one of

the proposals as a basis for discussion and, with the support of the EC, the Committee agreed to work on the text submitted by the US Administration (see Annex II to the working document), analyzing it paragraph by paragraph.

4. With regard to proposed paragraph 1a, the Secretariat and the Delegates of the EC,

Japan and the United States made suggestions for improving the text. The Committee decided to replace the words "de renvoi de la question devant le Conseil pour examen complémentaire" in the French version (9th line of paragraph 1a and 12th line of paragraph 2) by "soumission de la question au Conseil", for the sake of consistency with the terms already used in the text of the Convention. Also in paragraph 1a, the United States proposed new wording for the final sentence, and the suggestion adopted reads as follows : “No Contracting Party may request a re-examination by the Harmonized System Committee or a referral to the Council of a matter under this paragraph if the matter has been re-examined two times by the Harmonized System Committee.”

5. With regard to paragraph 2, the changes proposed by the United States were approved

by the Committee, with a few modifications proposed by the EC to avoid redundancy.


DECISIONS BY THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE (contd.)

C/2/Rev.

6. There was a consensus in the Committee in favour of the total deletion of paragraph 3. 7. The Committee agreed to maintain paragraph 4. However, there was a difference of

opinion as to the scope of the words "for approval" (in the 4th line of the paragraph). Some delegates, such as those of Japan, the EC, the United States and Brazil, expressed their concerns and requested clarification with regard to the functions of the Council once a matter had been referred to it for further deliberation, i.e., in practice, did the Council actually deliberate on the matter or did it merely refer it to the HSC. At the proposal of the EC, the Committee decided to retain the word “approve” (in the 2nd line) and not to add the words “consider” and "for approval" (in the 4th line) in order to clarify the text. Also, in the French version, the tense used in the verb in the first line was corrected to read : “le Conseil est saisi”.

8. For the sake of simplicity and in order to use the same terminology as already

employed in other parts of the HS Convention, the Secretariat proposed the deletion from paragraphs 1a and 2 of the phrase "referral to the Council for further deliberation" and its replacement by the words "referral to the Council".

9. Paragraph 5 was adopted, with the exception of two phrases in square brackets which

the EC Delegate proposed should be deleted to clarify the text and avoid redundancy. Japan also suggested a minor editorial amendment to the 3rd line.

10. The amendments proposed for paragraph 6 were also accepted, with a few editorial

changes, despite the views of some delegates who were in favour of deleting it. In this connection, the Secretariat considered that although this paragraph might appear redundant, it could serve as a reminder to any Contracting Party wishing to seek re-examination more than twice.

11. After the text had been analysed the Chairperson, with a view to answering the

question posed by the United States in paragraph 16 of the working document, he explained that a reservation with respect to a Classification opinion approved by the Committee could no longer be entered once the two-month period had expired and, consequently, the Classification Opinion was deemed to have been approved. It was clarified that a Classification Opinion can be re-examined, but the underlying decision would remain valid.

12. During the discussion the Delegate of the Russian Federation gave his comments,

declaring that an analysis of the HS Committee’s work indicated that the Committee was not ready for a limitation of the number of reservations.

13. He also noted that certain questions which his Administration regarded as elementary

had still not been solved. For example, did the word "crystallisation" relate to the word "concentrated" in the expression "concentrated by flotation, magnetic separation or other mechanical or physical processes (except crystallisation)" ? And did the expression "washed (even with chemical substances …), crushed, ground, powdered, levigated, sifted, screened, concentrated by flotation, magnetic separation .." cover industrial or natural products ?

14. According to the Delegate of Russia, the SSC had not been able to reach a consensus

on these questions even though it had been considering them for several years. Also the Secretariat, for reasons which were unclear, was not in a position to express an opinion on these matters either. Under these conditions, his Administration believed that the only way to protect the scientific truth was to allow an unlimited number of reservations.


DECISIONS OF THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE (contd.)

C/3/Rev.

15. The Delegate of Russia added that during the examination of the classification of

natural sodium sulphates, the Russian Administration had presented the conclusions of scientific experts. Given that the delegates, by their own admission, were not chemical experts, the Secretariat had promised to give its comments on those conclusions. Unfortunately this had not been done, and the conclusions had not been presented to the delegates. Later, the Russian Administration had presented new conclusions by different specialists. The Delegate of Russia emphasized that these were new conclusions. The Secretariat had refused to publish them and bring them to delegates’ attention, on the grounds that they were addressed to another Contracting Party concerned. The Delegate of Russia added that on this occasion his Administration had forwarded certain new conclusions, which had been addressed to it. Once again the Secretariat had refused to bring them to the attention of the delegates, citing the fact that these conclusions had come from private parties. Therefore, he wanted to know which provisions in the HS Convention or the Council Convention the Secretariat was relying upon when it refused to publish this information.

16. In light of the foregoing, he concluded that limiting the number of re-examinations of a

matter would lead to major difficulties and therefore could not be accepted. He added that his Administration was quite satisfied with the current version of Article 8 of the HS Convention and did not support the proposition that the number of re-examinations of a matter should be limited. Therefore, there was no consensus.

17. At the end of this statement, the Chairperson pointed out that the question of the draft

amendment of Article 8 should not be confused with the question of the classification of sodium sulphate or the study on the scope of Note 1 to Chapter 25. The concerns of the Russian Federation, and the letters it had sent containing information from a private company, would be considered when these questions, which were also on the Agenda, were considered (see items VII.2 and VII.10 on the Agenda).

18. The Delegate of Japan asked the Secretariat to inform the Contracting Parties as soon as possible when a Member entered a reservation. However, the Secretariat replied that the United States had submitted a request for referral to the Council through the Secretary General, in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 8 of the HS Convention. A copy of this request had been forwarded to the Secretariat, but there was no formal obligation on the Secretariat immediately to inform the Contracting Parties when a Member requests referral to the Council under paragraph 1 of Article 8, which is different from notification procedure under paragraph 2 of Article 8.

19. The Delegate of India took the floor to express his Administration’s concerns about the

amendment of Article 8 of the Convention. He was preoccupied by the question of what would occur when an administration requested a further re-examination on the basis of new facts, or on the basis of technological developments which might impact on a product on which the Committee had not been able to reach a consensus after the proposed 2-time limit for re-examination had been exhausted. His Administration’s objective was not to delay the examination or adoption of this amendment to the Convention, but simply to obtain some clarifications on questions to which his Administration had yet to receive satisfactory answers.

20. The Secretariat was of the opinion that where there were new facts or developments,

the Committee would need to rule on whether they substantially altered the product at issue, to the extent that it became a different product. According to the Secretariat, the Committee


DECISIONS BY THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE (contd.)

C/4/Rev.

would proceed on a case-by-case basis. However, it should not be forgotten that the primary objective of this amendment of Article 8 was to avoid the entry of reservation after reservation, or the time-wasting tactics that could be employed by an administration wishing to delay or avoid the application of an HSC decision.

21. Following the various interventions and changes to the text under discussion, the

paragraphs were renumbered, and the Chairperson asked the Committee whether Members were willing to accept the text as finalized, and whether they were ready to vote on it.

22. The Secretariat requested the floor to remind the Committee that not less than two-

thirds of the votes were required for the adoption of an amendment to the Convention. However, the Delegate of Japan suggested that the entire text be placed in square brackets, as there would be an opportunity to re-examine it at the Committee’s 43rd Session, i.e., before submitting the text to the Council in June 2009.

23. The Committee agreed with this approach, and decided to postpone the vote until the

next session of the HSC. 24. In conclusion the Secretariat said it was up to the Committee to decide, but recalled

that this matter had been on the Committee’s Agenda for 6 years now, and a final decision would have to be taken one day.

25. The text of the draft Recommendation, with the amendments adopted by the

Committee, was placed in square brackets and is reproduced at Annex N to this Report.

* * *

Annex D to Doc. NC1377E1b (HSC/42/Oct. 2008)

D.

ANNEX D

RECOMMENDATIONS

Working Doc.


Opinions

E.N. amend-ments


Other

1 2 3 4 5 6

NC1323E1a Draft Recommendation of the Customs Co-operation Council on the insertion in national statistical nomenclatures of subheadings for substances controlled under the Convention on the Prohibition of the development, production, stockpiling and use of Chemical Weapons and on their destruction.

See Annex O.

DECISIONS OF THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE (O. Fr./Eng.)

1. After the introduction of the Agenda item, the Committee agreed to submit the draft to the Scientific Sub-Committee so that it could review the draft Recommendation to ensure the chemical names are correct. The Secretariat will prepare the working document reflecting the relevant comments made by the OPCW Secretariat to be studied by the SSC at its next session in January 2009.

2. The draft texts placed in square brackets are reproduced at Annex O to this Report.

* * *

Annex E/1 to Doc. NC1377E1b (HSC/42/Oct. 2008)

E/1/1/Rev.

ANNEX E

REPORT OF THE HS REVIEW SUB-COMMITTEE

Working Doc. Subject Classification Opinions

E.N. amendments

Nomenclature amendments

1 2 3 4 5

NR0751E1c

Report of the 37th Session of the Review Sub-Committee.

See Annexes L/1 to L/8.

NC1324E1a Matters for decision by the Harmonized System Committee.

DECISIONS OF THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE (O. Eng./Fr.)

1. The Harmonized System Committee examined the questions arising from the Report of the 37th Session of the HS Review Sub-Committee (May 2008).

2. The decisions taken by the Committee are set out below with reference to the relevant Annexes to the Review Sub-Committee’s Report (Doc. NR0751E1c). Annex B/1 - Decisions taken by the Harmonized System Committee at its 41st Session affecting the work of the Review Sub-Committee.

3. The Committee took note. Annex B/2 – Possible deletion of headings/subheadings with a small volume of trade.

4. The Committee noted that discussions on this item would continue at the Review Sub-Committee’s next session. Annexes C/1 and E/3 – Possible amendments of the Nomenclature (Proposal by FAO).

5. The Committee noted that discussions on this item would continue at the Review Sub-Committee’s next session.

6. The Committee also took note of a proposal made by Japan with a view to studying a possible Council Recommendation instead of the Article 16 Amendment, taking into account the proposals for new subheadings put forward by Members and international organizations (see also Agenda item VIII.15). Annexes C/2 and E/4 - Possible amendment of heading 17.01.

7. The Committee approved the amendment of heading 17.01.

8. The texts provisionally adopted are set out in Annex L/1 to this Report.



E/1/2/Rev.

Annexes C/3 and E/10 – Possible amendment of heading 24.03.


10. The Committee examined the possible amendment of heading 24.03 under Agenda Item V.3. Annexes C/4 and E/6 – Possible amendment of the Nomenclature to provide for bio-diesel.

11. The Committee noted that discussions on this item would continue at the Review Sub-Committee’s next session. Annexes C/5 and E/5 - Possible amendment of Note 2 to Chapter 30 and of heading 30.02.

12. The Committee approved the amendment of Note 2 to Chapter 30 and of heading 30.02.

13. The texts provisionally adopted are set out in Annex L/2 to this Report. Annexes C/6 and E/1 – New Subheading Note 1 to Chapter 41.

14. The Committee adopted new Subheading Note 1 to Chapter 41.


16. The Committee examined the possible amendment to the General Explanatory Note to Chapter 41 under Agenda Item V.4. Annexes C/7 and E/2 - Possible amendment of the Nomenclature with respect to printer cartridges.

17. The Committee noted that discussions on this item would continue at the Review Sub-Committee’s next session. Annexes C/8 and E/7 – New Note 6 to Chapter 95.

18. The Committee noted that discussions on this item would continue at the Review Sub-Committee’s next session, with a view to determining what subheading 9504.50 in HS 2012 should and should not cover.

19. The Committee examined the amendments to heading 95.04 under Agenda Items V.5 and V.6. Annexes C/9 and E/9 – Possible amendment of Note 3 to Chapter 4.




E/1/3.

Annexes C/10 and E/11 – Possible new heading 96.19.

21. The Committee noted that discussions on this item would continue at the Review Sub-Committee’s next session. Annexes C/11 and E/8 – Possible amendment of headings 20.08 and 20.09.

22. The Committee approved the amendment of headings 20.08 and 20.09.

23. The texts provisionally adopted are set out in Annex L/4 to this Report. Annexes C/12 and E/15 - Possible amendment of Note 1 to Chapter 38.

24. The Committee noted that discussions on this item would continue at the Review Sub-Committee’s next session on the basis of the proposal presented by the Secretariat.

25. The Committee examined the possible amendment of Note 1 to Chapter 38 under Agenda item V.7. Annexes C/13 and E/12 - Possible amendment of heading 85.17.


27. The texts provisionally adopted are set out in Annex L/5 to this Report. Annexes C/14 – Possible amendment of subheading 9504.30.

28. The Committee noted that discussions on this item would continue at the Review Sub-Committee’s next session. Annex C/15 - Possible amendment of the Nomenclature (Proposal by the Research Group for Biological Arms Control).

29. The Delegate of Canada informed the Committee that his Administration shared the concerns expressed by other Committee members with regard to this draft Recommendation submitted by the Research Group, because this is an academic organization representing its own interests and which did not have authority to speak for the BTWC, its Signatories or the United Nations.

30. The Chairperson informed the Committee that any Contracting Party interested in the establishment of a Recommendation was invited to forward its comments to the Secretariat.

31. The Committee took note of the fact that the Sub-Committee, in the absence of any support for an amendment to the Nomenclature and being disinclined to pursue the matter, decided by consensus not to take this question further. Annexes C/16 and E/14 – Possible amendment of heading 06.03.





E/1/4/Rev.

Annexes C/17 and E/13 – Possible amendment of heading 84.79.


35. The texts provisionally adopted are set out in Annex L/7 to this Report. Annex C/18 – Possible amendment of Note 8 (b) to Chapter 85.

36. The Committee noted that discussions on this item would continue at the Review Sub-Committee’s next session. Annexes D/1 and E/16 – Use of the singular and plural forms of the term "seed" in the Nomenclature.

37. The Committee approved the amendments proposed.

38. The texts provisionally adopted are set out in Annex L/8 to this Report. Annexes D/2 and E/17 – Possible amendment of legal texts and Explanatory Notes to Chapter 95.

39. The Committee noted that discussions on this item would continue at the Review Sub-Committee’s next session, in the light of the Committee’s decision regarding Agenda Item VII.5. Annexes D/3 and E/18 – Possible amendment of Note 3 (d) to Chapter 38.


* * *


E/2.

1 2 5

NC1325E1a Possible amendment of heading 24.03. See Annex L/9.

DECISIONS OF THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE (O. Fr.)

1. The Delegate of Egypt opened the discussions by informing the Committee about a non-paper produced by his Administration, and explaining his views regarding water pipe tobacco and tobacco substitutes. He made reference, in particular, to Classification Opinion 2403.10/2 in Section IV of the Compendium of Classification Opinions, which already contained a description of water pipe tobacco. He indicated that his Administration would like the Committee to adopt the text of the legal Note to new subheading 2403.11 finalized by the Review Sub-Committee at its 37th Session, as well as the deletion of the square brackets around the 2nd sentence of the legal Note. This 2nd sentence needed to be retained in order to make it clear that the new subheading covered only the specific type of tobacco which was the subject of the Egyptian proposal.

2. According to the Delegate of Egypt, it would then be beyond doubt that tobacco-free products made from aromatic herbs and intended for smoking in a water pipe were excluded from subheading 2403.11 : they were therefore tobacco substitutes, which fell to be classified in subheading 2403.99. In addition, this 2nd sentence would simplify the task of Customs officers when they needed to distinguish between the 4 types of products normally used in water pipes, i.e., this would facilitate the distinction between products containing tobacco (such as Meassel, Tumbak and Ajami) and tobacco-free products.

3. The Delegate of the United States was also in favour of retaining the 2nd sentence, and proposed that the words "made from aromatic herbs” be deleted from that sentence, to make the text clearer and to indicate that tobacco-free products for water pipes were excluded from new subheading 2403.11.

4. The Delegate of Egypt supported the United States proposal, as deleting these words would broaden the scope of the subheading and would clearly exclude not only products made from aromatic herbs, but also any other product for water pipes which did not contain tobacco.

5. With regard to the expression "tobacco substitutes in any proportion", which appeared in the text of existing subheading 2403.10, the Committee agreed that the explanations provided by the Secretariat in paragraphs 13 to 17 of working document NC1325E1a were sufficiently clear, and left no doubt as to the meaning of that expression.

6. In conclusion the Committee adopted, by consensus, the amendment of heading 24.03 with all the suggestions proposed by the various delegations.

7. The text adopted by the Committee is reproduced at Annex L/9 to this Report.

* * *


E/3.

1 2 4

NC1326E1a Possible amendment to the General Explanatory Note to Chapter 41 to clarify the words "whole hides and skins" and "split hides and skins”.

See Annex M/16.

DECISIONS OF THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE (O. Eng.)

1. The Committee agreed to the text of the first paragraph of the Secretariat’s proposal in the Annex to Doc. NC1326E1a, with a slight modification as to re-order the words "peaux et cuirs" in the French version, as suggested by Tunisia.

2. Following the proposal from the Delegate of Japan, the Committee agreed to amend the second sentence of the second paragraph of the proposal, to indicate that in the process of splitting, the hides and skins are separated or split into two or more sections or layers.

3. Subsequent discussions on the precise wording of the proposed text showed some disagreement in the Committee.

4. For the English version and in line with the Japanese proposal, the US Delegate favoured the wording : “Splitting is the process to horizontally divide hides and skins into more than one layer…”. Two other delegates supported this English wording, with the understanding that they preferred to delete “divide” and substitute “separate”.

5. For the French version, the EC Delegate favoured the wording : “Le refendage est un procédé qui vise à fendre les cuirs et peaux dans leur épaisseur en plusieurs couches,…” (“Splitting is the process to split hides and skins along their thickness into more than one layer…”).

6. The Committee agreed to place the texts as modified during the discussion in square brackets and submit them to the next presessional Working Party for examination. At the request of the US Delegate, the Secretariat was also asked to clarify the proposed text in the second paragraph : “…with an accuracy of a few millimetres…”.

7. The texts placed in square brackets are set out in Annex M/16 to this Report.

* * *


E/4.

1 2

NC1327E1a Scope of the provisionally adopted new subheading 9504.50.


1. Introducing the working document, the Chairperson invited the Committee to rule on

the future structure of heading 95.04, in particular starting with the question posed by the Secretariat in paragraph 43 of the document.

2. Certain delegations reiterated the views of their administrations which have been

expressed in the Review Sub-Committee, adding that they were also willing to work with the alternative proposals already made by other administrations.

3. Thanking the Secretariat for presenting the background of the subject matter in the

working document, the Delegate of Brazil informed the Committee that after reconsidering the matter internally, his administration had a different opinion. However, he pointed out, the issue before the Committee was to give the Review Sub-Committee a clear indication regarding the future structure of heading 95.04. Therefore, the Committee was expected to rule on the questions posed in paragraphs 43, 44 and 45 of Doc. NC1327E1a.

4. On the basis of Chairperson’s invitation, the Committee decided : (a) by 20 votes to 8, that from 1 January 2012 onwards, all video game consoles and

machines, even if they are used for gambling, should not fall in the provisionally adopted new subheading 9504.50; and

(b) by 12 votes to 8, that from 1 January 2012 onwards, "electronic games with video

screens (including vertical models on legs) used in the home or in game arcades, sometimes operated by coins, banknotes, bankcards, tokens or by any other means of payment" should be classified together with other (mechanical or electromechanical) games operated by the same means of payment, in the provisionally adopted new subheading 9504.60.

5. However, at its present session, the Committee found it difficult to answer the

questions of whether it was necessary to separately identify machines used for gambling from other machines which are also operated by coins, banknotes, bankcards, tokens or by any other means of payment and what kind of criteria could be established for a clear distinction between the two categories of articles. The RSC was asked to examine these issues at its next session in November 2008, on the basis of proposals to be submitted to the Secretariat by Brazil and other interested administrations, preferably by 10 October 2008.

6. The Secretariat was instructed to present the Committee’s above decisions and the

proposals by administrations to the RSC at its next session.

* * *


E/5.

1 2 4

NC1328E1a Possible misalignment between the English and French texts of the Explanatory Note to heading 95.04.

See Annex M/13.


1. There was disagreement in the Committee as to whether (i) the term "y compris"

should be inserted in the French version of the Explanatory Note concerned, taking into account the existence of the term "notamment" in the present text and (ii) the expression "et les modèles à poser" should be deleted and substituted by the expression "et modèles à être disposés sur un support ou être fixés sur un mur" in the French text as proposed by the Secretariat.

2. It was also noted that the expression "les jeux à affichage électronique, notamment, les

jeux audiovisuels" in French seemed to be not aligned with the expression "audio visual games with electronic displays" in English.

3. Therefore, at the suggestion by the Chairperson, the Committee agreed to place the

texts presented in the Annex to the working document in square brackets and submit them to the next presessional Working Party for examination. The Secretariat was instructed to take into account, in its document for the presessional Working Party, the developments in the Review Sub-Committee on the questions of "Scope of the provisionally adopted new subheading 9504.50” and “Possible new Note 6 to Chapter 95".

4. The texts placed in square brackets are set out in Annex M/13 to this Report.

* * *


E/6/1.

1 2 4

NC1329E1a Possible amendment of Note 1 to Chapter 38. See Annex M/14.


1. Introducing the working document, the Chairperson invited delegations to consider the proposal made by the Secretariat, on the basis of a previous proposal from Brazil, in respect of the amendments to the Explanatory Notes to Chapter 38.

2. The US Delegate took the floor to express her preference for retaining the term "vegetable", in both linguistic versions, in the text of the proposed new item (49) of the Explanatory Notes to heading 38.24 set out in the Annex to the working document. She pointed out that this would contribute in making the description of that item more accurate.

3. Other delegates, however, voiced their support for the deletion of the term "vegetables" from the proposed text. They argued that the scope of the heading under consideration should also cover mixtures containing diacetyl tartaric acid esters of non-vegetable origin. It was also explained that the term “vegetable” was initially included in the text of the proposed Explanatory Note by analogy with the terminology used in a Classification Opinion adopted by the Committee (CO 3824.90/15) for a related product.

4. After further discussion, the Committee, by 16 votes to 4, decided to delete the term "vegetables" ("végétaux" in the French version) from the proposed new item (49).

5. Regarding the amendment of the Explanatory Notes to Chapter 38 proposed by the Secretariat, the US Delegate took the floor to affirm that the proposed amendment would not result in a substantial improvement of the current texts and it would be advisable to maintain the status quo.

6. She went on by saying that the proposed texts would not help to clarify the situation due to internal inconsistencies. She pointed out that some of the products, mentioned in the exclusion paragraph, as examples of ingredients of products of heading 21.06 (e.g., improvers for pastry), were indeed used for other purposes than for their nutritional content itself. She concluded that, with the proposed texts, it would be necessary to apply GIR 3 (b) instead of GIR 1 and, therefore, in the future it would be necessary to analyze, in every particular case, which of the components of the products under consideration imparted the essential character to the mixture.

7. Other delegates, however, expressed their support for the proposed amendments which could be of great use in order to distinguish between products of Chapter 38 and foodstuffs of Chapter 21. They remarked that the new texts would help to clarify the scope of Note 1 (b) to Chapter 38. It was also pointed out that, in the past, substances having a nutritive value that were merely incidental to their function as chemical products had been automatically classified in Chapter 21. They concluded by emphasizing that with the proposed amendments, these mixtures would be classified in Chapter 38, whereas substances valued for their nutritional content itself would be classified in Chapter 21.



E/6/2.

8. When the matter was put to vote, the Committee decided, by 19 votes to 4, to adopt the proposed amendment of the Explanatory Notes to Chapter 38 set out in the Annex to the working document.

9. The Chairperson concluded the discussion by proposing a modification, in the French version, consisting of the insertion of the word "toutefois" at the beginning of the exclusion paragraph. No delegate spoke against that suggestion.

10. The texts adopted are set out in Annex M/14 to this Report.

* * *

Annexes F/1 to F/3 Doc. NC1377E1b (HSC/42/Oct. 2008)

F/1 to F/3.

ANNEX F

REPORT OF THE PRESESSIONAL WORKING PARTY

Working Doc.

Subject Classification Opinions

E.N. amendments


1 2 3 4 5

NC1330E1a, Annex A NC1375B1b, Annex A/I

Amendments to the Compendium of Classification Opinions to reflect the classification of pumpkin seeds in subheading 1212.99.

See Annex M/6.

NC1330E1a, Annex B NC1375B1b, Annex A/II

Amendments to the Compendium of Classification Opinions to reflect the classification of a coconut water beverage in subheading 2202.90.

See Annex M/7.

NC1330E1a, Annex C NC1375B1b, Annex A/III

Amendments to the Compendium of Classification Opinions to reflect the classification of correction tapes in subheading 3824.90.

See Annex M/8.


1. The Committee adopted, without modification, the texts finalised by the Working Party.

2. The texts adopted are set out in Annexes M/6 to M/8 to this Report.

* * *

Annex F/4 to Doc. NC1377E1b (HSC/42/Oct. 2008)

F/4.

1 2 4

NC1330E1a, Annex D, NC1375B1b, Annex A/IV

Amendments to the Explanatory Notes to headings 84.28 and 84.79 to reflect the classification of Passenger Boarding Bridges in heading 84.79.

See Annex M/9.


1. The Committee unanimously agreed to delete the square brackets around the word “(entrance)” in the antepenultimate and penultimate sentences of the English version. On the basis of the proposal by the EC Delegate, the Committee agreed to replace the term “(entrée)” by the word “d’entrée” in the penultimate sentence of the French version.

2. The texts adopted are set out in Annex M/9 to this Report.

* * *


F/5.

1 2 3

NC1330E1a, Annex E NC1375B1b, Annex A/V

Amendments to the Compendium of Classification Opinions to reflect the classification of a separately presented power distribution block in subheading 8536.69.

See Annex M/10.


1. The Committee adopted, without modification, the text finalised by the Working Party.

2. The text adopted is set out in Annex M/10 to this Report.

* * *


F/6.

1 2 3

NC1330E1a, Annex F NC1375B1b, Annex A/VI

Amendments to the Compendium of Classification Opinions to reflect the classification of a warming blanket in subheading 9018.90.

See Annex M/11.


1. The Committee adopted, without modification, the text finalised by the Working Party.


* * *


F/7.

1 2 3

NC1330E1a, Annex G NC1375B1b, Annex A/VII

Amendments to the Compendium of Classification Opinions to reflect the classification of “***” in subheading 9504.10.

See Annex M/18.


1. The Japanese Delegate informed the Committee that his administration’s research revealed that the *** was sometimes shipped with a wireless controller for the Blu-ray/DVD/CD player and sometimes it was not. He added that since the article considered by the Committee during its 41st Session included that controller, it should be mentioned in the Classification Opinion. Accordingly, the Committee removed the square brackets around the relevant portions of the text, retaining references to the Blu-ray/DVD/CD controller (first paragraph), references to “game” controller (first and fifth paragraph), and the plural form of “controllers” (third paragraph). Based on an explanation of standard terminology for describing memory capacity, the units related to RAM and hard drive capacity were changed to “MB” (“Mo” in the French version) and “GB” (“Go” in the French version), respectively.

2. With regard to the new second paragraph describing communications capabilities, the

Committee accepted the Japanese proposal to include a reference to Ethernet and the consequential deletion of “wireless” at the beginning of the paragraph. The Committee also agreed to replace “keyboard/mouse” with “keyboard or mouse” to reflect the fact that each of those peripherals utilised its own separate connection to the ***. Finally, the Committee agreed to a minor grammatical correction to the third paragraph of the French version, which clarified the ***’s external device connections.


* * *

Annex G/1 to Doc. NC1377E1b (HSC/42/Oct. 2008)

G/1/1/Rev.

ANNEX G

FURTHER STUDIES

Working Doc.


E.N. amendments


1 2 3 4 5

NC1331E1a Classification of separately presented outdoor units of compression-type split-system air conditioning machines (Reservation by the EC).


1. Several delegates took the floor to restate their reasons for supporting a particular classification for both types of outdoor units. In support of classification in heading 84.15, the Delegate from India stressed that the inability of either unit as presented to actually produce a cooling effect, combined with the lack of specific or generic reference to the article in the text of heading 84.18, made it impossible to apply Note 2 (a) to Section XVI. He further stated that the outdoor units were condensers, which were not ‘goods’ by themselves included in any of the headings of Chapters 84 or 85 of the Nomenclature and therefore, Note 2 (a) to Section XVI would not apply. Classification would therefore be by application of Note 2 (b), in heading 84.15, the heading for the complete system of which the outdoor units were a part. In the view of his administration, an interpretation of the Explanatory Notes to headings 84.15 and 84.18 as directing classification in heading 84.18 implied an expansion of scope of heading 84.18 beyond the scope provided by the legal texts, and such an interpretation therefore had to be rejected. Several delegates spoke in support of this viewpoint.

2. In support of classification in heading 84.18, the Delegate from the EC reviewed the points made in the EC submission in explanation of its reservation (Doc. NC1331E1a). He emphasized that the reference to “refrigerating or freezing equipment” in the text of that heading specifically covered the subject articles. In the EC’s view, the Explanatory Notes to the two headings were entirely consistent with the legal texts and in fact provided accurate guidance for classification. Since the subject articles were within the scope of the text to heading 84.18, Note 2 (a) to Section XVI was applicable, and classification of the outdoor units would be in heading 84.18. Several other delegates indicated their support of the EC’s classification arguments.

3. When the question was put to a vote, the Committee decided, by 25 votes to 16, to classify both the *** outdoor cooling only unit (Model # ***) and the *** outdoor reversible heat pump unit (Model # ***) in heading 84.15. Classification in subheading 8415.90 was by application of GIRs 1 (Note 2 (b) to Section XVI) and 6. The Committee instructed the Secretariat to prepare two corresponding Classification Opinions, to be examined, in the first instance, by the next presessional Working Party.



G/1/2.

4. As regards possible legal changes to clarify the scope of the two headings, the Chair noted that the deadline for submission of new items to be introduced during the 38th Session of the Review Subcommittee had already passed. Since that session was to be the final RSC meeting for drafting legal changes during the current Review Cycle, it was imperative that any such proposals be submitted to the Secretariat as soon as possible.

5. The question of possible revisions to the Explanatory Notes to the two headings was considered by the Committee under Agenda Item VII.14 (see Annex G/14).

* * *


G/2.

1 2

NC1332E1a Classification of products containing more than 99.2% of sodium sulphate and more than 98.5% of sodium sulphate, respectively (Reservation by Russia).

DECISIONS OF THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE (O. Eng.) The Committee decided, by 24 votes to 7, to postpone the examination of this agenda item to its next session.

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G/3/1/Rev.

1 2

NC1333E1b Classification of vehicles by the name “***“.


1. The EC Delegate opened the discussion by outlining the reasons for his support of the classification of the vehicles under consideration in heading 87.04, as set out in Doc. NC1333E1b. He reaffirmed the opinion of his administration that the vehicles at issue should be regarded as multifunctional vehicles and not works trucks since they were not designed to be used in certain types of environment listed in the text of heading 87.09. The Committee’s attention was also drawn to the fact that even if the articles at issue met all the three criteria laid down in the Explanatory Note to heading 87.09, classification could not be based on the provisions of the Explanatory Notes since they were only indicative.

2. Several delegates supported that position, noting that these vehicles did not have the features of works trucks of heading 87.09 and therefore should be classified in heading 87.04. In that connection, it was also stated that the EN provisions were irrelevant if, as in the case at hand, the legal terms were not met.

3. The US Delegate noted that both heading 87.04 and 87.09 covered motor vehicles for the transport of goods but that heading 87.09 provided for a narrower class of motor vehicles than heading 87.04. She reminded the Committee that under General Interpretative Rule 1 and the ENs thereto, the Committee must first consider whether the *** meet the terms of the narrower heading 87.09 before it can consider classification in the less specific heading 87.04. She noted the EC’s position seemed to be that only specially designed vehicles used in one of the listed environments were covered by heading 87.09 but that specially designed vehicles that could be used in more than one of the listed environments (“multi-purpose vehicles”).were not covered by the terms of that heading. The delegate noted that in her administration’s view, this reasoning was not supported by the text or structure of heading 87.09 because (1) the four environments were not listed in separate clauses of the heading, and (2) heading 87.09 had one subheading, other than for “parts”, that simply provided for “vehicles”.

4. In response to the EC’s view that a vehicle not only had to meet the terms of EN to heading 87.09 but also had to meet the technical requirements of the legal text, the US Delegate agreed and noted that the only “technical requirements” to be found in the text of heading 87.09 was that the vehicle had to be a “works truck” that was self-propelled. She remarked that the *** met these requirements because they were : (1) used for “works” that is, in conjunction with an architectural or engineering structure such as a pier or a building or, with architectural or engineering operations or, in an establishment in which industrial labour is carried out, as the term “works” was defined in paragraph 10 of working document NC1223E1a (HSC/40); and (2) self-propelled. The delegate also noted that the term “of the type used in factories, warehouses, dock areas or airports” was not a technical term but instead conveyed a general understanding that vehicles of the heading, in addition to being self-propelled works trucks, must be of similar construction and capabilities as vehicles used in factories, warehouses, dock areas and ports for transporting goods over a short distance. As there was no description of these types of vehicles in the legal text, her administration relied on the description provided in the EN to heading 87.09, because the ENs are the official interpretation of the HS. She urged the Committee to classify the *** in heading 87.09



G/3/2/Rev.

based on the objective characteristics to facilitate the work of customs officials and not to rely on colour or marketing literature, which were not objective benchmarks.

5. This opinion was shared by another delegate, who, mentioning national legal precedent, supported the broader interpretation of the terms used in the legal text.

6. When the question was put to a vote, 22 delegates voted in favour of heading 87.04 while 21 delegates supported the classification of the vehicles at issue in heading 87.09 by application of GIR 1. The appropriate subheadings were determined by the type of the engine unit of the vehicles concerned by application of GIR 6 : subheading 8704.31 (for gasoline) and 8704.90 (for electrical). The Secretariat was instructed to prepare two Classification Opinions reflecting the decision taken to be considered by the next Working Party.

7. In light of the above, the Director welcomed the elaboration of additional criteria to distinguish between the two headings under consideration. One delegate expressed certain doubts regarding the utility of drafting additional criteria on the Explanatory Notes level and asked the Committee to consider the possibility of introducing amendments to the legal text. Another delegate supported that proposal and invited administrations concerned to develop relevant proposals so a draft amendment could be considered by the Review Sub-Committee in the future.

* * *


G/4//Rev.

1 2

NC1334E1a Classification of polyurethane foam in aerosol containers (Reservation by Brazil).


1. The Committee examined the classification of polyurethane foam in aerosol containers, which had been the subject of a Brazilian reservation, on the basis of Doc. NC1334E1a.

2. Opening the discussion, the Delegate of Brazil confirmed her preference for the classification of the product at issue in heading 39.09 as a primary form. She further indicated that mastics based on plastics (polyurethane) were products of a different nature, usually applied in thick coating layers. In addition, they contain a high added proportion of fillers, as indicated in Explanatory Note to heading 32.14 (Item 9 on page VI-3214-2).

3. She went on to say that the product under consideration was not polymerized in the initial state and that, due to the absence of fillers, it should not be classified in heading 32.14 as a mastic. She also pointed out that, while accepting that the Explanatory Notes are not legal texts, they are a very useful tool in classifying these kinds of products.

4. The Brazilian Delegate concluded by stating that the Committee should classify the product as it is presented to Customs and not on the basis of its future use.

5. Supporting the previous speaker, some delegates expressed their preference for classification of the polyurethane foam in heading 39.09 on the basis of its chemical composition. It was also emphasized that the product, in its initial state, is polyurethane in liquid form which matches the description "primary form" given in Note 6 (a) to Chapter 39.

6. Other delegates, however, expressed their preference for classification of the product at issue in heading 32.14 on the basis of its characteristics as a fully formulated mastic based on plastics and its function as a caulking product. In their view, the scope of mastics classified in heading 32.14 should not be restricted only to products with a high added proportion of fillers. In support of this view, several delegates remarked that the presence of fillers was not required in the legal notes to Chapter 32.

7. It was also pointed out that the product under consideration contained other additives, like fire retardants and propellant gases, which would make it suitable for a specific use (as a caulking product of heading 32.14).

8. When the matter was put to vote, the Committee decided by 18 votes to 16, to classify the "polyurethane foam in aerosol containers" in heading 32.14 (subheading 3214.10) by application of General Interpretative Rules 1 and 6.

9. To reflect this decision, the Secretariat was requested to prepare a Classification Opinion for examination by the next presessional Working Party.

* * *


G/5/1/Rev.

1 2

NC1335E1a Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to heading 95.06 (Reservation by Japan).


1. The Japanese Administration circulated a non-paper on this agenda item on the opening day of the session.

2. The Delegate of Japan reiterated his administration’s views given in the working

document, emphasising that the “***” ice hockey pants at issue were composite articles made up primarily of a "textile shell" and "interior assembly of protective equipment of plastics". They therefore were classifiable by application of GIR 3 (b), because : (i) Note 1 (e) to Chapter 95 excluded sports clothing of "textiles" of Chapter 61 or 62, but

not articles made of "other materials" such as plastics. The article in question, composed of several pieces of protective equipment of plastics, was more than sports clothing of textiles and not excluded from Chapter 95;

(ii) According to Note 1 to Chapter 61 and Note 1 to 62, these Chapters covered articles of

apparel of "textile" but not of "other materials" and Note 1 (t) to Section XI excluded articles of Chapter 95;

(iii) Note 2 (y) to Chapter 39 excluded the articles of Chapter 95 and the hockey pants in

question could not be associated with the “articles of apparel” of heading 39.26, taking into consideration Item (13) of the Explanatory Note to heading 95.06 (Page XX-9506-2); and

(iv) As such, referring to the information provided in paragraph 18 of the working document

and the exploded view of the article in question (provided by the manufacturer) given in the non-paper distributed by Japan, it was the interior "protective equipment" of plastics which gave the hockey pants at issue their essential character, since, taking into account the Explanatory Note to GIR 3 (b), these hockey pants specially designed for the protection of players during ice hockey games and the "protective equipment" predominated over the "textile shell" in terms of two factors, i.e., weight and value, but the "textile shell" predominated over the "protective equipment" by only bulk. On this basis, as there was no limitation in the text of heading 95.06 as regards the materials to be used, the “***” ice hockey pants were classifiable in heading 95.06, by application of GIR 3 (b).

3. However, certain other delegates were of the opinion that the ice hockey pants in

question were garments made up of textile material to be worn on the body, even though they are used for protective purposes. Such articles were classifiable by application of GIR 1 and, as they were excluded from Chapter 95 under Note 1 (e) to Chapter 95, they should be automatically classified in Section XI as special articles of apparel of that Section, like those used for certain sports (for example, "fencing clothing") as mentioned in the Explanatory Note to heading 61.14.

4. These delegates expressed their doubts about the application of GIR 3 (b) as the legal

basis for classification, since that Rule might lead to different conclusions depending upon



G/5/2/Rev.

the answers to the question of whether the “textile shell” would give the products their essential character in terms of "bulk" or the "protective equipment of plastics" would do so in terms of “weight” and “value”. That is, the Japanese view that the "protective equipment of plastics" imparts the essential character to these products was a prejudgement, because, even if GIR 3 (b) were applicable, if the essential character was rendered by the plastics components, the product as a whole would fall in Chapter 39, not in Chapter 95. Therefore, due to such confusion concerning the application of GIR 3 (b), GIR 3 (c) would be applicable and, in that case, the ice hockey pants in question would fall in a heading under Section XI, occurring last in numerical order among those which equally merit consideration.

5. Yet, a group of other delegates believed that, by application of GIR 1, the "***" ice

hockey pants were clearly identifiable as "equipment for sports", specifically mentioned in the terms of heading 95.06, since they were essentially protective pads held together with a textile outer, specially manufactured for protection against injury during the practice of a specific sport, i.e., ice hockey only (i.e., similar to the protective equipment listed in Item 13 of the Explanatory Note to heading 95.06 on Page XX-9506-2) and they were clearly beyond the sports clothing or special articles of apparel of Section XI such as trousers, shorts, track suits, etc., of textiles. Note 1 (e) to Chapter 95 was not applicable to the pants at issue, because they were not textile garments of Chapter 61 or 62. These delegates were against the application of GIR 3 (b) or GIR 3 (c) as the legal basis for classification, especially noting that, if GIR 3 (c) would apply, the product would not fall in a heading under Section XI, but in heading 95.06, because that heading also equally merits consideration.

6. Based on the discussions summarised above, the Committee, by 22 votes to 15, decided to re-classify the “***” ice hockey pants in heading 95.06, rather than Section XI.

7. As for the legal basis, the Committee decided, by 19 votes to 6, that GIR 1, not GIR 3 (b), was applicable.

8. By consensus, the product was classified in subheading 9506.99, by application of GIR 6.

9. To reflect its decision, the Committee instructed the Secretariat : (a) to draft a Classification Opinion and amendments to the Explanatory Notes to clarify

the classification of the “***” ice hockey pants for examination by the next presessional Working Party; and

(b) to duly inform the Review Sub-Committee about the above decisions, for consideration

at its next session in November 2008. It was up to the Review Sub-Committee to consider the possibilities of amending the Nomenclature, Explanatory Notes, or both.

* * *


G/6.

1 2

NC1336E1a Classification of certain jojoba products (Reservation by the EC).

DECISIONS OF THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE (O. Fr./Eng.) At the request of the US Delegate, the Committee decided to postpone the examination of this Agenda item to its next session.

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G/7.

1 2

NC1267E1a (HSC/41) NC1337E1a NC1373E1a

Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to GIR 3 (b).


1. Regarding the concept of "sets", several delegates expressed the view that the current provision X (b) of the Explanatory Note to GIR 3 (b), stating that for the classification of articles as goods put up in sets, the articles should be grouped together to meet a particular need or to carry out a specific activity should be maintained because it provided a general idea of the concept of "sets". For a better understanding of the concept of "sets", they were in favour of adding to the Explanatory Note to GIR 3 (b) examples of what could be considered a set and what could not. Further to this, the US Delegate suggested that the Committee should answer the question : “Must a set provide for only one need, or can it provide for a variety of needs that may arise in one specific situation, or type of situation, for example, a roadside emergency ?"

2. Regarding the packaging of sets, the US Delegate stated that in her administration’s

view, in the legal text of GIR 3, "goods put up in sets" implied that in order to be classified as a set, the articles should be in a common packing. There were, however, no restrictions to the size of the packing; this "one package" could also be a pallet or a box. The view of a "single package" was supported by a few other delegations.

3. The Delegates of the EC and Canada, however, expressed the view that in certain instances goods put up in sets could be presented in separate packages, for example, due to the composition of the articles in the set or for reasons of transport, provided that the goods were suitable for sale directly to users without repackaging.

4. There was no support in the Committee for the suggestion made by Canada that a "set" must be sold to the importer at a single price. Neither was there any support for the concept that only small objects or articles of low value could constitute "goods put up in sets" under GIR 3.

5. The Director remarked that, in order to enable the Secretariat to prepare a working document for the next session, administrations needed to provide the Secretariat with examples. In this respect one delegate referred to the "99 piece Emergency Road Side Kit" classified by the Committee at its 40th session, and an example mentioned by the EC Delegate, a "bathroom set" comprising a set of toilet articles put up for retail sale together with a separately packaged bathroom mirror.

6. The Chairperson concluded that the matter would be further examined at the Committee’s next session on the basis of a new working document, inviting administrations to submit their contributions to the Secretariat during the intersession.

* * *


G/8/1/Rev.

1 2

NC1338E1a Classification of certain methanol or ethanol mixtures with gasoline.


1. The Committee examined the classification of “certain methanol or ethanol mixtures with gasoline” on the basis of the working document.

2. Several delegates expressed their concerns about the classification of products 1-3

described in paragraph 5 of the working document. They emphasized the existing diversity of national criteria and practices as to the denaturing of anhydrous ethyl alcohol with gasoline. It was pointed out that, for instance, Product 1 would cover a large range of mixtures with different proportions of ethanol/gasoline.

3. Other delegates pointed out that there was no international trade for the products under

consideration. It was also remarked that the Committee was dealing with fictitious products of undefined chemical composition. In this connection, the US Delegate proposed consideration of a theoretical product with a well-defined composition (7 % of gasoline in ethanol) in order to continue the study of the matter.

4. No delegate spoke against the classification of Product 4 in heading 27.10. One

delegate, however, proposed the creation of a new position in Chapter 38 for the classification of these mixtures.

5. With regard to the submission of the subject to the Scientific Sub-Committee (SSC),

several delegates were of the view that it would be helpful in order to develop thresholds as well as a list of allowed denaturants which, in their opinion, would clarify the situation for the classification of those kinds of mixtures.

6. Other participants, however, while not refusing the submission of the subject to the

SSC, expressed their doubts about its effectiveness. It was argued that the outcome in the SSC would perhaps be the same as that in the Committee, i.e., some chemists would consider it appropriate to study the classification of these products where others would not. It was also pointed out that, after the study done by the Secretariat on the matter, the Committee should have the capability of defining the upper limit of gasoline to be added to the ethyl alcohol for it to no longer be considered a mixture of a completely denatured ethyl alcohol.

7. After further discussion, the Chairperson proposed to the Committee the following

approaches : a) To continue the discussion on the basis of the theoretical product suggested by the

US Delegate (paragraph 3 above); b) To continue the discussion on the basis of only real products; c) To discontinue discussion of the question.



G/8/2/Rev.

8. When the matter was put to a vote, 4 delegates voted for option "a)", 1 delegate for option "b)" and 12 delegates preferred option "c)".

9. The EC Delegate explained that he had not voted because he had preferred to have an

analysis and discussion on the setting of possible thresholds in order to determine the classification in (or outside) heading 22.07. In his opinion, it would have lead to clarification regarding the classification of the products under consideration.

10. The Chairperson concluded by stating that the Committee decided not to continue

discussion of the subject. To reflect that decision, the Director affirmed that the Review Sub-Committee would be informed that, despite its excellent work previously done on the matter, the Committee had decided to discontinue further discussion of the matter.

* * *


G/9/1/Rev.

1 2

NC1339E1a Scope of headings 22.06 and 22.08.


1. At the request of the US Delegate and in view of the fact that the laboratory analysis of the three products under consideration was still ongoing, the Committee agreed that no decision on their classification be taken at this session.

2. The EC Delegate thanked the administrations of Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands (EC),

Norway and the US for having conducted the analysis of the three products. He expressed his appreciation of the continued efforts by the laboratories of Mexico and the US to provide further information on the products’ characteristics, which could assist the Committee in examining their classification. This ongoing research was the only reason for his administration to second the postponement of the final decision on the classification of the products concerned.

3. In commenting on the World Wine Trade Group (WWTG) submission in Annex VI of the working document, he informed the Committee that his administration was seeking to ensure the legally and technically correct and uniform classification of alcohol bases in the first place, regardless of any considerations related to tax and tariff policies, rather than to “re-classify” them. Contrary to what had been stated by the WWTG, he indicated that no impact assessment study was being undertaken by the EC excise authorities. He emphasised that the issue of classification of alcohol bases presented difficulties for Customs administrations of the EC and therefore was a matter of urgency.

4. The Delegate of South Africa pointed out that if the alleged impact study had no

bearing on the technical aspects of the products’ classification, he would advise the WWTG accordingly and would be prepared to discuss the classification once the additional information on the products had been made available to the Committee by Mexico and the US.

5. The US Delegate, referring to the description of the three products in question, pointed

out that there were certain inconsistencies between the description presented in working documents (NC1171E1a (HSC/39) and NC1339E1a) and some of the correspondence received by her administration : (i) Product A, initially described as obtained by filtering and centrifugation, had been

referred to in subsequent correspondence as a product subjected to various methods of filtration by activated carbon, without mentioning concentration or the fact that the product was centrifuged.

(ii) Product B was originally referred to as obtained by filtering wine from grapes and

raisins, but the document that accompanied the sample described the product as fermented mix of water, sugar and yeast. In later correspondence though the product was described as fermented blend of apple juice concentrate, kiwi juice concentrate, glucose syrup, water and yeast.



G/9/2/Rev.

(iii) Product D was described in the documents as obtained from citrus molasses, while in the correspondence reference had been made only to citrus spirit.

6. Consequently, given the importance of the matter at hand, she stressed that precise description of the three products was needed in order for the Committee to pursue the discussion of their classification.

7. Furthermore, referring to her administration’s submission in Annex V of the working

document, she pointed out that additional technical specifications listed in paragraph 3 of the Annex would be required in order to determine which residual markers could be used in identifying the nature of each product. The US Delegate suggested consideration by the Committee of an examination of the terms : “beverage”, “spirit”, “spirituous” and “undenatured ethyl alcohol”.

8. Turning to the classification of the three products in question, she reiterated her

administration’s view that they would qualify for classification in heading 21.06, which was not restricted to preparations containing ingredients characterising a particular beverage but covered a wide range of food preparations. The three products under consideration, not being beverages, also belonged to such food preparations. She reminded the Committee that in the 1992 edition of the HS “compound alcoholic preparations of a kind used for the manufacture of beverages” had been provided for in heading 22.08. In the HS 1996 these products were transferred to headings 21.06 and 33.02 from Chapter 22. In her view, it might even be worthwhile to specifically mention these preparations in heading 21.06 to ensure their correct and uniform classification.

9. In addressing the problem of inconsistencies in the description of the products as well

as the request for additional technical specifications put forward by the US, the EC Delegate stated that he would endeavour to obtain the necessary information during the intersession.

10. The Committee decided to continue the examination of the classification of the

products in question in light of the additional information on the laboratory analysis to be submitted by Mexico and the US as well as the information to be provided by the EC.

* * *


G/10/1.

1 2

NC1340E1a NC1374E1b

Scope of Note 1 to Chapter 25.


1. The Delegate of the Russian Federation stated that during the examination of the question of the classification of natural sodium sulphate, his administration had presented views of certain scientific experts. In his view, provided that the delegates according to their own declaration were not chemical experts, the Secretariat had promised to give its comments concerning these views. He stated that, unfortunately, this was not accomplished and those views were not presented to the delegates. At a later date, he underlined, his administration had presented new views from new specialists. The Secretariat had refused to publish them and bring them to the attention of the delegates, giving as a reason that those conclusions had been addressed to another Contracting Party.

2. He said that this time his administration forwarded to the Secretariat certain other new views which had been addressed to the Russian Administration. He noted that, once again, the Secretariat had refused to bring them to the attention of the delegates, for the reason that they were the conclusions of private parties.

3. The Director explained that it was the established practice of the Secretariat to publish

all submissions of a technical nature from administrations and international organisations in the form of a formal working document. On the other hand, legal analyses from private parties which were attributed as such were not published. Of course, paragraphs or other text containing arguments which may have been provided by private parties to an administration might find its way into paragraphs of that administration’s formal submission of its own views, but that was another matter entirely. Furthermore, it was the Secretariat’s policy that in all cases, when private party letters were sent to a particular administration, publication of that letter should be requested by the receiving administration, consistent, of course, with the aforementioned principles.

4. The Russian Delegate concluded his administration’s views by asking the Secretariat to publish those documents and to bring them to the attention of the other delegates. He also requested postponement of the examination of the questions concerning (1) the scope of Note 1 to Chapter 25, and (2) the classification of natural sodium sulphates, until the next HSC session. In his view, this was necessary for the following reasons :

- The working document NC1374E1 was published on 23 September 2008, during the ongoing Session. The Delegates had not had a chance to study it properly.

- The documents of the scientific organisations which were forwarded to the Secretariat

by the Russian Administration were not duly commented on and were not presented to the HSC delegates.

- The new documents presented by private companies *** and *** and by Professor ***,

which had been sent to the Russian Administration and then directed to the Secretariat, were not brought to the attention of the delegates. According to his administration's view, these documents were of the utmost importance for the examination of the



G/10/2.

agenda items concerning the scope of Note 1 to Chapter 25 and the classification of natural sodium sulphates;

- Note 1 to Chapter 25 was the legal basis for the classification of the natural sodium

sulphates.

5. To clarify the first point raised by the Russian Administration, the Secretariat noted that the document which was published only after the beginning of the current HSC Session had been received by the Secretariat on 10 September 2008, had been re-typed in a working document, and had been translated and distributed as soon as possible.

6. The Russian Delegate stressed that the HS was used not only by Customs Administrations but also by the participants of the international trade and one of the purposes of the HS Convention was "to facilitate the international trade". Hence, not taking into account the opinion of such participants was an incorrect practice.

7. Having said all this, the Russian Delegate proposed : (i) to publish all the documents; and (ii) to postpone the discussions on Agenda items VII.10 and VII.2 until the 43rd Session of

the HSC, on the basis of published documents.

8. Some delegates expressed their opinion that submissions identifiable as coming from private parties should be published in the form of a working document only when they concerned technical information. Those delegates cautioned that administrations should deal carefully with a document from the private sector containing a legal point of view, and should assure that submissions of such legal analysis were accompanied by the administration’s written comments on that view. The EC Delegate added that, in the view of the EC, the Secretariat should rigidly adhere to its current practice of declining to publish, within a working document, any legal opinions identifiable as private sector comments.

9. The Committee agreed that if an administration submitted to the Secretariat the information containing legal points of view given by private sector in relation to an issue for the Committee or the Sub-Committee, that administration should include their own comments on those views and on the classification issue itself.

10. The Committee then turned its attention to the substantive issue of the Agenda item concerning the “Scope of Note 1 to Chapter 25”. The Director requested that the Russian Delegate clarify his statement that not allowing the natural crystallisation within the context of Note 1 to Chapter 25 would make that Chapter contradictory to the main harmonising principle of this Chapter and would have the consequence of transforming the Chapter into a Chapter which mainly consists of exclusions. In reply, the Russian Delegate explained that :

- Each HS Chapter had its main harmonising feature according to which it was formed. - As a rule this feature was reflected in the Chapter Notes. For example, for Chapter 39 it

would be the fact that the Chapter included the products "which are or have been capable, (…) at the moment of polymerisation (…), of being formed under external influence (…) into shapes which are retained on the removal of the external influence".



G/10/3.

- This applied also to Note 1 to Chapter 25, which reproduced the main harmonising feature forming the Chapter, namely the classification of minerals in crude or natural state in Chapter 25.

- However, almost all minerals included in Chapter 25 were formed during the process of

natural crystallisation. Therefore the prohibition of the natural crystallisation for the products of Chapter 25 would make almost all products of this Chapter excluded from it.

11. The Delegate of the Russian Federation stated that it was important that the eleven

questions described in Doc. NC1332E1a be reviewed by the Scientific Sub-Committee together with the technical information prepared by his administration related to those questions. Following review by the SSC, the Committee could then examine the issue at a future session, taking into account the chemical experts’ views. Several delegates opined that the technical questions have already been afforded sufficient review and comment by the SSC. When the question was put to the Committee, the Committee decided, by 26 votes to 8, not to send the issue to the SSC.

12. The Committee then decided, by 20 votes to 13, to end its current discussion of the scope of Note 1 to Chapter 25 and to continue examining the issue during its next (43rd) Session, on the basis of a new working document involving additional information submitted by the Russian Federation.

13. The Turkish Delegate cautioned the Committee that Article 9 of the HS Convention precluded the Committee from considering economic arguments to support one particular classification or another. Furthermore, he reminded the Russian Federation that, the submission of large amounts of new data just a few days before the opening date of an HSC Session made it extremely difficult for the Committee to fulfil its obligation to provide timely reconsideration of an issue, which had been referred to it by the Council under Article 8 of the Convention. Therefore, it was imperative that any further submissions related to the subject issue be received well in advance of the beginning of the next Session.

14. The Secretariat invited the Russian Administration to provide a submission during the intersession, collecting together in one document all the points it wished the Committee to consider during the 43rd Session, in good time to permit the Secretariat to assemble a working document and have it translated into French.

* * *


G/11.

1 2

NC1341E1a General study on pegylation and its effects on the classification of pegylated pharmaceutically active substances.


1. After the introduction of the working document NC1341E1a by the Chairperson, several delegates expressed the view that, due to the technical character of the matter, the issue should be submitted to the Scientific Sub-Committee (SSC) for examination.

2. The Delegate of Switzerland, while accepting the submission of the question to the SSC, affirmed that the classification of interferon was, in his opinion, correct and that the SSC should only focus its attention on the classification of peginterferon.

3. The Delegate from Mexico expressed his support for the approach of the Secretariat regarding the classification of pegylated products within the current legal framework. He further affirmed that, in the future, it would become a common practice to administer medicaments to patients in the form of polymers. In addition, with the current legal texts, it would not be possible to classify those polymeric products as medicaments of headings 30.03 or 30.04. He concluded by stating that the Committee should provide an appropriate position in the Nomenclature to classify all of these new products.

4. The US Delegate stated that although his administration generally accepted the approach of the Secretariat formulated in paragraph 17 of the working document, it believed that in some specific cases pegylated compounds would remain classified in Chapter 29. He further explained that Note 1 (c) to Chapter 29 referred to a group of chemical products that should remain classified in that Chapter whether or not chemically defined.

5. At the suggestion of the Chairperson, the Committee decided to send this matter to the next session of the Scientific Sub-Committee, for examination on the basis of the questions raised by the Secretariat in paragraph 43 of the working document.

* * *


G/12/Rev.

1 2 4

NC1342E1a Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to Chapter 29.

See Annex M/1.


1. After the introduction of the working document, the Chairperson thanked the EC for its proposals and willingness to assist the Secretariat in this particular subject.

2. Regarding the EC proposal for moving the chemical structures from the Annex to the Explanatory Notes to Chapter 29 to the Explanatory Notes themselves, the Japanese Delegate took the floor to express his concerns. In his opinion, this would result in a large increase in the number of pages of the Explanatory Notes due to the fact that each chemical structure would need a certain amount of space for each corresponding position. He stated that besides the economic impact of such modifications, it could make the Notes too technical for users who were not chemists.

3. The US Delegate pointed out that it would be more useful for the reader to have the chemical structures in the Explanatory Notes. He wondered how much additional space would really be needed for the insertion of the chemical structures in their corresponding positions in the Explanatory Notes.

4. The EC Delegate affirmed that the proposal submitted by the EC was just one possible option and that he was open to explore other alternatives. He reminded the Committee that it had already decided to amend the Explanatory Notes to Chapter 29 in order to comply with the IUPAC rules. He concluded by proposing the submission of the Annex to the working document under consideration to the Scientific Sub-Committee (SSC) for examination.

5. The Japanese Delegate stated that he had no objection to the amendments of the Explanatory Note to Chapter 29. He stated, however, that since there was not a real classification problem and that the matter was not urgent, it would be best to take the opportunity of the upcoming publication of the fifth edition of the Explanatory Notes (2012) to introduce all the amendments to Chapter 29 as a single coordinated package of changes. He concluded by agreeing to the suggestion for submitting the Annex to the SSC.

6. After discussions, the Committee decided to place the draft amendments set out in the Annex to the working document in square brackets and to submit them to the next session of the SSC for examination.

* * *


G/13.

1 2

NC1343E1a Classification of “linaclotide (INN)”.

DECISIONS OF THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE (O. Eng.) Due to the highly technical nature of this item, the Committee agreed to send the issue to the next session of the Scientific Sub-Committee for examination and advice.

* * *


G/14.

1 2

NC1344E1a Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to heading 84.15.


The Committee requested that the Secretariat prepare possible amendments to the Explanatory Notes to take into account the Committee’s decisions to classify indoor and outdoor units of split-system air conditioning machines in subheading 8415.90 (see Annex F/3 to Doc. NC1248E1b (HSC/40) and Annex G/1 to this Report). The Committee agreed that in the absence of a reservation on the latest decision on outdoor units (Annex G/1), the draft Explanatory Notes texts should be presented to the Committee at its 43rd Session.

* * *


G/15.

1 2 4

NC1345E1b Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to heading 85.09.

See Annexes M/2 and M/3.


1. All delegates who took the floor agreed with the Secretariat’s comments on the classification of the four products described in the working document as examples of various types of carpet cleaners and vacuum cleaners. In addition, there was no support in the Committee for any modification of Classification Opinions 8451.80/1 and 8451.80/2.

2. The Delegate of Canada stated that his administration was in favour of the amendments to the Explanatory Notes to headings 84.51, 84.79 and 85.09 proposed by the Secretariat in the Annex to the working document, but his administration did not agree with the proposed amendments to the Explanatory Note to heading 85.08. His administration felt that use was not a proper basis for establishing principal function as it assumed facts that were not available at the time of importation, and therefore the phrase "which are not designed to be used as dry and wet vacuum cleaners" should be deleted. However, another delegate was of the opinion that the clause was helpful.

3. In order to address the concerns raised by the Delegate of Canada, one delegate suggested including after the word "appliances" the phrase "excluding dry and wet vacuum cleaners". To avoid repeating the word "excluding" in the paragraph, another delegate proposed replacing the word "excluding" by "other than". The Director gave another option, proposing using the word "except".

4. The Committee then agreed to put the possible amendment to the Explanatory Note to heading 85.08, including the suggested modifications, in square brackets for examination by the Working Party at its next session.

5. The text put in square brackets is set out in Annex M/2 to this Report.

6. The Committee, by consensus, adopted the amendments to the Explanatory Notes to headings 84.51, 84.79 and 95.09 proposed by the Secretariat and presented in the Annex to the working document.

7. The adopted texts are set out in Annex M/3 to this Report.

* * *


G/16/1/Rev.

1 2

NC1346E1a Classification of lamp posts (Request by Madagascar).


1. After a reading of the working document, the Delegate of Madagascar took the floor to inform the Committee about the delay in providing the information he now wished to present, and to attempt to provide some clarification regarding the composition, packaging and carriage of the goods. He answered the five questions which had been posed by the US Administration at the 40th Session, and presented his administration’s opinion on the classification of the goods at issue.

2. Following this statement, the US Delegate thanked the Delegate of Madagascar for the

information provided, but requested that the discussion of this Agenda item be postponed until the HSC’s next session, given that neither her administration, nor the others Members of the Committee, had had an opportunity to analyse it. She also asked for clarification on the status of the Classification Opinion for the steel columns described in Doc. NC1153E1a. According to the US Delegate, the Committee had taken a decision to classify these steel columns in subheading 7308.90, and that the Secretariat had been instructed to draft a Classification Opinion, but since that time the Classification Opinion had not appeared on any agenda.

3. In response to the concerns raised by the US Delegate, the Secretariat explained that at its 40th Session, the Committee had decided to classify the steel columns described in Doc. NC1153E1a in subheading 7308.90 by application of GIRs 1 and 6, and that the Secretariat had indeed been instructed to draft a Classification Opinion for examination, in the first instance, by the presessional Working Party (Annex F/15 to Doc. NC1248E1b).

4. However, during the discussions held at the 40th Session, Madagascar had provided some new information about the goods at issue (see Doc. NC1227E1a), and the Committee had judged that these goods were different from those described in Doc. NC1153E1a. Moreover, as some administrations had not had sufficient time to examine the new material presented by the Madagascan Administration, the Committee had decided to confine itself to a preliminary exchange of views. As the classification of the goods described in Doc. NC1227E1a depended on the interpretation of GIR 2 (a), the Committee had finally decided to postpone its consideration of the classification of those goods until its next session, on the basis of further information that the Madagascan Administration was to provide in response to the five questions posed by the US (see Annex F/15 to Doc. NC1248E1b – Report HSC/40). However, as the steel columns were different from the goods described in Doc. NC1227E1a, and the Committee had already taken a decision on the classification of the steel columns, a classification opinion should have been drafted.

5. Following these clarifications, to conclude this Agenda item the Secretariat was instructed to : a) prepare a draft Classification Opinion on the steel columns described in

Doc. NC1153E1a for examination by the next presessional Working Party;



G/16/2.

b) prepare a new working document for the next session. In this regard, Madagascar was requested to submit a paper detailing its response to the five questions posed by the US, since it had only been provided orally during the session.

* * *


G/17.

1 2

NC1347E1a Classification of “Ionaprisan (INN)”.

DECISIONS OF THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE (O. Eng.) The Committee agreed that “lonaprisan (INN)” should be classified in subheading 2937.29 by application of GIRs 1 and 6 as a steroid hormone’s structural analogue.

* * *


G/18/1.

1 2

NC1349E1a Classification of a coconut preparation (Request by Norway).


1. The Committee discussed the classification of the product submitted by Norway and possible amendments of the legal text. Classification

2. Some delegates believed that the product at issue belonged to heading 20.08 arguing that : (a) Grated coconut from which the coconut milk at issue was obtained was covered in

heading 08.01. The milk was extracted directly from coconut by squeezing the grated coconut flesh and subjected to a relatively simple method of preparation, which was allowed for products of heading 20.08.

(b) Note 1 (a) to Chapter 20 could not be taken to prevent the product from being classified

in Chapter 20 as it excluded from this Chapter preparations other than the product in question.

(c) Heading 20.08 provided a specific description of the product at issue while

heading 21.06 was a residual one covering food preparations not elsewhere specified or included.

(d) Exclusion (a) in the Explanatory Note to heading 21.06 excluded from this

heading preparations of fruit, nuts or other edible parts of plants provided their essential character was imparted by such fruit, nuts or other edible parts of plants. Given that evidence demonstrated that the product in question did derive its essential character from the nut, it has to be excluded from heading 21.06.

(e) According to the Explanatory Note to heading 20.08, it covered fruit and nuts, "whether

whole, in pieces or crushed, including mixtures thereof". Hence, the final form was not a condition for classification in heading 20.08.

3. Other delegates were of the view that the product was covered in heading 21.06

indicating that : (a) The product could not be regarded as a “prepared or preserved nut” as it only

contained the liquid extracted from the nut but not the nut flesh. The Explanatory Note to heading 20.08 did not mention extracts of fruit or nuts as an included category. Unlike such products as coconut flakes and paste, toasted or pasteurised coconut falling in heading 20.08, the coconut milk was not prepared coconut within the meaning of this heading.

(b) Exclusion (a) in the Explanatory Note to heading 21.06 did not cover the product at

issue. The coconut milk was a food preparation not elsewhere specified or included.



G/18/2/Rev.

(c) The product was an ingredient for use in the preparation of other foodstuffs and was

mentioned in item (A) of the Explanatory Note to heading 21.06. (d) Since the process of manufacturing the coconut milk involved grating coconut, which

was one of the processes specified in Chapter 8, the product was not eligible for classification in Chapter 20 by virtue of Note 1 (a) to Chapter 20. The product could therefore only be classified in heading 21.06.

4. When the question was put to a vote, the Committee decided, by 25 votes to 11, to

classify the product in heading 21.06 (subheading 2106.90), by application of General Interpretative Rules 1 and 6.

5. To reflect this decision, the Secretariat was instructed to prepare a draft Classification

Opinion to be examined, in the first instance, by the next pre-sessional Working Party. Possible amendments of the Nomenclature

6. One delegate was in favour of defining the term "fruits" for the purposes of Chapter 20 by creation of a legal note, which could read as follows : "Unless the context otherwise requires, for the purposes of Chapter 20 any reference to "fruits" include a reference to products of headings 08.01 to 08.10." He believed that it was not necessary to define the term "fruits" for the entire Nomenclature.

7. The US Delegate indicated that her administration could not support such an

amendment as this would be in conflict with the fundamental understanding of the term "fruit" in English. This might create confusion for English speakers. Moreover, for the French linguistic version the proposed note would merely restate what was already obvious from the current text. Consequently, the proposed note would be of no benefit to either English or French speaking HS users.

8. Nonetheless, as far as heading 08.13 was concerned, she was of the view that in order

to make its text consistent with the French version, the expression "and nuts" should be added to the heading text. The current text of the heading gave the impression that headings 08.01 and 08.02 provided for fruit, which was not the case.

9. One delegate questioned whether the proposed note would actually change the scope of

heading 20.09. 10. Another delegate contended that there was no significant misalignment between the two

linguistic versions and thus no amendment was necessary. 11. Taking note of the fact that the proposed amendment concerned the legal text, the

Committee concluded its discussion by agreeing to refer the matter to the HS Review Sub-Committee for further scrutiny.

* * *


G/19.

1 2

NC1350E1a Classification of an *** power distribution unit (Model ***) (Request by Belarus).


The US Delegate questioned whether it was necessary to consider the classification of the *** Model *** presented with a power cord since the actual article was imported into Belarus without a power cord. In addition, she noted that the Committee had already classified the same article without a power cord and had agreed to publish a Classification Opinion reflecting that decision. The Chairman noted that in the absence of the Belarus Delegate, the Committee had no way to know whether that administration wished a second classification decision. Recalling that during the last HSC Session the Belarus Delegate had specifically stated its wish that the Committee classify the power distribution unit as presented, that is, without a power cord, the Chair suggested that the question of classification of the *** presented with a power cord could be delayed until the next session pending clarification from the Belarus Administration. The Committee agreed by consensus.

* * *


G/20.

1 2

NC1296E1a Possible amendment of the Explanatory Notes to GIR 1 and GIR 2 (a) (Proposal By Canada).


1. At the time of the adoption of the Agenda, the Delegate of Canada requested that the Committee postpone its discussions on this Agenda item until the next session, to allow the Canadian Administration time to submit a new paper on the issue.

2. The Committee agreed to postpone the examination of this Agenda item to its next

session.

* * *


G/21.

1 2 3

NC1352E1a Possible amendments to Classification Opinions 9503.00/5, 9503.00/8 and 9503.00/9.

See Annex M/12.

DECISIONS OF THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE (O. Fr.) 1. With regard to the amendments to be made to Classification Opinion 9503.00/5, the

Committee adopted, without modification, the text proposed by the Secretariat.

2. As for the possible amendments to Classification Opinions 9503.00/8 and 9503.00/9, and following the creation of a new Note 4 to Chapter 95 which had entered into force on 1 January 2007, one delegate supported the Secretariat’s suggestion to re-examine the classification of the two products under consideration.

3. In conclusion, the Committee endorsed the Secretariat’s suggestion presented in

paragraph 23 of the working document, namely to defer the re-examination of the classification of the two products at issue until a future Committee session, based on the new Note 4 to Chapter 95 and subsequent to the decision taken by the Committee regarding the possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to GIR 3 (b).

4. The texts adopted are reproduced at Annex M/12 to this Report.

* * *

Annex H/1 to Doc. NC1377E1b (HSC/42/Oct. 2008)

H/1/1.

ANNEX H

NEW QUESTIONS

Working Doc.


E.N. amendments


1 2 3 4 5

NC1353E1a Classification of an ironing machine (Request by Belarus).


1. The Committee examined the classification of an "ironing machine" and an "ironing table", on the basis of Doc. NC1353E1a.

2. In opening the discussion, the Delegate of Belarus explained her administration’s view

on the classification of the ironing machine described in the working document as Product 1. She explained that the machine in question was not excluded from heading 85.16, by exclusion (b) of the Explanatory Note to heading 85.16, on page XVI-8516-4, because machines which are classifiable in heading 84.51 had to have mechanical features which the machine at issue did not have. According to her administration, heading 85.16 was not limited to irons themselves, but also included ironing machines such as Product 1, where the iron performed the main function, and a steam generator and an ironing table performed subsidiary functions only. In this connection, she pointed out that electric smoothing irons were classified in heading 85.16, whether they were used professionally or in the household. Therefore, her administration was of the opinion that the ironing machine in question should be classified in heading 85.16, subheading 8516.40. Furthermore, she drew the Committee’s attention to the classification decisions issued by some other Members of the HS Convention, by which, in her administration’s view, similar machines had been classified in subheading 8516.40.

3. The EC Delegate said that Product 1 was completely different from the products

described in the classification decisions mentioned by Belarus. The product in question was not a product of heading 85.16, since the product did not have characteristics of appliances of a kind used for domestic purposes. For this reason, the EC would classify the product in heading 84.51 by application of GIR 1 and Note 4 to Section XVI.

4. Supporting the EC Delegate’s opinion on the classification of the product, the US

Delegate added that according to her administration, the product in question was much more than a flat iron of heading 85.16 and had numerous mechanical features, such as a built-in aspirator, a table surface electrically heated with a top heating element which was regulated by a thermostat, a steam generator, a pressure gauge, a vessel for water, and a pump.

5. In response, the Delegate of Belarus stated that the mechanical components,

according to the Explanatory Notes to heading 84.51, should play an instrumental role in ironing, which is not the case for the product at issue.



H/1/2.

6. When the issue on the classification of Product 1 was put to a vote, the Committee decided, by 31 votes to 3, to classify the product in heading 84.51. By consensus, the Committee agreed that subheading 8451.30 was the appropriate subheading for the product, and that the legal basis for classification was by application of GIRs 1 (Note 4 to Section XVI) and 6.

7. Regarding the classification of the ironing table described in the working document as

Product 2, there was no support within the Committee for classification of the product as an incomplete article in subheading 8451.30 by application of GIRs 2 (a) and 6 as had been suggested by the Secretariat in paragraphs 25 and 26 of the working document. Many delegates expressed their view that Product 2 should be classified as a part of an ironing machine.

8. After further discussion, the Committee decided to classify the product in subheading

8451.90, by application of GIR 1 (Note 2 (b) to Section XVI) and 6. 9. To reflect the two decisions, the Secretariat was instructed to draft Classification

Opinions for examination, in the first instance, by the next presessional Working Party.

* * *


H/2/Rev.

1 2 4

NC1354E1a Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to heading 09.02 (Request by China).

See Annex M/15.


1. Following the clarification by the Delegate of China that the only difference between Products 1 and 2 (described in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the working document) was that Product 2 was compressed into various shapes while Product 1 was presented as separate tea leaves, most of the Committee agreed that both products belonged in heading 09.02. The Delegate of China clarified that his administration was not seeking a classification of Product 2.

2. As far as the amendments of the Explanatory Note to heading 09.02 were concerned, it

was decided that the term “shrubs” should be replaced by the term “plants” and a reference to Camellia should be inserted in the first paragraph after the term Thea, in parentheses.

3. With regard to the proposed amendment in the fourth paragraph of the Explanatory Note, several delegates indicated their preference for the status quo indicating that the text was sufficiently clear and was not meant to provide an exhaustive list of forms in which tea of heading 09.02 could be presented. Another delegate pointed out that mentioning specific shapes in which tea could be presented was not helpful due to constant changes in manufacturing technology.

4. Several delegates felt that the expression “tea products” should be replaced by the term “tea” in order to avoid confusion between products of headings 09.02 and 21.01.

5. The Delegate of China contended that compressed tea was a distinct type of tea

obtained by a specific manufacturing process and that it was thus important for this product to be mentioned in the Explanatory Notes to ensure its uniform classification. He suggested that the text of the proposed new second sentence in the fourth paragraph could read : “The heading also includes those teas compressed into different shapes.”

6. The Delegate of Canada submitted that the new sentence may read : “The heading also

includes tea presented in the forms of bricks, bowls, or tablets”.

7. To allow administrations more time to reflect on the amendment of the fourth paragraph, the Committee decided to put the text of the proposed new second sentence in square brackets and to continue the examination of the matter at its next session.

8. The texts approved by the Committee and those put in square brackets are reproduced in Annex M/15 to this Report.

* * *


H/3.

1 2

NC1355E1a Classification of the “***”.


1. The Committee examined the classification of “***” on the basis of the working document.

2. Following the introduction of the working document by the Chairperson, the Delegate of

the EC stated that given the functions of the product, it should be classified in heading 35.06 as an adhesive.

3. However, the US Delegate expressed his preference for classification of the product at

issue in heading 32.14 on the basis of its characteristics of mastics based on plastics and its function as a thread locker used in assembly operations. In his view, since the Explanatory Notes were not legally binding, the scope of mastics based on plastics of heading 32.14 should not be restricted only to products with a high added proportion of fillers. He pointed out that "***" was a high-cost product used in low quantities which would not require the presence of a high proportion of fillers in its composition. He concluded by stating that, for sealing applications, it was suggested to apply a 360o bead of the product to the threads of the male fitting which, in his opinion, was an application of a "thick layer" according to the Explanatory Note to heading 32.14.

4. When the matter was put to vote, 8 delegates voted to classify the "***" in heading

32.14, whereas 21 delegated voted to classify it in heading 35.06. The Committee thus decided to classify "***" in heading 35.06 (subheading 3506.10) by application of General Interpretative Rules 1 and 6.

5. To reflect this decision, the Secretariat was requested to prepare a Classification

Opinion for examination by the next presessional Working Party.

* * *


H/4/Rev.

1 2 5

NC1356E1a Separate identification of “wood pellets” in heading 44.01 (Proposal by the UNECE).

See Annex L/10.


1. The EC Delegate agreed to the proposal to create a new subheading for wood pellets. In addition, he informed the Committee that as from 1 January 2009, the EC Combined Nomenclature would already have a separate subheading at the national level for wood pellets.

2. The US Delegate also expressed support for the separate identification of wood pellets in heading 44.01. However, the proposed Explanatory Note should make it clear that pellets simply produced by compression, without the use of a binder, would also be covered by the proposed new subheading. Furthermore, the raw materials used to produce wood pellets should not be limited to shavings and sawdust, but should be inclusive to allow the inclusion of other raw materials such as bark and chips. It should also be clarified that wood pellets may be by-products of the furniture making as well as the mechanical wood processing industry. Finally, the dimensions of wood pellets mentioned in the proposed text should be modified to take account of the fact that certain wood pellets could have a length up to 100 mm.

3. The Delegate of Switzerland could also agree to the creation of a new subheading for

wood pellets. Nevertheless, in respect of the comments from the UNECE in paragraph 3 of the working document, he commented that wood pellets were not only a form of wood energy, but were also used, for example, as litter in stables. It would be necessary to clarify which group of products the UNECE wanted to cover.

4. The Committee decided to refer the matter to the HS Review Sub-Committee at its

38th Session in November 2008 for further examination.

5. The proposed amendments, in square brackets, are reproduced in Annex L/10 to this Report.

* * *


H/5.

1 2

NC1357E1a Classification of a milk protein preparation (Request by the EC).


1. Noting that the issue of distinguishing between milk proteins of heading 04.04 and those of heading 35.04 was pending, the EC Delegate agreed that the classification of the product in question could be examined at the next session of the Committee. As it was explained in the working document, protein preparations obtained from milk by filtration through membrane featured a slightly lower protein content than protein substances obtained from other sources or by other manufacturing processes. The intention of his administration was to draw the Committee’s attention to this fact in the context of the ongoing study on milk proteins.

2. The Committee agreed to examine the classification of the product submitted by the

EC at its next session, in light of the outcome of the study on milk preparations to be carried out by the Scientific Sub-Committee.

* * *


H/6.

1 2 4

NC1358E1a Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to heading 15.02.

See Annex M/17.


1. After a brief discussion, the Committee agreed to amend the French version of the text

of the Explanatory Note to heading 15.02 with a view to aligning it on the English version. 2. The texts approved by the Committee are reproduced in Annex M/17 to this Report.

* * *


H/7/1/Rev.

1 2

NC1359E1a Classification of protein powder containing flavouring matter (Request by Norway).


1. The Delegate of Norway confirmed his administration’s position that the protein powder

under consideration belonged in heading 21.06. In light of the reasoning given by the Chemists’ Committee to classify the product dealt with in Classification Opinion (CO) 2106.90/5 as a food preparation, he believed that Note 1 (b) to Chapter 38 could also be invoked as the legal basis for the classification of the product in question.

2. The Delegate of Mexico drew the attention of the Committee to the fact that whey

protein concentrate as such was provided for in heading 04.04, which made the product at issue eligible for classification as a food preparation of goods of headings 04.01 to 04.04, i.e., in heading 19.01. He indicated that this heading appeared to provide a specific description of the product while heading 21.06 was a residual one covering food preparations not elsewhere specified or included. He reminded the Committee that no requirements existed in the HS as to the minimum content of products of headings 04.01 to 04.04 in preparations of heading 19.01. He thus suggested that the Committee should consider this classification option along with the one proposed by Norway.

3. The Committee took note of the fact that in the description of the product “80%”

referred to the concentration of protein in whey protein concentrate comprising the product at issue, but the content of the whey protein concentrate in the product was 24.5%.

4. When the question of whether the product at issue should be classified in

heading 19.01 or 21.06 was put to a vote, the Committee decided, by 33 votes to 2, to classify the product in heading 21.06, by application of General Interpretative Rule 1.

5. As to the classification at the subheading level, some delegates argued that the most

appropriate classification would be in subheading 2106.10, taking into account the fact that the product had a high protein content. Other delegates recalled that the Committee had classified a similar product essentially consisting of proteins in subheading 2106.90 (CO 2106.90/5). Despite the high protein content, it had been classified in subheading 2106.90. They thus urged the Committee to be consistent with its earlier decisions and invited delegates to compare the two products before making a decision with regard to the appropriate subheading.

6. The Committee decided that a Classification Opinion should be drafted to reflect the Committee's decision on the classification of the product at hand, while instructing the Secretariat to study the two classification options suggested (2106.10 and 2106.90) when preparing the draft. It was agreed that the Classification Opinion should include the total protein content in the product provided by Norway in paragraph 9 of the working document. The draft Classification Opinion should be examined, in the first instance, by the next presessional Working Party.

7. Finally, the Committee took note of the fact that the issue of classification of protein

substances had been sent to the Scientific Sub-Committee for examination. It was thus felt that any amendments of either the legal text or the Explanatory Notes that administrations



H/7/2.

may wish to propose with regard to protein products may be considered once the Scientific Sub-Committee had reported the results of its study to the Committee.

* * *


H/8/Rev.

1 2

NC1360E1a Classification of a cheese substitute (Request by Argentina).


1. The Delegate of Argentina explained in detail the product submitted by his administration, as well as the rationale of the Argentine Administration with regard to the classification of the product involved.

2. After a lengthy discussion it emerged that the product at issue was not completely identified and was still subject to a classification dispute between the administrations of Argentina and Mexico and that the possibility of settling it by negotiation according to Article 10 of the HS Convention had not been exhausted by the two administrations involved.

3. Consequently, the two Parties to the dispute agreed to endeavour to resolve it

bilaterally and inform the Committee of the outcome of the negotiations. 4. The US Delegate explained that the Additional U.S. Notes mentioned in the working

document were domestic legislation and reflected the standards of the Food and Drug Administration on products that did not meet the definition of “cheese” but that were made from only dairy ingredients.

5. Furthermore, the Committee believed that if it were to classify the product, it would need a precise description and a sample of the product, as well as the following additional information : (i) What was the reason for which soya-bean oil was added and its function in the product; (ii) Whether the addition of soya-bean oil to the product constituted a replacement of

butyric fats by oleic fats; (iii) How the product was presented and marketed; and (iv) What products had been considered when exclusion (b) of the General Explanatory

Note to Chapter 4 had been drafted.

6. The Committee also agreed that it was important to establish a demarcation line between products of headings 04.06, 19.01 and 21.06. Codex Alimentarius standards dealing with cheese might also be taken into consideration in order to decide what ingredients could be authorised in products of different headings.

7. Finally, the Delegate of Norway stated that since there were other varieties of cheese

with the addition of vegetable oil on the market, his administration might consider submitting such a product for examination by the Committee.

* * *


H/9/Rev.

1 2

NC1348E1a Possible contradiction between the legal terms of heading 12.09 and the Explanatory Note to this heading.


1. Several delegates believed that there was no contradiction between the legal text of heading 12.09 and the Explanatory Note. Note 3 to Chapter 12 defined the scope of this heading and the Explanatory Note provided further clarification of what it covered. They thus submitted that no amendments of either the legal text or the Explanatory Notes were required.

2. The EC Delegate, however, argued that Note 3 to Chapter 12 defined the types of

seeds covered in heading 12.09 while the Explanatory Note dealt with the quality of seeds. The expression "of a kind used for sowing" suggested a specific use of the product, i.e., sowing. Seeds not capable of germination were clearly not fit for this use and thus could not be defined as "of a kind used for sowing". He stressed that the status quo was not acceptable and urged the Committee to address the problem raised by his delegation. He believed that amendments of the legal text were needed and therefore proposed that the matter be referred to the HS Review Sub-Committee.

3. Another delegate indicated that heading 12.09 should be read in conjunction with

Note 3 to Chapter 12. Heading 12.09 was de facto interpreted by the Customs as a residual heading covering all seeds, which were deemed to be of a kind used for sowing regardless of whether or not they were actually capable of germination. In his view, it was important to determine the extent to which Note 3 to Chapter 12 was applicable. His comment was supported by several delegates. They agreed that the problem should be examined by the Review Sub-Committee.

4. After further discussion, the Committee agreed that the problem raised by the EC could

be addressed by the Review Sub-Committee, on the basis of concrete proposals administrations may wish to submit.

* * *


H/10.

1 2

NC1351E1a Use of the expression “mutatis mutandis” in the Explanatory Notes.


1. After the introduction of the matter by the Chairperson, the Delegate of Switzerland thanked the Secretariat for the comprehensive working document. On the one hand, his administration saw merits in substituting the full text where currently the expression “mutatis mutandis” occurred in the Explanatory Notes, but it also realized that this operation could cause difficulties. Regarding the comment in paragraph 31 of the working document on the WCO “HS Online” publication, his administration was in support of finding a modern solution for the online application.

2. Two other delegates remarked that replacing the “mutatis mutandis” clause was not

simply repeating and substituting the full text. It was an intellectual exercise that would have to be repeated after each amendment of the Explanatory Notes. Moreover, the substituted text might cause reason for discussion in the Committee. They were in strong support for the technological solutions such as hyperlinks and pop-up windows, which might be in the interest all users of the HS Online publication.

3. A few other delegates stated that, since they were using the Explanatory Notes in

book-form, they felt no need to change the expression “mutatis mutandis” and opined that the printed version should not be changed.

4. The Chairperson concluded that there was no need to start replacing the expression

“mutatis mutandis”. The Committee had taken note of the technical aspects regarding the HS Online publication and would be informed in due course.

* * *


H/11.

1 2 3

NC1361E1a Possible amendment of the Explanatory Notes concerning the “Thiofentanyl”.

See Annex M/5.


1. The Committee unanimously approved the correction proposed in the Annex to the working document.

2. The US Delegation pointed out that there was a similar error concerning “Fentanyl

(INN)” in the French version of the Explanatory Note (on page VI-29-Liste I-4). 3. The Director explained that this was a printing error and the Secretariat would correct it

as soon as possible. 4. The texts adopted are set out in Annex M/5 to this Report.

* * *


H/12.

1 2

NC1362E1a Classification of the “***” (Request by Peru).


1. The Committee examined the classification of “***” on the basis of the working document.

2. The Delegate of Mexico took the floor to affirm that his administration was also dealing with this kind of product. He emphasized the differences between fertilizers (necessary for plant growth) and the product under consideration which, in his opinion, would not match the description of a fertilizer. He further affirmed that the legal framework of Chapter 31 was restrictive and would only cover the products explicitly mentioned in its legal Notes. He concluded by stating that, in his view, “***” and other similar products containing metals (e.g., molybdenum, iron) should be classified in heading 3824.90 in agreement with a previous classification opinion (CO 3824.90/13) for a related product.

3. The EC Delegate affirmed that, while supporting the approach of the Delegate of Mexico, it should be first decided whether the product under consideration would be covered by the scope of heading 31.05 by application of Note 6 to Chapter 31. He affirmed that, if the Committee accepted that the nitrogen was not the essential constituent of “***”, he could also accept its classification in heading 3824.90. He concluded by suggesting the submission of the question to the Scientific Sub-Committee.

4. No delegate spoke against the proposal of the EC Delegate.

5. At the suggestion of the Chairperson, the Committee decided to send this matter to the next session of the Scientific Sub-Committee in order to determine whether the nitrogen present in “***” could be considered as its essential constituent or not.

* * *


H/13.

1 2

NC1363E1a Classification of certain types of monitors (Request by Norway).


At the request of the US Delegate, the Committee decided to postpone the examination of this Agenda item to its next session.

* * *


H/14/1/Rev.

1 2

NC1364E1a Possible Council Recommendation on the insertion in national statistical nomenclatures of subheadings for certain agricultural products (Request by Japan).


1. The Delegate of Japan reiterated his administration’s concerns presented in the

working document with regard to the proposal by the FAO to amend the Nomenclature. He stressed that the acceptance of the proposal would result in a dramatic increase in the number of subheadings in the HS : from 524 to 765 in Chapters 1 to 16 and from 106 to 217 in Chapter 3 alone, on the basis of Annex E/1 to Doc. NR0751B1c (RSC/37 – Report). He wondered whether the HS could accommodate such an important number of additional codes without its usefulness as a trade facilitation instrument being adversely affected. In his view, the HS-users would find it difficult to classify products, in particular, fish in a correct and uniform manner if the HS were to be amended as it was proposed by the FAO. He pointed out that the implementation and administration of the proposed changes were likely to present major difficulties to both Customs and the trade. He thus was of the view that the FAO proposal should be first adopted in the form of a Council Recommendation on the insertion of additional subheadings in national statistical nomenclatures rather than in the form of Article 16 amendments.

2. One delegate shared the concerns expressed by the previous speaker and supported

his proposal. 3. Other delegates, while recognising the fact that the FAO proposal would bring about

considerable changes whose implementation would indeed require a lot of effort, disagreed with the proposal by Japan, arguing that :

(i) The FAO proposal was in the interest of a number of countries aspiring to improve the

situation with the food security, which was vital for many developing economies. The FAO proposal had been developed in co-operation with some of these countries.

(ii) Much time had already been dedicated by the HS Review Sub-Committee to the

examination of the FAO proposal and substantial progress had been made; the original proposal had been simplified, with a number of changes, which were considered particularly difficult to administer, having been removed. The Sub-Committee should pursue the discussion of the proposal and reach a conclusion before any other options could be considered. The Sub-Committee was to continue the examination of the outstanding technical problems, including those pinpointed by Japan in paragraph 10 of the working document.

(iii) The situation with most of the Council Recommendations on the insertion of additional

subheadings in national statistical nomenclatures was far from satisfactory. None of the recommendations enjoyed the support of even as little as half of the Contracting Parties, while certain recommendations were accepted by only a handful of administrations. It was highly unlikely that the situation with the Recommendation proposed by Japan would be different.



H/14/2/Rev.

(iv) A Council Recommendation on the insertion of additional subheadings in national statistical nomenclatures would neither satisfy administrations as it would be too complex to be accepted, nor the FAO, which would not see any improvement in trade statistics.

4. Consequently, they felt that the FAO proposal should continue to be handled as part of

the Article 16 Recommendation and confirmed their administrations’ willingness to continue the discussion in the Review Sub-Committee.

5. The Director, Tariff-and Trade Affairs, drew the Committee’s attention to the problem of

the food crisis that the world was facing. He stressed that Customs had a prominent role to play in finding a solution to this problem because of its unique role in international trade. The FAO initiative was aimed at rendering the situation with the international trade in agricultural products more manageable and predictable and was thus expected to contribute to the resolution of the food crisis. He contended that the Review Sub-Committee should continue its current endeavour towards finalising the FAO proposal.

6. After further exchange of views, the Committee felt that the proposal by Japan may

need to be re-examined once the Review Sub-Committee had concluded its discussion of the FAO proposal.

7. The Japanese Delegate suggested that the working document to be prepared by the

Secretariat for the next session should contain careful examination on the possible impact of the implementation of the FAO proposal and the question of whether the proposed new subheadings were workable for Customs officers, importers, exporters and trade circles, in order to enable this Committee to identify all difficulties involved in the FAO proposal and to examine the appropriateness of the Article 16 Amendment in this regard.

8. Since the study of the FAO proposal by the Review Sub-Committee was to be finalised

at its next session later this year, the Chairperson concluded that the Committee would suspend the examination of the proposal by Japan until after the results of the study by the Sub-Committee had been made available, to determine what action would need to be taken with regard to the proposal by Japan. Therefore, at the present stage all technical aspects of the FAO proposal should be dealt with by the Review Sub-Committee.

9. Finally, the Committee agreed to revisit the proposal by Japan at its next session, in

light of the conclusions to be reached by the HS Review Sub-Committee with respect to the FAO proposal.

* * *


H/15/Rev.

1 2 5

NC1365E1a Possible amendment to Subheading Note 1 to Chapter 84 (Request by the EC).

See Annex L/11.


1. The US Delegate indicated her administration’s concern over the effect on the EC proposal of Classification Opinion 8471.90/1, which classified a flatbed scanner in the residual subheading rather than in the subheading for input and output units. In her administration’s view, there was a problem with the current Subheading Note, and at this point the best solution would be to remove the reference to scanners from the English version.

2. In this connection, one delegate pointed out that the classification of goods must be based on the legal text of the HS Nomenclature. If there is a inconsistency between the legal text and the Classification Opinion, the appropriateness of the Classification Opinion must first be examined.

3. The Committee decided to send the matter to the Review Sub-Committee for

consideration of possible actions, based on the discussion above and a working document to be prepared by the Secretariat.

4. The EC proposal is reproduced in Annex L/11 to this report.

* * *


H/16/1.

1 2

NC1366E1a Classification of a dumper (“***”) (Request by Korea).


1. At the request of the South African Delegation, the Committee had only a preliminary discussion on this Agenda item.

2. The Delegate of Korea stated that, according to the description given in

subheading 8704.10, a goods vehicle designed for and actually used off-highway could be classified in that subheading, since there was no exclusionary provision ruling out such goods vehicles because of their combined use both on-highway and off-highway.

3. Certainly, there were specific goods vehicles strictly made for off-highway use, such as

mining trucks, but most dumpers today are used on both paved roads and soft ground. Therefore, a strict literal application of the Explanatory Note to allow "only" off-highway use was quite inappropriate, given the rapid development of tire and vehicle technologies in the present industry.

4. He continued that the most important criterion for the classification of a goods vehicle

was whether it was designed and available for off-highway use or not. He believed that the Dumper "***" in question was designed for off-highway use and met the eight criteria listed in the Explanatory Note to subheading 8704.10. As explained in Korean “Attachment 2” to the working document, the vehicle fully met three and partially met the other three of the six non-optional specifications listed in the Subheading Explanatory Note.

5. Furthermore, he noted, that the Dumper at issue conformed to the criteria for “off-road

vehicles” in a Resolution issued by the UNECE, which complemented the 1958 Agreement on Uniform Technical Prescription for Vehicles. Both South Africa and Korea were signatories to that Agreement.

6. He also said that Korea had taken note of the comment by the Secretariat that

"dumpers designed for off-highway use" should be classified on a case-by-case basis in subheading 8704.10 by comparing their technical characteristics to the provisions of the Explanatory Notes, even if they can also be occasionally used on highways. If subheading 8704.10 should strictly cover the "dumpers designed for off-highway use only", both the Nomenclature and the relevant Explanatory Notes should be rectified accordingly. Such rectification, however, would be contrary to market demand and technological advancements, as consumers almost always wanted multipurpose goods vehicles with several operational capabilities.

7. He stressed that no regulation defined "dumpers designed for off-highway use" as

“dumpers used ‘exclusively’ off-highway” and that most vehicles designed for off-highway use could also be used on highways. Therefore, the vehicle at issue should be classified in subheading 8704.10.

8. Finally, he pointed out that the HS Committee was a technical, not a political body, and

because his administration has already provided all the technical information needed for a



H/16/2/Rev.

decision, postponing full discussions on this Agenda item because of reasons other than technical ones would be quite undesirable.

9. The Delegate of South Africa first informed the Committee that her administration soon

would be submitting a full document to the Secretariat reflecting upon all the technical matters under consideration. She continued that although the vehicle in question was cleared into South Africa under subheading 8704.10 as a dumper designed for off-highway use”, it was later determined that it was classifiable in subheading 8704.23. However, the importer instituted an appeal against this determination to the High Court of South Africa and the matter would be adjudicated in early 2009.

10. She said that the viewpoints of the Parties differed in respect of : (i) the correct

interpretation of the relevant tariff subheadings and the Explanatory Notes thereto; and (ii) the factual issues, i.e. the nature, form, character and function of the vehicle, objectively determined at the time of importation.

11. The Explanatory Note to heading 87.04 defined dumpers as "…sturdily built vehicles

with a tipping or bottom opening body, designed for the transport of excavated or other materials. These vehicles, which may have a rigid or articulated chassis, are generally fitted with off-the-road wheels and can work over soft ground…" and subheading 8704.10 was supported by its own Explanatory Note specifying that "…these dumpers can generally be distinguished from other vehicles for the transport of goods (in particular, tipping lorries (trucks)) by the following characteristics…" Then, ten characteristics were listed.

12. The South African Administration contended that : (i) tipping lorries, which are designed

predominantly for use on "highways" by definition, would almost invariably have to travel off-road in order to take on a load; they would then travel on a road to their destination where once again they would almost invariably have to leave the road in order to discharge their load. Their off-road use was merely incidental to their primary use on-road; (ii) by contrast, dumpers were almost invariably used exclusively off-road for transporting bulk loads within a quarry or mine or the like. Because they were designed for off-road use, they would obviously have characteristics consonant with such use; and (iii) an objective examination of the vehicles at issue, as was required by the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, demonstrated that they were designed not with the intention of being used primarily off-road, but rather primarily for use as on-road tipping lorries.

13. She pointed out that the correct criterion for classification between the subheadings of

heading 87.04 was the purpose, function or use, for which a vehicle was actually designed : (i) the terms of the relevant subheading expressly referred to dumpers “designed for off-highway use”; (ii) despite the fact that a particular vehicle may incidentally be capable of other uses, the purpose or primary purpose for which it was designed or primarily designed was thus the determinative factor; and (iii) the terms of the subheading itself, as well as the terms of the Subheading Explanatory Note thereto, made it clear that "dumpers" and "tipping lorries" were not synonymous and that they must be distinguished from each other, considering the phrase "can be distinguished from other vehicles for the transport of goods (in particular, tipping lorries…)".

14. The trucks in question were not "dumpers designed for off-highway use" but were in

fact designed predominantly for on-highway use. A market survey commissioned by South Africa revealed that the vast majority of the vehicles in question are purchased and used as on-road vehicles with the capacity to travel off-road for the purpose of loading or off-loading.



H/16/3.

15. She concluded that South Africa did not agree with Korea that the vehicles complied with the ten characteristics set out in the Explanatory Notes. She pointed out that this list was not exhaustive and South Africa contended that factors other than those listed in the Subheading Explanatory Note might also be taken into account in assessing whether the truck in issue was one designed primarily for off-road use; one example was product performance requirement. The vehicle at issue, however, had all the characteristics of an on-highway tipper lorry and the alleged off-road characteristics were not authentic.

16. On the invitation by the Chairperson, in response to the question posed by the

Secretariat in paragraph 39 of the working document regarding whether the technical specifications of the *** vehicle given in the Korean “Verification Report” were those of the *** dumper subjected to a classification advice by the Secretariat, the Delegate of Korea explained that his administration found those specifications on the Internet, by referring to its trademark and model, to find out the most common features of the *** vehicle.

17. The Delegate of Canada indicated that, according to the interpretation of his

administration, the dumpers of subheading 8704.10 had to be designed “solely” for off-highway use, like the exemplar “*** mining truck” given on page 10 of the working document. Based on the information available so far, he said, both the “***” vehicle at issue and the *** dumper, the subject of advice by the Secretariat, would be classifiable in subheading 8704.23, if imported to Canada.

18. After the exchange of views summarized above, the Committee agreed to continue its

discussions on this matter at its next session on the basis of a new document to be prepared by the Secretariat, on the understanding that South Africa would submit its document to the Secretariat in early 2009.

* * *


H/17/Rev.

1 2

NC1367E1a Classification of three kinds of apparatus for television transmission (Request by Korea).


1. As agreed, the Committee held a preliminary discussion on the matter. The Delegate from Korea noted that paragraph 7 of the working document incorrectly indicated the position of the Korean Administration, and that it should have indicated that classification in heading 85.17 was supported by the importer, while the Korean Administration supported classification in heading 85.25. He reviewed the legal history of the issue in Korea and the reasons why his administration had submitted the classification issue to the Committee for decision. Although the classification issue within his administration initially involved the 2002 HS, he requested that the Committee classify the subject articles on the basis of the 2007 HS.

2. The Chair noted that the Korean submission (Doc. NC1367E1a, paragraphs 5 – 60) requested classification of three broad classes of articles, but provided detailed technical information for seven specific products, and asked whether Korea wished to consider three generic classifications or seven specific ones. Korea responded that they were interested in clarifying the classification of each of the three functional types of products (encoders, multiplexers and modulators), but after the Secretariat and one administration noted that the Committee normally classified specific products, stated that Korea wished the Committee to make a classification determination for each of the seven individual articles. The Deputy Director indicated that the Secretariat will consult with Korea during the intersession regarding the actual articles which were to be the subject of the classification decisions, and the Korean Delegate stated that his administration would prepare a document containing individual descriptions for each article.

3. The Committee closed the Agenda item and agreed to continue discussions during its next session.

* * *


H/18/Rev.

1 2

NC1368E1a Study on the possible definition of "articles of luxury" (Request by Mexico).


1. After the introduction of the matter by the Chairperson, the Delegate of Mexico

presented further detail on the background of the Mexican request. He explained that the information distributed as a non-paper was obtained from the UN Web Site. The information showed that only a few countries had provided a list of goods covered by the ban on the export of luxury goods to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) under the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718 (2006). He explained that the Mexican Administration was looking for a common definition of what was to be understood by "luxury goods".

2. Several delegates stated that the HS Nomenclature did not have references to "luxury

goods" and it would be a very difficult exercise to identify criteria to arrive at a common understanding on luxury goods. Moreover, they opined that the issue was not a technical question on the application of the HS Nomenclature that should be examined by the Committee. The speakers suggested that the Mexican Administration should draft its own list for the purpose of complying with the resolution, without passing the matter through the HS Committee.

3. The Chairperson thanked the delegates for the exchange of views and concluded that

there was no support for the request of Mexico.

* * *


H/19.

1 2 3

NC1369E1a Possible amendment of Classification Opinion 4811.10/2 (Request by Switzerland).

See Annex M/4.


1. The Delegate of Switzerland agreed with the comments made by the Secretariat in the working document and pointed out that the product *** was identical to the product ***, which had been the subject of Classification Opinion 4811.10/2. There had only been a change in the commercial name of the product. He asked the Committee to adopt the proposed amendment, which in his view would improve the quality of Classification Opinion 4811.10/2.

2. The Delegate of Ukraine stated that his Administration agreed with the classification advice given by the Secretariat in its letter of 12 June 2008, to classify the product *** in heading 48.11, subheading 4811.10. It had only been the lack of time due to the late response to the classification request, that his Administration had not yet been able to inform the Secretariat of its position.

3. Since one delegate objected to the insertion of the proposed illustrations to the existing Classification Opinion 4811.10/2 because these illustrations did not come from the Secretariat’s file on the product ***, the Committee agreed not to amend Classification Opinion 4811.10/2.

4. However, to reflect the change in the commercial name of the product, the Committee agreed that supplementing the Annex to the Compendium of Classification Opinions with the trade name *** would be helpful.

5. The texts approved by the Committee are set out in Annex M/4 to this Report.

* * *

Annex IJ/1 to Doc. NC1377E1b (HSC/42/Oct. 2008)

IJ/1/Rev.

ANNEX IJ

ADDITIONAL LIST

Working Doc.


E.N. amendments


1 2 3 4 5

NC1371E1a Classification of network analyzers (Request by the US).


Based on the US Delegate’s request for a preliminary discussion, and the EC Delegate’s request for postponement of the matter, the Committee decided to postpone the examination of this Agenda item to its next session.

* * *

Annex IJ/2 to Doc. NC1377E1b (HSC/42/Oct. 2008)

IJ/2.

1 2

NC1372E1a Possible amendment of the French version of the Explanatory Note to heading 91.11.

DECISIONS OF THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE (O. Fr.) 1. A delegate said that her Administration shared the concerns expressed by the

Secretariat in the working document with regard to certain misalignments between the legal texts and the Explanatory Notes, and between the English and French versions of headings 91.11 and 91.12.

2. The Committee agreed that the texts at issue should be submitted to the Review Sub-

Committee for consideration at its next session in November, on the basis of a new working document to be prepared by the Secretariat.

* * *

Annex K to Doc. NC1377E1b (HSC/42/Oct. 2008)

K.

ANNEX K

OTHER BUSINESS

Working Doc.


Opinions

E.N. amend-ments


Other

1 2 3 4 5 6

NC1370E1a List of questions which might be examined at a future session.

See Annex P.

DECISIONS OF THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE (O. Fr.)

1. A delegate drew the Committee’s attention to the fact that as the "Possible amendment of heading 10.06.(*)" concerned a proposed amendment to the legal text, this question should appear in the list of outstanding questions for the Review Sub-Committee, rather than for the Committee. In reply the Secretariat confirmed that at its 38th Session in October 2006, the Committee had decided not to continue its examination of the proposal by Thailand, but as the matter was clearly of interest to certain Contracting Parties the Committee had also agreed that it could be restored to the Agenda for a future session if a specific request was received from an administration. This was why there was a reference to this item in the footnote (*) in the Annex to the working document.

2. The Committee took note of information presented by the Secretariat in the working document.

3. The list of questions which might be examined at a future session is set out in Annex P

to this Report.

* * *

this report is divided into two parts : part i : body and

Documents