Regional Workshop on Market Access Related Issues for Asian Economies This presentation has been prepared by the Secretariat under its own responsibility and is without prejudice to the positions of Members and to their rights and obligations under the WTO and to the establishment of modalities. Jurgen Richtering Economic Research and Statistics Division WTO Secretariat The Scheduling Process in the NAMA Negotiations

2 Contents Introduction to Scheduling Process, ENF and ECDS, status of work NAMA Electronic Negotiating File Data, tables structure, columns Demonstration – How to Prepare NAMA Draft Schedules Step-by-step guide to prepare the ECDS from the ENF

3 WTO Goods Schedules  All WTO Members have a Schedule of concessions on goods  Schedules are part of the WTO Agreement and have the same legal status as any WTO Agreement  Schedules may be in any of the official WTO languages

4 WTO Goods Schedules  Represent part of the outcome of negotiators work (the other part is represented through rule/text)  Record concessions regarding tariff, tariff quotas and others  Maximum permissible customs duties to be charged on imports  Tariff quota volume and in-quota tariff rates  Ag commitments on domestic support and export subsidies  Non Tariff Concessions

5 Schedules of Concession on Goods Domestic Support: Total AMS Commitments Section I Commitments Limiting the Scope of Export Subsidies Section III Export Subsidies: Budgetary Outlay and Quantity Reduction Commitments Section II Tariffs I-A Tariff Quotas I-B Agricultural Products Section I Other Products Section II Part I Part II Part III Part IV Preferential Tariff Non-tariff Concessions Agricultural Products: Commitments Limiting Subsidization Most-Favoured-Nation Tariff Schedule

6 Part I Section II – NAMA Products

7 Scheduling: after the establishment of Modalities Doha Schedules

8 Realize the Modalities in the Schedules HS Code Duty % % % …… Modalities HS Code Duty % % % …… Current Schedule New Schedule

9 What is Scheduling?  The last phase of the negotiation  Apply the agreed modalities to Members tariff schedules  Some base concession need to be established (unbound, AVEs,…)  Submit draft schedules for multilateral review  Check or verify schedules among Members  Produce the legal documents – Doha Round schedules

10 Data Used in the Whole Process Electronic Negotiating File (ENF) Electronic Comprehensive Draft Schedule (ECDS) Doha Schedule (Paper) Members’ New Offers CTS IDB AVE

11 Possible Process A. Secretariat prepares ENFs and releases it soon after modalities C. Preparation of schedules by Members/ Secretariat - Conclusion of sectorals - Conclusion of NTB work for inclusion in Part III - Supplementary negotiations - etc. Secretariat releases each file after formatting Deadline for instructing the Secretariat on flexibilities: Total time for verification of schedules B. Establishment of Modalities D. Deadline for submission of ECDS F. First multilateral verification I. Preparation of "treaty version" G. Additional. multilateral verification meetings H. Conclusion of multilateral verification J. Annexation to a Protocol Step 1: Preparation of Schedules E. Preparation of verification sheets by the Secretariat and assessment by Members Step 3: FinalStep 2: Multilateral VerificationBefore Modalities

12 Secretariat’s Assistance  Prepare the ENFs  Developing Members may ask the Secretariat to prepare the ECDS, clear instructions and requirements need to be provided, e.g. which tariff line to shelter under which flexibility  Standardize, reformat ECDS for multilateral reviews  Technical verification for assessing the consistent application of the modalities  Assistance in multilateral reviews  Prepare treaty paper copy of the final schedules

13 Contents Introduction to Scheduling Process, ENF and ECDS, status of work NAMA Electronic Negotiating File Data, tables structure, columns Demonstration – How to Prepare NAMA Draft Schedules Step-by-step guide to prepare the ECDS from the ENF

14 Concept of ENF and ECDS  Vehicle for exchange of offers and basis for generating final schedules  The Secretariat will release ENFs to Members shortly after the establishment of modalities  Members put their new concessions in ENFs  The files become ECDS when Members return them to the Secretariat  ECDS will be verified by other Members  The final version of ECDS becomes the new schedule

15 Electronic Negotiating File (ENF)  Dataset - includes all data elements required by the modalities  Source data from the official database: IDB and CTS  Base duties have been established  Pre-calculations of Swiss formula  Other supporting data – import statistics, correlation tables  Template - provides a uniform format for data exchange  Include all tables required for draft schedules  Table structures – all columns required  A format agreed by all Members  All Members use the same structure  Transparency – make verification easier

16 Information Provided in ENFs  Based on the CTS database in HS 2002 nomenclature  Base rates (formula cut)  For bound: base rate = existing final bound rate  For unbound: base rate = 2001 applied rate + markup(s)  AVEs for NAV tariffs  Pre-calculate formula result for Members applying the formula  Other concession elements (INR, ODC, implementation)  3-year ( ) imports (in separate table, HS96)  Other supporting tables (e.g. correlation table)  Other parts or contents in the current schedules  Notes, Attachment B of ITA

17 Establish Base Rates for Formula Cuts

18 Data Formats ENFs will be made available in MS Excel and MS Access formats  MS Excel  Pro: easy to work, flexible, used more extensively  Cons: data not standardized, difficult to handle large dataset  MS Access  Pro: standardized, easy to check errors, large dataset, print reports  Cons: more technical, not flexible

19 Tables in ENF Supporting Tables T09HS96-HS2002 Correlation T10Import Statistics and Correlation T11Correlation Table for Changes between ENF and ECDS Main Tables T04Concession Table (non-agricultural products) T04-ITAITA Attachment B items (ITA Participants only) T05Non-tariff measures T08Schedule headnotes

20 T04 – Concession Table  The most important table in the ENF  Contains the tariff concessions (Existing and New)  Other concessions and commitments at tariff line level

21 Complexity of T04 – Concession Table

22 54 Columns

23 Main Information in T Product and references ODC Duties INR Implementation Other Base Duty Formula Pre-calculation Sectoral New Bound Duty Technical Note includes detailed description of each table and column

24 Columns in T04 Concession Table

25 Tariff Lines and Headers TL (Tariff line number) TLLevel (Tariff line level)Description Existing Bound Duty AV 5 (1)615 (2) Alkali or alkaline-earth metals; rare-earth metals, scandium and yttrium, whether or not intermixed or interalloyed; mercury Alkali or alkaline-earth metals: SodiumUnbound Calcium Other45 Headers Tariff Lines

26 Columns in T04 Concession Table

27 Columns in T04 Concession Table

28 Columns in T04 Concession Table

29 Columns in T04 Concession Table

30 Columns in T04 Concession Table

31 Columns in T04 Concession Table

32 Columns in T04 Concession Table

33 Members’ Submission of ECDS  The same structure as ENFs  Base duties for unbound [SVE, Low Binding]  New final bound rates  Other information (implementation, INRs)  Supporting information for verification  Import correlations  Correlation tables for changes of tariff line codes or descriptions in ENFs  Members may take different approaches to prepare their ECDS

34 Must Have in the ECDS

35 May Have in the ECDS

36 Contents Introduction to Scheduling Process, ENF and ECDS, status of work NAMA Electronic Negotiating File Data, tables structure, columns Demonstration – How to Prepare NAMA Draft Schedules Step-by-step guide to prepare the ECDS from the ENF