NC1310E1b (HSC/41/March 2008) - 41 st Session O. Eng./Fr. - Brussels, 20 March 2008.

Transcription

1 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 NC1310E1b - 41 st Session O. Eng.Fr. - Brussels, 20 March REPORT TO THE CUSTOMS CO-OPERATION COUNCIL ON THE 41 st SESSION OF THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE Note : This Report is divided as follows : Body and Annexes A to L Part I : Annexes M to N19 Part II : Annexes N20 to S 1. The Harmonized System Committee held its 41 st Session from 10 March to 20 March 2008 at the Headquarters of the World Customs Organization (WCO) in Brussels. The meeting was chaired by Mr. P. JOFFRE (France). 2. The following 60 Members (59 countries and 1 Customs and Economic Union) were represented : Countries : ANDORRA ARGENTINA AUSTRALIA AUSTRIA BANGLADESH BELARUS BRAZIL CANADA CHINA (People s Rep. of) COLOMBIA CONGO (Rep. of the) CÔTE D IVOIRE CROATIA CUBA CZECH REPUBLIC DEM. REP. OF THE CONGO DENMARK DOMINICAN REPUBLIC EGYPT FINLAND GABON GERMANY GHANA INDIA INDONESIA JAPAN JORDAN KAZAKHSTAN KOREA (Rep. of) KUWAIT LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA MALAYSIA MAURITANIA MEXICO MONTENEGRO NETHERLANDS NIGERIA NORWAY PARAGUAY PERU PHILIPPINES ROMANIA RUSSIAN FEDERATION SAUDI ARABIA SENEGAL SERBIA SINGAPORE SLOVAKIA SPAIN SRI LANKA SWEDEN SWITZERLAND THAILAND THE FORM. YUG. REP. OF MACEDONIA TUNISIA TURKEY UKRAINE UNITED STATES ZIMBABWE Rev. 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 copyright@wcoomd.org.

2 NC1310E1b Customs and Economic Union : EUROPEAN COMMUNITY (EC). 3. The following 3 Members of the WCO, 3 international organizations and 1 Research Group were represented by observers : Members of the WCO : ANGOLA COMOROS ECUADOR International organisations : INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (ICC) UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMME BASEL CONVENTION (UNEP) ORGANISATION FOR THE PROHIBITION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS (OPCW) Research Group : RESEARCH GROUP FOR BIOLOGICAL ARMS CONTROL 4. A list of the delegates and observers who attended the meeting is reproduced in Annex S to this Report. I. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA (Doc. NC1250E1h) 5. The Delegate of Turkey proposed to the Committee to withdraw Item VIII.6 from the Agenda, because all the issues presented under this Item had already been discussed at the previous sessions of the Committee many times and everything raised in the relevant working documents had already been addressed. However, the Chairperson reminded Turkey that the Committee at its last session decided to examine the questions posed by the Russian Administration at its current Session. Therefore, this Item had to be kept on the Agenda. 6. As regards the same Agenda Item, Mr. C. Clark, Deputy Director of Tariff and Trade Affairs, informed the Committee that the Secretariat had received an from the Russian Federation indicating that some part of the Russian submission was missing from paragraph 32 of Doc. NC1307E1a. He noted that the Secretariat was preparing a new document to correct this misprint, and therefore, the next version of the Agenda would be version h to accommodate this new document. 7. The Committee agreed that, at the request of the US Administration, the examination of Agenda Item IX.2 would be preceded by a presentation on the products referred to in the working document. 2.

3 NC1310E1b 8. The US Delegate furthermore asked for postponing Agenda Item III.1 to the next session of the Committee, because her administration would like to send, during the intersession, a note to the Secretariat with a view to clarifying the text of the Draft Recommendation presented in the Annex to the relevant working document. The Chairperson, however, pointed out that the Council at its last sessions in June 2007 had decided to refer the Draft Recommendation back to the Committee for re-examination. According to the Rules of Procedure of the Committee and because no formal proposal had been received by the Secretariat before the opening of the current session, postponing the consideration of the matter to the forthcoming session of the Committee was not appropriate, given that the Committee is required to report its findings on this matter to the Council at its next sessions in June The US Delegate requested that Item X.2 not be placed on the Agenda under Rule 11 of the Rules of Procedure. The EC Delegate requested postponement of Item X.2. With subsequent agreement by the Delegate of Canada, Item X.2 was postponed to the next session of the Committee. 10. The Delegate of Japan proposed to postpone Agenda Item VIII.5 to the next session because the Secretariat had received only one result of analysis of the products at issue from Mexico and that result was provided to the Committee as a non-paper just a few days before the opening of the present session. However, the EC Delegate informed the Committee that, in connection with this Agenda Item, he would be presenting some information to the Committee and therefore it should be kept on the Agenda. The Committee agreed. 11. At the request of the EC, noting that some working documents, in particular the French versions, were published after the deadlines established in the Rules of Procedure of the Committee, it was agreed to have only preliminary discussions on Agenda Items VIII.2 and VIII.4. As regards the considerably late publication of several working documents, Mr. A. MANGA MASSINA, Director of Tariff and Trade Affairs, explained that the reason related to human resource problems and to the translation services presently available to the Secretariat. He assured the Committee that in the future, the Secretariat would be doing its best to publish the basic working documents in the official languages of the WCO in a timely manner. 12. 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. NC1253E1a) 13. 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 working document. 3Rev.

4 NC1310E1b 14. The Secretariat expressed its concern that there were still 30 Contracting Parties which were not yet applying the 2007 version of the HS. It was essential that Customs administrations and 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 disputes and complicated trade negotiations. The Secretariat called on Committee Members common sense and stressed that it was extremely important for administrations to display a more active commitment to the fulfillment of their obligations in order to safeguard the effectiveness of the Harmonized System. The Secretariat also emphasized once again that it remained at the disposal of administrations for any technical assistance they might require. 15. The Secretariat also pointed out that under the new practice adopted, information on the implementation of the HS by Contracting Parties and administrations which applied the HS was no longer appended to the working document, but made available on the WCO Web site. However, the delegations present were invited to consult the table presented in the non-paper prepared by the Secretariat and to comment as appropriate. 16. The EC Delegate shared the Secretariat s concerns, particularly as it had signed a number of trade agreements with many countries; he urged the Secretariat to continue its efforts to raise awareness of the need to implement the latest version of the HS through regular communications and persistent enquiries. 17. The Secretariat also drew 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. NC1253E1a). In this connection, the EC Delegate indicated that for the moment it was not yet in a position to apply the decision referred to in the aforementioned Annex because the European Court of Justice, which was the Community s highest legal body, had delivered a judgment which conflicted with a decision of the HSC. Consequently, the EC had no choice but to comply with the Court s ruling. However, for the information of the Secretariat and the Members present, the EC Delegate indicated that it had also participated in work undertaken in the Review Sub-Committee on an amendment to the legal texts, which had already been provisionally adopted by the Committee and which would enable the EC to apply this HSC decision with effect from 1 January On the subject of the most recent notifications received by the Secretariat after Doc. NC1253E1a had been issued, the Deputy Director informed the Committee that the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya had implemented HS 2007 with effect from 1 April 2007, bringing to 103 the number of Contracting Parties which were applying HS The Deputy Director also invited all other administrations which had already implemented HS 2007 to send the Secretariat an official notification in this connection. 4. II.2. REPORT ON THE LAST MEETING OF THE POLICY COMMISSION (58 th SESSION) (Doc. NC1254E1a) 19. Following the introduction of the working document by the Chairperson, the Director informed the Committee that the Policy Commission (58 th Session) also discussed several other subject matters, including Customs in 21 st Century, impact of the United States SAFE Port Act (regarding 100% scanning) on the WCO work, action plan for preferential rules of origin, capacity building issues, rules of procedure for the election of the WCO Secretary General in June 2008, etc. Pointing out paragraph 25 of the working document, he noted that the extraordinary contribution of the sale of HS publications to the WCO budget in financial year was an important result attesting the importance of the HS for the WCO.

5 NC1310E1b 20. Following this statement, the Committee took note of the developments in the Policy Commission. II.3. APPROVAL OF DECISIONS TAKEN BY THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE AT ITS 40 th SESSION (Docs. NC1252E1a and NG0134E1a) 21. The Chairperson indicated that with respect to three issues reservations had been entered following the closure of the 40 th Session of the Committee. 22. The EC had entered a reservation concerning the "classification of a separately presented outdoor unit split-system air conditioning in subheading ". 23. The Russian Administration had entered a reservation concerning the "classification of the product containing more than 98.5 % of sodium sulphate in heading (subheading )" and the "classification of the product containing more than 99.2 % of sodium sulphate in heading (subheading )", by application of GIRs 1 and Since the EC and the Russian Federation had requested that their respective questions should be referred to the Council, pursuant to Article 8.2 of the Harmonized System Convention, these questions will be referred to the Council at its 111 st 112 nd Sessions which will take place in June The Committee took note of the Secretariat s report that the other decisions taken by the Committee at its 40 th 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. NC1255E1a) 26. The Deputy Director informed the Committee that a private sector course concerning the application of the HS for "Transport Equipment" will be organised in April The EC Delegate appreciated the information provided in the working document, noting that such information was very useful for the Contracting Parties in respect of organising their own capacity building activities. 28. The Committee took note of the information provided in the working document. II.5. CO-OPERATION WITH OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS (Doc. NC1256E1a) 29. The Chairperson informed the Committee about the important activities which had occurred during the intersession with respect to the co-operation with other international organisations. He highlighted the co-operation with the WHO, OPCW, ICC, Basel Convention, Rotterdam Convention, World Bank and UN Statistics Division which were reported in the working document. 5.

6 NC1310E1b 30. The representative of the ICC assured the Committee that the ICC would continue to provide assistance to the WCO in respect of the Harmonized System, Origin and Valuation matters. 31. The Director thanked the ICC representative for allowing a close co-operation between the two organisations and encouraged him and his organisation to continue with joint efforts in related areas. 32. The Committee took note of the activities of the Secretariat in the field of co-operation with other international organisations referred to in the working document. II.6. NEW INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THE WCO WEB SITE (Doc. NC1257E1a) 33. 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 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. 34. With regard to a question concerning the Alphabetical Index to the HS, the Director informed the Committee that this alphabetical list of the articles and products mentioned in the Harmonized System and its Explanatory Notes had been updated on the basis of the HS, 4 th Edition (2007). Recently, the Alphabetical Index was sent to printing and would soon be distributed. 35. The Delegate of Mexico informed the Committee that Mr. Luis Ricaud could be removed from the list of addresses of HS officials in Customs administrations, because he no longer worked for Customs in Mexico. In this respect the Chair asked the delegates to inform the Secretariat about changes to be updated. 36. The representative of the ICC, on behalf of the ICC and the trade community, thanked the Secretariat for continuing to update and improve the information made available on the WCO Public Web site. He emphasized that transparency of what was undertaken at the WCO was of utmost importance to the trade community. 37. The Director further informed the Committee that due to certain technical difficulties with the WCO Web site, the Classification Advice for the Members and the Historical Documents Database for the Public were currently not available. Work was underway to solve these problems, and access to classification advice and historical documentation (working documents and reports) would be back in place shortly. 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. 6.

7 NC1310E1b II.7. OTHER SECRETARIAT STAFF CHANGES 39. The Chairperson introduced Mr. Antoine Marie MANGA MASSINA (Cameroon) as the new Director of the Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate, which was effective on 1 January He emphasised the importance of the Harmonized System as a core instrument of the WCO, Customs administrations, governments, international organizations and the private sector. Counting on the assistance of everybody, Mr. Manga expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to contribute on issues of the Harmonized System and assured the Committee of successful results. He also took the opportunity to thank the Administrations and the Observers for their cooperation, in particular for submitting proposals and information. 41. After thanking all Administrations for the trust granted by the Administrations during his election, Mr. Manga introduced Mr. Craig Clark (United States), who had recently joined the Secretariat as the new Deputy Director of the Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate, and who is responsible for the Nomenclature, Origin and Valuation Sub-directorates. 42. Mr. Clark expressed his appreciation to the Committee for the opportunity to participate in the important work of the Harmonized System. 43. Finally, Mr. Manga informed the Committee that Mrs. Kitjaluck SRINUCHSART (Thailand) had also recently joined the Secretariat as a Technical Attaché. DEPARTURE OF MR. I. WIND 44. The Director informed the Committee that Mr. Izaak WIND (Netherlands), former Deputy Director of the Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate, had left the Secretariat after 11 years of service with the WCO. 45. He expressed his warm thanks to Mr. Wind for his contribution to the work of the Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate, especially his work in committees, seminars and other events concerning the Harmonized System, emphasised his excellent work and gave him best wishes for his future activities. III. GENERAL QUESTIONS 46. The Committee's conclusions concerning Agenda Item III are reproduced in Annexes C1, C2, O and P to this Report. IV. RECOMMENDATIONS (Doc. NC1260E1a) 47. The Committee's conclusions concerning Agenda Item IV are reproduced in Annexes D and Q to this Report. 7.

8 NC1310E1b V. REPORT OF THE SCIENTIFIC SUB-COMMITTEE (23 rd Session) 48. The Harmonized System Committee examined the conclusions reached by the Scientific Sub-Committee at its 23 rd Session. 49. The results of this examination are set out in Annexes E1 to E3, M1 and N1 to N8 to this Report. 50. On behalf of the Committee, the Chairperson thanked the Scientific Sub-Committee and its Chairperson for the excellent work accomplished at the 23 rd Session of the Review Sub-Committee. VI. REPORT OF THE REVIEW SUB-COMMITTEE (36 th Session) 51. The Harmonized System Committee examined the conclusions reached by the Review Sub-Committee at its 36 th Session. 52. The results of this examination are set out in Annexes F1 to F3 and M2 to M5 to this Report. 53. On behalf of the Committee, the Chairperson thanked the Review Sub-Committee and its Chairperson for the excellent work accomplished at the 36 th Session of the Review Sub- Committee. VII. REPORT OF THE WORKING PARTY (41 st Session) 54. The Harmonized System Committee examined the conclusions reached at the Working Party s presessional meeting. The conclusions of the Committee are reproduced in Annexes G1 to G12 to this Report. 55. The texts finalised by the Working Group and adopted by the Committee are set out in Annexes N17 to N28 to this Report. 56. On behalf of the Committee, the Chairperson congratulated the Working Party and its Chairperson on their excellent work. VIII. FURTHER STUDIES 57. The Committee's conclusions concerning Agenda Item VIII are reproduced in Annexes H1 to H21 and N9 to N15 to this Report. IX. NEW QUESTIONS 58. The Committee's conclusions concerning Agenda Item IX are reproduced in Annexes IJ1 to IJ6 to this Report. 8Rev.

9 NC1310E1b X. ADDITIONAL LIST 59. The Committee's conclusions concerning Agenda Item X are reproduced in Annexes K1 to K7, M6, N16, N29 and N30 to this Report. XI. OTHER BUSINESS LIST OF QUESTIONS WHICH MIGHT BE EXAMINED AT A FUTURE SESSION (Doc. NC1293E1a) 60. The Committee's conclusions concerning Agenda Item XI.1 (the list of questions which might be examined at a future session) are reproduced in Annexes L and R to this Report. XII. ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON AND VICE-CHAIRPERSONS OF THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE, THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM REVIEW SUB-COMMITTEE AND THE WORKING PARTY ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON AND VICE-CHAIRPERSONS OF THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM COMMITTEE 61. At the end of its 41 st Session, on the proposal of the Delegate of the European Community, seconded by the Delegate of Mexico, the Committee unanimously elected Mr. E. HURNI (Switzerland) as Chairperson for the 42 nd and 43 rd Sessions. 62. On the proposal of the Delegate of Australia, seconded by the Delegate of Sri Lanka, Mrs. Y. NOVIS (Brazil) was unanimously elected as First Vice-Chairperson. 63. On the proposal of the Delegate of Turkey, seconded by the Delegate of the United States, Mr. J. F. JAUREGUI (Mexico) was unanimously elected as Second Vice-Chairperson. ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON AND VICE-CHAIRPERSON OF THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM REVIEW SUB-COMMITTEE 64. On the proposal of the Delegate of the United States, seconded by the Delegate of Brazil, the Committee unanimously elected Ms. R. MÄNTYMAA (Finland) as Chairperson of the Review Sub-Committee. 65. On the proposal of the Delegate of Norway, seconded by the Delegate of India, Mr. YUAN ZIWEI (China) was unanimously elected as Vice-Chairperson of the Review Sub- Committee. ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON OF THE WORKING PARTY 66. On the proposal of the Delegate of Canada, seconded by the Delegate of Japan, the Committee unanimously re-elected Mrs. Y. NOVIS (Brazil) as Chairperson of the Working Party. 9Rev.

10 NC1310E1b XIII. DATES OF NEXT SESSIONS 67. The provisional dates of the next meetings of the Review 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 (37 th Session) Tuesday, 13 May 2008 (10:00 a.m.) to Friday, 23 May (b) Working Party Wednesday, 17 September 2008 (10:00 a.m.) to Friday, 19 September (c) Harmonized System Committee (42 nd Session) Monday, 22 September 2008 (11:00 a.m.) to Friday, 3 October (d) Review Sub-Committee (38 th Session) Monday, 17 November 2008 (10:00 a.m.) to Friday, 28 November P. JOFFRE, Chairperson. * * * 10.

11 Annex A to doc. NC1310E1b TABLE OF CONTENTS Agenda Item Subject Paragraphs in Report or Annexes I. Adoption of the agenda 5 to 12 II. Report by the Secretariat 1. Position regarding Contracting Parties to the HS Convention and related matters 13 to 18 B1 to B5 2. Report on the last meetings of the Policy Commission (58 th Session) 3. Approval of decisions taken by the Harmonized System Committee at its 40 th Session 4. Capacity building activities of the Nomenclature and Classification Sub-Directorate 19 and to to Co-operation with other international organisations 29 to New information provided on the WCO Web site 33 to Other 39 to 45 III. General questions 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 2. Updating of the Table establishing a correlation between the Harmonized System and selected international conventions C1, O C2, P IV. Recommendations 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 D, Q A1.

12 Annex A to doc. NC1310E1b V. Report of the Scientific Sub-Committee 1. Report of the 23 rd Session of the Scientific Sub-Committee 48 to Matters for decision E1, M1, N1 to N6 3. Classification of beperminogene perplasmid (INN) E2, N7 4. Possible amendments to the Explanatory Notes to Chapter 29 E3, N8 VI. Report of the Review Sub-Committee 1. Report of the 36 th Session of the Review Sub-Committee 51 to Matters for decision F1, M2 to M5 3. Classification of passengers boarding bridges F2 4. Classification of the biological dual-use items of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction) F3 VII. Report of the presessional Working Party 54 to Amendments to the Compendium of Classification Opinions to reflect the classification of frozen chicken cuts with addition of salt in subheading Amendments to the Compendium of Classification Opinions to reflect the classification of dried tea flowers in subheading Amendments to the Compendium of Classification Opinions to reflect the classification of Canola oil flavoured with chilli pepper and black pepper in subheading Amendments to the Compendium of Classification Opinions to reflect the classification of Taimbé in heading (Secretariat to establish appropriate subheading) 5. Amendments to the Compendium of Classification Opinions to reflect the classification of milk protein (product # 2) in heading Amendments to the Compendium of Classification Opinions to reflect the classification of pegfilgrastim (INN) in subheading G1, N17 G2, N18 G3, N19 G4, N20 G5, N21 G6, N22 A2.

13 Annex A to doc. NC1310E1b 7. Amendment of the Explanatory Note to heading G7, N23 8. Amendments to the Compendium of Classification Opinions to reflect the classification of soccer goalkeeper jersey in heading Amendments to the Compendium of Classification Opinions to reflect the classification of paintball pants in Chapter 62 (Classification at heading and subheading level to be determined by the Secretariat) 10. Amendment to the Explanatory Notes of headings and Amendments to the Compendium of Classification Opinions to reflect the classification of certain power modules in subheading Amendment to the Explanatory Note of heading and possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to heading G8, N24 G9, N25 G10, N26 G11, N27 G12, N28 VIII. Further studies Classification of vehicles by the name Jacobsen Model 1100 and 1110 Haulers H1 2. Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to GIR 3 (b) H2 3. Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to heading H3, N13 4. Classification of certain methanol or ethanol mixtures with gasoline H4 5. Scope of headings and H5 6. Scope of Note 1 to Chapter 25 H6 7. Classification of ivermectin (INN) and similar products H7, N9 8. General study on pegylation and its effects on the classification of pegylated pharmaceutically active substances H8 9. Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to Chapter 29 H9 10. Classification of INN products (List 96) H10, N Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to heading H11, N Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to heading (Proposal by Canada) H12, N12 A3.

14 Annex A to doc. NC1310E1b 13. Classification of milk proteins (product # 1) H Classification of polyurethane foam in aerosol containers H Possible amendment of the Subheading Explanatory Note to subheading H15, N Classification of a warming blanket H Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to heading (Proposal by Brazil) H Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to heading H Possible amendment of the Explanatory Notes to heading and H19, N Classification of lamp posts (Request from Madagascar) H Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to heading (Proposal by the US) H21 IX. New questions Classification of pumpkin seeds IJ1 2. Classification of certain jojoba products IJ2 3. Classification of coconut juice (water) and coconut milk (Request by Norway) 4. Classification of an APC power distribution unit (model APC 9568) (Request by Belarus) IJ3 IJ4 5. Classification of Sony Playstation 3 (Request by Serbia) IJ5 6. Deleted 7. Classification of correction tapes (Request by Japan) IJ6 8. Deleted X. Additional list Reading of working documents (Proposal by Canada) K1 2. Possible amendment of the Explanatory Notes to GIR1 and GIR2 (a) (Proposal by Canada) K2 A4.

15 Annex A to doc. NC1310E1b 3. Proposed new subheading for norephedrine (Proposal by Australia) 4. Possible amendment of the Explanatory Note to heading (Proposal by Japan) K3, M6 K4, N16 5. Classification of new INN products (List 98) K5 6. Possible amendments to the Explanatory Note to heading K6, N29 7. Possible amendments to Classification Opinions , and to K7, N30 XI. Other business List of questions which might be examined at a future session L, R XII. Elections 61 to 66 XIII. Dates of next sessions 67 List of delegates S * * * A5.

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17 LIST OF CONTRACTING PARTIES TO THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM CONVENTION Situation as of 11 March 2008 (132 countries and 1 Customs and Economic Union) Annex B1 to Doc. NC1310E1b Algeria Andorra Argentina Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Belarus Belgium Benin Bhutan Bolivia Botswana Brazil Bulgaria Burkina Faso Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Congo (Dem. Rep.) Congo (Rep.) 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 The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Moldova Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Myanmar Namibia Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Niger 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 Republic Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tunisia Turkey Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uzbekistan Venezuela Vietnam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe EC * * * B1.

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19 Annex B2 to Doc. NC1310E1b LIST OF COUNTRIES, TERRITORIES AND CUSTOMS OR ECONOMIC UNIONS USING THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM 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 x 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 + Situation as of 11 March 2008 (TOTAL 204) 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 Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon x x (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 * * * B2. 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.

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21 Annexe au B3 Doc. NC1310B1b Annex to (CSH41mars 2008) HS POSITION as of Situation au (Contracting Parties Parties Contractantes) Country Pays Customs UnionUnion douanière HS Contracting Parties Parties contractantes SH Date of accession Date d adhésion Date of implementati on Date de mise en oeuvre HS 2002 SH 2002 Implementati on Mise en oeuvre HS2007 SH 2007 Implementation Mise en oeuvre Acceptance of RecommendationsAcceptation des recommandations (by date of receipt of the notifications or date of implementation 1 ) (dates de réception des notifications ou indication de la mise en oeuvre¹) Pre-entry Classification 1996 RTC 1996 UNSD Trade Data 1997 Statistiques DSNU 1997 Good Classification Work Model 1998 Infrastructure travaux de classement 1998 AlgeriaAlgérie X AndorraAndorre X Ozone * 2003** 2006*** Chemical Weapons *2006** Armes chimiques *2006** Hand-made Products 2000 Produits artisanaux 2000 Units of Quantity * Unités de quantité * ArgentinaArgentine X *** *** *** Application of HSC Decisions 2001 Application des decisions du CSH 2001 AustraliaAustralie X AustriaAutriche X Azerbaijan Azerbaïdjan X BahrainBahreïn X Bangladesh X --- Belarus X ** BelgiumBelgique X BeninBénin X --- BhutanBhoutan X BoliviaBolivie X Botswana X --- BrazilBrésil X * BulgariaBulgarie X Burkina Faso X CambodiaCambodge X --- CameroonCameroun X Firearms 2002 Armes à feu 2002 Canada X B31.

22 Annexe au B3 Doc. NC1310B1b Annex to (CSH41mars 2008) HS POSITION as of Situation au (Contracting Parties Parties Contractantes) Country Pays Customs UnionUnion douanière Central African RepublicRépublique Centrafricaine HS Contracting Parties Parties contractantes SH Date of accession Date d adhésion Date of implementati on Date de mise en oeuvre HS 2002 SH 2002 Implementati on Mise en oeuvre HS2007 SH 2007 Implementation Mise en oeuvre ChadTchad ChileChili Acceptance of RecommendationsAcceptation des recommandations (by date of receipt of the notifications or date of implementation 1 ) (dates de réception des notifications ou indication de la mise en oeuvre¹) Pre-entry Classification 1996 RTC 1996 UNSD Trade Data 1997 Statistiques DSNU 1997 Good Classification Work Model 1998 Infrastructure travaux de classement 1998 Ozone * 2003** 2006*** Chemical Weapons *2006** Armes chimiques *2006** Hand-made Products 2000 Produits artisanaux 2000 Units of Quantity * Unités de quantité * Application of HSC Decisions 2001 Application des decisions du CSH 2001 ChinaChine X * ColombiaColombie X * Congo (Rep. of the) Congo (Rép.) Congo (Dem. Rep.) Congo Rép. Dém.) X *** * Côte d'ivoire X CroatiaCroatie X *** * * Cuba X Cyprus X Czech Rep. Rép. Tchèque X DenmarkDanemark X Dominican Republic République dominicaine X Firearms 2002 Armes à feu 2002 EgyptEgypte X ** EritreaErythrée EstoniaEstonie X EthiopiaEthiopie X * Fiji X FinlandFinlande X B32.

23 Annexe au B3 Doc. NC1310B1b Annex to (CSH41mars 2008) HS POSITION as of Situation au (Contracting Parties Parties Contractantes) Country Pays Customs UnionUnion douanière HS Contracting Parties Parties contractantes SH Date of accession Date d adhésion Date of implementati on Date de mise en oeuvre HS 2002 SH 2002 Implementati on Mise en oeuvre HS2007 SH 2007 Implementation Mise en oeuvre Acceptance of RecommendationsAcceptation des recommandations (by date of receipt of the notifications or date of implementation 1 ) (dates de réception des notifications ou indication de la mise en oeuvre¹) Pre-entry Classification 1996 RTC 1996 UNSD Trade Data 1997 Statistiques DSNU 1997 Good Classification Work Model 1998 Infrastructure travaux de classement 1998 Ozone * 2003** 2006*** Chemical Weapons *2006** Armes chimiques *2006** Hand-made Products 2000 Produits artisanaux 2000 Units of Quantity * Unités de quantité * Application of HSC Decisions 2001 Application des decisions du CSH 2001 France X Gabon X Ghana X GermanyAllemagne X GreeceGrèce X GuineaGuinée X --- HaitiHaïti HungaryHongrie X IcelandIslande X IndiaInde X IndonesiaIndonésie X Iran X * IrelandIrlande X IsraelIsraël X ItalyItalie X JapanJapon X JordanJordanie X Kazakhstan X Kenya X --- Korea (Rep. of) Corée (Rép.) Firearms 2002 Armes à feu X KuwaitKoweït X Kyrgyzstan Kirghizistan LatviaLettonie X B33.

24 Annexe au B3 Doc. NC1310B1b Annex to (CSH41mars 2008) HS POSITION as of Situation au (Contracting Parties Parties Contractantes) Country Pays Customs UnionUnion douanière HS Contracting Parties Parties contractantes SH Date of accession Date d adhésion Date of implementati on Date de mise en oeuvre HS 2002 SH 2002 Implementati on Mise en oeuvre HS2007 SH 2007 Implementation Mise en oeuvre Acceptance of RecommendationsAcceptation des recommandations (by date of receipt of the notifications or date of implementation 1 ) (dates de réception des notifications ou indication de la mise en oeuvre¹) Pre-entry Classification 1996 RTC 1996 UNSD Trade Data 1997 Statistiques DSNU 1997 Good Classification Work Model 1998 Infrastructure travaux de classement 1998 Ozone * 2003** 2006*** Chemical Weapons *2006** Armes chimiques *2006** Hand-made Products 2000 Produits artisanaux 2000 Units of Quantity * Unités de quantité * Application of HSC Decisions 2001 Application des decisions du CSH 2001 Firearms 2002 Armes à feu 2002 LebanonLiban X Lesotho X Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Jamahiriya arabe lybienne X LithuaniaLituanie X Luxembourg X The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia L ancienne république X * yougoslave de Macédoine Madagascar X ** Malawi X MalaysiaMalaisie X Maldives X *** Mali X --- MaltaMalte X MauritaniaMauritanie X --- MauritiusMaurice X MexicoMéxique X MoldovaMoldavie X --- MongoliaMongolie X Montenegro Monténégro X B34.

25 Annexe au B3 Doc. NC1310B1b Annex to (CSH41mars 2008) HS POSITION as of Situation au (Contracting Parties Parties Contractantes) Country Pays Customs UnionUnion douanière HS Contracting Parties Parties contractantes SH Date of accession Date d adhésion Date of implementati on Date de mise en oeuvre HS 2002 SH 2002 Implementati on Mise en oeuvre HS2007 SH 2007 Implementation Mise en oeuvre Acceptance of RecommendationsAcceptation des recommandations (by date of receipt of the notifications or date of implementation 1 ) (dates de réception des notifications ou indication de la mise en oeuvre¹) Pre-entry Classification 1996 RTC 1996 UNSD Trade Data 1997 Statistiques DSNU 1997 Good Classification Work Model 1998 Infrastructure travaux de classement 1998 Ozone * 2003** 2006*** Chemical Weapons *2006** Armes chimiques *2006** Hand-made Products 2000 Produits artisanaux 2000 Units of Quantity * Unités de quantité * Application of HSC Decisions 2001 Application des decisions du CSH 2001 MoroccoMaroc X Myanmar X NamibiaNamibie NetherlandsPays-Bas X Nepal New Zealand Nouvelle Zélande X Niger X Nigeria X NorwayNorvège X * Pakistan X Panama X --- Paraguay PeruPérou X ** Philippines X --- PolandPologne X Portugal X Qatar X --- RomaniaRoumanie X * RussiaRussie X * Rwanda Saudi Arabia Arabie Saoudite X SenegalSénégal X * SerbiaSerbie X Firearms 2002 Armes à feu 2002 B35.

26 Annexe au B3 Doc. NC1310B1b Annex to (CSH41mars 2008) HS POSITION as of Situation au (Contracting Parties Parties Contractantes) Country Pays Customs UnionUnion douanière HS Contracting Parties Parties contractantes SH Date of accession Date d adhésion Date of implementati on Date de mise en oeuvre HS 2002 SH 2002 Implementati on Mise en oeuvre HS2007 SH 2007 Implementation Mise en oeuvre SingaporeSingapour X Acceptance of RecommendationsAcceptation des recommandations (by date of receipt of the notifications or date of implementation 1 ) (dates de réception des notifications ou indication de la mise en oeuvre¹) Pre-entry Classification 1996 RTC 1996 UNSD Trade Data 1997 Statistiques DSNU 1997 Good Classification Work Model 1998 Infrastructure travaux de classement 1998 Ozone * 2003** 2006*** Chemical Weapons *2006** Armes chimiques *2006** Hand-made Products 2000 Produits artisanaux 2000 Units of Quantity * Unités de quantité * Application of HSC Decisions 2001 Application des decisions du CSH 2001 SlovakiaSlovaquie X SloveniaSlovénie X South Africa Afrique du Sud Firearms 2002 Armes à feu X ** SpainEspagne X Sri Lanka X ** SudanSoudan Swaziland X --- SwedenSuède X SwitzerlandSuisse X *** * Syrian Arab RepublicRép. Arabe Syrienne Tajikistan TanzaniaTanzanie ThailandThaïlande X ** Togo TunisiaTunisie X TurkeyTurquie X *** * UgandaOuganda Ukraine X United Arab Emirates Emirats arabes unis X --- United Kingdom Royaume-Uni X B36Rev.