The Marakesh Protocol is the legal instrument by which each WTO member"s commitments in the Uruguay Round to eliminate or reduce tariff rates and non-tariff measures applicable to trade in goods became an integral part of the GATT 1994. All of the thousands of pages of national schedules, representing the detailed results of the market access negotiations, including specific commitments under the agricultural agreements, were attached to the Protocol. Under the terms of the Protocol"s first paragraph, each individual schedule then became a schedule to GATT 1994 on the date that the country concerned became a WTO member.
The schedules are divided into four parts|
Part I |
Section I-A Agricultural products - Tariff concessions on an MFN basis Section I-B Agricultural products - Tariff quotas Section II Tariff concessions on an MFN basis on other products |
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Part II |
Preferential tariff - (if applicable) |
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Part III |
Concessions on non-tariff measures (generally on non-agricultural products) |
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Part IV : Commitments limiting agricultural subsidization |
Section I Agricultural domestic support: Total AMS commitments Section II Agricultural eexport subsidies: Budgetary outlay and quantity reduction commitments Section II Commitments limiting the scope of export subsidies |
In the past, GATT schedules consisted almost entirely of tariff bindings affecting imports on an MFN basis. Following the Uruguay Round, however, the number and size of national schedules expanded rapidly and the schedules record many new types of bound commitments.
GATT schedules now contain details not only of tariffs but also of other commitments to emerge from the Round such as the commitments on reductions in domestic support for agriculture and on reductions in the use of agricultural export subsidies. Every WTO member is required to transform its non-tariff barriers to agricultural imports into tariffs and to bind 100% of them.
The Marakesh Protocol itself contains the rules for applying the agreed concessions and sets the timetable for putting the agreed tariff reductions for non-agricultural products into force. Unless otherwise specified in a schedule, all such tariff reductions agreed to in the Uruguay Round are to be made in five equal annual installments, the first on the entry into force of the WTO agreement, and the remainder on the first of January of each year.
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Tariff Item Number |
Description of products |
Base rate of duty (%) |
Bound rate of duty (%) |
Implementation period from/to |
Special safeguard |
Initial negotiating right |
Other duties and charges |
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0204 |
22 |
Legs, shoulders and cuts thereof, with bone in, sheep or goat meat |
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0204 |
22 |
11 |
Legs and cuts thereof |
45 + $3.2 per kg |
35+ $1.2 per kg |
Note 1 |
SSG |
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0204 |
22 |
19 |
Shoulders and cuts thereof |
52.6 |
40.2 |
Note 1 |
SSG |
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0204 |
22 |
90 |
Other |
52.6 |
40.2 |
Note 1 |
SSG |
This is an extract from the schedule of an imaginary country: Arcadia. It shows part of the first table in the GATT schedules, Tariffs on Agriculture. This table can be quite long because all agricultural products are now to be protected only by tariff measures and all tariffs on agriculture products are to be bound. Where there is a variety of bound rates, each one appears listed in Section 1 - A of the schedule.
Key to Table Part I Section I|
Base rate of duty |
The rate of duty determined under the terms of the Agreement on Agriculture to be the rate to which the agreed tariff cuts would apply. Note that Arcadia has a specific rate for Hams and cuts thereof |
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Bound rate of duty |
The final rate to be reached - and bound - following the cuts prescribed in the Agreement on Agriculture. The rate of cut required is 36% for developed countries, 24% for developing countries over the implementation period. But the cuts are average cuts for the agriculture sector and do not necessarily apply at the level of individual products |
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Implementation period |
6 years for developed countries and 10 years for developing countries. Many schedules refer to a note reflecting this agreement |
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Initial negotiating right |
Countries with whom a concession was bilaterally negotiated. In this case, because these cuts have been made in accordance with the Agriculture Agreement formulae, there is no country with special rights |
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Other duties and charges |
Under the new agreement interpreting ArticleII(b) of the GATT, charges and fees must be listed and bound |
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Description of products |
Tariff Item Number(s) |
Initial quota quantity and in-quota tariff rate |
Final quota quantity and in-quota tariff rate |
Implementation period from/to |
Initial negotiating right |
Other terms and conditions |
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Live bovine animals, meat of bovine animals |
8000.0 |
14,440.0 |
Allocated as follows |
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0201 |
25 |
25 |
Note 1 |
Andaman 3000 Bythnia 1000 Other 4000 |
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0202 |
35 |
35 |
Note 1 |
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Meat of sheep or goats, fresh, chilled or frozen |
12,285 |
26,270 |
Note 1 |
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0204 |
22 |
22 |
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The second schedule in Arcadia"s tariff shows a short extract from the tariff-quotas introduced to ensure minimum levels of market access for all agricultural products as required by the Agreement on Agriculture. The Agreement requires that, for most products subject to tariffication of non-tariff barriers, a tariff quota be created that will permit imports to achieve 4% of domestic consumption by the end of the implementation period. Note that Arcadia has allocated some of these quota rights to Andaman and Bythnia, which thus benefit from guaranteed access at the in-quota rate for a proportion of product. Article XIII of the GATT governs the allocation of agricultural quotas.
PART I MOST-FAVOURED-NATION TARIFF|
Tariff Item Number |
Description of products |
Base rate of duty (%) U/B |
Bound rate of duty (%) |
Initial negotiating right |
Other duties and charges |
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4418 |
Builders" joinery and carpentry of wood, including cellular wooden panels, assembled parquet panels, shingles and shakes |
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4418 |
10 |
00 |
Windows, French-windows and their frames |
12 B |
9.6 |
Bythnia |
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4418 |
20 |
Doors and their frames and thresholds |
12 B |
9.6 |
Bythnia |
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4418 |
20 |
10 |
Of tropical wood |
12 U |
9.6 |
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4418 |
20 |
90 |
Of other wood |
12 U |
9.6 |
The Arcadian schedule of bindings for non-agricultural tariffs is straightforward. It shows the base rate of duty for each product whose tariff rate is to be bound following the implementation of the cuts negotiated in the Uruguay Round. Note that items 4418.20.10 and 4418.20.90 were not previously bound and that the bindings formerly applying to some of the products in this category were negotiated with Bythnia.
PART IV AGRICULTURE PRODUCTS: COMMITMENTS LIMITING SUBSIDIZATION|
Base Total AMS ($ millions) |
Annual and final bound commitment levels |
Supporting tables and document reference |
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1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
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17014 |
16446 |
15879 |
15312 |
14745 |
14178 |
13611 |
Tables 8& 9 of AGST/ARC |
The Arcadian schedule displaying commitments limiting subsidization of domestic agricultural production is, like most such schedules, very short. The document referenced in the last column contains most of the data on the calculations of the Total Aggregate Measure of Support. This schedule shows only the ceilings on the level of support which will apply in each year of the implementation period for a developed country - developing countries are required to cut their Total AMS by 13% over 10 years.
PART IV AGRICULTURE PRODUCTS: COMMITMENTS LIMITING SUBSIDIZATION|
Description of products and tariff item numbers at HS six digit level |
Base outlay level |
Calendar / other year applied |
Annual and final outlay commitments 1995-2000 |
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1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
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Wheat and wheat flour |
1,783 |
2069 |
1883 |
1698 |
1512 |
1326 |
1141 |
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Beef meat |
1,967 |
1900 |
1772 |
1644 |
1515 |
1387 |
1259 |
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| Note: this table has been folded: the following section appears to the right of the section above in the full schedule | ||||||||||
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Base Quantity |
Calendar / other year applied |
Annual and final quantity commitment levels 1995-2000 |
Relevant supporting tables and document reference |
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1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
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17008 |
1911 |
1796 |
1684 |
1570 |
1457 |
1343 |
AG ST/ARC |
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1034 |
1118 |
1058 |
998 |
937 |
877 |
817 |
AG ST/ARC |
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Arcadia has made commitments limiting the budget outlays and volume of agricultural export subsidies. These are recorded in Part IV of its WTO schedule.
[back to top]The best way to illustrate the schedules is to look at some examples. Here is a set of extracts from the GATT Schedule of an imaginary country, Arcadia.
[back to top]The best source of information on the schedule of a WTO member is the government of that member. A second source is the WTO, which can provide the latest (unconsolidated) schedule. One difficulty here is that the latest schedule may only record only the changes that have been made to the historical schedule. In order to understand the full implication of the changes, it may be necessary to consult the "earlier editions" of the schedule.