 
. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/C/W/485 
24 March 2004 
 (04-1336) 
Council for Trade in Goods  
  
 
INTRODUCTION OF  HARMONI ZED SYSTEM 1996 CHANGES  
INTO WTO SCHEDULES OF TARIFF CONCESSIONS 
 
Malaysia – Schedule XXXIX
 
 
Draft Waiver Decision 
 
  The General Council,  
 Considering  that the Members of the WTO, by  their Decisions of 13 December 1995, 
18 July 1996, 24 April 1997, 22 October 1997, 24 April 1998, 14 October 1998, 15 June 1999, 4 November 1999, 3 May 2000, 8 Decem ber 2000, 8 May 2001, 13 May 2002 and
 24 July 20031, acting 
pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 3 of Ar ticle IX of the WTO Agreement, suspended the 
application of the provisions of Ar ticle II of GATT 1994 until 30 Apr il 2004, for the purpose of enabling 
the Members listed in the Annex to implement the recommended amendments to the Harmonized 
System nomenclature; 
  Considering  that by their decision of 8 May 2001, Me mbers of the WTO al so agreed that it 
would be the last time that an extension of the HS96  waiver would be granted on a collective basis, but 
that this would not, however, preclude Members from requesting waivers on an individual basis; 
 
 Noting  that Malaysia has requested a waiver for the reasons explained in its request
2; 
  Considering  that Malaysia would need more time to notify the WTO Secretariat of the 
corrections to its schedule,  
 Acting  pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article IX of the WTO Agreement, 
  Decides, in view of the exceptional circumstances, to  suspend the application of the provisions 
of Article II of GATT 1994, until 30 Ap ril 2005, for the purpose of enabling Malaysia to implement the 
recommended amendments to the Harmonized Sy stem nomenclature, subject to the following 
conditions: 
   (i) Malaysia shall, where necessary, prompt ly enter into negotiatio ns and consultations 
with interested Members pursuant to paragraphs 1-3 of Article XXVIII of 
GATT 1994; 
 
 (ii) the negotiations and consultations menti oned above shall be comp leted not later than 
30 April 2005; 
 
                                                     
 
1WT/L/124+Corr.1, WT/L/173, WT/L/216, WT/L/243, WT/L/268, WT/L/281, WT/L/303, WT/L/338, 
WT/L/351, WT/L/379, WT/L/400, WT/L/465 and WT/L/529. 
2 G/L/676. G/C/W/485 
Page 2  
 
  (iii) Pending entry into force of the results of the negotiations or consultations mentioned 
above, the other Members will be free, pur suant to Article XXV III:3, to suspend 
concessions initially negotiated with Malaysia to the extent that they consider that adequate compensation is not offered by Malaysia. 
__________  