   
  
G/MA/W/141  
 
1 May 2019 
(19-2986) Page: 1/1 
Committee on Market Access  Original: English  
 
 
DISSEMINATION OF THE  INTEGRATED DATA BAS E (IDB) AND  
THE CONSOLIDATED TAR IFF SCHEDULES (CTS) DATABASE  
COMMUNICATION FROM T HE INTERNATIONAL GRAINS  COUNCIL (IGC)  
The following communication, dated 1 March 2019, is being circulated at the request of the 
International Grains Council.  
 
_______________  
 
 
1.1.  I am writing to request the WTO grants privileged access to the Secretariat of the International 
Grains Council (IGC) to the WTO's Integrated Database (IDB), RTA database, and Consolidated Tariff 
Schedules ( CTS) database and would be grateful if you would submit my request to the Committee 
on Market Access for its consideration and approval.  
1.2.  By way of background information, the IGC is an intergovernmental organisation comprising 
56 governments that seek inc reased international cooperation on grains trade, including cereals, 
oilseeds and rice. Under our economic work program, we are currently developing a tool to calculate 
the total cost of trade in grains and oilseeds for IGC members. The information availab le in WTO's 
databases for these commodities would be of immense value to finalise our project. Conversely, 
access to the IGC intranet would give WTO staff the opportunity to use this analytical tool for 
research purposes. The Cost and Freight dashboard cur rently covers over 120 maritime routes and 
more than 90% of global flows of heavy grains and sorghum.  
1.3.  I would also like to underscore that the IGC has permanent observer status in the WTO 
Committee on Agriculture. In that capacity, IGC participates in the  Committee and regularly 
contributes to the annual monitoring exercise undertaken by Members to follow -up on the Marrakech 
Decision on Net -Food Importing Developing Countries. The IGC Secretariat also administers the Food 
Assistance Convention, an instrume nt that has a very direct linkage with WTO's work and legal 
disciplines, especially in the field of international food aid. With WTO colleagues in the Agriculture 
and Commodities Division being regularly invited to participate in Council meetings as well a s Food 
Assistance Committee sessions, the mutual collaboration between our respective Secretariats has 
strengthened in many ways over the years, including within the transparency framework established 
by the G20 Agriculture Market Information System.  
1.4.  Finally, hoping that my request will be considered favourably, I am pleased to inform you that 
IGC agrees to the conditions for the use and publication of IDB and CTS information, as stated in 
document G/MA/238. I have instructed Mr Alexander Karaveytsev, Econ omist, to be the focal point 
for all matters relating to IGC access to the IDB, RTA and CTS databases.  
 
__________  