UNDERSTANDING ON THE INTERPRETATION OF ARTICLE II1(b) OF THE

understanding on the interpretation of article ii:1(b) of the general agreement on tariffs and trade 1994 members hereby agree as follows

UNDERSTANDING ON THE INTERPRETATION OF ARTICLE II:1(b)
OF THE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE 1994
Members hereby agree as follows:
1. In order to ensure transparency of the legal rights and obligations
deriving from paragraph 1(b) of Article II, the nature and level of
any "other duties or charges" levied on bound tariff items, as
referred to in that provision, shall be recorded in the Schedules of
concessions annexed to GATT 1994 against the tariff item to which they
apply. It is understood that such recording does not change the legal
character of "other duties or charges".
2. The date as of which "other duties or charges" are bound, for the
purposes of Article II, shall be 15 April 1994. "Other duties or
charges" shall therefore be recorded in the Schedules at the levels
applying on this date. At each subsequent renegotiation of a
concession or negotiation of a new concession the applicable date for
the tariff item in question shall become the date of the incorporation
of the new concession in the appropriate Schedule. However, the date
of the instrument by which a concession on any particular tariff item
was first incorporated into GATT 1947 or GATT 1994 shall also continue
to be recorded in column 6 of the Loose-Leaf Schedules.
3. "Other duties or charges" shall be recorded in respect of all
tariff bindings.
4. Where a tariff item has previously been the subject of a
concession, the level of "other duties or charges" recorded in the
appropriate Schedule shall not be higher than the level obtaining at
the time of the first incorporation of the concession in that
Schedule. It will be open to any Member to challenge the existence of
an "other duty or charge", on the ground that no such "other duty or
charge" existed at the time of the original binding of the item in
question, as well as the consistency of the recorded level of any
"other duty or charge" with the previously bound level, for a period
of three years after the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement
or three years after the date of deposit with the Director-General of
the WTO of the instrument incorporating the Schedule in question into
GATT 1994, if that is a later date.
5. The recording of "other duties or charges" in the Schedules is
without prejudice to their consistency with rights and obligations
under GATT 1994 other than those affected by paragraph 4. All Members
retain the right to challenge, at any time, the consistency of any
"other duty or charge" with such obligations.
6. For the purposes of this Understanding, the provisions of Articles
XXII and XXIII of GATT 1994 as elaborated and applied by the Dispute
Settlement Understanding shall apply.
7. "Other duties or charges" omitted from a Schedule at the time of
deposit of the instrument incorporating the Schedule in question into
GATT 1994 with, until the date of entry into force of the WTO
Agreement, the Director-General to the CONTRACTING PARTIES to GATT
1947 or, thereafter, with the Director-General of the WTO, shall not
subsequently be added to it and any "other duty or charge" recorded at
a level lower than that prevailing on the applicable date shall not be
restored to that level unless such additions or changes are made
within six months of the date of deposit of the instrument.
8. The decision in paragraph 2 regarding the date applicable to each
concession for the purposes of paragraph 1(b) of Article II of GATT
1994 supersedes the decision regarding the applicable date taken on 26
March 1980 (BISD 27S/24).