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Annex 1 - Technical requirements

SECTION I – Applied Tariffs 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 2 2 Overview of The Applied Tariffs section of the market access database ................................ 3

2.1 The dataset ......................................................................................................................... 3

3 Content information ................................................................................................................. 3 3.1 Reference codes ................................................................................................................. 3 3.2 Part code list ...................................................................................................................... 4 3.3 Basis code list .................................................................................................................... 5

3.4 Root of the nomenclature .................................................................................................. 6 3.5 Blank product ids ............................................................................................................... 6 3.6 Attribute "label" in <nomenLine> element ....................................................................... 6

3.7 List of countries in the preference regimes ........................................................................ 6 3.8 Triggering events info ....................................................................................................... 6

4 HTML Text formatting instructions ......................................................................................... 7 5 Quality criteria .......................................................................................................................... 8

5.1 Structured approach in expressing the duty measures ....................................................... 8 5.2 Structured approach in expressing duty formulas ............................................................. 8 5.3 Structured approach in expressing the tariff quotas .......................................................... 8

5.4 Structured approach in expressing the taxes ...................................................................... 8 5.5 Relevance of displayed information .................................................................................. 8

5.6 Modification summary ...................................................................................................... 8 5.7 Public Modif summary ...................................................................................................... 9

5.8 Preference regime .............................................................................................................. 9 6 Example XML files .................................................................................................................. 9

6.1 Basic example file ............................................................................................................. 9

6.2 Example file for formulas .................................................................................................. 9 6.3 Tax notes example file ....................................................................................................... 9

SECTION II – Import Formalities

1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 10

2. Overview of the import formalities section of the market access database ........................... 10

3. Dataset description ................................................................................................................. 11 3.1. Structure ........................................................................................................................... 11 3.2. XML Content rules .......................................................................................................... 12

3.2.1. Inclusion and Exclusion ........................................................................................... 12

3.2.2. Note wording ............................................................................................................ 13 3.2.3. ModifSummary element ........................................................................................... 14

4. HTML Files formatting instructions ...................................................................................... 15 4.1. Document title of general/specific requirements ............................................................. 15 4.2. Example file ..................................................................................................................... 15

4.3. Example overview file (Indonesia) .................................................................................. 15

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SECTION I – Applied Tariffs

1 INTRODUCTION

The present annex lists the technical requirements applicable to the contractor's deliverables.

Although great care has been given to the definition of the present technical requirements, DG

Trade reserves the right to bring changes to them. In that case, an updated version of the technical

requirements would be provided shortly after the award of the contract.

The URL of the public web site presenting the content of the datasets is http://madb.europa.eu.

The web site supports anonymous access for users connecting through a proxy located in EU

member states or in candidate countries.

The public web site has the following functionalities:

Search by product code and keyword,

Display of applied tariffs,

Display of taxes and additional duties,

Display of tariff related notes.

Here is an example of applied tariffs display:

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2 OVERVIEW OF THE APPLIED TARIFFS SECTION OF THE MARKET ACCESS DATABASE

The contractor delivers a separate file (called "dataset") for each country.

The dataset is uploaded to an administration web site hosted by DG Trade. The dataset undergoes

an automated validation before being published as illustrated in the figure below.

2.1 The dataset

All data pertaining to a given country must be delivered as a single zip file, called the country

dataset or dataset.

The naming convention for the dataset is: AASS-CCYY-UUv999 where

AA = application (always "MA" for Market Access)

SS= section ("AT" for applied tariffs and "IF" for import formalities)

CC= country code

YY= contract year to which the dataset is related (note: a dataset delivered in december

2015 for example might apply to contractual obligations related to year 2016 in which

case YY must be set to '16')

UU= update number (also a contractual notion : it is checked against the number of yearly

updates the contractor has commited to)

999= a numeric version number for the update (no contractual semantics attached here)

Example:

MAAT-AR15-02v001 is the 2nd update for applied tariffs of Argentina in 2015

The zip file contains a single XML file whose content and structure is further described in this

document. Following the previous example the zip file must be called MAAT-AR15-02v001.zip

and must contain an XML file named MAAT-AR15-02v001.xml

The xml files provided by the contractor must be validated against the schema provided in

annex document "at.xsd".

3 CONTENT INFORMATION

3.1 Reference codes

Some attributes defined in the XML schema correspond to codes whose values are available in

the annex document: Market Access Database – "AT reference codes.doc".

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element / attribute nomenclature

update / countryIdUpdate

country / countryId

country codes : The country codes must comply with ISO2

alpha nomenclature.

specificRate / curr

flatRate / curr

currency codes : The currency codes comply with ISO 4217

nomenclature.

specificRate / unit measure unit codes : The UNECE's COMMON CODE must

be used

(http://www.unece.org/cefact/codesfortrade/codes_index.htm)

advaloremRate / part

specificRate / part

part code (see list below)

advaloremRate / basis basis code (see list below)

Note : A special "ZZZ9999" code has been created in the unit, qual and part nomenclature. This

code is also known as the "catch-all" code. It can be used when a code needed by the contractor

does not exist yet in DG Trade's nomenclatures.

3.2 Part code list

Part Id Label

AG silver

ANHMOR anhydrous morphine

AU gold

BATTERY battery

BIODIESEL biodiesel

C2H5OH ethanol

CASE case

CASE_STP_BND_BCT on the case and strap, band or bracelet

CHOCHL choline chloride

CNT_CH on contents and container

CO cobalt

CR chromium

CR2O3 chromic oxide

CU copper

DIESEL diesel

DRYRUB dry rubber

ENG_POW engine power

ENT_CNT_CH on entire contents of container

ENT_SET on entire set

GASOLINE gasoline

GRO_IMM_CH per gross of immediate containers

H2O2 hydrogen peroxide

INCL_WGT_CH including weight of container

INT_VOL internal volume

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IR iridium

METAL metal

METAMI methylamines

MG magnesium

MILSOL milk solids

MN manganese

MO molybdenum

MOV_CASE on the movement and case

NH3 ammonia

NI nickel

OS osmium

OTHER_COMP other components

PB lead

PT platinum

RE rhenium

REC_SUF of recording surface

RU ruthenium

RUBBER rubber

SB antimony

SCREENDIAG diagonal measurement of a screen

SI silicon

SN tin

STP_BND_BCT on the strap, band or bracelet

TOBACC tobacco

TOTALC total alcohol

TOTAL_QUANT_SOL total soluble solids

TOTSUG total sugar

V vanadium

V2O5 vanadium pentoxide

VAL_RIFLE on the value of the rifle

VAL_TELSCP_SGT on the value of the telescopic sight

W tungsten

WO3 tungsten trioxide

ZN zinc

ZZZ999 ZZZ999

na na

3.3 Basis code list

Basis Id Label

CFR CFR value

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CIF CIF value

CIF1 (CIF + 1% CIF)

CIP CIP value

DPV DPV value

FOB FOB value

na na

3.4 Root of the nomenclature

The first line in the nomenclature corresponds to the root of the nomenclature and must be the

following one :

<nomenLine id="-1" isLeaf="false" fatherId="-1" hsCode="ROOT" label="ROOT"

selfLabel="ROOT"/>

Chapters must refer to the root by having their fatherId attribute set to "-1".

Example:

<nomenLine id="0" isLeaf="false" fatherId="-1" hsCode="01" label="Chapter 1 Live animals"

selfLabel=" "/>.

In the same way, headings (4-digit product codes) must refer to the chapter, 6-digit product codes

must refer to headings, etc.

3.5 Blank product ids

The application supports blank product ids. In this case, the hsCode attribute of the nomenLine

element must be set to "NONE" (in uppercase).

Example:

<nomenLine id="22" isLeaf="false" fatherId="21" hsCode="NONE" label="- - Domestic

species:" selfLabel="Live bovine animals; Other; Domestic species"/>

3.6 Attribute "label" in <nomenLine> element

The leading dashes must be provided.

Blank labels are not allowed.

3.7 List of countries in the preference regimes

The complete list of countries belonging to a preference regime is provided.

In xml terms, a countryGroup element is provided for each preference regime and this element

contains the exhaustive list of covered countries.

3.8 Triggering events info

In order to connect dataset revisions with triggering events, a trigger element has been introduced:

Attribute Definition Examples

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trigger element Textual description of the

triggering event.

"Yearly customs tariff

update", "Change in quotas",

"Change in taxes",

"Conclusion of preferential

trade agreements"…

PubliDate attribute Date upon which the modifications

are published by the national

authorities and become available to

the contractor.

ForceDate

attribute

Starting date of validity for the new

tariffs/tax conditions as expressed

by national authorities = date upon

which the new tariffs/tax conditions

enter into force.

4 HTML TEXT FORMATTING INSTRUCTIONS

The following elements support HTML tags:

taxFormulaNote

directNote

sectionNote

countryGroupDescr

indirectNote

tariffQuota

To add HTML tags, use the <![CDATA[ ]]> tags in order to prevent parsing and validation of

the schema for those tags.

Use only the following HTML subset of elements without inline styles:

<p> for paragraphs

<ol>, <ul> and <li> for lists

<abbr> for abbreviations

<h1>, <h2> and <h3> for the titles

<strong> and <em> for important and emphasized content respectively

<a> for links (If the link points to another website, the target must be set to "external")

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In the directNote element you can also add a reference to an indirectNote id, using the

indirectNoteRef element. It will be used to reference it on the page, when displaying the page on

the web.

5 QUALITY CRITERIA

5.1 Structured approach in expressing the duty measures

When distinct duty measures apply to a given product code and given country group, those

measures should be described using distinct measure elements within a single measureSet

element.

5.2 Structured approach in expressing duty formulas

A textual representation of a formula should be used only when the XML schema does not

provide appropriate modeling possibilities. In XML terms:

1) the textualRate element is used only when the formula cannot be expressed using

formulaTerm tags such as advaloremRate, specificRate, compoundRate…

2) optional notes attached to the formula and formulaTerm elements are used only when the

concept cannot be expressed using formulaTerm elements.

5.3 Structured approach in expressing the tariff quotas

Any information related to tariff quota should be provided via ad hoc tariffQuota tags (instead of

general purpose notes).

5.4 Structured approach in expressing the taxes

The description of the tax duty and the applicability conditions should be clearly separated in

respectively the taxFormulaNote and taxConditions elments.

5.5 Relevance of displayed information

The hsInclusions elements included in taxNote, productNote, prefNote, abrevNote and editorNote

elements should contain the product codes at the right level of granulation.

For example, excise tax measures of alcoholic beverages should be associated with appropriate

HS codes (such as 2208) so that they will not be displayed in the context of say, mineral waters

(code 2201).

5.6 Modification summary

The modifSummary element should contain a text of appropriate length, commensurate with the

importance of the modifications.

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5.7 Public Modif summary

The field must be used to describe the changes made to the dataset. This field will be available on

the public site on the tariffs page and the last updates page.

The publicModifSummary accepts up to 3000 characters as is the case for the modifSummary.

The text to be included in the "public modification summary" will not be standardised but is free

format. It will co-exist with the modification summary that is included in the set of data

submitted to the Market Access Unit's content manager for acceptance. However, while the latter

is for internal use, the former will be displayed in the results page of a search for applied tariff

information upon the click of a button. Therefore, data providers should pay particular attention

to the clarity, wording and format of text to be inserted in this field, which should provide users

with a clear idea of the changes made to the dataset, and it should contain a text which is

commensurate in length and detail with the modifications made to the dataset. At the data

provider's discretion, the contents of both fields may be identical.

5.8 Preference regime

A description of each preference regime should be provided in the countryGroupDescr element

within the countryGroup element.

6 EXAMPLE XML FILES

6.1 Basic example file

See annex document MAAT-CA11-01v015.xml

6.2 Example file for formulas

In the following file, we focus on the modeling of the duty rate formulas.

See annex document MAAT-Z108-01v011.xml

6.3 Tax notes example file

In this section, we focus on the "additional duties and taxes" section of the applied tariffs

application.

See annex document MAAT-Z211-01v016.xml

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SECTION II – Import Formalities

1. INTRODUCTION

The present annex lists the technical requirements applicable to the contractor's deliverables.

The document also contains an overview of the export formalities section of the Market Access database

and a description of the workflow of the delivery process.

Although great care has been given to the definition of the technical requirements, DG Trade reserves the

right to make changes to them during the contracting period. The occurrence of such modifications will in

no case modify the price.

2. OVERVIEW OF THE IMPORT FORMALITIES SECTION OF THE MARKET ACCESS DATABASE

The contractor delivers a file (called "dataset") for each country. The dataset is uploaded to an

administration web site hosted by DG Trade. The dataset undergoes an automated validation before being

published.

All data pertaining to a given country must be delivered as a single zip file, called the country dataset or

dataset. The data are processed and presented ont the MADB public web site: http://madb.europa.eu.

The public web site has the following functionalities:

search the database by country and by product (HS code or keyword),

provide an overview of the import procedures and formalities for a given country

provide the list of applicable procedures and formalities for given country and product code,

provide a detailed explanation of import formalities/procedures,

Here is an example of an overview of import procedures and formalities:

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3. DATASET DESCRIPTION

All data pertaining to a given country must be delivered as a single zip file, called the country dataset or

dataset.

The naming convention for the dataset is: AASS-CCYY-RRv999 where

AA = application (always "MA" for Market Access)

SS= section ("IF" for import formalities)

CC= country code

YY= contract year to which the dataset is related (note: a dataset delivered in December

2014 for example might apply to contractual obligations related to year 2015 in which

case YY must be set to '15')

RR= revision number. The revision is a contractual notion: it is checked against the

number of yearly updates the contractor has committed to. A new revision number may

be assigned to a dataset only if the content has been updated.

999= a numeric version number for the update (no contractual semantics attached here).

The version number may be used freely by the contractor to reflect presentation or

technical changes.

Example:

MAIF-AR14-02v004 is the 2nd

revision for applied tariffs of Argentina in 2014.

3.1. Structure

The zip file contains all the files of the dataset:

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The XML file. The XML file must use the naming convention described above. See the content

details in the next sections.

Documents corresponding to introductory texts (overview, general requirements, specific

requirements). The overview and the introductory texts for each of the general and specific

requirements as described above under "Introductory Texts" must be provided in separate html

files.

Images: In the cases where there is a form that has to be filled by the exporter, a bitmap image of

this form (GIF format) is required and the text must contain an HTML link to this image.

Following the previous example the zip file must be called MAIF-AR14-02v004.zip and the main XML

file must be called MAIF-AR14-02v004.xml.

See annex document if.xsd. The xml dataset must be valid against this schema.

3.2. XML Content rules

3.2.1. Inclusion and Exclusion

Specific requirements are assigned to 4-digit HS codes (using the hs_code element).

There will be situations where a specific requirement is not applicable to all goods covered by the four-

digit HS. There are 2 possible ways of expressing this:

using the inclusions element in order to expressed all covered cases

using the exclusions element in order to express that the requirement is generally applicable

except for the case(s) expressed in the exclusion element.

The inclusions and exclusions are often expressed as a list of product codes (under a given four-digit HS

code) but can also refer to other applicability conditions. They can also mix HS code related conditions

with other applicability conditions. Here are a few examples:

Only required for 2933.39, 2933.49, 2933.53, 2933.59, 2933.79, 2933.99

Not required for 0210.11, 0210.12, 0210.19.

Only required for uncured hides and skins

Only required if subject to CITES

Only required for 9404.90 if containing eiderdowns

Only required for 9505.10 if aerosol sprays containing CFCs

Only applicable to products outside the range of 8-26% milk fat content (usually falling outside

0402.21.11, 0402.29.11)

Only prohibited for 0206.30, 0206.41, 0206.49

Type of inclusion or

exclusion

XML elements Example of note (inclu_note

or exclu_note)

Inclusion expressed as a

series of included HS codes

inclu_note : mandatory

inclu_list : mandatory

exclu_note: no

exclu_list: no

If inclu_note is non null,

MADB displays inclu_note,

otherwise MADB constructs a

note based on the HS codes

Only required for 2933.39,

2933.49, 2933.53, 2933.59,

2933.79, 2933.99.

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listed in inclu_list. The

constructed note starts with

"Only required for".

Exclusion expressed as a

series of exclude HS codes

inclu_note : no

inclu_list : no

exclu_note: mandatory

exclu_list: mandatory

If exclu_note is non null,

MADB displays exclu_note,

otherwise MADB constructs a

note based on the HS codes

listed in exclu_list. The

constructed note starts with

"Not required for".

Not required for 0210.11,

0210.12, 0210.19

Inclusion, unrelated to HS

codes

inclu_note : mandatory

inclu_list : no

exclu_note: no

exclu_list: no

MADB displays the inclu_note.

Only required for uncured

hides and skins.

Exclusion, unrelated to HS

codes

inclu_note : no

inclu_list : no

exclu_note: mandatory

exclu_list: no

MADB displays the exclu_note.

Not applicable if fibre/non

woven

Inclusion, expressed as a

mix of HS code related and

non HS code related

conditions.

inclu_note : mandatory

inclu_list : mandatory

exclu_note: no

exclu_list: no

MADB displays the inclu_note.

Only required for

0205.00.20, 0205.00.80 if

covered by CITES

convention

Exclusion, expressed as a

mix of HS code related and

non HS code related

conditions.

inclu_note : no

inclu_list : no

exclu_note: mandatory

exclu_list: mandatory

MADB displays the exclu_note.

Not applicable to 0105.99 if

poultry not older than one

week and if poultry intended

for production purposes

3.2.2. Note wording

Inclusion notes must start with one of the following phrases:

"Only required"

"Only applicable"

"Only prohibited"

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Exclusion notes must start with one of the following phrases:

"Not required"

"Not applicable"

"Not prohibited"

3.2.3. ModifSummary element

The modifSummary element must be used by the contractor to inform DG Trade of modifications

introduced in the current revision with comparison to the previous revision. This info is for internal use

only and is not displayed on the public web site.

Here is an example of modifSummary content:

The import documentation for Libya has been completely reviewed and adapted to new regulations. The document entitled "Trade Name Registration" has been incorporated into the report. Due to further liberalisation efforts, the documents entitled "Contract on the Importation of Goods" and "Registration with the General Company for Stationary and Office Equipment Supplies" are no longer required and thus has been excluded from the documentation. The form of the document entitled "Registration with the National Supply Corporation" has been exchanged by an enhanced version and the procedure has been adapted to the current legislation. Several other documents have been updated with regard to various details. Specific measures have been taken to encourage private trade and gradually withdraw government involvement, e.g. previous monopolies have been softened and the banking sector allows for more diversity as to the choice of the hard currency to be used in the transaction and the commercial bank. As a consequence, the following documents have been altered: "Opening of a Foreign Currency Account", "Application for Foreign Capital Investment", "Registration with the NASCO" and

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4. HTML FILES FORMATTING INSTRUCTIONS

Use an individual HTML file for each overview or general/specific requirement.

4.1. Document title of general/specific requirements

MADB uses the text provided in XML element doc_label to construct the page displaying the general or

specific requirement.

Please take note of the following requirements:

The title of the document must not be included in the html (otherwise it would appear twice).

The file does not contain the list of general and specific documents. This list is generated

automatically by DG Trade using the XML file.

The file does not contain a table of contents.

Use only the following HTML subset of elements without inline styles:

<p> for paragraphs

<ol>, <ul> and <li> for lists

<abbr> for abbreviations. Include all the acronym and abbreviations inline, avoid a

glossary of terms.

<h1>, <h2> and <h3> for the section titles.

<strong> and <em> for important and emphasized content respectively

<a> for links (If the link points to another website, the target must be set to "external")

<table>, <tr>, <th> and <td> only for tabular data. Tables should not be used as layout

aids.

4.2. Example file

The following example xml file contains information pertaining to Iran and the following HS codes:

1507 (example with one specific requirement and no inclusions nor exclusions),

2933 (example with one specific requirement having an inclusions list)

0210 (example with a few specific requirements, two of them having an exclusions list).

See annex document MAIF-IR10-01v003.xml

4.3. Example overview file (Indonesia)

See annex document overview.html