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    • Glossary
      • I-TIP Definitions
        • FLOW APPROACH
          • In the flow approach the application shows actions taken during the selected period: one year, one quarter, etc. Actions may be initiations, put into force or withdrawals. If a measure has initiation and putting into force in the same period, it will add to both numbers, initiations and putting into force.
        • I-TIP
          • Integrated Trade Intelligence Portal
        • IN FORCE DATE
          • The date when the measure is put in force, in I-TIP, is well known for trade defence measures (Antidumping, Countervailing, and Safeguards measures); in contrast, it may or may not be notified for SPS and TBT. The measures in agriculture (SSG, TRQ, XS, AMS) are defined in annual periods and here we use the start and the end of the year as in-force date and withdrawal date, respectively.
        • INITIATION DATE
          • The initiation date is the date when the measure in preparation is made known to other WTO members; in SPS and TBT it is then the date when the measure is distributed to other members through DOL. In AD, CV, and SG, the date of initiation of investigation is also the date when the affected member is notified of initiation. In agricultural NTMs, initiation is not applicable.
        • NOTIFICATION
          • Official communication of a member to WTO for fulfilling a requirement on information.
        • SILO
          • In the I-TIP application, "silos" refers to the underlying databases from which the information is harvested. Currently those are SPSIMS, TBTIMS, AGIMS, ADDB, SGDB, and CVDB.
        • STOCK APPROACH
          • In the stock approach, the application shows the measures in force at the selected date. Measures in force are discounted from measures initiated, and measures withdrawn are discounted from measures in force.
        • WITHDRAWAL DATE
        • WTO-INTERPRETED
          • In this application, the measure, the imposing member, and the initiation or in-force date are required information gathered from notification documents; product information (HS or free text), affected countries, and other date information are not necessarily provided across all notifications. The Secretariat provides complementary information, wherever appropriate and meaningful, to assist in the interpretation of the notifications. Any supplementary information has been clearly identified as "WTO-interpreted" and is shown in italics in the results.
      • Intnl.Trade Concepts
        • MEASURE
          • Laws, regulations, and other actions taken by governments in the fields covered by I-TIP. In I-TIP, each measure is classified by type and has an imposing country, an in-force and an initiation date, an affected country, and may have affected products.
        • NTM
          • Non-Tariff Measures: In this application, the term "Non-Tariff Measures" (NTM or NTMs) is defined as the measures subject to monitoring through notification under GATT-WTO agreements. Measures that are not subject to monitoring are not considered here.
        • Trade defence measures
          • There are three types of measures grouped under this name: Antidumping, Countervailing, and Safeguards.
        • WTO
          • World Trade Organization: The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the international organization dealing with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably, and freely as possible.
      • Acronyms
        • ADDB
          • WTO's Antidumping Database
        • ADP
          • Antidumping: Measures notified to WTO as defined in Art.16.4. of the agreement on antidumping measures (Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of GATT-1994). These measures are sourced from the application ADDB, Antidumping Database.
        • AGIMS
          • WTO's Agriculture Information Management System
        • CRN
          • Central Registry of Notifications: The Uruguay Round Ministerial Decision on Notification Procedures has established under the responsibility of the Secretariat a Central Registry of Notifications (CRN). All notifications should be sent to the Administrator of the CRN and not to WTO bodies and/or Secretariat staff (with the exception of the notification requirements related to the IDB - Integrated Database). The CRN system is a section of the WTO's Documents Online application.
        • CTS
          • Consolidated Tariff Schedules Database
        • CV
          • Countervailing measures. In I-TIP, it refers to the measures taken under GATT Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, and in particular, on the information notified under the Article 25 of that agreement.
        • CVDB
          • WTO's Countervailing Database
        • DOL
          • Documents Online or DocsOnLine or DOL: It is the database providing access to the official documentation of the World Trade Organization, including the legal texts of WTO agreements.
        • IDB
          • Integrated Data Base
        • IMS
          • WTO's Information Management Systems.
        • SG
          • Safeguards measures. In I-TIP, it refers to the measures taken under GATT agreement on safeguards, and in particular, on the information notified under the Article 12 of that agreement.
        • SPS
          • Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures: Measures notified to WTO as defined in the SPS agreement, particularly the information notified under Annex B Article 5. I-TIP takes them from SPS-IMS system.
        • SPSIMS
          • WTO's Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Information Management System
        • TAO, IDB
          • Tool for consulting information from WTO trade and tariff databases, Integrated Data Base, IDB and Consolidated Tariff Schedules, and CTS.
        • TBT
          • Technical Barriers to Trade: Measures notified to WTO as defined in the TBT agreement, in particular the information notified under Articles 10 and 15. I-TIP takes them from the TBT-IMS system.
        • TBTIMS
          • WTO's Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Information Management System
        • TDF
          • Tariff Download Facility
      • HS & ICS Glossary
        • CHAPTER (HS)
          • Two-digit category of Harmonized System classification, covering 96 Chapters. Codes "98", "99", and "00" are optional for country use.
        • HEADING (HS)
          • Four-digit category of Harmonized System classification. Each Heading has a complete description. The HS system has about 1241Headings since 2002.
        • HS
          • Harmonized System of codification and classification of merchandises: Known generally as Harmoized System (HS), this system is kept by the WCO, World Customs Organizations. This classification is designed to be used by customs administrations in external trade matters. It is now applied by almost all countries in the world. The classification was launched in 1988 and is updated each five years: the first revision is called HS-1992; second revision HS-1996; third revision HS-2002; fourth HS-2007; and the fifth is HS-2012. It is a multi-level classification whose most detailed level is six digits with more than five thousand items at this level, called "Subheadings". They are grouped into Headings (1241 items coded at 4 digits) and Chapters (96 items coded at 2 digits). There are also 21 Sections; Sections are not represented in the HS codification. See methodology for the particularities on how the HS and its different versions are used in I-TIP.
        • ICS
          • International Classification for Standards. The ICS is maintained by the ISO, International Organization for Standardization, and is intended to serve as a structure for catalogues of standards and other normative documents as well as a basis for systems for standards. The ICS is a hierarchical classification that consists of three levels. The first level, called "field", covers 40 divisions at two digits. The fields are subdivided into 392 groups. The notation of a group consists of the field notation and a three-digit group number, separated by a point (e.g. 43.040). 144 of the 392 groups are further divided into 909 subgroups for a total of 1204 items at the most detailed level. The subgroups add two digits to the notation (e.g. 43.040.20). The first subgroup within the group refers to the complete subject of the respective group and has code ".01".
        • SECTION (HS)
          • Broadest Harmonized System category. The Harmonized System comprises 21 "Sections".
        • SUBHEADING (HS)
          • Most detailed international level of the Harmonized System (HS) classification, defined at six digits. In HS version 2012, there are 5205 Subheadings at six digits.
        • TARIFF LINE
          • Product classification level applied by countries. It goes deeper than the 6-digit common level of HS. In some cases, it has 12 digits.
    • Methodology
    • Map of the application
    • Classifications used in the application
  • The SPS and TBT data, including related Specific Trade Concerns (STC), will not be updated in I-TIP database until 2023. Please find SPS/TBT measures information on the ePing SPS & TBT Platform.
  • Most of Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) are now included in I-TIP: Trade defence measures, technical measures and their Specific Trade Concerns (STCs), quantitative restrictions, the NTMs from the Agreement on Agriculture and information on state trading enterprises.
  • Antidumping and Countervailing measures cover all measures initiated and/or with final duties in force from 2001 to the first half of 2020.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) deals with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible.

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