G/L/1523  
 
1 December  2023 
(23-8181) Page: 1/16 
Council for Trade in Goods    
 
  
REPORT  ON IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FUNCTIONING OF  
THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS AND ITS SUBSIDIARY BODIES1 
1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  The Council  for Trade in Goods (CTG or Council)  began its discussions on WTO  Reform in 
September  2022, following the mandate set out in the MC12  Outcome Documen t2, which instructed 
the General Council and its subsidiary bodies to "conduct the work, review progress, and consider 
decisions, as appropriate, to be submitted to the next Ministerial Confer ence". This report  provides 
information on the discussions to improve the functioning of the CTG and its 14 subsidiary bodies , 
which collectively implement all the agreements for trade in goods included in Annex  1A of the 
WTO Agreement , and represent the majority of the WTO's regular bodies . It reflects  all the 
improvements realized since the conclusion of MC12 , and is based on the individual reports prepared 
by each of these bodies or their Chairpersons, as applicable (see Annex  1). 
1.2.  The CTG is pleased to report that a  total of 12 7 improvements have been introduced in the 
functioning of  the CTG and its subsidiary bodies, including 67 changes which have been formally 
adopted by these bodies and 60 changes where either the Chairperson or the Secretariat has taken 
action  following discussions with Members . A summary of the number of improvements by body is 
provided in Table  1 in Section  3 of this document  (see below) . This work is significant insofar as  the 
effective function ing of the regular bodies is a necessary condition for a successful implementation 
of the existing WTO Agreements , including the mandate and terms of reference of these bodies, in 
addition to  any other substantive change adopted in the context of the broad er WTO reform 
discussions.  Improving the functioning of regular bodies is  an incremental process , and Members 
may wish to continue relevant discussions  in the future, if necessary , based on inputs from Members.  
1.3.  Section  2 of this report describes the process followed by the CTG in implementing this 
mandate , and the proposals adopted or recommended  by the Council , as well as the role it has 
played vis-à-vis its 14 subsidiary bodies. Section  3 then reproduces , by area or cat egory , the main 
outcomes of the se discussions . 
2  PROCESS AND PROPOSALS  
2.1.  At the Council's  formal meeting of 7 -8 July 2022, the Chairperson  of the CTG  recalled  a 
document3 that had been prepared by the Secretariat  listing the outcomes of  MC12 , and noted that 
there were three  elements that seemed to relate to the work of the Goods Council , namely : (i) the 
"Work Programme on Electronic Commerce" (WT/MIN(22)/32 ); (ii) paragraph  24 of the "Ministerial 
Declaration on the WTO  Response to the COVID -19 Pandemic and Preparedness for Future 
Pandemics"  (WT/MIN(22)/31 ); and (iii) paragraph  3 of the MC12  Outcome Document  
(WT/MIN(22)/24 ), on WTO  Reform, which concluded by stating: "While reaffirming the foundational  
principles of the W TO, we envision  reforms to improve all its functions ." On this basis, t he 
Chairperson announced that he would hold bilateral consultations to hear Members ' views and plans 
in respect of these issues , and stressed that, to this end,  his door  remain ed open. 
2.2.  On 14 October  20224, the Council met informally to allow the Chairperson to report on the 
outcome  of his consultations .5 On WTO reform, the Chair person  reported that all Members he had 
 
1 Report adopted at the formal meeting of the Council for Trade in Goods of 30  November  2023.  
2 WT/MIN(22)/24 . 
3 See G/C/M/143 , subsection  49.2, and RD/WTO/13 . 
4 See Convening Notice in ICN/CTG/ 5 and the Chairperson's closing remarks in ICN/CTG/ 5/Add.1 . 
5 See JOB/CTG/16 . G/L/1523  
 
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  met had insisted on the need to have a process that was open, inclusive, transparent, and 
Member -driven.  They further  considered  that, since the Council oversees most Committees , it could 
have an important role  to play when discussing how to improve the deliberative function of the WTO . 
However, the Chair also noted that Members seemed to disagree  on whether these discussions 
should be undertaken as a top -down, or a bottom -up process , a difference of views which had also 
been expressed at this meeting .6 At the meeting , and with a view to better u nderstanding the current 
status of work  in the different bodies , the Chairperson was also requested  to write to the 
Chairpersons of the 14 subsidiary bodies to ask them to prepare a report, under their own 
responsibility and with the Secretariat's assistan ce, describing the current functioning of their 
committees, including actions previously taken to improve their work.7 Finally, Members asked the 
Secretariat to organize an information session for delegation s to better understand the  digital tools 
used by the CTG and its subsidiary bodies . The session  was held  in December  2022.8 
2.3.  The reports by the Chairpersons of the CTG and its 14 subsidiary bodies describing the current 
functioning of their respective bodies were circulated by the end of 2022.  At the CTG 's formal 
meeting of 24 -25 November  2022, Members requested the Secretariat to prepare a document or 
summary to assist them in comparing the information that had been provided in the se report s.9 
2.4.  At the informal meeting of 31 January  202310, the Chairpersons of the 14 subsidiary bodies 
presented  their respective reports on the current functioning of their Committees11, and t he 
Secretariat introduced a  "comparative matrix "12, which provide d a general overview  of these  reports . 
At this meeting , Members continued to disagree on the role to be played by the CTG  with respect to 
the work of its subsidiary bodies . The Chairperson concluded by noting that, while the CTG would 
continue reflecting on the improvements that it would like to introduce in its own functioning, it 
remained subject to the decision of each subsidiary body  to discuss if, when, and how they would 
like to improve their own work , taking into account the comparative matrix.13 On a separate issue,  
and follo wing a proposal by Members , the Chairperson noted there appeared to be convergence to 
follow written procedures to adopt a  decision for the introduction of the eAgenda for the CTG on a 
trial basis.14 
2.5.  At the informal meeting of 27  February  202315, Members d iscussed the areas of CTG work that 
required improvement and the process to be followed. Based on  these discussions , the Chairperson 
of the CTG prepared a communication which included  a preliminary list of issues that had been 
proposed for discussion , and invited Members to provide additional inputs .16 On the role of the CTG 
vis-à-vis the subsidiary bodies, the Chairperson was asked to send a communication to the 
Chairpersons of these bodies asking them to organize dis cussions concerning the functioning of their 
bodies and noting that , at a later stage, they  would be requested to report back to the CTG on their 
discussions and describ e the improvements  that they had introduced , if any . This communication 
was sent on 9 March 2023.17 
2.6.  At its informal meeting of 31 March  202318, Members were asked to react to the "Preliminary 
List of Issues Proposed for Discussion"  contained in the Annex to the Convening Notice in ICN/CTG/9 . 
Under the responsibility of the Chairperson, a  document containing a table indicating the status of  
the discussions on each of the proposals was circulated after the meeting.19 In this document, 
 
6 See JOB/CTG/17 . 
7 See JOB/CTG/18 . 
8 The Information Session on WTO's Digital Tools was held in hybrid format on 9 and 
12 December  2022. Its programme is included in ICN/CTG/6 . 
9 See G/C/M/144  subsection 53.2 . 
10 See Convening Notice in ICN/CTG/7  and the Chairperson's closing remarks in ICN/CTG/7/Add.1  and 
JOB/CTG/20 . 
11 A full list of these reports can be found in JOB/CTG/19/Rev.2 . 
12 G/C/W/824 , which  was subsequently reviewed in G/C/W/824/Rev.1  to take account of additional 
requests by Members.  
13 See JOB/CTG/20 . 
14 The Decision was adopted on 10  February  2023. See G/L/1481 . The steps to implement this trial were 
described in JOB/CTG/30 . 
15 See Convening Notice in ICN/CTG/8 . 
16 See JOB/CTG/23 . 
17 See JOB/CTG/ 24. 
18 See ICN/CTG/9/Add.1  and Suppl.1 , and JOB/CTG/27 . 
19 See JOB/CTG/27 . G/L/1523  
 
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  Members were also asked to consider the adoption at the Council's following formal meeting  of 
three  improvements , which were subsequently  agreed on at the formal meeting of 3-4 April 2023.20 
2.7.  At the CTG 's informal meeting of 31  May 202321, Members were invited to focus on those issues 
that had been highlighted as requiring further discussion . Following this meeting, t he table on the 
current status of work was  updated  to reflect the key developments .22 In addition, t he Chairperson 
reported on the status of discussions at the formal meeting of 6-7 July 2023.23 
2.8.  At the CTG's informal meeting of 19  September  202324, the Chairperson urged Members to try 
to advance as much as possible in the ir discussions on MC12  implementation matters in order to 
report back at the last formal meeting of the CTG25 before the 13th Ministerial Conference  (MC13) .26 
Following  this informal meeting, an updated v ersion of the table with the status of the proposals was 
circulated in JOB/CTG/37 , and a written procedure was l aunched with a view to formally adopt ing 
five additional improvements.27 Since no objection was raised, the five  proposals were adopted on 
2 October  2023 (see G/L/1490 ). 
2.9.  In the context of these discussions, the Council has considered more than 30 specific proposals, 
including  the following written proposals:  
a. Functioning of the CTG and its Subsidiary Bodies, Communication from Argentina, 
Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay ( JOB/CTG/21/Rev.3 ); 
b. Compil ation of Input on the Functioning of the Goods Committees, Communication from 
the United Kingdom ( JOB/CTG/26 /Rev.1 ); and  
c. "List of Issues where there Appears to be a Consensus that they should be Addressed 
in all CTG Subsidiary Bodies" , Communication from Argentina (RD/CTG/19 ). 
2.10.   At the CTG's formal meeting of 30  November  2023, the Council adopted on a trial basis 
four additional improvements (see G/L/1522 ), and recalled the importance of complying with 
paragraphs  4 and 7 of the "Guidelines on the Arrangements fo r Scheduling of Meetings of 
WTO Bodies" (document WT/L/106 ) concerning the desirability of fixing the dates of formal m eetings 
in advance of the following calendar year, and submitting a written notice explaining to Delegations 
the reasons behind cancellations or postponements of meetings.  
2.11.   The process followed by each of the CTG's subsidiary bodies , including links to the  written 
proposals submitted by Members, is described in their reports, as listed in Annex  1 below . 
3  IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FUNCTIONING OF THE CTG AND ITS SUBSIDIARY BODIES  
3.1  Overview  
3.1.  As a result of the above -mentioned process , the CTG agreed to implement  22 changes with a 
view to improving its functioning , including  9 adopted through  formal decisions and  13 where the 
Secretariat introduced  changes to the way in which it supports the work of the Council following 
discussions with Members . In addition, the CTG' s 14 subsidiary bodies have agreed to 99 additional  
improvements , adding up to a total of  127 changes overall by the  15 bodies  covered by this rep ort. 
The specific number of improvements by each of these bodies is summarized in Table 1 below . 
 
20 See JOB/CTG/27  and G/C/M/145 , para. 7.92. 
21 Convened through ICN/CTG/10 . 
22 See JOB/CTG/32 . 
23 See G/C/M/146  Section  4. 
24 Convened through ICN/CTG/12 . 
25 Scheduled f or 30 November -1 December  2023.  
26 Scheduled for 26 -29 February  2024.  
27 See JOB/CTG/38 . G/L/1523  
 
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  Table  1. Total number of changes implemented by the CTG and its subsidiary bodies  
WTO  Body  Improvements 
agreed through 
formal decisions  Other 
improvements  Total number 
of 
improvements  
1. Council  for Trade in Goods (CTG) , 
including horizonal improvements  13 14 27 
2. Committee on Agriculture (COA)  2 8 10 
3. Committee on Anti -Dumping Practices 
(ADP) 5 - 5 
4. Committee on Customs Valuation (CV)  6 - 6 
5. Committee on Import Licensing (IL)  6 7 13 
6. Committee on Market Access (CMA)  3 9 12 
7. Committee on Rules of Origin (ROO)  7 - 7 
8. Committee on Safeguards (SG)  5 - 5 
9. Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary 
Measures (SPS)  - 6 6 
10. Committee on Subsidies and 
Countervailing Measures (SCM)  5 - 5 
11. Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade 
(TBT)  3 1 4 
12. Committee on Trade Facilitation (TF)  2 6 8 
13. Committee on Trade -Related Investment 
Measures (TRIMs)  3 - 3 
14. Committee of Participants on the 
Expansion of Trade in Information 
Technology Products (ITA)  2 9 11 
15. Working Party on State Trading 
Enterprises (STEs)  5 - 5 
Overall  number of improvements  67 60 127 
 
3.2  Types of improvements introduced  
3.2.  The improvements on the functioning of the CTG and its subsidiary bodies can be categorized  
into six areas  or categories that were used by most of these bodies in discussing the proposals . This 
section provides an overview of the improvements in these areas by each of the 15  bodies covered 
by this report.  The tables should not be interpreted as an inventory of the practices currently applied 
by all these bodies, but rather as a list of the changes that have been agreed or implemented since 
the conclusion of MC12 (i.e. some bodies were already implementing these measures). Because 
some of the changes described in the reports s ubmitted referred to more than one of these 
categories, they were repeated under the relevant sections with a view to having a comprehensive 
overview  of each area. Finally, i t should be noted that the implementation of some of the measures  
that were approv ed or requested in these bodies are  subject to budgetary constraints.  
3.2.1   Assistance to delegates  
3.3.  The following improvements were introduced by the CTG and its subsidiary bodies with a view 
to assisting delegate s to better participate in the work of these bodies.  G/L/1523  
 
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  Table  2. Improvements to assist delegates  
WTO  Body  Improvement (s) 
1. Council for Trade in Goods 
(CTG)  • The Secretariat developed and circulated a draft presentation on the 
functioning of the CTG, which will be presented to CTG  delegates  after 
MC13 and before the first  formal meeting of the year.  
• Taking into account comments received from Members , the Secretariat 
developed new sections of the WTO  website that serve as a manual to 
explain  the work of the CTG , as well as for all its subsidiary bod ies.28 
Some of the contents are restricted to Members.  
2. Committee on Agriculture 
(COA)  • Regular introductory sessions on the functioning of the CoA: starting 
November  2023, the Secretariat will organize an annual introductory 
session on the functioning of the Committee for the new Geneva - and 
capital -based agriculture delegates in a hybrid setting.  
• Development of a delegate manual on how to prepare and follow 
CoA meetings: the Secretariat has updated the Committee webpage  to 
provide in one place all necessary information and explanation as well 
as links to CoA  documents to facilitate delegates' participation in 
CoA meetings. The Secretar iat, in collaboration with the Inter-American 
Institute for Agricultural Cooperation (IICA) , is developing a delegate 
manual on CoA  participation.  
• Updated guidance to support the effective use of the AG -IMS system: 
some user manuals have been made available under the "Help" tab of 
the AG -IMS. The Secretariat is working to develop additional training 
materials on AG -IMS. 
3. Committee on 
Anti-Dumping Practices 
(ADP) • Training sessions on the functioning of the Committees will be held 
twice a year, the first of which took place in  September  2023. The 
presentations made and the audio recording of those sessions will be 
made available on the relevant WTO  webpages for Memb ers to consult.  
4. Committee on Customs 
Valuation (CV)  • The Secretariat will organize, at least once a year, hybrid -format 
introductory sessions on the Committee's work. The training materials 
used in these sessions will then be made available on the website that 
the WTO is currently updating.  
• The Secretariat will prepare a draft manual describing the main 
procedural and substantive aspects of the Committee's work for 
consideration by the Committee. The final manual will be made 
available on the WTO website  that the Secretariat  is currently updating.  
5. Committee on Import 
Licensing (IL)  • The Secretariat will continue to hold in -person annual Workshops on 
Import Licensing Procedures and Notifications for capital -based 
participants  from WTO  Members entitled to technical assistance.  
• The Secretariat  will hold an annual presentation for new delegates on 
the functioning of the CIL and on the Import Licensing Agreement to be 
held back -to-back with one of its meetings.  
• The Secretariat developed a new section of the WTO website  that 
serves as  a manual to explain the work of the CIL and consolidates all 
the digital tools used by the Committee in one  page.  
• The Secretariat  developed an e-learning training module  on Import 
Licensing, which was made available for the public at large.  
 
28 WTO Webpage / About WTO / List of  WTO bodies . G/L/1523  
 
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  WTO  Body  Improvement (s) 
6. Committee on Market 
Access (CMA)  • The Secretariat will schedule its presentation on the functioning of the 
CMA for delegates at its first informal meeting of the year.  
• The Secretariat started to send reminders for outstanding notifications 
of quantitative restrictions (QRs) and notifications to the Integrated 
Database (IDB) to the email addresses of delegates that have 
registered on E-Registration , as following the CMA in addition to the 
mission's general email address . 
• The Secretariat developed a new section of the WTO website  that 
serves as a manual to explain the work of the CMA and also consolidates 
in one page all the digital tools used by the Committee . 
• The Secretariat will create a fa ctsheet on QRs to be posted online.  
• Following the creation of the new CMA webpage, the Secretariat will 
develop a short description of the CMA digital tools to be posted online.  
7. Committee on Rules of 
Origin (ROO)  • Organize periodic introductory sessions about the use of rules of origin 
in international trade, the related WTO instruments , and update on the 
different pillars of work of the CRO.  
• Prepare a manual describing the main procedural and substantive 
aspects of the work of the CRO. This manu al has already been created 
and is available in a dedicated section  of the Rules of Origin Portal of 
the WTO website describing the functioning of the  CRO (available to 
authorized users only).  
8. Committee on Safeguards 
(SG) • Training sessions on the functioning of the Committees will be held 
twice a year, the first of which  took place in October  2023.  The 
presentations made and the audio recording of thos e sessions will be 
made available on the relevant WTO  webpages for Members to consult.  
9. Committee on Sanitary 
and Phytosanitary 
Measures (SPS)  • Scheduling of periodic introductory sessions on the SPS Committee for 
new delegates. Since June  2022, an introduc tory session for delegates 
was held on 13  March  2023, and another held on 18  September  2023.  
• Leaflet produced with relevant information for new SPS  delegates . 
10. Committee on Subsidies 
and Countervailing 
Measures (SCM)  • Training sessions on the functioning of the Committees will be held 
twice a year, the first of which took place in October  2023. The 
presentations made and the audio recording of those sessions will be 
made available on the relevant WTO  webpages for Member s to consult.  
11. Committee on Technical 
Barriers to Trade (TBT)  • Briefings by the Secretariat. A general briefing was held on 
19 September, accompanied by an Information Note for TBT  delegates; 
a second one focusing on the Triennial Review process will take p lace 
on 6 November.  
12. Committee on Trade 
Facilitation (TF)  • Organizing periodic introductory sessions twice a year about the TFA, 
the TFA  database, and update on the work of the CTF.  
• Drafting a manual describing the main procedural and substantive 
aspects of the work of the CTF. An outline will be shared with Members 
in advance.  
• Organizing capacity building sessions on TFA  notification submissions 
on an annual basis, in the context of informal meetings. Additional 
sessions to be held on an ad hoc basis as requested by Members. 
Participation of capital -based officials in the sessions will be considered.  
13. Committee on Trade -
Related Investment 
Measures (TRIMs)  • The WTO  Secretariat will organize introductory sessions on the 
TRIMs  Agreement and the func tioning of the Committee for Geneva -
based and capital -based delegates . The first  training session will be 
held in the second  semester of 2023.  G/L/1523  
 
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  WTO  Body  Improvement (s) 
14. Committee of Participants 
on the Expansion of Trade 
in Information Technology 
Products (ITA)  • Support for the Secretariat to organize regular introductory sessions on 
past work done in the Committee and updates on current work.  
• Support for the Secretariat to prepare a manual describing the main 
procedural and substantive aspects of the work of the Committee.  
• Propo sal adopted by the Committee for extending the minimum 
time-frame for circulation of the Airgram (convening notice) and 
proposed list of agenda items to 15  days in advance of each formal 
meeting, instead of the previous practice of 10  days.  
15. Working Party on State 
Trading Enterprises (STEs)  • The Secretariat will organize relevant hybrid training in the 
autumn/winter  2023, with a focus on how to comply with the 
notification requirements under Article  XVII:4(a) of the GATT  1994 and 
paragraph  1 of the Understan ding on the Interpretation of Article  XVII 
of the GATT  1994.  
 
3.2.2   Planning and organization of meetings  
3.4.  The following improvements were introduced by the CTG and its subsidiary bodies with a view 
to improving the planning and organization of meetings . 
Table  3. Improvements in the planning and organization of meetings  
WTO  Body  Improvement(s)  
Horizontally at the WTO  • The Secretariat developed and implemented a new calendar of 
meetings , which is  available through a new section in the 
WTO website.29 An alert mechanism for the key dates of the meetings 
is currently being developed and will be introduced in the coming 
months . 
1. Council for Trade in Goods 
(CTG)  • On 3-4 April 2023, the CTG agreed  to extend the closing of the agenda 
to at least 15 calendar days prior to the date of the meeting , to allow 
delegations more time to prepare  for each meeting . 
• At the request of Members, the former CTG Chair sent a communication 
to the Chairperson of the General Council informing her of concerns 
raised and problems faced by delegations when meeting dates were 
changed after their announcement . He also conveyed Members' 
suggestions: (i)  to fix the dates of all meetings on an annual basis, 
including those of the GC; and (ii)  to require each body that changes a 
meeting date to explain in writing to Members the reasons for such 
change.  
• On 30 November  2023, the CTG recalled the importance of complying 
with paragraphs  4 and 7 of the "Guidelines on the Arrangements for 
Scheduling of M eetings of WTO  Bodies" (document  WT/L/106 ) 
concerning the desirability of fixing the dates of formal meetings in 
advance  of the following calendar year, and submitting a written notice 
explaining to Delegations the reasons behind cancellations or 
postponements of meetings.  
• On 30  November  2023, the CTG agreed to request the Secretariat to 
introduce a series of changes to the  Airgram, including its format and 
font, information on the logistical arrangements, the conduct of the 
meeting, and the proposed agenda. See  G/L/1522.  
2. Committee on 
Anti-Dumping Practices 
(ADP) • The meeting weeks of the regular and special formal spring and autumn 
meetings of the Committees for the following year shall be proposed in 
the annotated draft agendas of the October  meetings.  
• The use of the following features of the eAgenda:  
(i) uploading Members' statements ; and 
(ii) facilitating access to relevant documents for meetings . 
 
29 WTO | WTO calendar of meetings and events - Calendar view . G/L/1523  
 
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  WTO  Body  Improvement(s)  
The use of such features is to be made available on a trial -basis starting 
in the Spring Rules Committees of 2024 until Spring Rules Committees 
of 2025. This will be reviewed at the Rules Committees' meetings of 
Spring  2025 to decide whether to extend the trial period or to continue 
using, on a permanent basis, these features or any other features of 
the eAgenda agreed upon.  
3. Committee on Agriculture 
(COA)  • The Committee agreed to advance the timelines for the release of the 
reminder Airgram and the closure of agenda respectively to 35 and 
15 calendar days prior to the date of the meeting, allowing additional 
preparatory time for delegations. See G/AG/1/Add.1 . 
4. Committee on Customs 
Valuation (CV)  • The Secretariat will circulate a draft agenda one month before formal 
meetings, and the final agenda will close 15  days before such meetings. 
The Secretariat will circulate, to the extent possible, all documents and 
presentation materials relating to the a genda in advance of the 
meetings.  
• The Secretariat will circulate an annotated agenda ahead of formal 
Committee meetin gs. 
5. Committee on Import 
Licensing (IL)  • Whenever  possible, meetings of the Committee will continue to be 
scheduled to avoid overlap s with other meetings and in particular those 
that are attended by the same delegates who also attend the CIL.  
• The Secretariat will circulate a written explanation for the c ancellation 
or postponement of a meeting, as required.  
• The Secretariat will prepare an annotated agenda for formal meetings 
with links to electronic documents for the meeting.  
• ICN (Informal Convening Notice) documents have been used to 
convene informal mee tings of the Committee starting in 2023.  
• It had been the practice of the Committee for some time to have written 
summaries of informal meetings circulated under the responsibility of 
the Chairperson. Starting in 2023 these summaries have been 
circulated as  ICN documents.  
6. Committee on Market 
Access (CMA)  • The Secretariat  will circulate a written explanation for the cancellation 
or postponement of a meeting, as required.  
• The Committee adopted a decision to extend the closing of the agenda 
to at least 15 calendar days prior to the date of the formal meeting, to 
allow delegations more time to prepare for each meeting . 
See G/MA/411 . 
7. Committee on Rules of 
Origin (ROO)  • Systematically hyperlink the documents cited in Airgrams, reports and 
any other  documents circulated to Members.  
• Introduction  of an eAgenda in the context of the CRO.  
• Maintain  the hybrid format of meetings (in person and remote) unless 
there is a WTO -wide decision to the contrary.  
• Circulate  any oral reports by the Chairperson or the Secretariat, 
particularly during informal  meetings, and which may provide useful 
information for delegations.  
8. Committee on Safeguards 
(SG) • The meeting weeks of the regular and special formal spring and autumn 
meetings of the Committees for the following year shall be proposed in 
the annotated draft agendas of the October  meetings.  
• The use of the following features of the eAgenda:  
(i) uploading Members' statements ; and 
(ii) facilitating access to relevant documents for meetings . 
The use of such features is to be made available on a trial -basis starting 
in the Spring Rules Committees of 2024 until Spring Rules Committees 
of 2025. This wi ll be reviewed at the Rules Committees' meetings of 
Spring  2025 to decide whether to extend the trial period or to continue 
using, on a permanent basis, these features or any other features of 
the eAgenda agreed upon.  G/L/1523  
 
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  WTO  Body  Improvement(s)  
9. Committee on Subsidies 
and Countervai ling 
Measures (SCM)  • The meeting weeks of the regular and special formal spring and autumn 
meetings of the Committees for the following year shall be proposed in 
the annotated draft agendas of the October  meetings.  
• The use of the following features of the e Agenda:  
(i) uploading Members' statements ; and 
(ii) facilitating access to relevant documents for meetings . 
The use of such features is to be made available on a trial -basis starting 
in the Spring Rules Committees of 2024 until Spring Rules Committees 
of 2025. This will be reviewed at the Rules Committees' meetings of 
Spring  2025 to decide whether to extend the trial period or to continue 
using, on a permanent basis, these features or any other features of 
the eAgenda agreed upon.  
10. Committee on Technical 
Barriers to Trade (TBT)  • Annotated draft agendas for informal meetings (trial basis). The 
first annotated draft agenda for an informal meeting was circulated for 
the 3 October Informal meeting of the Committee ( JOB/TBT/513 ). 
• Guidance from moderators for the organization of TBT  thematic 
sessions.  
11. Committee of Participants  
on the Expansion of Trade 
in Information Technology 
Products (ITA)  • Support for holding dedicated/joint sessions on cross-cutting issues on 
an ad hoc basis, as needed.  
12. Working Party on State 
Trading Enterprises (STEs)  • The Working Party will agree on the dates of both formal meetings of 
each year at the autumn meeting of the previous year.  
• For each formal meeting of the Working Party, the final Airgram will be 
issued 15  days before the meeting or, if that is a WTO  non-working 
day, the previous WTO  working day.  
 
3.2.3   Conduct of formal meetings  
3.5.  The following improvements were introduced by the CTG and its subsidiary bodies with a view 
to improving the conduct of formal meetings.  
Table  4. Improvements in the conduct of formal meetings  
WTO  Body  Improvement(s)  
Horizontally at the WTO  • In the coming months, t he Secretariat will be implementing , a 
horizontal solution  to ensure that all references to documents 
(document symbols) include a hyperlink to Documents Online. In 
addition, Documents Online will be modif ied to facilitate searching for 
documents by their respective WTO  body. 
1. Council for Trade in Goods 
(CTG) • On 3-4 April 2023, the CTG agreed to include a new subsection  in the 
agenda to separate new trade concerns and place them before 
previously raised trade concerns . 
• It was noted that the introduction of the eAgenda, which allows 
Members to share their statements, had solved the concerns expressed 
by Members with respe ct to the production of the minutes  of meetings . 
• It was noted that the introduction of the eAgenda, which allows the 
Chairperson and the Secretariat to make available their statements 
after the meeting, had also solved the concerns expressed by Members 
with respect to the expedient availability  of this information . 
• On 2 October  2023, the CTG agreed, through written procedures, to 
introduce the use of an annotated agenda for its formal meeting of 
30 November  2023 on a trial basis. See G/L/1490 . 
• On 30  November  2023, the CTG agreed to request the Chairperson to 
produce a " follow -up" document, concisely collating agreed next steps, 
deadlines, and actions to be taken by delegations in preparation for the 
next formal meeting. See G/L/1522.  G/L/1523  
 
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  WTO  Body  Improvement(s)  
 • On 2 October  2023, the CTG agreed, through written procedures that, 
with a view to allowing delegations adequate time to prepare for the 
Council's meetings, documents with a document symbol should be 
submitted and circulated sufficiently in advance of the date of an 
upcoming meeting so that they can be translated and made available 
through Documents Online. See G/L/1490 . 
• On 2 October  2023, the CTG agreed, through written procedures that, 
with a view to allowing delegations adequate time to prepare for the 
Council's meetings, Members and the Secretariat are encouraged to 
ensure that all presentations are circulated and m ade available online 
(i.e. under the RD/CTG/ - document series) in advance. See G/L/1490 . 
2. Committee on Agriculture  
(COA)  • Introduction of an annotated agenda: at the formal meeting of the CoA 
on 27 -28 June 2023, the Committee approved the use of an annotated 
agenda for its meetings along the  lines of the  draft circulated by the 
Secretariat in RD/AG/112.  
• Inclusion of hyperlinks to download referenced documents in 
documentation: this practice has been im plemented in all 
CoA documents to the extent possible.  
3. Committee on 
Anti-Dumping Practices 
(ADP) • Minutes should be provided, in the current reported style, as soon as 
feasible after the meetings without compromising on the quality of the 
minutes produced. The Minutes, once finalized, will be circulated to the 
Membership even before the deadlines for w ritten answers to written 
questions have passed. If these answers to questions are submitted 
within the deadlines, after the circulation of the Minutes, an addendum 
to the Minutes will be issued. In order to facilitate this process, 
Members are encouraged to provide their written statements to the 
Secretariat after the meetings without delay. The Secretariat may 
continue to explore artificial intelligence tools to produce minutes as 
better ones become available.  
• The current summary of the formal meetings, p roduced in the form of 
a news item as approved by the Chairs of the Committees, would 
continue to be produced by the Secretariat.  
4. Committee on Import 
Licensing (IL)  • The Secretariat will prepare an annotated agenda for formal meetings 
with links to electro nic documents for the meeting.  
5. Committee on Market 
Access (CMA)  • The Committee adopted a decision to extend the closing of the agenda 
to at least 15 calendar days prior to the date of the formal meeting, to 
allow delegations more time to prepare for each meeting (see 
G/MA/411 ). 
• The Committee adopted a decision to instruct the Secretariat to include 
a new subsection  in the agenda of formal meetings of the CMA to 
separate "new" trade concerns and place them before "previously 
raised" trade concerns (see G/MA/411 ). 
6. Committee on Rules of 
Origin (ROO)  • Circulate an annotated agenda ahead of formal meetings of the CRO 
describing  each agenda item and providing relevant background to help 
the preparation by delegations.  
7. Committee on Safeguards 
(SG) • Minutes should be provided, in the current reporte d style, as soon as 
feasible after the meetings without compromising on the quality of the 
minutes produced. The Minutes, once finalized, will be circulated to the 
Membership even before the deadlines for written answers to written 
questions have passed. I f these answers to questions are submitted 
within the deadlines, after the circulation of the Minutes, an addendum 
to the Minutes will be issued. In order to facilitate this process, 
Members are encouraged to provide their written statements to the 
Secreta riat after the meetings without delay. The Secretariat may 
continue to explore artificial intelligence tools to produce minutes as 
better ones become available.  
• The current summary of the formal meetings, produced in the form of 
a news item as approved by the Chairs of the Committees, would 
continue to be produced by the Secretariat.  G/L/1523  
 
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  WTO  Body  Improvement(s)  
8. Committee on Subsidies 
and Countervailing 
Measures (SCM)  • Minutes should be provided, in the current reported style, as soon as 
feasible after the meetings without compromising on the quality of the 
minutes produced. The Minutes, once finalized, will be circulated to the 
Membership even before the deadlines for w ritten answers to written 
questions have passed. If these answers to questions are submitted 
within the deadlines, after the circulation of the Minutes, an addendum 
to the Minutes will be issued. In order to facilitate this process, 
Members are encouraged to provide their written statements to the 
Secretariat after the meetings without delay. The Secretariat may 
continue to explore artificial intelligence tools to produce minutes as 
better ones become available.  
• The current summary of the formal meetings, p roduced in the form of 
a news item as approved by the Chairs of the Committees, would 
continue to be produced by the Secretariat.  
9. Committee on Technical 
Barriers to Trade (TBT)  • Use of eAgenda for all agenda items. In the TBT  Committee, this was 
previously  only done for the discussion of Specific Trade Concerns 
(STCs). The extended eAgenda is already operational for the formal 
meeting of the TBT  Committee scheduled for 8 -10 November.  
10. Committee on Trade 
Facilitation (TF)  • The Secretariat to circulate an annotated agenda ahead of formal 
meetings of the CTF, ten  days in advance of the meeting. The document 
could describe each agenda item and provide relevant background to 
help the preparation by delegations . 
• The Secretariat to circulate documen ts with a document symbol 
sufficiently in advance of meetings so that they could be translated and 
made available through Documents Online (Reference: JOB/CTG/32  
item f.1.1). Both Members and the Secretariat will make their best 
efforts to ensure that all pr esentations are circulated and made 
available online (i.e. under the RD  document series) prior to the 
meetings (Reference: JOB/CTG/32  item f.1.2).  
• The Secretariat to circulate the Chairperson's written reports or 
statements when this can be useful or when it is requested by 
delegations.  
11. Committee on Trade -
Related Investment 
Measures (TRIMs)  • Members decided that, starting with the Fall  2023 regular meeting of 
the Committee, the minutes will be prepared in verbatim style, on a 
trial basis.  
• The Chair wil l circulate a factual summary of Committee meetings, on 
a trial basis, starting with the Fall 2023 regular meeting of the 
Committee.  
12. Committee of Participants 
on the Expansion of Trade 
in Information Technology 
Products (ITA)  • Proposal adopted by the Commi ttee for extending the minimum 
time-frame for circulation of the Airgram (convening notice) and 
proposed list of agenda items to 15  days in advance of each formal 
meeting, instead of the previous practice of 10  days.  
• Support for the Secretariat to circulate any presentations and 
accompanying remarks after informal and formal meetings.  
• Support for the Secretariat to circulate documents, including research 
and analysis, as early as possible before meetings.  
• Support for the Secretariat to include hyper links to documents and 
references cited in documents.  
13. Working Party on State 
Trading Enterprises (STEs)  • The time taken to produce minutes will be shortened.  
 
3.2.4   Conduct of in formal meetings  
3.6.  The following improvements were introduced by the CTG and its subsidiary bodies with a view 
to improving the conduct of informal meetings.  G/L/1523  
 
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  Table  5. Improvements in the conduct of informal meetings  
WTO  Body  Improvement(s)  
1. Council for Trade in Goods 
(CTG)  • On 30  November  2023, and with a view to improving transparency and 
foster ing greater inclusion for Delegations that cannot attend the 
informal meetings, the CTG agreed to request the Chairperson to 
routinely circulate an overview report after a CTG  informal meeting, 
under their own authority, on the basis of certain p rinciples. 
See G/L/1522.  
2. Committee on Agriculture 
(COA)  • Use of ICN  document symbols to convene informal meetings: the 
Secretariat has commenced using the ICN/AG/ - document series for 
releasing the convening  notices of informal meetings.  
• Circulation of Chair's reports on informal CoA  meetings in advance of 
the formal meeting: Chair reports on Informal CoA meetings have 
started to be shared with Members in advance. When Informal 
CoA meetings were held almost i n continuum with a formal meeting, 
an attempt is being made, as practicable, to ensure that Members 
receive a copy of the Chair's report on the Informal at the moment it is 
presented at the formal meeting.  
3. Committee on Import 
Licensing (IL)  • ICN ( Informal  Convening Notice) documents have been used to 
convene informal meetings of the Committee starting in 2023.  
• It had been the practice of the Committee for some time to have written 
summaries of informal meetings circulated under the responsibility o f 
the Chairperson. Starting in 2023 these summaries have been 
circulated as ICN  documents.  
4. Committee on Sanitary 
and Phytosanitary 
Measures (SPS)  • Use of the ICN  document symbol for communications from the 
Chairperson to convene informal meetings. Since March  2023, the 
ICN document symbol has been used to convene informal meetings.  
5. Committee on Technical 
Barriers to Trade (TBT)  • Annotated draft agendas for informal meetings (trial basis). See Table  3 
above.  
6. Committee on Trade 
Facilitation (TF)  • The Secretariat to circulate the Chairperson's written reports or 
statements when this can be useful or when it is requested by 
delegations.  
7. Committee of Participants 
on the Expansion of Trade 
in Information Technology 
Products (ITA)  • Support for the Secretariat to circulate any oral reports by the Chair 
and Secretariat after informal meetings.  
• Support for the Secretariat to circulate any presentations and 
accompanying remarks after informal and formal meetings.  
• Support for the Secretar iat to circulate documents, including research 
and analysis, as early as possible before meetings.  
• Support for the Secretariat to circulate factual summary reports of 
informal meetings by the Chairperson.  
 
3.2.5   Digital tools  
3.7.  The following improvements were int roduced by the CTG and its subsidiary bodies with a view 
to improving the digital tools they use in their work . G/L/1523  
 
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  Table  6. Improvements in the digital tools  
WTO  Body  Improvement(s)  
Horizontally at the WTO  • There is broad support for maintaining virtual participation in meetings. 
However, it was noted that this is a horizontal issue , beyond the CTG, 
which depends  on the overall budget constraints of the Organization.  
• The Secretariat will be introducing a new functionality to the 
Notifications Portal , which will allow Members to submit their 
notifications. Where dedicated online systems al ready exist  for a body , 
the platform will redirect delegates to such systems. The system  will 
also provide more information to Members in terms of the status of 
processing of their notifications (i.e. from receipt and until they are 
circulated officially).  
 • The Secretariat  is currently exploring the newest technologies to 
improve the search function in the different domains (e.g. documents 
online, WTO webpage, etc.) in a way that would satisfy Members' 
needs. It also noted that this would have budgetary implications.  
• The Secretariat  will implement a new e -Delegate platform as part of 
eRegistration, which will centralize the management of user options 
across most WTO systems.  
• The Secretariat implemented a request by Members to improve the 
consistency of the sections of the WTO  webpage relating to the CTG 
and its subsidiary bodies, by creating new dedicated sections (see 
Table  2 above).  
• To the extent possible, all new systems will be developed by the 
Secretariat in "mobile friendly" platforms.  
1. Council for Trade in Goods 
(CTG) • On 10  February  2023, the CTG agreed, through written procedures, to 
a Decision  on the "Introduction of the eAgenda in the work of the CTG 
on a Trial Basis". S ee G/L/1481 . 
• On 3-4 April 2023, the CTG agreed to  integrate the CTG  data on trade 
concerns into the Trade Concerns Database , subject to budgetary 
constraints.  
• On 2 October  2023, the CTG agreed, through written procedures, that 
it shall periodically  hold an informal session with a view to allowing the 
Secretariat to provide an overview  of the WTO  Digital Tools that are 
relevant to the work of the CTG and its subsidiary bodies, as well as 
affording Members an additional opportunity to provide feedback  and 
suggestions for the possible improvement of such tools. These informal 
sessions shall take place annually and, to the extent possible, be 
organized back -to-back with the first  formal CTG  meeting of the year. 
See G/L/1490 .  
• On 2 October  2023, the CTG agreed, through written procedures, to 
change the default option for statements in the eAgenda. Unless the 
Member opts out, statements that Members upload to the CTG  eAgenda 
will be automatically made available to all Members after the meeting 
(i.e. when the submission period for statements closes). See G/L/1490 . 
• On 30  November  2023, the CTG agreed to request the Secretariat to 
include additional information concerning the previous and forthcoming 
meetings, including hyperl inks to the relevant documents. 
See G/L/1522.  G/L/1523  
 
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  WTO  Body  Improvement(s)  
2. Committee on Agriculture 
(COA)  • AG-IMS enhancements : the Secretariat introduced two  enhancements 
to the AG-IMS in 2023, namely,  
(i) Export Competition Questionnaire (ECQ) online tool enabling online 
submission of Members' responses to the ECQ and online data 
extraction and reporting functions; and  
(ii) first  tranche of the Domest ic support database allowing extraction 
of reports on the three "exempt" domestic support categories, namely 
the Green Box, Article  6.2 development programmes, and the Blue Box, 
both in the notified currency and in  USD. 
3. Committee on 
Anti-Dumping Practices 
(ADP) • The use of the following features of the eAgenda:  
(i) uploading Members' statements; and  
(ii) facilitating access to relevant documents for meetings.  
The use of such features is to be made available on a trial -basis starting 
in the Spring Rules Committees of 2024 until Spring Rules Committees 
of 2025. This will be reviewed at the Rules Committees' meetings of 
Spring  2025 to decide whether to extend the trial period or to continue 
using, on a permanent basis, these features or any oth er features of 
the eAgenda agreed upon.  
4. Committee on Customs 
Valuation (CV)  • The eAgenda platform has been adopted for use in formal Committee 
meetings.  
5. Committee on Market 
Access (CMA)  • To facilitate the work of delegates and improve access to information 
after a meeting , the Committee adopted a decision to change the 
default option for statements  in the CMA eAgenda to automatically 
make statements  available to all Members after the meeti ng (see 
G/MA/411 ). 
• To facilitate the preparation and follow -up of meetings for delegates, 
the Secretariat has added a number of new features to the CMA 
eAgenda (i.e.  addition of opening/closing remarks by the Chairperson 
under each agenda  item; the inclusion of all r eports by the Secretariat, 
the Chairperson, and observe rs as statements; list of all the delegations 
that take the floor at a meeting). Based on information available on 
eAgenda, the system can generate a document compiling all the 
information available un der each agenda item that can be downloaded 
by delegates at the end of the meeting. This document could be used 
by delegates as a preliminary report of formal meetings and will 
contribute to facilitate the production of the minutes by the Secretariat.  
• The online notification  system for QRs, which the Committee considers 
to be an important  improvement that could help Members submitting 
notifications, will be developed subject to budgetary constraints.  
6. Committee on Rules of 
Origin (ROO)  • Introduce an eAgenda  in the context of the CRO.  
7. Committee on Safeguards 
(SG) • The use of the following features of the eAgenda:  
(i) uploading Members' statements; and  
(ii) facilitating access to relevant documents for meetings.  
The use of such features is to be made available on a trial -basis starting 
in the Spring Rules Committees of 2024 until Spring Rules Committees 
of 2025. This will be reviewed at the Rules Committees' meetings of 
Spring  2025 to decide whether to extend the trial period or to continue 
using, on a  permanent basis, these features or any other features of 
the eAgenda agreed upon.  
8. Committee on Sanitary 
and Phytosanitary 
Measures (SPS)  • Linking of related trade concerns across committees currently using the 
Trade Concerns Database (including the SPS  Committee).  
• Ongoing development of user manual for SPS  eAgenda . 
• Ongoing efforts to coordinate among WTO  Committees using eAgenda.  
9. Committee on Subsidies 
and Countervailing 
Measures (SCM)  • The use of the following features of the eAgenda:  
(i) uploading Memb ers' statements; and  
(ii) facilitating access to relevant documents for meetings.  G/L/1523  
 
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  WTO  Body  Improvement(s)  
The use of such features is to be made available on a trial -basis starting 
in the Spring Rules Committees of 2024 until Spring Rules Committees 
of 2025. This will be reviewed at the Rules Committees' meetings of 
Spring  2025 to decide whether to extend the trial period or to continue 
using, on a permanent basis, these features or any other features of 
the eAgenda agreed upon.  
10. Committee on Technical 
Barriers to Trade (T BT) • Use of eAgenda ("Collaborative Agenda") for the full menu of Agenda 
items.  See Table  4 above.  
11. Committee of Participants 
on the Expansion of Trade 
in Information Technology 
Products (ITA)  • Proposal adopted by the Committee for introducing the eAgenda on a 
trial basis.  
• Support for maintaining the hybrid format of meetings unless there is 
a WTO -wide decision to the contrary.  
• Support for the Secretariat to include hyperlinks to documents and 
references cited in documents.  
 
3.2.6   Substantive work  
3.8.  The fo llowing improvements were introduced by the CTG and its subsidiary bodies with a view 
to improving their substantive work.  
Table  7. Improvements in the substantive work  
WTO  Body  Improvement(s)  
1. Committee on Customs 
Valuation (CV)  • In principle, and subject to the wishes of Members, the Committee will 
prepare thematic sessions in an informal setting to share experiences.  
2. Committee on Market 
Access (CMA)  • Based on the positive experience with the CMA experience -sharing 
sessions on trade in COVID -19 rel ated goods, the Committee will 
continue its practice of organizing thematic sessions based on proposals 
by Members.  
3. Working Party on State 
Trading Enterprises (STEs)  • The "Status of Notifications Submitted by WTO  Members under 
Article  XVII:4(A) of the GATT  1994 and Paragraph  1 of the 
Understanding on the Interpretation of Article  XVII of the GATT  1994" 
will be circulated twice a year, before each formal meeting of the 
Working Party, after the closing of the Airgram for the meeting.  
 
_______________  
 
 
  G/L/1523  
 
- 16 - 
 
  ANNEX  
LIST OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY THE CTG'S SUBSIDIARY BODIES  
WTO  Body  Report  
(Document Symbol)  
1. Committee on Agriculture (COA)  G/L/1509  
2. Committee on Anti -Dumping Practices (AD P) G/L/1500  
3. Committee on Customs Valuation (CV)  G/L/1513  
4. Committee on Import Licensing (IL)  G/L/1511  
5. Committee on Market Access (CMA)  G/L/1494 
6. Committee on Rules of Origin (ROO)  G/L/1493 
7. Committee on Safeguards (SG)  G/L/1502  
8. Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)  G/L/1508  
9. Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM)  G/L/1505  
10. Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)  G/L/1504  
11. Committee on Trade Facilitation (TF)  G/L/1515  
12. Committee on Trade -Related Investment Measures (TRIMs)  G/L/1491 
13. Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade in Information 
Technology Products (ITA)  G/L/1498  
14. Working Party on State Trading Enterprises (STEs)  G/L/1495  
 
__________