WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(98)/3/Add.1
8May1998
ORGANIZATION(98-1867)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Second Session
Geneva, 18and20May1998
ANNUAL REPORTS (1997)
Addendum
Theannual reports for1997 ofthesubsidiary bodies oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods are
reproduced hereunder. Eachreport isreproduced asaseparate section withitsownpagenumbering.
Reports Document Symbol
Section I: Committee onAgriculture G/L/211
Section II: Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices G/L/204
Section III: Committee onCustoms Valuation G/L/205
Section IV: Committee onImport Licensing G/L/203
Section V: Committee onMarket Access G/L/215
Section VI: Committee onRules ofOrigin G/L/210
Section VII: Committee onSafeguards G/L/200
Section VIII: Committee onSanitary andPhytosanitary Measures G/L/197
Section IX: Committee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures G/L/201
Section X: Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade G/L/207
Section XI: Committee onTrade-Related Investment Measures G/L/193
Section XII: Independent Entity established pursuant totheAgreement
onPreshipment Inspection G/L/208
Section XIII: Textiles Monitoring Body G/L/206
Section XIV: Working Party onState Trading Enterprises G/L/198
Section XV: Bodies established under theauspices oftheCouncil
forTrade inGoods
- Committee ofParticipants ontheExpansion of
Trade inInformation Technology Products G/L/216SECTION I
COMMITTEE ONAGRICULTUREWORLD TRADE G/L/211
24November 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-5208)
Committee onAgriculture
COMMITTEE ONAGRICULTURE: GENERAL COUNCIL OVERVIEW OF
WTO ACTIVITIES (1997)
Report bytheChairman
Thepresent report bytheChairman oftheCommittee onAgriculture, Ambassador Nestor
Osorio Londoño, issubmitted onhisownresponsibility asagreed bytheCommittee.
_______________
TheCommitteeonAgricultureheldfourregularmeetingsin1997:on13-14March,26-27June,
25-26 September and20-21 November (Secretariat summary reports ofthese meetings G/AG/R/10
to13refer).
Inaccordance withArticle 18.1oftheAgreement onAgriculture, theCommittee, ateachof
itsmeetings, reviewed progress intheimplementation ofcommitments negotiated under theUruguay
Round reform programme. Thisreview process wasundertaken onthebasisofnotifications submitted
byMembers intheareas ofmarket access, domestic support andexport subsidies andunder the
provisions oftheAgreement relating toexport prohibitions andrestrictions. In1997 theCommittee
reviewed 242notifications intheseareascompared with193in1996, withdomestic support andexport
subsidy notifications accounting formostoftheincrease. TheCommittee alsoaddressed awiderange
ofgeneral andspecific matters relevant totheimplementation ofcommitments thatwereraised under
theprovisions ofArticle 18.6oftheAgreement. Anumber ofthematters thusraised havebeenor
continue tobethesubject ofinformal orformal consultations.
Ingeneral, thenotification requirements established bytheCommittee forthepurpose of
reviewing implementation ofreduction andother scheduled commitments under theUruguay Round
reform programme arebeing satisfactorily complied withbymost Members. Theperformance for
notifications relating tocompliance withgeneral obligations under therulesondomestic support and
export subsidies isunsatisfactory. Theoverall position withrespect tonotification obligations under
Article 18.2andother relevant provisions oftheAgreement issummarized inAnnex Itothisreport.
AtitsMarch meeting theCommittee reviewed theWTO ListofNetFood-Importing Developing
Countries andBotswana andPakistan were included (G/AG/5/Rev.2 refers). Thefollow-up tothe
recommendations adopted bytheSingapore Ministerial Conference ontheimplementation, inrelation
toaction onfoodaidcommitments andconcessionality guidelines inthecontext oftheFood Aid
Convention, ofMarrakesh Ministerial Decision onthePossible Negative Effects oftheReform Process
onNetFood-Importing Developing Countries (paragraph 18ofG/L/125 andWT/MIN(96)/DEC,
paragraph 13,refer) hasbeentaken upattheCommittee 'sregular meetings. Thefollow-up tothe
Marrakesh Ministerial Decision asawhole wasmonitored bytheCommittee pursuant toArticle 16.2
oftheAgreement atitsNovember meeting.G/L/211
Page2
Under arrangements adopted attheMarch meeting oftheCommittee, theprocess ofanalysis
andexchange ofinformation ("the AIEprocess") agreed tobytheSingapore Ministerial Conference
(paragraph 12ofG/L/131 andWT/MIN(96)/DEC, paragraph 19refer) hasbeenundertaken through
informal open-ended meetings. IntheAIEprocess Members arediscussing topics intheareasofmarket
access, domestic support andexport subsidies, aswellasissues ofinterest todeveloping countries.
Some Members submitted informal papers onthese topics. Inaddition, anumber ofSecretariat
background notes, based oninformation anddatanotified byMembers, havebeenprovided inorder
tofacilitate thework oftheAIEprocess. These informal papers andbackground notes arelisted in
Annex IItothisreport. FourAIEmeetings wereheldduring 1997withfactual summary reports being
made totheCommittee oneachofthese meetings.
Thefollowing international intergovernmental organizations wereaccorded regular observer
statusintheCommittee:theFAO,theIMF,theInternationalGrainsCouncil,theOECD,theUNCTAD,
theUNWorld Food Programme andtheWorld Bank.
TheCommittee adopted thefollowing schedule fortheCommittee 'sregular meetings in1998:
19-20March,29-30Septemberand17-18November,plusanadditionalmeetingprovisionallyscheduled
for25-26 Junetocopewiththeexpanding workload oftheCommittee.G/L/211
Page3
Annex I
Regular notifications pertaining tothe1995 and1996 years made under theAgreement on
Agriculture
Table MA:1 Table MA:2 Table MA:5 Table DS:1+ Table ES:1+ Table ES:2
Tariff quota
administrationImports under
tariff quotasSpecial safeguard
-annualDomestic support Export subsidies Total exports
one-off 1995 1996 1995 1996 1995 1996 1995 1996 1995 1996
Angola NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Antigua and Barbuda NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Argentina NA NA NA NA NA X X X X X
Australia X X X X X X X X X X X
Bahrain NA NA NA NA NA X X NA NA
Bangladesh NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA
Barbados X X X NA NA
Belize NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Benin NA NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA NA
Bolivia NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Botswana NA NA NA X X X X X NA NA
Brazil X X X NA NA X X X X X
Brunei Darussalam NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Bulgaria NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Burkina Faso NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA
Burundi NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA
Cameroon NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Canada X X X X X X X X
Central African Rep. NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA
Chad NA NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA NA
Chile NA NA NA NA NA X X X X X X
Colombia X X X X X X X
Congo NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Congo, Democratic Rep. NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Costa Rica X
Côte d'Ivoire NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Cuba NA NA NA NA NA X X X X
Cyprus NA NA NA NA NA X X
Czech Republic X X X X X X X X X X X
Djibouti NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA
Dominica NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Dominican Republic NA NA NA NA NA X NA NA
Ecuador X NA NA X NA NA X NA NA
Egypt NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
ElSalvador X X X X X NA NA
European Communities X X X X X X
Fiji NA NA NA NA NA NA X NA X NA NA
Gabon NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Gambia NA NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA NA
Ghana NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Grenada NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Guatemala X X X X NA NA
Guinea Bissau NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA
Guinea, Republic of NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NAG/L/211
Page4
Table MA:1 Table MA:2 Table MA:5 Table DS:1+ Table ES:1+ Table ES:2
Tariff quota
administrationImports under
tariff quotasSpecial safeguard
-annualDomestic support Export subsidies Total exports
one-off 1995 1996 1995 1996 1995 1996 1995 1996 1995 1996
Guyana NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Haiti NA NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA NA
Honduras NA NA NA NA NA X X X
Hong Kong, China NA NA NA NA NA X X X X NA NA
Hungary X X X X X
Iceland X X X X X X X X X
India NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Indonesia X X X X X X X X X
Israel X X X X
Jamaica NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Japan X X X X X X X X NA NA
Kenya NA NA NA NA NA X X X X NA NA
Korea X X X X X X X X X NA NA
Kuwait NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Lesotho NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA
Macau NA NA NA NA NA X X NA NA
Madagascar NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA
Malawi NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA
Malaysia X X X X X X X X X X X
Maldives NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA
Mali NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA
Malta NA NA NA NA NA X X NA NA
Mauritania NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA
Mauritius NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Mexico X X X X X
Mongolia NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Morocco X X X X X X X X NA NA
Mozambique NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA
Myanmar NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA
Namibia NA NA NA X X X X X NA NA
New Zealand X X X X X X X X X X X
Nicaragua X X X NA NA
Niger NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Nigeria NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Norway X X X X X X X X X X X
Pakistan NA NA NA NA NA X X X X X
Papua New Guinea NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Paraguay NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Panama NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Peru NA NA NA NA NA X NA NA
Philippines X X X X X X X X X X
Poland X X X X X X X X X X X
Qatar NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Romania X X X X X X X X
Rwanda NA NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA NA
Saint Kitts and Nevis NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Saint Lucia NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Saint Vincent &Grenadines NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Senegal NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Sierra Leone NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA
Singapore NA NA NA NA NA X X NA NAG/L/211
Page5
Table MA:1 Table MA:2 Table MA:5 Table DS:1+ Table ES:1+ Table ES:2
Tariff quota
administrationImports under
tariff quotasSpecial safeguard
-annualDomestic support Export subsidies Total exports
one-off 1995 1996 1995 1996 1995 1996 1995 1996 1995 1996
Slovak Republic X X X X X X X X X X X
Slovenia X X X NA NA X X X X NA NA
Solomon Islands NA NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA NA
South Africa X X X X X X X X X X X
SriLanka NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Suriname NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Swaziland NA NA NA NA NA
Switzerland -Liechtenstein X X X X X X X X X X X
Tanzania NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA
Thailand X X X X X X X X X X
Togo NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA
Trinidad and Tobago NA NA NA NA NA X NA NA
Tunisia X X X X X X X X NA NA
Turkey NA NA NA NA NA X X X X X X
Uganda NA NA NA NA NA (NA) NA NA
United Arab Emirates NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
United States X X X X X X X X
Uruguay NA NA NA X X X X X X X X
Venezuela X X X X X X X X X X X
Zambia NA NA NA NA NA (NA) X X NA NA
Zimbabwe NA NA NA NA NA
Total required tonotify 36 33 35 75 96 33
Notifications received 34 27 33 38 48 26
Percentage
compliance
-Scheduled
commitments94 82 94 85 87 -
-Rule related
commitments- - - 29 38 79
-Overall 94 82 94 51 50 79
1.Agricultural notification requirements aresetoutindocument G/AG/2 andG/AG/2/Add.1. Reference should be
made tothisdocument inorder toestablish applicability oftherequirements andtherelevant time limits forthe
submission ofnotifications.
2.There arecurrently 132 WTO Members. ThelistofWTO Members above, however, comprises only 116
Members astheEuropean Communities andits15member states provide onenotification foreach ofthe
respective requirements andSwitzerland 'snotifications aretaken tocover Liechtenstein asthese two Members
have ajoint Schedule.
3.Thesymbols used inthetable areasfollows:
(a) Ablank indicates that thisisarequirement applicable totheMember concerned, butthat nonotification
was received uptothecut-off date (24November 1997). Notifications may besubmitted according tovarious
bases (calendar, crop, fiscal years, etc.). Theabsence ofanotification, therefore, does notnecessarily indicate
anoutstanding obligation asthenotification may bedueonly later in1997. Nopercentage compliance isG/L/211
Page6
calculated inthese cases. Thetime limit forthesubmission ofone-off MA:1 notifications hasnow passed for
allMembers (including those which became Members only in1996) andthepercentage compliance iscalculated
forthisrequirement.
(b) "X"denotes that anotification hasbeen received intheWTO. Noassessment ofthecompleteness orthe
quality ofthenotification with respect torequirements ismade orimplied.
(c) "NA" indicates that therequirement was notapplicable forthisWTO Member during theperiod covered
either because norelevant measures areinplace (e.g. tariff quotas) orbecause WTO membership didnottake
place until 1996 or1997 hence there were nonotification requirements pertaining to1995 or1996. For
Table DS:1, theleast-developed country Members may notify attheendofevery second year (indicated bythe
symbol "(NA)") andsuch Members areexcluded from thetotal number required tonotify.G/L/211
Page7
Annex II
A. Informal papers submitted byMembers:
AIE/1: byAustralia onAdministration ofTariff Quotas -13May1997
AIE/2: bytheUnited States onCircumvention ofExport Subsidy Commitments -
16May1997
AIE/3: bytheUnited States onDataSupplied Through Notifications -16May1997
AIE/4: byAustralia on"Green Box" Domestic Support -16May1997
AIE/5: byNewZealand onAdministration ofTariff Quotas -12August 1997
AIE/6: byPakistan, PeruandtheDominican Republic onIssues ofInterest to
Developing Countries -19September 1997
AIE/7: bytheUnited States onAdministration ofTariff-Rate Quotas -22October 1997
AIE/8: byUruguay onImplementation ofTariff Commitments -24October 1997
AIE/9: byAustralia onTariff Quota Administration: First-Come, First-Served (FCFS)
-29October 1997
AIE/10: bytheUnited States onArticle 6.5: Direct Payments Under Production-
Limiting Programs -31October 1997
AIE/11: bytheUnited States onState Trading Enterprises (Single Desk Buyers and
Single Desk Sellers) -31October 1997
B. Secretariat Background Papers:
AIE/S1: Tariff andOther Quotas -9September 1997
AIE/S2: Domestic Support -28October 1997
AIE/S3: Export Subsidies -3November 1997
AIE/S4: Tariff Quota Administration Methods andTariff Quota Fill-6November 1997SECTION II
COMMITTEE ONANTI-DUMPING PRACTICESWORLD TRADE G/L/204
6November 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4849)
Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices
REPORT (1997) OFTHE COMMITTEE ON
ANTI-DUMPING PRACTICES
I. ORGANIZATION OFTHE WORK OFTHE COMMITTEE
1. TheAgreement onImplementation ofArticle VIoftheGeneral Agreement onTariffs and
Trade 1994 (hereinafter "theAgreement") entered intoforce on1January 1995. AllMembers ofthe
WTO areipso facto members oftheCommittee onAnti-Dumping Practices established under the
Agreement.
2. ObservergovernmentsintheGeneralCounciloftheWTOhaveObserverstatusintheCommittee.
With respect tointernational intergovernmental organizations, theInternational Monetary Fund and
theWorld Bank have regular Observer status pursuant toagreements between theWTO andthose
organizations. Atitsregular meeting inApril 1997, theCommittee granted regular Observer status
toUNCTAD onthebasis thatthere would bereciprocity with respect todocuments, proceedings and
other aspects ofObservership. Inlight ofissues regarding reciprocity, particularly inconnection with
theCommittee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures, theCommittee atitsregular meetings in
AprilandOctober1997deferredconsiderationoftheOECD'srequestforregularObserverstatuspending
consultations, butinvited theOECD intheinterim tocontinue toattend meetings oftheCommittee
onanadhocbasis. Finally, theCommittee decided atitsregular meeting inOctober 1997 toinvite
theACP Group toattend itsmeetings onanadhocbasis pending theoutcome ofhorizontal consultations
with respect totheACP Group 'srequests forObservership invarious WTO bodies.
3. Thefocus ofthisreport isontheperiod since theCommittee 'slastannual report (G/L/123),
thatis,23October 1996 -31October 1997 (hereinafter "thereview period"). During thereview period,
theCommittee heldtworegular meetings, on28-29 April 1997 and30-31 October 1997 (G/ADP/M/10
andG/ADP/M/11).
4. Asofthebeginning ofthereview period, Mr.OleLundby (Norway) wasChairman, and
Mr.Kajit Sukhum (Thailand) wasVice-Chairman oftheCommittee. TheCommittee atitsregular
meeting inApril 1997 elected Mr.Kajit Sukhum (Thailand) asitsChairman andMs.Michelle Slade
(New Zealand) asitsVice-Chairperson. Pursuant totheCommittee 'sRules ofProcedure, they took
office attheendofthatmeeting.
II. NOTIFICATION AND EXAMINATION OF ANTI-DUMPING LAWS AND/OR
REGULATIONS OFMEMBERS
5. TheCommittee decided, atitsspecial meeting of21February 1995, thatallMembers which
hadneworexisting legislation and/or regulations which apply inwhole orinparttoanti-dumping duty
investigations orreviews covered bytheAgreement would notify thefullandintegrated textofsuch
legislation and/or regulations totheCommittee by15March 1995. Ifsuch legislation and/or regulations
didnotexist orwere notavailable, theMember would inform theCommittee ofthisfact. TheCommittee
also decided thatObserver governments should provide theCommittee thetextoftheir laws and
regulations regarding anti-dumping duties.G/L/204
Page 2
6. Asof31October 1997, 77Members hadnotified theCommittee regarding their domestic anti-
dumpinglegislation.1Ofthese77Members,22hadnotifiedtheCommitteethattheyhadnoanti-dumping
legislation. Members 'communications inthisregard canbefound indocument series G/ADP/N/1/... .
40Members hadnot,asyet,made anynotification under Article 18.5 oftheAgreement. Annex A
setsoutthestatus ofnotifications oflegislation under Article 18.5 oftheAgreement.
7. During thereview period, theCommittee reviewed newnotifications regarding anti-dumping
laws and/or regulations submitted bythefollowing Members: Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam, the
EuropeanCommunity,Fiji,Guatemala,Indonesia,India,Japan,Korea,Liechtenstein,Namibia,Paraguay,
Singapore, Thailand, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, andUruguay. Written questions andanswers
regarding these reviews may befound indocuments oftheG/ADP/Q1/... series.
8. Inaddition toreview ofnewnotifications, during thereview period theCommittee undertook
further review ofnotifications oflegislation previously reviewed, pursuant toprocedures adopted by
theCommittee atitsjoint special meeting withtheCommittee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures
inApril 1996. Written questions andanswers concerning thenotifications ofthefollowing Members
were considered bytheCommittee: Canada, European Community, India, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia,
New Zealand, Singapore, andtheUnited States. Those questions andanswers may alsobefound in
documents oftheG/ADP/Q1/... series.
III. SEMI-ANNUAL REPORTS ONANTI-DUMPING ACTIONS TAKEN BYMEMBERS
9. Semi-annual reports fortheperiod 1July-31 December 1996 .Asof31October 1997, semi-
annual reports ofactions taken during thisperiod hadbeen submitted by23Members. 30Members
hadnotified theCommittee thatthey hadnottaken anyanti-dumping actions during thisperiod. The
remaining 63Members required todosohadnotsubmitted anotification inthisregard. Atthe
Committee 'sregular meeting inApril, theChairman andMembers expressed great concern about the
poor status ofnotifications. Thesemi-annual reports were circulated indocument series G/ADP/N/22/... .
Thestatus ofsemi-annual reports issetoutinAnnex B.
10. Semi-annual reports fortheperiod 1January-30 June 1997 .Asof31October 1997, semi-
annual reports ofactions taken during thisperiod hadbeen submitted by22Members. 23Members
hadnotified theCommittee thatthey hadnottaken anyanti-dumping actions during thisperiod. The
remaining 72Members required todosohadnotsubmitted anotification inthisregard. Atthe
Committee 'sregular meeting inOctober, theChairman andMembers expressed great concern about
thepoor status ofnotifications. The semi-annual reports were circulated indocument series
G/ADP/N/29/... .Thestatus ofsemi-annual reports issetoutinAnnex B.
11. ATable summarising anti-dumping actions taken byMembers during theperiod 1July1996 -
30June 1997 isreproduced inAnnex Ctothisreport.
IV. REPORTS ONALL PRELIMINARY ORFINAL ANTI-DUMPING ACTIONS
12. PursuanttoArticle16.4oftheAgreement,MembersaretoreportwithoutdelaytotheCommittee
allpreliminary andfinal anti-dumping actions taken. Reports ofpreliminary andfinal anti-dumping
actions during theperiod under consideration were received from Argentina, Australia, Canada, the
European Community, India, Indonesia, Israel, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, South
Africa, Thailand andtheUnited States, asidentified indocuments G/ADP/N/20, G/ADP/N/21,
G/ADP/N/23, G/ADP/N/24, G/ADP/N/25, G/ADP/N/26, G/ADP/N/27, G/ADP/N/28, G/ADP/N/30,
G/ADP/N/31,G/ADP/N/32ANDG/ADP/N/33.TheCommitteereviewedthenotificationsofpreliminary
andfinal actions atitsregular meetings inApril andOctober.
1Inthisreport, theECiscounted asoneMember.G/L/204
Page 3
V. OTHER MATTERS DISCUSSED BYTHE COMMITTEE
13. Follow uptoSingapore Ministerial declaration :AttheCommittee 'sregular meeting inApril,
theCommittee considered what appropriate steps could betaken topromote fullcompliance with
notification requirements, whether there were anyaspects ofnotification thatcould besimplified, and
reviewed technical assistance andtraining efforts intheanti-dumping areainparticular, andwithrespect
tocontingent trade remedies ingeneral. TheCommittee took note ofthework oftheAdHocGroup
onImplementation, which while notproviding technical assistance toanyspecific Member, could be
ofsignificant benefit toMembers, andparticularly developing country Members andnewusers ofanti-
dumping measures, inunderstanding some ofthepractical questions involved inanti-dumping
investigations, andhowdifferent Members have addressed those issues. TheCommittee alsotook note
oftheprogramme ofassistance andtraining available todeveloping country Members, newusers of
anti-dumping measures, andcountries intheprocess ofaccession, bytheSecretariat. That programme
includes training workshops ontheuseofcontingent trade remedies, financed primarily through grants
andassistance inkind, such asinstructors andconference facilities, provided bygovernments and
institutions, including theAsian Development Bank, theInter-American Development Bank, the
European Commission, theJapan FairTrade Centre, andtheGovernments ofAustralia, Finland, Mexico,
New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, andtheUnited States. Inaddition, theSecretariat alsoorganized
specialized seminars toexplain exporters ’rights andobligations inanti-dumping andcountervailing
duty investigations, andcountry specific training programmes. Several delegations spoke toexpress
theirappreciationfortheSecretariat'seffortsinthisregard,aswellasthoseofMembersandorganizations
whose financial contributions hadfunded therelevant technical assistance programmes. Members also
described their own programmes oftechnical assistance. TheCommittee expressed itssupport forthe
efforts ofMembers involved intechnical assistance programmes, aswellasforthetechnical assistance
programmes carried outbytheSecretariat inthearea ofcontingent trade remedies.
14. AdHoc Group onImplementation :TheAdHoc Group onImplementation held itsfirst
working meeting inconjunction with theCommittee 'sregular meeting inApril. Discussion followed
theprocedures agreed upon bytheCommittee, addressing thetopics referred totheGroup bythe
Committee inOctober 1996. Thetentopics referred totheGroup were: treatment ofconfidential
information, theperiod ofdata collection foradumping investigation, sampling under Article 6.10,
special circumstances under Article 5.6,notification ofthegovernment oftheexporting Member under
Article 5.5,Article 6.2hearings, essential facts under Article 6.9, public notices, thecontent of
preliminary affirmative determinations, anddutyassessments under Article 9.Attheendofthemeeting,
Members were asked tosubmit further papers onthetopics, aswellastoprovide certain specific factual
information toserve asabasis forfurther discussions. Several Members agreed toprepare papers on
specific topics tofollow uponthediscussions. TheSecretariat wasasked todraft arecommendation
onthetopic oftheperiod ofinvestigation indumping investigations, fortheGroup 'sconsideration
atitsnext meeting. Members submitted further papers onalltentopics referred totheGroup, aswell
astherequested information, inpreparation forthesecond substantive meeting on27-28 October 1997.
TheGroup discussed alltentopics thathadbeen forwarded toitbytheCommittee forconsideration,
based onthepapers, proposals, andinformation circulated toMembers prior tothemeeting. Agreat
dealofuseful information wasexchanged among Members regarding their practices inimplementing
therequirements oftheAnti-Dumping Agreement. Members were asked tosubmit further andfollow
uppapers andproposals onseveral ofthetopics under consideration, aswell asinformation ontheir
individualpracticesintheareasaddressed,andtheSecretariatwasaskedtocompileinformationsubmitted
byMembers with respect tothesome ofthetopics raised. TheGroup scheduled itsnext meeting for
27-28 April 1998, tocontinue discussions ofalltentopics.G/L/204
Page 4
15. Informal Group onAnti-Circumvention :Atitsregular meeting inApril theCommittee took
noteoftheframework forcontinued discussion oftheissue ofanti-circumvention which hadbeen agreed
upon byMembers ininformal consultations. TheCommittee alsodecided toestablish anInformal Group
onAnti-Circumvention, tocontinue thediscussions. TheCommittee agreed thattheInformal Group
would beopen toallMembers, andcould notmake anydecisions ontheissues discussed, butwould
make recommendations forconsideration bytheCommittee. On29October 1997, theInformal Group
onAnti-Circumvention held discussions onthefirsttopic intheagreed framework, "what constitutes
circumvention". Member discussed thefourpapers submitted, andnumerous additional statements were
made during themeeting. TheInformal Group agreed tomeet again on29April 1998, tocontinue
discussions onthefirsttopic under theagreed framework.
16. Agenda items requested byMembers :During thereview period, theCommittee took note
ofstatements concerning thefollowing specific items placed ontheagenda attherequest ofMembers:
- Application oftheEuropean Community 'samended regulation onanti-dumping.
- European Community -Investigations concerning theanti-circumvention
measures onimports ofretail electronic weighing scales ortheparts thereof
from Japan, Singapore andIndonesia.
17. Other Business :During thereview period, theCommittee considered thefollowing items under
theagenda item "Other Business":
- Japan -United States investigation ofsupercomputers
- Japan -ECdelays inanti-dumping investigations
- India -South Africa anti-dumping andcountervailing duty actions
- United States -Philippines investigation offloat glass from Thailand
- India -ECanti-dumping investigations oncertain textiles
- Japan -United States measures onsupercomputers
- Venezuela -Argentina investigation onaluminium cables
- Brazil -USprocedures inconstructed value calculationsG/L/204
Page 5
ANNEX A
ANTI-DUMPING LEGISLATION NOTIFICATIONS
Key: *=Notification ofnoanti-dumping legislation
MEMBER NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
Angola none
Antigua andBarbuda none
Argentina G/ADP/N/1/ARG/1 +Suppl.1
Australia G/ADP/N/1/AUS/1 +Suppl.1
Bahrain G/ADP/N/1/BHR/1 *
Bangladesh none
Barbados G/ADP/N/1/BRB/1
Belize none
Benin none
Bolivia G/ADP/N/1/BOL/1 +Suppl.1
Botswana G/ADP/N/1/BWA/1 *
Brazil G/ADP/N/1/BRA/2
Brunei Darussalam G/ADP/N/1/BRN/1 *
Bulgaria G/ADP/N/1/BGR/1
Burkina Faso G/ADP/N/1/BFA/1 *
Burundi none
Cameroon none
Canada G/ADP/N/1/CAN/3
Central African Republic none
Chad none
Chile G/ADP/N/1/CHL/1
Colombia G/ADP/N/1/COL/1
Congo none
Costa Rica G/ADP/N/1/CRI/1
Côted'Ivoire G/ADP/N/1/CIV/1 *
Cuba G/ADP/N/1/CUB/1 +Suppl.1
Cyprus G/ADP/N/1/CYP/2G/L/204
Page 6
Czech Republic G/ADP/N/1/CZE/1 *
Democratic Republic of
theCongo
Djibouti none
Dominica none
Dominican Republic G/ADP/N/1/DOM/2 *
European Community G/ADP/N/1/EEC/2 +Corr.1+Suppl.1
Ecuador G/ADP/N/1/ECU/1
Egypt G/ADP/N/1/EGY/1 *
ElSalvador G/ADP/N/1/SLV/1
Fiji G/ADP/N/1/FIJ/1 *
Gabon none
Gambia none
Ghana none
Grenada none
Guatemala G/ADP/N/1/GTM/2
Guinea Bissau none
Guinea, Republic of G/ADP/N/1/GIN/1 *
Guyana none
Haiti none
Honduras G/ADP/N/1/HND/2
Hong Kong, China G/ADP/N/1/HKG/1 *
Hungary G/ADP/N/1/HUN/1
Iceland G/ADP/N/1/ISL/1
India G/ADP/N/1/IND/2 +Corr.1 +Suppl.1
Indonesia G/ADP/N/1/IDN/2
Israel G/ADP/N/1/ISR/2
Jamaica G/ADP/N/1/JAM/1
Japan G/ADP/N/1/JPN/2 +Corr.1 &2+Suppl.1
Kenya G/ADP/N/1/KEN/1
Korea G/ADP/N/1/KOR/3
Kuwait noneG/L/204
Page 7
Lesotho none
Liechtenstein G/ADP/N/1/LIE/1 *
Macau G/ADP/N/1/MAC/1 *
Madagascar none
Malawi G/ADP/N/1/MWI/1 +Corr.1
Malaysia G/ADP/N/1/MYS/1
Maldives G/ADP/N/1/MDV/1 *
Mali none
Malta G/ADP/N/1/MLT/1 *
Mauritania none
Mauritius G/ADP/N/1/MUS/2
Mexico G/ADP/N/1/MEX/1 +Corr.1 &2
Mongolia none
Morocco G/ADP/N/1/MAR/1 *
Mozambique none
Myanmar none
Namibia G/ADP/N/1/NAM/1 *
New Zealand G/ADP/N/1/NZL/2
Nicaragua G/ADP/N/1/NIC/1
Niger none
Nigeria none
Norway G/ADP/N/1/NOR/3
Pakistan G/ADP/N/1/PAK/1
Panama none
Papua New Guinea none
Paraguay G/ADP/N/1/PRY/2
Peru G/ADP/N/1/PER/1 +Suppl.1 &.2
Philippines G/ADP/N/1/PHL/1
Poland G/ADP/N/1/POL/1
Qatar none
Romania G/ADP/N/1/ROM/1
Rwanda noneG/L/204
Page 8
Saint Kitts &Nevis none
Saint Lucia G/ADP/N/1/LCA/1
Saint Vincent &
Grenadinesnone
Senegal G/ADP/N/1/SEN/1
Sierra Leone none
Singapore G/ADP/N/1/SGP/2 +Suppl.1
Slovak Republic G/ADP/N/1/SVK/2
Slovenia G/ADP/N/1/SVN/1
Solomon Islands none
South Africa G/ADP/N/1/ZAF/1
SriLanka G/ADP/N/1/LKA/1 *
Suriname G/ADP/N/1/SUR/1 *
Swaziland G/ADP/N/1/SWZ/1 *
Switzerland G/ADP/N/1/CHE/1 *
Tanzania none
Thailand G/ADP/N/1/THA/3
Togo none
Trinidad andTobago G/ADP/N/1/TTO/1 +Corr.1
Tunisia G/ADP/N/1/TUN/1
Turkey G/ADP/N/1/TUR/2
Uganda G/ADP/N/UGA/2
United Arab Emirates G/ADP/N/1/ARE/1 *
United States G/ADP/N/1/USA/1 +Corr.1 +Suppl.1 &2
Uruguay G/ADP/N/1/URY/2
Venezuela G/ADP/N/1/VEN/1 +Suppl.1 &2
Zambia G/ADP/N/1/ZMB/1
Zimbabwe G/ADP/N/1/ZWE/2G/L/204
Page 9
ANNEX B
SEMI-ANNUAL REPORTS
Key: X=Semi-annual report ofactions taken submitted
N=Report ofnoactions taken submitted
notapplicable =obligation didnotapply toMember forthatperiod
blank =Noreport submitted
MEMBER 1July -31December 1996 1January -30June 1997
Angola
Antigua andBarbuda
Argentina X X
Australia X X
Bahrain N N
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belize
Benin
Bolivia
Botswana
Brazil X X
Brunei Darussalam N
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso N
Burundi
Cameroon
Canada X X
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile X X
Colombia X X
Congo
Costa RicaG/L/204
Page 10
MEMBER 1July -31December 1996 1January -30June 1997
Côted'Ivoire
Cuba N N
Cyprus N N
Czech Republic N N
Democratic Republic of
theCongo
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic N N
European Community X X
Ecuador
Egypt
ElSalvador N
Fiji N
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea Bissau
Guinea, Republic of
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras N N
Hong Kong2N N
Hungary N N
Iceland N N
India X X
Indonesia X X
2Thename ofthisMember hasbecome Hong Kong, China asfrom 1July 1997.G/L/204
Page 11
MEMBER 1July -31December 1996 1January -30June 1997
Israel X X
Jamaica
Japan X X
Kenya
Korea X X
Kuwait
Lesotho
Liechtenstein N N
Macau
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia X X
Maldives
Mali
Malta N N
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico X X
Mongolia
Morocco N N
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia N
New Zealand X X
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Norway N N
Pakistan N N
Panama notapplicable
Papua New GuineaG/L/204
Page 12
MEMBER 1July -31December 1996 1January -30June 1997
Paraguay
Peru X X
Philippines X X
Poland N N
Qatar
Romania N N
Rwanda
Saint Kitts &Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent &
Grenadines
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Singapore X X
Slovak Republic N N
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
South Africa X X
SriLanka N N
Suriname
Swaziland
Switzerland N N
Tanzania N
Thailand X X
Togo
Trinidad andTobago
Tunisia N N
Turkey X X
Uganda N N
United Arab Emirates N
United States X XG/L/204
Page 13
MEMBER 1July -31December 1996 1January -30June 1997
Uruguay N
Venezuela X N
Zambia N N
ZimbabweG/L/204
Page14ANNEX C
Summary ofAnti-Dumping Actions
(1July1996-30 June1997)
Initiation Provisional
Measures
(negative preliminary determinations not
included)Definitive
Duties
(negative determinations notincluded)Price
UndertakingsMeasures
inforce on
30June1997
(definitive
duties and
price
undertakings)
No. Countries6involved No. Countries involved No. Countries involved No. Countries involved
ARGENTINA
18 BRA CHT(2) DEU 11 BRA(3) KOR PRC(6) 9 BRA(8) KOR 3 BRA(2) CHL 32
ESP IND ITA(2) ZAF
PRC(6) PRY THA
USA(2)
AUSTRALIA
22 BRA CHT(2) DEU(3) 6 BEL DEU KOR 1 MYS 1 THA 56
ESP HUN IDN MYS PRC(2)
IND IRN ISR(2)
MYS NLD PRC(3)
SWE(2) THA USA
6"Countries" refers inallcases tocountries orcustoms territories. Alistoftheabbreviations used inthistable canbefound following thetable.
*NR indicates that theMember inquestion didnotsubmit alistofmeasures inforce asof30June 1997.G/L/204
Page15Initiation Provisional
Measures
(negative preliminary determinations not
included)Definitive
Duties
(negative determinations notincluded)Price
UndertakingsMeasures
inforce on
30June1997
(definitive
duties and
price
undertakings)
No. Countries6involved No. Countries involved No. Countries involved No. Countries involved
BRAZIL
19 BGR CHL(2) CHT 1 PRC 1 PRC 0 23
CUB ESP GBR
HKG IDN POL
PRC(3) ROM THA
USA(3) VEN
CANADA
8 MEX POL PRC(2) 8 ITA MEX PRC(2) 3 PRC USA(2) 0 95
RUS USA(2) ZAF RUS USA(2) ZAF
CHILE
2 RUS UKR 2 RUS UKR 2 RUS UKR 2
COLOMBIA
1 TTO 0 1 PRC 0 7
6"Countries" refers inallcases tocountries orcustoms territories. Alistoftheabbreviations used inthistable canbefound following thetable.
*NR indicates that theMember inquestion didnotsubmit alistofmeasures inforce asof30June 1997.G/L/204
Page16Initiation Provisional
Measures
(negative preliminary determinations not
included)Definitive
Duties
(negative determinations notincluded)Price
UndertakingsMeasures
inforce on
30June1997
(definitive
duties and
price
undertakings)
No. Countries6involved No. Countries involved No. Countries involved No. Countries involved
EUROPEAN COMMUNITY
26 CHT(2) CZE EGY 26 CZE EGY(2) IDN(3) 10 BLR IDN MEX 5 MEX PHL POL 157
IND(3) JPN KOR(3) IND(3) JPN MYS(2) MYS(2) PHL PRC RUS UKR
MYS(2) NOR PAK PAK(2) POL(2) PRC(4) RUS THA UKR
PRC(3) ROM RUS ROM RUS(2) SVK
SGP SVK THA(2) THA TUR
UKR USA
INDIA
20 AUT BEL CAN 8 DEU DNK KOR(2) 0 0 19
DEU DNK ESP PRC THA(2) USA
FRA IDN ITA
JPN KOR(2) PRC(2)
RUS THA(2) USA(3)
INDONESIA
9 CHT IND(3) KOR 4 IND PRC RUS 0 0 NR*
PRC RUS THA UKR
UKR
6"Countries" refers inallcases tocountries orcustoms territories. Alistoftheabbreviations used inthistable canbefound following thetable.
*NR indicates that theMember inquestion didnotsubmit alistofmeasures inforce asof30June 1997.G/L/204
Page17Initiation Provisional
Measures
(negative preliminary determinations not
included)Definitive
Duties
(negative determinations notincluded)Price
UndertakingsMeasures
inforce on
30June1997
(definitive
duties and
price
undertakings)
No. Countries6involved No. Countries involved No. Countries involved No. Countries involved
ISRAEL
7 DEU(2) GBR ITA 5 DEU(2) ITA PRT 0 0 NR*
KOR PRT USA USA
JAPAN
0 0 0 0 3
KOREA
18 BGR CHE CHT 13 BGR DEU JPN(2) 9 BGR JPN NLD 5 DEU JPN NLD 21
DEU(3) GBR JPN NLD PRC(3) RUS(2) PRC(2) RUS USA(3) PRC USA
LIE MYS NLD USA(3)
PRC(3) RUS(2) USA(2)
MALAYSIA
2 EEC IDN 2 EEC IDN 2 EEC IDN 0 4
MEXICO
5 BRA GRC USA(3) 9 CHT(2) PRC(2) USA(5) 4 BRA CHT PRC 0 100
USA
6"Countries" refers inallcases tocountries orcustoms territories. Alistoftheabbreviations used inthistable canbefound following thetable.
*NR indicates that theMember inquestion didnotsubmit alistofmeasures inforce asof30June 1997.G/L/204
Page18Initiation Provisional
Measures
(negative preliminary determinations not
included)Definitive
Duties
(negative determinations notincluded)Price
UndertakingsMeasures
inforce on
30June1997
(definitive
duties and
price
undertakings)
No. Countries6involved No. Countries involved No. Countries involved No. Countries involved
NEW ZEALAND
1 KOR 1 ZAF 3 THA ZAF(2) 0 26
PERU
3 BRA PRC(2) 3 BRA CHL PRC 3 CHL MEX PRC 0 6
PHILIPPINES
2 DEU KOR 1 DEU 0 0 NR*
SINGAPORE
0 0 0 0 2
SOUTH AFRICA
11 BGR BRA GBR 18 BGR CHE ESP 21 BEL BRA CHE 0 40
IDN IND ITA FRA IND(3) IRN CHT EGY FRA(2)
POL PRT SWE ITA JPN PRC GBR HKG(2) IND(2)
USA YUG PRT SAU USA(5) ITA KOR(2) PRC(4)
USA ZWE
6"Countries" refers inallcases tocountries orcustoms territories. Alistoftheabbreviations used inthistable canbefound following thetable.
*NR indicates that theMember inquestion didnotsubmit alistofmeasures inforce asof30June 1997.G/L/204
Page19Initiation Provisional
Measures
(negative preliminary determinations not
included)Definitive
Duties
(negative determinations notincluded)Price
UndertakingsMeasures
inforce on
30June1997
(definitive
duties and
price
undertakings)
No. Countries6involved No. Countries involved No. Countries involved No. Countries involved
THAILAND
1 POL 1 POL 1 POL 0 NR*
TURKEY
5 EEC JPN(2) PRC(2) 0 0 0 37
UNITED STATES
20 AUT CAN(2) CHT(2) 22 AUT CAN CHT(2) 15 CHT DEU GBR 0 305
DEU(2) JPN(2) KOR(2) IDN JPN(3) KAZ IDN ITA JPN(2)
PRC(4) RUS TTO KOR MEX PRC(7) KAZ PRC(5) TUR(2)
UKR VEN ZAF RUS TUR UKR
ZAF
VENEZUELA
0 2 PRC(2) 0 0 3
6"Countries" refers inallcases tocountries orcustoms territories. Alistoftheabbreviations used inthistable canbefound following thetable.
*NR indicates that theMember inquestion didnotsubmit alistofmeasures inforce asof30June 1997.G/L/204
Page20
LIST OFABBREVIATIONS USED INANNEX C
AFG AFGHANISTAN
ALB ALBANIA
DZA ALGERIA
ATG ANTIGUA AND
BARBUDA
ARG ARGENTINA
ARM ARMENIA
AUS AUSTRALIA
AUT AUSTRIA
AZE AZERBAIJAN
BHS BAHAMAS
BHR BAHRAIN
BGD BANGLADESH
BRB BARBADOS
BLR BELARUS
BEL BELGIUM
BLZ BELIZE
BEN BENIN
BMU BERMUDA
BOL BOLIVIA
BIH BOSNIA-
HERZEGOVINA
BWA BOTSWANA
BRA BRAZIL
BRN BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
BGR BULGARIA
BFA BURKINA FASO
BUR BURUNDI
CMR CAMEROON
CAN CANADA
CAF CENTRAL AFRICAN
REPUBLIC
TCD CHAD
CHL CHILE
PRC CHINA, P.R.
CHT CHINESE TAIPEI
COG CONGO, REPUBLIC
COL COLOMBIA
CRI COSTA RICA
CIV COTE D'IVOIRE
HRV CROATIA
CUB CUBA
CYP CYPRUS
CZE CZECH REPUBLIC
DCR DEMOCRATICREPUBLIC
OFTHE CONGO
DNK DENMARK
DJI DJIBOUTI
DMA DOMINICA
DOM DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
EEC EUROPEAN
COMMUNITY
ECU ECUADOR
EGY EGYPT
SLV ELSALVADOR
EST ESTONIA
FJI FIJI
FIN FINLAND
FRA FRANCE
GAB GABON
GMB GAMBIA
GEO GEORGIA
DEU GERMANY
GHA GHANA
GRC GREECEGRD GRENADA
GTM GUATEMALA
GNB GUINEA-BISSAU
GIN GUINEA, REP. OF
GUY GUYANA
HTI HAITI
HND HONDURAS
HKG HONG KONG
HUN HUNGARY
ISL ICELAND
IND INDIA
IDN INDONESIA
IRN IRAN
IRQ IRAQ
IRL IRELAND
ISR ISRAEL
ITA ITALY
JAM JAMAICA
JPN JAPAN
JOR JORDAN
KAZ KAZAKHSTAN
KEN KENYA
KOR KOREA
KWT KUWAIT
KGZ KYRGYZSTAN
LVA LATVIA
LBN LEBANON
LSO LESOTHO
LIE LIECHTENSTEIN
LTU LITHUANIA
LUX LUXEMBOURG
MAC MACAU
MDG MADAGASCAR
MWI MALAWI
MYS MALAYSIA
MDV MALDIVES
MLI MALI
MLT MALTA
MRT MAURITANIA
MUS MAURITIUS
MEX MEXICO
MDA MOLDOVA, REP. OF
MNG MONGOLIA
MAR MOROCCO
MOZ MOZAMBIQUE
NAM NAMIBIA
NLD NETHERLANDS
NZL NEW ZEALAND
NIC NICARAGUA
NER NIGER
NGA NIGERIA
NOR NORWAY
OMN OMAN
PAK PAKISTAN
PAN PANAMA
PNG PAPUA NEW GUINEA
PRY PARAGUAY
PER PERU
PHL PHILIPPINES
POL POLAND
PRT PORTUGAL
PRI PUERTO RICO
QUT QATAR
ROM ROMANIA
RUS RUSSIAN FEDERATIONRWA RWANDA
KNA SAINT KITTS &NEVIS
LCA SAINT LUCIA
SAU SAUDI ARABIA
SEN SENEGAL
SYC SEYCHELLES
SLE SIERRA LEONE
SGP SINGAPORE
SVK SLOVAK REPUBLIC
SVN SLOVENIA
ZAF SOUTH AFRICA
ESP SPAIN
LKA SRILANKA
VCT SAINT VINCENT &
GRENADINES
SDN SUDAN
SUR SURINAME
SWE SWEDEN
CHE SWITZERLAND
TJK TAJIKISTAN
TZA TANZANIA
THA THAILAND
TGO TOGO
TTO TRINIDAD &TOBAGO
TUN TUNISIA
TUR TURKEY
TKM TURKMENISTAN
UGA UGANDA
UKR UKRAINE
ARE UNITED ARAB
EMIRATES
GBR UNITED KINGDOM
USA UNITED STATES
URY URUGUAY
UZB UZBEKISTAN
VUT VANUATU
VEN VENEZUELA
VNM VIET NAM
YUG YUGOSLAVIA
ZMB ZAMBIA
ZWE ZIMBABWESECTION III
COMMITTEE ONCUSTOMS VALUATIONWORLD TRADE G/L/2051
18November 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-5061)
REPORT OFTHE COMMITTEE ONCUSTOMS VALUATION
TOTHE COUNCIL FOR TRADE INGOODS
A. Background
1. Thisreport covers theyear1997. Itaddresses thework undertaken bytheCommittee on
Customs Valuation (theCommittee) inrespect oftheobjectives oftheAgreement, which are:toprovide
greater uniformity andcertainty intheimplementation oftheprovisions ofArticle VIIoftheGATT
1994; toestablish afair,uniform andneutral system forthevaluation ofgoods forcustoms purposes
thatprecludes theuseofarbitrary offictitious customs values; toensure thatthebasis forvaluation
ofgoods forcustoms purposes should, tothegreatest extent possible, bethetransaction value ofthe
goods being valued; andtosecure additional benefits fortheinternational tradeofdeveloping countries.
2. During theperiod under consideration, theCommittee hasheldtwoformal meetings, on
25April 1997 (G/VAL/M/5) and23October 1997 (G/VAL/M/6). The Committee elected
Mr.Tullio diPietro (Italy) asChairman andMr.Ernesto deLaGuardia (Argentina) asVice-Chairman
for1997.
3. Participation intheCommittee isopentoallWTO Members. Inaddition, Governments granted
observer status bytheWTO General Council attended Committee meetings asobservers. AttheApril
meeting, theCommittee granted observer status tothose organizations which hadhadobserver status
onanadhocbasis, namely UNCTAD andtheWCO, aswellastotheACP andtheIADB. The
Committee tooknoteofthefactthattheWorld Bank andtheIMFhadobserver status byvirtue of
theAgreements between these organizations andtheWTO.
4. TheCommittee 'srulesofprocedure, which wereapproved bytheCouncil forTrade inGoods,
arecontained inG/L/146.
B. Implementation oftheAgreement
5. TheCommittee examined thenational legislations ofsixMembers, fourofwhich havebeen
submitted during theperiod under consideration. TheCommittee concluded itsexamination ofthe
legislations ofBulgaria, Fiji,andLiechtenstein. Withrespect tothelegislations ofMexico, India and
Singapore, theCommittee tooknoteofthevarious points raised andtheexplanations furnished, and
agreed tocontinue theexamination.
6. Inconformity withArticle 20.1oftheAgreement, 51developing country Members aredelaying
application oftheprovisions oftheAgreement (seeAnnex). Understanding hasbeenreached inthe
Committee thatthetextsofthenational legislation ofthesedeveloping country Members willbesupplied
1ThisdocumentcancelsandreplacesdocumentG/VAL/12circulatedon6November1997inEnglish
only. Thenewsymbol isappropriate forcirculation asadocument tobeconsidered bytheCouncil
forTrade inGoods.G/L/205
Page2
totheCommitteebeforethedevelopingcountryMembersbeginapplyingtheprovisionsoftheAgreement
(G/VAL/5, para. B2(ii)).
7. Todate15Members havesubmitted communications indicating thattheirlegislation notified
undertheTokyoRoundCustomsValuationAgreementremainedvalidundertheWTOCustomsValuation
Agreement; inaddition 13Members havenotified either theircomplete national legislation oncustoms
valuation oramendments thereto; 38Members havenotyetmade anynotification (seeAnnex). The
Chairman oftheCommittee hasrepeatedly expressed concern thatanumber ofMembers havenot
yetcomplied withthenotification requirements, andurged those Members whohavenotyetdoneso
tosubmit theirnotifications without further delay.
8. TwoMembers havenotified theirapplication ofparagraph 2oftheDecision oftheCommittee
onCustoms Valuation onValuation ofCarrier-Media Bearing Software forDataProcessing Equipment
(SeeAnnex). These Members alsonotified theirapplication oftheDecision ontheTreatment ofInterest
Charges intheCustoms Value ofImported Goods.
9. TheCommittee tooknoteofaletter fromtheDirector oftheValuation Directorate oftheWCO,
circulated inG/VAL/W/12 providing explanation ofthecircumstances where thecostofsoftware
"imported" bysatellite mayformpartofthecustoms value ofimported goods. Thiswasinresponse
totheChairman 'sletter totheChairman oftheWCO Technical Committee circulated indocument
G/VAL/W/7. Ittooknoteofthediscussion intheTechnical Committee onthisissue anditsreferral
ofthismatter toappropriate experts, andagreed toconclude examination ofthisquestion. The
Committeealsoagreedtorectifytheterm"entretenimiento"intheSpanishtextoftheAgreementthrough
theissuance ofaProcès Verbal subsequently circulated indocument WT/Let/147. TheCommittee
alsotooknoteofthereport onthework oftheFourth (3-7March 1997) andFifth(6-10 October 1997)
Sessions oftheTechnical Committee oftheWCO.
10. AttheApril meeting, theCommittee discussed aproposal bytheUnited States indocument
G/VAL/W/18 ontechnical assistance activities. Three informal meetings weresubsequently heldto
allow further discussion aswellastoimprove awareness andunderstanding ofthetechnical activities
carried outorbeing carried outbyinternational organizations andMembers either bilaterally or
regionally. AttheOctober meeting, theCommittee agreed toengage inamore active rolewithregard
totechnical assistance activities initially bydiscussing technical assistance needs andactivities aimed
atimplementation oftheAgreement inamore systematic andformal manner. Oneoftheaimsofthis
work istostreamline andtailor technical assistance activities totheparticular needs ofeachdeveloping
countryMember.ArequestforinformationwascirculatedbytheChairmantoallMembers(G/VAL/11)
forcompletion andsubsequent review.G/L/205
Page3
ANNEX
(i) Members whohaveindicated thattheirlegislation remains valid under theWTO Customs
ValuationAgreementinaccordancewiththedecisiontakenbytheCommittee(G/VAL/M/1)(15)
Australia (G/VAL/N/1/AUS/1) NewZealand (G/VAL/N/1/NZL/1)
Argentina (G/VAL/N/1/ARG/1) Norway (G/VAL/N/1/NOR/1)
Brazil (G/VAL/N/1/BRZ/1) Romania (G/VAL/N/1/ROM/1)
Hong Kong, China (G/VAL/N/1/HKG/1) SlovakRepublic(G/VAL/N/1/SVK/1)
Hungary (G/VAL/N/1/HUN/1) Switzerland (G/VAL/N/1/CHE/1)
Japan (G/VAL/N/1/JPN/1) Turkey (G/VAL/N/1/TUR/1)
Korea (G/VAL/N/1/KOR/1) United States (G/VAL/N/1/USA/1)
Zimbabwe (G/VAL/N/1/ZWE/1)
(ii) Members whohavesubmitted theirlegislations oramendments inaccordance withArticles 22.1
and22.2oftheAgreement (13)
Bulgaria (G/VAL/N/1/BLG/1) Liechtenstein (G/VAL/N/1/LIE/1)
Canada (G/VAL/N/1/CAN/1) Macau (G/VAL/N/1/MAC/1)
Czech Republic (G/VAL/N/1/CZE/1) Mexico(VAL/1/Add.25/Suppl.1/Rev.1,
European Communities (G/VAL/N/1/EEC/1/Rev.1) Suppl.2, andSuppl.3)
Fiji(G/VAL/N/1/FJI/1) Slovenia (G/VAL/N/1/SVN/1)
Iceland (G/VAL/N/1/ISL/1) Singapore (G/VAL/N/1/SGP/1)
India (G/VAL/N/1/IND/ 2) South Africa (G/VAL/N/1/ZAF)
(iii) Members delaying application oftheprovisions oftheAgreement inaccordance withArticle
20.1oftheAgreement (51)
Bahrain (WT/Let/149) Kuwait (WT/Let/72)
Bangladesh (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Madagascar (WT/Let/85)
Bolivia (WT/Let/48) Malaysia (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Brunei Darussalam (WT/Let/36) Mali(WT/Let/78)
Burkina Faso(WT/Let/19) Malta (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Burundi (WT/Let/24) Mauritania (WT/Let/82)
Cameroon (WT/Let/41) Mauritius (WT/Let/1/Rev.2)
Central African Republic (WT/Let/19) Morocco (Decision inWT/L/38)
Chile (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Myanmar (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Colombia (WT/Let/1/Rev.2) Nicaragua (WT/Let/29)
Costa Rica(WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Nigeria (WT/Let/106)
Côted'Ivoire (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Pakistan (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Cuba (WT/Let/19) Paraguay (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Djibouti (WT/Let/108) Peru(Decision inWT/L/38)
Dominican Republic (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Philippines (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Ecuador (WT/Let/72) Senegal (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Egypt (WT/Let/19) SriLanka (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
ElSalvador (WT/Let/1/Rev.2) Thailand (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Gabon (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Togo (WT/Let/19)
Ghana (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Tunisia (WT/Let/1/Rev.2)
Guatemala (WT/Let/24) Uganda (WT/Let/108)
Honduras (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) United Arab Emirates (WT/Let/72)
Indonesia (WT/Let/1/Rev.1) Uruguay (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Israel (WT/Let/1/Rev.2) Venezuela (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)
Jamaica (WT/Let/1/Rev.2) Zambia (WT/Let/28)
Kenya (WT/Let/1/Rev.1)G/L/205
Page4
(iv) Members whohavemade nonotifications (38)
Antigua &Barbuda Malawi
Angola Maldives
Barbados Mongolia
Belize Mozambique
Benin Namibia
Botswana Niger
Chad Papua NewGuinea
Congo Poland
Cyprus Qatar
Democratic Republic ofCongo Rwanda
Dominica Saint Kitts&Nevis
Ethiopia Saint Lucia
Gambia Saint Vincent &Grenadines
Grenada Sierra Leone
Guinea Bissau Solomon Islands
Guinea, Rep.of Suriname
Guyana Swaziland
Haiti Tanzania
Lesotho Trinidad &Tobago
(v) Members whohavenotified theirapplication ofparagraph 2ofthedecision oftheCommittee
onCustoms Valuation onValuation ofCarrier Media Bearing Software forDataProcessing
Equipment
Brunei Darussalam (G/VAL/N/3/BRN/1)
Singapore (G/VAL/N/3/SGP/1)SECTION IV
COMMITTEE ONIMPORT LICENSINGWORLD TRADE G/L/203
7November 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4876)
Committee onImport Licensing
REPORT (1997) OFTHE COMMITTEE ONIMPORT LICENSING
1. TheAgreement onImport Licensing Procedures (theAgreement) establishes disciplines on
users ofimport licensing systems withtheprincipal objective ofensuring thattheprocedures applied
forgranting import licences donotinthemselves restrict trade. Itaimstosimplify, clarify andminimize
theadministrative requirements necessary toobtain import licences.
2. TheCommittee onImport Licensing (theCommittee) wasestablished toafford Members the
opportunity ofconsulting onanymatters relating totheoperation oftheAgreement orthefurtherance
ofitsobjectives.
3. AllMembers oftheWTO areipsofacto members oftheCommittee. Observer governments
intheGeneral Council oftheWTO haveobserver status intheCommittee. Inaddition, representatives
oftheIMF, UNCTAD andtheWorld Bank attend meetings oftheCommittee inanobserver capacity.
4. TheCommittee heldtwomeetings on22April and15October 1997 (G/LIC/M/5 and6).
TheCommittee atitsmeeting inApril 1997elected Mr.Tomasz Jodko (Poland) asChairman andMr.
Rossman Ithnain (Singapore) asVice-Chairman for1997. Pursuant totheCommittee 'sRules of
Procedure, theytookoffice attheendofthatmeeting.
5. Pursuant toArticles 1.4(a) and/or 8.2(b) oftheAgreement, allMembers arerequired tonotify
theirlaws, regulations andadministrative procedures relevant toimport licensing. During theperiod
covered bythisreport, theCommittee received notifications fromAustralia; Bahrain; Benin; Bolivia;
Bulgaria; Burkina Faso; European Communities; Fiji;Honduras; Hong Kong, China; Hungary; India;
Japan; Korea; Liechtenstein; Mauritius; Norway; Singapore; Slovenia; Switzerland; Tunisia andthe
United ArabEmirates. Since theentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement, 44Members (theEuropean
Communities anditsmember States counted asone)havenotified theirlegislation and/or publications
under these provisions. These notifications maybefound indocument series G/LIC/N/1/-.
6. Article 7.3oftheAgreement requires allMembers toprovide replies totheQuestionnaire on
Import Licensing Procedures1by30September eachyear. Since theentry intoforce oftheWTO
Agreement, 45Members (theEuropean Communities anditsmember States counted asone)havemade
notifications under thisprovision. Thisincludes replies totheQuestionnaire from11Members in1995,
22Members in1996and21Members in1997. During theperiod covered bythisreport, theCommittee
received notifications fromAustralia; Bolivia; Brunei Darussalam; Bulgaria; Burkina Faso; Canada;
Chile;Colombia;EuropeanCommunities;Fiji;Gambia;HongKong,China;Japan;Korea;Liechtenstein;
Mali; Namibia; NewZealand; Norway; Philippines; Poland; Senegal; Singapore; Slovenia; South
Africa; Switzerland; Tunisia andUganda. These notifications maybefound indocument series
G/LIC/N/3/-.
1Annexed todocument G/LIC/3.G/L/203
Page2
7. TheCommittee alsoreceived pursuant toArticle 5oftheAgreement notifications relating to
theinstitution ofnewimport licensing procedures orchanges inthese procedures from Argentina;
European Communities; Hong Kong, China; Liechtenstein; South Africa andSwitzerland. These
notifications maybefound indocument series G/LIC/N/2/-.
8. TheCommitteehasprovidedaregularforumforthediscussionofspecificnotificationssubmitted
byMembers andofconcerns regarding notifications. Itshould benoted thatthemandatory notification
requirements under Articles 1.4(a), 8.2(b) and7.3arecomplied withonlybyabout halfofWTO
Members. TheAnnex reflects thecurrent status ofnotifications. Inlight ofthissituation, the
Committee, recognizing theimportance ofnotifications fortheeffective implementation andfunctioning
oftheAgreement, urges Members tofulfil theirnotification obligations.G/L/203
Page3
ANNEX
(i) Notifications oflegislation and/or publications (Articles 1.4(a) and/or 8.2(b)) received from:
(44)(G/LIC/N/1/- series)
Argentina
Australia
Bahrain
Barbados
Benin
Bolivia
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Cyprus
ECFiji
Honduras
Hong Kong, China
Hungary
India
Jamaica
Japan
Korea
Liechtenstein
Malta
Mauritius
Morocco
NewZealand
Nicaragua
NorwayPakistan
Peru
Romania
Singapore
Slovenia
Swaziland
Switzerland
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uruguay
Zimbabwe
(ii) Replies totheQuestionnaire onImport Licensing Procedures (Article 7.3)received from:
(45)(G/LIC/N/3/- series) Thedateoflatest communication isindicated within brackets.
Argentina (24.1.96)
Australia (28.4.97)
Barbados (15.9.95)
Bolivia (28.10.96)
Brunei Dar.(4.3.97)
Bulgaria (20.3.97)
BurkinaFaso(8.1.97)
Canada (2.10.97)
Chile (9.9.97)
Colombia(29.11.96)
CostaRica(21.11.95)
Cyprus (29.4.96)
Ecuador (1.8.95)
EC(29.7.97)
Fiji(1.4.97)Gambia (31.10.97)
Hong Kong, China (25.9.97)
Hungary (8.10.96)
India (29.11.95)
Japan (21.10.96)
Korea (24.10.96)
Liechtenstein (18.4.97)
Mali(9.5.97)
Malta (15.5.95)
Mauritius (2.11.95)
Morocco (3.7.96)
Namibia (28.2.97)
NewZealand (25.10.96)
Nigeria (17.7.96)
Norway (3.11.97)Peru(27.8.96)
Philippines (25.10.96)
Poland (7.10.97)
Romania (4.9.96)
Senegal (20.1.97)
Singapore (21.10.96)
Slovenia (6.6.97)
South Africa (13.5.97)
Switzerland (14.4.97)
Trinidad&Tobago(17.1.96)
Tunisia (31.10.96)
Turkey (20.5.96)
Uganda (17.6.97)
United States (29.9.95)
Uruguay (4.9.96)G/L/203
Page4
(iii) Notifications ofinstitution ofimport licensing procedures orchanges therein (Article 5)received
from: (11)(G/LIC/N/2/- series)
Argentina
EC
Hong Kong, China
Japan
Liechtenstein
MalaysiaNigeria
Pakistan
Romania
South Africa
Switzerland
(iv) Developingcountrieswhichhaveinvokedthetwo-yeardelayedapplicationprovisions(footnote5
toArticle 2.2): (24)(G/LIC/1 andAdds.1-3)
Bangladesh (asfrom 1.1.95) Dominican Republic (9.3.95) Myanmar (1.1.95)
Bolivia (13.9.95) ElSalvador (7.5.95) SriLanka (1.1.95)
Brazil (1.1.95) Gabon (1.1.95) Thailand (1.1.95)
Burkina Faso(3.6.95) Guatemala (21.7.95) Tunisia (29.3.95)
Cameroon (13.12.95) Honduras (1.1.95) Turkey (26.3.95)
Colombia (30.4.95) Indonesia (1.1.95) UnitedArabEmirates(10.4.96)
Costa Rica(1.1.95) Kenya (1.1.95) Uruguay (1.1.95)
Côted'Ivoire (1.1.95) Malaysia (1.1.95) Venezuela (1.1.95)SECTION V
COMMITTEE ONMARKET ACCESSWORLD TRADE G/L/2151
3December 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-5323)
REPORT (1997) OFTHE COMMITTEE ONMARKET ACCESS
1. TheCommittee onMarket Access heldfiveformal meetings in1997: on3March, 8April,
24June, 29September and2December. Theminutes ofthese meetings arecontained indocuments
G/MA/M/8 toG/MA/M/12.
2. Atitsmeeting of3March 1997, theCommittee elected Mr.Moha Ouali Tagma ofMorocco
asChairman for1997. Atitsmeeting of8April 1997, theCommittee elected Mrs.Simona Valceanu
ofRomania asVice-Chairperson.
3. TheCommitteedecidedtograntobserverstatustotheACPGroup,FAO,ITCB,Inter-American
Development Bank, UNCTAD andWCO. InthecaseofIMFandWorld Bank, theCommittee took
notethatobserver status hadalready beengranted byvirtue oftheagreements concluded withthese
organizations.
4. Asconcerns theintroduction on1January 1996 ofthechanges tothenomenclature ofthe
Harmonized System andthesubmission ofdocumentation related tothese changes theCommittee
examined thesituation atevery meeting onthebasisofupdated documents prepared bytheSecretariat.
On13December1995severalMembersweregrantedindividualwaivers,foroperationalreasonsgrouped
intoonesingle decision, fortheintroduction ofHS96 changes intotheirschedules. These waivers
which concern presently thirty-eight countries andtheEuropean Communities were, bysuccessive
decisions bytheGeneral Council, extended until30April 1998.2Inaddition tothese HS96 waivers
fourMembers obtained anextension until30April 1998 oftheirwaivers inconnection withthe
transposition oftheirpre-Uruguay Round schedules intotheHarmonized System.
5. Atthemeeting of29September 1997some Members reiterated theirconcern about therepeated
extension ofwaivers duetoreservations made without specifying thereasons onthedocumentation
ofcertain Members, andwhich prevented thecertification oftheproposed changes. Inthisconnection,
theChairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods heldinformal consultations which resulted inan
understandingthatintheshortterm,Membersshouldpursuetheworkontheverificationandcertification
ofHS96 documentation without delay. With aviewtoassisting interested Members, theSecretariat
would transpose theavailable HS96 documentation ontoelectronic media inastandard database system.
Asconcerns thelongterm, anumber ofimportant issues wereraised which could leadtochanges or
amendments tothedecisions currently inforce. Thiswork wascontinuing intheframework ofthe
Council forTrade inGoods.
6. Atitsmeeting of2December, the Committee noted that according to
document G/MA/TAR/2/Rev.12 there were 38HS96 submissions, only three ofwhich had
been finalized andthereby certified. Ofthe39Members currently covered bywaivers, there were
1Thisdocument cancels andreplaces thedocument G/L/215 dated 4December 1997.
2Seedocument WT/L/243 .
./.G/L/215
Page2
eight Members thathadnotyetsubmitted thenecessary documentation. TheCommittee noted that
delegations were making strong efforts tosolve thepending issues.
7. Withregard totheDecision onNotification Procedures forQuantitative Restrictions adopted
bytheCouncil forTrade inGoods inDecember 1995, theCommittee adopted atitsmeeting of
24June1997 aformat forthesubmission ofnotifications ofquantitative restrictions. Theapproved
format wascirculated indocument G/MA/NTM/QR/2 dated 10July1997.
8. Atitsmeeting of29September 1997 theCommittee tooknoteofthestatus ofquantitative
restriction notifications contained indocument G/MA/NTM/QR/1/Add.4. Inthiscontext, several
delegations pointed outtheneedtodefine more clearly thescope ofthenotification requirement for
quantitative restrictions andsuggested thatthismatter beincluded inthework programme ofthe
Committee for1998. Onedelegation wasoftheviewthat,astheformat andcontent forthesubmissions
hadbeenagreed justfivemonths agobytheCommittee, itwashisopinion thattheformat should not
bechanged again. Therefore, inhisview, there wasnoneedatthisstage forfurther clarification.
9. Atitsmeeting on24June 1997, theCommittee agreed, asoutlined indocument
G/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1, totherestructuring oftheexisting Integrated DataBase(IDB) fromamainframe
environmenttoaPersonalComputer(PC)-basedsystem,whichwouldutilizenewtechnologytoimprove
theoperation oftheIDB. Inaddition totheoperational changes outlined inG/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1, the
Committee sought tolaydown asolidbasis forthetransmission oftheinformation required forthe
functioning ofthePCIDB. Inthisconnection, theCommittee forwarded adraftDecision ontheSupply
ofInformation tothePCIDBtotheCouncil forTrade inGoods, andthentotheGeneral Council for
adoption. ThisDecision wasformally adopted bytheGeneral Council atitsmeeting of18July1997
(WT/L/225).
10. Atitsmeetings of29September and2December, theCommittee examined theprogress of
theimplementation ofthedecision ontheIntegrated DataBaseandtooknoteofthestatus ofsubmission
oftherequired data. AtitsDecember meeting, theCommittee agreed, asoutlined indocument
G/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1/Add.13,onthedeadlines forsupplying IDBsubmissions. Forthefirstsubmission,
thedeadline forsupplying 1996 tariffs andimports and1997 tariffs would be30December 1997.
Inviewofinherent difficulties thatmaybeassociated withthefiling ofafirstsubmission, itwasagreed
thatsome limited flexibility withthistiming could beenvisaged. Forsubsequent submissions, the
deadlines forsubmission oftariffs ofthecurrent yearandofimports oftheprevious yearwould be
30March and30September respectively. ForMembers whodonotbasetheirtariff onacalendar
year, itwasagreed thatthedeadlines could beadjusted totakeintoaccount thedates when thenational
tariff comes intoforce. TheCommittee alsoagreed ontheformat ofareport tobecirculated ona
regular basiswhich would summarize thestatus ofIDBsubmissions received bytheSecretariat. The
Committee agreed togrant access totheIDBtocountries which areintheprocess ofaccession tothe
WTO, asoutlined indocument G/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1/Add.13.Access would begranted onthecondition
thattheythemselves havealready provided theinformation required fortheIDB, inconformity with
theagreed-upon deadlines andasdescribed inG/MA/IDB/1/Rev.1.
11. Atitsmeeting of2December 1997, theCommittee examined document G/MA/IDB/W/3 which
wasputforward toinitiate discussion ontechnical assistance fortheIDB. Itwasagreed tocontinue
discussing thisissue withaviewtofurther elaborating themodalities oftechnical assistance forthe
IDB.
3Inpreparation.SECTION VI
COMMITTEE ONRULES OFORIGINWORLD TRADE G/L/210
27November 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-5209)
Committee onRules ofOrigin
REPORT (1997) OFTHE COMMITTEE ONRULES OFORIGIN
1. ParticipationintheCommitteeonRulesofOrigin(theCommittee)isopentoallWTOMembers.
Observer governments intheGeneral Council oftheWTO haveobserver status intheCommittee.
Inaddition, representatives oftheACP, EFTA, IADB, IMF, ITCB, OECD, UNCTAD,WCO and
theWorld Bank attend meetings oftheCommittee inanobserver capacity.
2. TheCommittee heldfourmeetings on6February, 15May, 3October and21November 1997
(G/RO/M/9, 10,11and12). TheCommittee atitsmeeting inMayelected Ms.Lourdes A.Berrig
(Philippines) asChairperson andMr.Andreas A.Gaarder (Norway) asVice-Chairman for1997.
3. InconnectionwiththeHarmonizationWorkProgrammefortheharmonizationofnon-preferential
rules oforigin, assetoutinPartIVoftheAgreement onRules ofOrigin (theAgreement), the
Committee:
- reviewed fiveReports fromtheTechnical Committee onRules ofOrigin (theTechnical
Committee) totheCommittee (G/RO/9, 11,15,18and19);
- welcomed, atthemeeting inMay, adoption oftheManagement Planfor1997 bythe
TechnicalCommitteewhichwasaimedatensuringthetimelycompletionofthetechnical
work;
- endorsed, atthemeeting inOctober, theproduct-specific rules concerning Chapters
25-27, 41,43and91which hadbeenreferred totheCommittee asBasket 1decisions
from theTechnical Committee, keeping inmind, however, thatinaccordance with
Article 9.3(b) oftheAgreement, theCommittee should finally consider theresults of
theHarmonization Work Programme interms oftheir overall coherence
(seeG/RO/W/22). TheCommittee alsoreached consensus ontheorigin criterion of
subheading 4302.30;
- atthemeeting inNovember, theCommittee reached consensus ontheorigin criteria
ofsplitheadings ex2530(b), ex2601(a) toex2617(a), andsubheadings 2701.20,
2708.20, 4102.21 and4102.29 aswellasheadings 4201, 4204, 4205 and4206.
4. Pursuant toArticle 5.1andparagraph 4ofAnnex IIoftheAgreement, allMembers arerequired
tonotify theirrulesoforigin, judicial decisions andadministrative rulings ofgeneral application relating
torules oforigin. Todate, 56Members havemade notifications relating tonon-preferential rules
oforigin and58Members havemade notifications relating topreferential rules oforigin.SECTION VII
COMMITTEE ONSAFEGUARDSWORLD TRADE G/L/200
28October 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4708)
REPORT (1997) OFTHE COMMITTEE ON
SAFEGUARDS
I. GENERAL
1. Thisreport issubmitted inaccordance withArticle 13.1(a) oftheAgreement onSafeguards,
which requires theCommittee onSafeguards toreport annually totheCouncil forTrade inGoods
onthegeneral implementation oftheAgreement. Thereport covers theperiod since theCommittee ’s
lastannual report (G/L/129), thatis,November 1996-October 1997.
2. During theperiod under review, theCommittee heldtworegular meetings, on5May1997
(G/SG/M/9), and22October 1997 (G/SG/M/10). TheCommittee alsoheldonespecial meeting, at
therequest oftheEuropean Communities, on21February 1997 (G/SG/M/8).
3. ObservergovernmentsintheGeneralCounciloftheWTOhaveobserverstatusintheCommittee.
Atitsregular meeting of5May1997, theCommittee tooknoteofthefactthat,pursuant totheir
Agreements withtheWTO, theIMFandtheWorld Bank hadobserver status intheCommittee. At
thesame meeting, theCommittee alsodecided togrant regular observer status toUNCTAD onthe
basis ofreciprocity withrespect todocuments, proceedings andother aspects ofobservership. Atits
tworegular meetings, theCommittee considered therequest oftheOECD forregular observer status.
Atbothofthose meetings, theCommittee decided todeferaction onthatrequest duetoissues regarding
reciprocity, butinvited theOECD intheinterim tocontinue toattend meetings oftheCommittee on
anadhocbasis. Atitsregular meeting of22October 1997, theCommittee agreed toinvite theACP
Group toattend itsmeetings onanadhocbasis, pending theoutcome ofhorizontal consultations with
respects totheACP Group ’srequest forobservership invarious WTO bodies.
4. Atitsregular meeting of5May1997, theCommittee elected Mr.S.Nagatsuka (Japan) as
Chairman, andMr.Dmitrij Grcar (Slovenia) asitsViceChairman.
II. NOTIFICATIONANDEXAMINATIONOFSAFEGUARDSLAWSAND/ORREGULATIONS
OFMEMBERS
5. During theperiod under review, theCommittee continued itsreview ofnotifications concerning
national legislation intheareaofsafeguards. ForMembers withsuchlegislation and/or regulations,
thesenotifications consist ofthefullandintegrated textthereof. ForMembers without suchlegislation
and/or regulations, these notifications inform theCommittee ofthisfact.
6. Asof22October 1997, 72Members1hadnotified theCommittee oftheirdomestic safeguards
legislationormadecommunicationsinthisrespecttotheCommittee(G/SG/N/1andaddenda).Forty-five
Members hadnot,asofthatdate, made notifications under Article 12.6oftheAgreement, although
thedeadline forsuchnotifications was15March 1995. TheAnnex liststhestatus ofnotifications
under Article 12.6oftheAgreement. Theissueoftheextent ofthenon-compliance withthisnotification
1Counting theECasasingle Member forpurposes ofthelegislative notification.G/L/200
Page2
obligation, andtheimplications ofthissituation, werediscussed atmeetings oftheCommittee during
thereview period (G/SG/M/9 andG/SG/M/10).
7. Ofthe72Members submitting notifications, 41notified thattheyhadnospecific legislation
relating tosafeguards, 12notified newlegislation, and19notified pre-WTO legislation stillinforce.
Ofthe60Members notifying either nosafeguards legislation orpre-WTO legislation stillinforce,
19indicated thatnewlegislation wasbeing considered ordrafted. Inaddition, oftheMembers notifying
thattheyhadnospecific legislation, 13indicated thattheWTO Agreement hasforce oflawintheir
territory.
8. Duringtheperiodunderreview,theCommitteereviewedthenotifiedneworamendedlegislative
textsofthefollowing Members: Argentina andBrazil. Review ofthenotification ofHonduras, which
wasontheagenda ofthe22October 1997 regular meeting, wasdeferred totheSpring 1998 regular
meeting oftheCommittee.
9. TheCommittee alsoreviewed thenotifications without legislative textofthefollowing Members
during theperiod: Bahrain, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji,Ghana, Liechtenstein, Senegal, Uganda,
andUnited Arab Emirates.
10. Thesubstance ofthereview oflegislative notifications isreflected inthewritten questions put
toMembers andthewritten answers tothose questions. References tothequestions andanswers
pertaining toeachnotification canbefound intheminutes ofthemeetings atwhich thenotifications
were reviewed (G/SG/M/9 andG/SG/M/10).
11. Inaccordance with theprocedures thatithadadopted forfollow-up reviews of
previously-reviewedlegislativenotifications(G/SG/W/116),theCommitteeconductedafollow-upreview
ofKorea ’snotified legislation (G/SG/N/1/KOR/1 andG/SG/N/1/KOR/2). References tothewritten
questions andanswers exchanged canbefound intheminutes ofthemeetings atwhich thisfollow-up
review wasdiscussed (G/SG/M/9 andG/SG/M/10).
12. Notallwritten questions puttoMembers during thecourse ofthelegislative review meetings
hadbeenanswered attheendoftheperiod under review. Inparticular, written answers toquestions
concerning legislation werenotreceived bytheapplicable deadlines fromCoted’Ivoire, Nigeria and
Zimbabwe.
III. NOTIFICATIONS OFACTIONS RELATED TOSAFEGUARD MEASURES
13. During theperiod ofreview, theCommittee received andreviewed onenotification ofinitiation
ofinvestigations. Atits5May1997regular meeting, theCommittee reviewed Argentina ’snotification
ofinitiation ofaninvestigation onfootwear. Thecomments ofMembers regarding thisnotification
canbefound intheminutes ofthatmeeting (G/SG/M/9). Inaddition, anotification wasreceived from
theUnited States, concerning initiation ofaninvestigation onwheat gluten (G/SG/N/6/USA/4). Because
thisnotification wasreceived aftertheclosing datefortheagenda forthe22October 1997 meeting,
itwasnotreviewed during theperiod covered bythisreport.
14. During thereview period, theCommittee received andreviewed onenotification ofapplication
ofaprovisional measure under Article 12.1(c), fromArgentina onfootwear (G/SG/N/7/ARG/1). The
comments ofMembers regarding thisnotification canbefound intheminutes ofthe5May1997meeting
(G/SG/M/9).
15. During thereview period, theCommittee received andreviewed fournotifications under
Article 12.1(b) offindings ofserious injury orthreat thereof caused byincreased imports. These wereG/L/200
Page3
from Brazil withrespect totoys(G/SG/N/8/BRA/1), from Korea withrespect todairy products
(G/SG/N/8/KOR/1), from Korea withrespect tobicycles (G/SG/N/8/KOR/2), andfrom Argentina
withrespect tofootwear (G/SG/N/8/ARG/1). Thefirstthree ofthese notifications werereviewed at
theCommittee 's5May 1997 regular meeting, andthefourth wasreviewed attheCommittee ’s
22October 1997 regular meeting. Thecomments ofMembers withrespect tothese notifications are
reflected intheminutes ofthese meetings (G/SG/M/9 andG/SG/M/10).
16. TheCommittee received andreviewed notifications ofdecisions toapply safeguard measures
withrespect tofourinvestigations during therelevant period. These notifications werefrom Brazil
regardingtoys(G/SG/N/10/BRA/1),fromKorearegardingdairyproducts(G/SG/N/10/KOR/1+Corr.1
+Suppl.1 +Suppl.1/Corr.1), from theUnited States regarding broom corn brooms
(G/SG/N/10/USA/1),andfromArgentinaregardingfootwear(G/SG/N/10/ARG/1+Corr.1+Suppl.1
+Suppl.2). Thenotifications from Brazil andtheUnited States werereviewed attheCommittee ’s
5May1997 regular meeting (G/SG/M/9); thatfrom Korea wasreviewed attheCommittee 's5May
and22October 1997 regular meetings (G/SG/M/9 andG/SG/M/10); andthatfrom Argentina was
reviewed attheCommittee ’s22October 1997 regular meeting (G/SG/M/10).
17. TheCommittee received onenotification oftermination ofaninvestigation withnosafeguard
measure applied. Thisnotification, fromKorea regarding bicycles (G/SG/N/9/KOR/1), wasreviewed
bytheCommittee atits5May1997 regular meeting (G/SG/M/9).
18. TheCommittee received notifications, inthecontext offourinvestigations, astonon-application
ofsafeguard measures todeveloping countries whose imports werebelow therelevant threshold levels
setforth intheAgreement (Article 9.1). Three ofthese notifications, from Brazil ontoys
(G/SG/N/11/BRA/1), fromKorea ondairy products (G/SG/N/11/KOR/1), andfromtheUnited States
onbroom cornbrooms (G/SG/N/11/USA/1) werereviewed attheCommittee ’s5May1997 regular
meeting(G/SG/M/9).Thefourth,fromArgentinaonfootwear(G/SG/N/11/ARG/1+Corr.1+Suppl.1
+Suppl.2) wasreviewed attheCommittee ’s22October 1997 regular meeting (G/SG/M/10).
19. TheCommittee received andreviewed aseries ofnotifications regarding consultations under
Article 12oftheAgreement. TheUnited States notified theresults ofitsconsultations onbroom corn
brooms (G/L/136-G/SG/6). TheEuropean Communities, Australia andNewZealand notified their
requests forconsultations withKorea ondairy products (G/SG/7, G/SG/8, G/SG/9, andG/SG/10),
andKorea notified theresults ofthose consultations (G/L/156-G/SG/11). TheEuropean Communities
notified arequest forconsultations withArgentina concerning footwear, andArgentina notified its
response tothatrequest (G/SG/12 andG/SG/13). These notifications werereviewed attheCommittee 's
5May1997regular meeting (G/SG/M/9). Inaddition, notifications werereceived regarding theresults
ofArgentina'sconsultationswiththeEuropeanCommunitiesandtheUnitedStatesonfootwear(G/SG/14-
G/L/195andG/SG/14/Suppl.1-G/L/195/Suppl.1).ThesenotificationswerereviewedattheCommittee's
22October 1997regular meeting (G/SG/M/10). Alsoatthatmeeting, Korea 'ssafeguard investigation
ondairy products wasdiscussed inthiscontext (G/SG/M/10).
IV. SPECIAL MEETINGS
20. TheCommittee heldonespecial meeting during thereview period, on21February 1997.
Themeeting washeldattherequest oftheEuropean Communities, todiscuss Korea 'ssafeguard
investigation ondairy products. Theminutes ofthismeeting canbefound inG/SG/M/8.
V. PROGRESS INPHASING OUT PRE-EXISTING MEASURES
21. Atthe22October 1997regular meeting, fourofthefiveMembers thathadnotified pre-existing
Article XIXmeasures andmeasures subject toprohibition andelimination under Article 11.1oftheG/L/200
Page4
Agreement (theEuropean Communities, Korea, Slovenia andSouth Africa) reported ontheirprogress
inphasing outthose measures. Thecomments ofMembers onthissubject arereflected intheminutes
ofthatmeeting (G/SG/M/10). ThefifthMember, Cyprus, wasasked bytheCommittee toprovide
awritten statement onthissubject.
VI. OTHER ISSUES DISCUSSED
22. Follow-up toSingapore Ministerial Conference: TheCommittee recalled thestatements of
MinistersatSingaporeconcerningimplementationoftheWTOAgreements,notificationsandlegislation,
andtheparticular situation ofdeveloping country Members. These statements recognized that
implementation andcompliance withnotification andlegislation obligations would require further effort
onthepartofMembers, suggested thattherelevant bodies takestepstopromote fullcompliance while
considering practical proposals forsimplifying thenotification process, andnoted theagreement of
Ministers toimprove theavailability oftechnical assistance todeveloping countries. TheCommittee
expressed itssupport fortheprogramme ofworkshops andother training efforts conducted bythe
Secretariat intheareaofcontingent trade remedies, anditsencouragement forthesupport provided
byMembers fortheSecretariat 'sefforts inthisregard. Thisdiscussion isreflected intheminutes of
the5May1997 regular meeting (G/SG/M/9).
23. Recommendation oftheWorking Group onNotification Obligations andProcedures: The
Committee recalled therecommendations oftheWorking Group onNotification Obligations and
Procedures intheareas ofnotification formats andcompliance withnotification obligations. This
discussion isreflected intheminutes ofthe5May1997 regular meeting (G/SG/M/9).G/L/200
Page5
ANNEX
SAFEGUARDS LEGISLATIVE NOTIFICATIONS
MEMBER NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
Angola None
Antigua andBarbuda None
Argentina G/SG/N/1/ARG/3 +Suppl.1
Australia G/SG/N/1/AUS/1
Bahrain G/SG/N/1/BHR/1
Bangladesh None
Barbados None
Belize None
Benin None
Bolivia G/SG/N/1/BOL/1
Botswana G/SG/N/1/BWA/1
Brazil G/SG/N/1/BRA/3 +Suppl.1
Brunei Darussalam G/SG/N/1/BRN/1
Bulgaria G/SG/N/1/BGR/1
Burkina Faso None
Burundi None
Cameroon None
Canada G/SG/N/1/CAN/2
Central African Republic None
Chad None
Chile G/SG/N/1/CHL/1
Colombia G/SG/N/1/COL/1
Congo None
Congo, Dem. Rep. None
Costa Rica G/SG/N/1/CRI/1 +Corr.1
Côted'Ivoire G/SG/N/1/CIV/1
Cuba G/SG/N/1/CUB/1
Cyprus None
Czech Republic G/SG/N/1/CZE/1G/L/200
Page6
MEMBER NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
Djibouti None
Dominica None
Dominican Republic G/SG/N/1/DOM/1
European Community G/SG/N/1/EEC/1
Ecuador G/SG/N/1/ECU/1
Egypt G/SG/N/1/EGY/1
ElSalvador G/SG/N/1/SLV/2
Fiji G/SG/N/1/FJI/1
Gabon None
Gambia, The None
Ghana G/SG/N/1/GHA/1
Grenada None
Guatemala G/SG/N/1/GTM/1
Guinea Bissau None
Guinea, Rep.of G/SG/N/1/GIN/1
Guyana None
Haiti None
Honduras G/SG/N/1/HND/2
Hong Kong, China G/SG/N/1/HKG/1
Hungary G/SG/N/1/HUN/2 +Add.1 +Suppl. 1&2
Iceland G/SG/N/1/ISL/1
India G/SG/N/1/IND/1
Indonesia G/SG/N/1/IDN/1
Israel G/SG/N/1/ISR/2
Jamaica None
Japan G/SG/N/1/JPN/2 +Corr.1
Kenya G/SG/N/1/KEN/1
Korea G/SG/N/1/KOR/3
Kuwait None
Lesotho None
Liechtenstein G/SG/N/1/LIE/1G/L/200
Page7
MEMBER NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
Macau G/SG/N/1/MAC/2
Madagascar None
Malawi None
Malaysia G/SG/N/1/MYS/1
Maldives G/SG/N/1/MDV/1
Mali None
Malta G/SG/N/1/MLT/1
Mauritania None
Mauritius G/SG/N/1/MUS/1
Mexico G/SG/N/1/MEX/1
Mongolia None
Morocco G/SG/N/1/MAR/1
Mozambique None
Myanmar G/SG/N/1/MYM/1
Namibia None
NewZealand G/SG/N/1/NZL/1
Nicaragua G/SG/N/1/NIC/1
Niger None
Nigeria G/SG/N/1/NGA/1
Norway G/SG/N/1/NOR/3
Pakistan G/SG/N/1/PAK/1
Panama None
Papua NewGuinea None
Paraguay G/SG/N/1/PRY/1
Peru G/SG/N/1/PER/1
Philippines G/SG/N/1/PHL/1
Poland G/SG/N/1/POL/1
Qatar None
Romania G/SG/N/1/ROM/1
Rwanda None
Saint Kitts&Nevis NoneG/L/200
Page8
MEMBER NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
Saint Lucia G/SG/N/1/LCA/1
Saint Vincent &Grenadines None
Senegal G/SG/N/1/SEN/1
Sierra Leone None
Singapore G/SG/N/1/SGP/1
Slovak Republic G/SG/N/1/SVK/2
Slovenia G/SG/N/1/SVN/1
Solomon Islands None
South Africa G/SG/N/1/ZAF/1
SriLanka G/SG/N/1/LKA/1
Suriname None
Swaziland None
Switzerland G/SG/N/1/CHE/1
Tanzania None
Thailand G/SG/N/1/THA/1 +Rev.1
Togo None
Trinidad andTobago G/SG/N/1/TTO/1
Tunisia G/SG/N/1/TUN/1
Turkey G/SG/N/1/TUR/2 1Rev.1 +Rev.1/Corr.1
Uganda G/SG/N/1/UGA/1
United Arab Emirates G/SG/N/1/ARE/1
United States G/SG/N/1/USA/1
Uruguay G/SG/N/1/URY/1
Venezuela G/SG/N/1/VEN/1 +Corr.1
Zambia G/SG/N/1/ZMB/1
Zimbabwe G/SG/N/1/ZWE/2SECTION VIII
COMMITTEE ONSANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURESWORLD TRADE G/L/197
27October 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4698)
REPORT (1997) OFTHE COMMITTEE ONSANITARY AND
PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES
1. Thepresent report isbeing circulated bytheChairman oftheCommittee onSanitary and
Phytosanitary Measures onhisownresponsibility. Thisreport provides asummary oftheactivities
anddecisions oftheCommittee during 1997.
________________
2. TheCommittee onSanitary andPhytosanitary Measures (the"SPS Committee") heldthree
regular meetings in1997: on19-20 March, 1-2Julyand15-16 October. AttheMarch meeting,
Dr.AlexThiermann (United States) wasappointed Chairman for1997/98. Thereports ofthemeetings
arecontained indocuments G/SPS/R/7, G/SPS/R/8 andG/SPS/R/9.
3. InMarch 1997, theRules ofProcedure were adopted bytheSPSCommittee andwere
subsequently approved bytheCouncil forTrade inGoods (G/L/170). TheSPSCommittee agreed
thatregularobserverstatusbegrantedtotheJointFAO/WHOCodexAlimentariusCommission(Codex),
theFAOInternational PlantProtection Convention (IPPC), theOffice international desépizooties (OIE),
theFood andAgriculture Organization oftheUnited Nations (FAO), theWorld Health Organization
(WHO), theInternational Organization forStandardization (ISO), theInternational Trade Centre (ITC)
andtheUnited Nations Conference onTrade andDevelopment (UNCTAD). Theobserver status
conferred upon theWorld Bank andtheInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) bytheGeneral Council
inNovember 1996 wasnoted. Following theMarch meeting, theChairman hascontinued tohold
informal consultations withinterested Members regarding further requests forobserver status.
4. Inreviewing theimplementation oftheSPSAgreement during 1997, theSPSCommittee
considered information provided byMembers regarding: changes introduced innational sanitary or
phytosanitary regulatory frameworks andonthedisease status ofseveral countries, notably withrespect
tofoot-and-mouth disease, transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) andfruitfly.Ateach
ofthemeetings, Members raised specific trade concerns, including several related toindividual
notifications. Such concerns included, interalia,measures related totheshelf lifeofUHT milk;
measures ongrains, oilseeds, rice,fruits, vegetables andpoultry; requirements forwines; plant
quarantineregulations;andmeasuresrelatedtocitruscanker.Inaddition,manyMembersraisedspecific
trade concerns related tomeasures imposed inresponse tobovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
Inlightoftheinterest regarding thislatter issue, informal consultations were held.
5. Updated listsofNational Enquiry Points (G/SPS/ENQ/6) andNational Notification Authorities
(G/SPS/GEN/35) were circulated, withaddenda. Noting thatsome Members hadyettonotify the
Secretariat ofthese entities, theSPSCommittee urged Members tocomply withtheirobligations as
soonaspossible.
./.G/L/197
Page2
6. TheSPSCommittee continued toconsider thestructure andsubstance ofguidelines tofurther
thepractical implementation ofArticle 5:5.TheSPSCommittee agreed topursue thismatter through
informal consultations withaviewtofurthering thedevelopment ofthese guidelines.
7. Onthebasis ofMembers 'proposals, theSPSCommittee adopted aprovisional procedure to
monitor theuseofinternational standards (G/SPS/11).
8. AtitsOctober meeting, theCommittee agreed onaprocedure forconducting itsreview of
theimplementation andoperation oftheAgreement inaccordance withArticle 12.7(G/SPS/10).
9. Ateach meeting oftheSPSCommittee, Members, theSecretariat andtheobserver
intergovernmentalorganizationsreportedontheirtechnicalassistanceactivities.Memberswereprovided
theopportunity toidentify specific needs fortechnical assistance. Inorder toaddress thegrowing
demand fortechnical assistance andtoavoid duplication, theneedforclose cooperation among those
providing assistance wasstressed. Itwasalsonoted thatparticular emphasis should beputonassisting
withtheimplementation ofthetransparency provisions oftheAgreement.
10. TheSPSCommittee maintained closecontact withtherelevant standard-setting organizations,
andwaskeptinformed about therevision oftheIPPC, aswellastheadoption ofinternational standards
bytheCodex atitssession inJune1997. Anupdated listofinternational standards developed byCodex,
IPPC andOIEwassubmitted totheSPSCommittee. TheCodex formally requested theSPSCommittee
toprovide some clarification regarding theapplicability ofregional Codex standards aswellasthe
status ofCodex guidelines andcodes ofpractice inrelation totheSPSAgreement. TheSPSCommittee
adopted aDraft Agreement between theWTO andtheOIE(G/SPS/W/61) which wasapproved by
theCouncil forTrade inGoods and,subsequently, bytheGeneral Council atitsmeeting of22October.
11. Thefollowing tentative schedule ofmeetings in1998 wasagreed bytheSPSCommittee:
12-13 March, 10-11 June, 15-16 September and11-12 November.SECTION IX
COMMITTEE ONSUBSIDIES AND COUNTERVAILING MEASURESWORLD TRADE G/L/201
30October 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4761)
REPORT (1997) OFTHE COMMITTEE ON
SUBSIDIES AND COUNTERVAILING MEASURES
I. ORGANIZATION OFTHE WORK OFTHE COMMITTEE
1. TheAgreementonSubsidiesandCountervailingMeasures(hereinafter"theAgreement")entered
intoforce on1January 1995. AllMembers oftheWTO areipsofacto members oftheCommittee
onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures established under theAgreement.
2. Observer governments intheGeneral Council haveObserver status intheCommittee. With
respect tointernational intergovernmental organizations, theInternational Monetary FundandtheWorld
Bank haveregular observer status pursuant toagreements between theWTO andthose organizations.
Atitsregular meeting inMay1997, theCommittee granted regular observer status toUNCTAD and
theFAOonthebasisthattherewould bereciprocity withrespect todocuments, proceedings andother
aspects ofobservership. Inlightofissues regarding reciprocity, theCommittee atitsregular meetings
inMayandOctober 1997 deferred consideration oftheOECD 'srequest forregular observer status
pending consultations, butinvited theOECD intheinterim tocontinue toattend meetings ofthe
Committee onanadhocbasis. Finally, theCommittee decided atitsregular meeting inOctober 1997
toinvite theACPGroup toattend itsmeetings onanadhocbasis pending theoutcome ofhorizontal
consultations withrespect totheACP Group 'srequests forobservership invarious WTO bodies.
3. ThisReport focuses ontheperiod since theCommittee 'slastannual report (G/L/126), that
is,25October 1996 -24October 1997 (hereinafter "thereview period"). During thereview period,
theCommittee heldthree meetings. Regular meetings oftheCommittee wereheldon1-2May1997
and23-24 October 1997(G/SCM/M/14 andG/SCM/M/15). Aspecial meeting oftheCommittee was
heldon28October -1November 1996 toreview newandfullsubsidies notifications (G/SCM/M/12
andSuppl.1).
4. Asofthebeginning ofthereview period, Mr.Victor doPrado (Brazil) wasChairman, and
Ms.Michelle Slade (New Zealand) wasVice-Chairperson oftheCommittee. TheCommittee atits
regular meeting inMay 1997 elected Mr. Gilles Gauthier (Canada) asitsChairman and
Mr.JoseLuisPerez Gabilondo (Argentina) asitsVice-Chairman. Pursuant totheCommittee 'sRules
ofProcedure, theytookoffice attheendofthatmeeting.
II. PERMANENT GROUP OFEXPERTS
5. TheCommittee isrequired byArticle 24.3oftheAgreement toestablish aPermanent Group
ofExperts ("PGE"). Thetasks assigned tothePGEbytheAgreement aretoprovide assistance to
aPanel, onrequest, withregard towhether ameasure isaprohibited subsidy; toprovide Members
withconfidential advisory opinions onthenature ofanysubsidy proposed tobeintroduced orcurrently
maintained bythatMember; andtoprovide theCommittee withadvisory opinions ontheexistence
andnature ofanysubsidy. Asofthebeginning oftheperiod under review, themembers oftheG/L/201
Page2
Permanent Group ofExperts were: Mr.Seung-Wha Chang, Mr.Gary Horlick, Mr.Friedrich Klein,
Mr.Akira Kotera andMr.Robert Martin. Atitsregular meeting inMay1997, theCommittee elected
Mr.A.V. Ganesan toreplace Mr.Klein, whose termofoffice hadexpired.
6. Pursuant toaDecision adopted bytheCommittee (G/SCM/4), thePGEshalldevelop rules
ofprocedure, taking intoaccount anyguidance provided bytheCommittee, which rulesshallbesubject
toapproval bytheCommittee. Draft Rules ofProcedure were prepared bythePGEandcirculated
totheCommittee on18April 1996(G/SCM/W/365), butwerenotapproved bytheCommittee. During
theperiod under review, theCommittee didnotdiscuss ortakeanyfurther action regarding approval
ofrules ofprocedure forthePGE. Although extensive consultations were held, noconsensus was
reached.
III. INFORMAL GROUP OFEXPERTS
7. Annex IVoftheAgreement provides guidance regarding thecalculation ofthetotaladvalorem
subsidization forthepurposes ofdetermining whether there exists apresumption ofserious prejudice
under Article 6.1(a) oftheAgreement. Note 62toAnnex IVoftheAgreement provides that"[a]n
understanding among Members should bedeveloped, asnecessary, onmatters which arenotspecified
inthisAnnex orwhich needfurther clarification forthepurposes ofparagraph 1(a)ofArticle 6."
TheCommittee atitsmeeting of13June1995created anInformal Group ofExperts toexamine such
matters andtoreport totheCommittee suchrecommendations astheGroup considers could assist the
Committee inthedevelopment ofanunderstanding among Members, asnecessary, regarding such
matters.
8. TheInformal Group on25July1997 circulated areport, including 21recommendations, to
theCommittee (G/SCM/W/415). TheCommittee gavethereport preliminary consideration atitsregular
meeting inOctober 1997. Atthatmeeting, certain Members indicated thattheyneeded additional time
tostudy thereport. Accordingly, theCommittee decided thatMembers oftheCommittee would inform
theChairman ofanyquestions forclarification thattheymight have. Onthebasisofthose comments,
aninformal meeting atwhich theexperts would bepresent willbeorganized, toprovide thenecessary
explanation andclarification.
IV. NOTIFICATION OFSUBSIDIES
9. Newandfullnotifications. Pursuant toArticle 25.1oftheAgreement andArticle XVI:1 of
GATT 1994, allMembers oftheCommittee were required tosubmit anewandfullnotification of
subsidies totheCommittee by30June1995. Asof24October 1997, 42of117WTO Members1had
notified subsidies pursuant toArticle 25oftheAgreement andArticle XVIofGATT 1994. Inaddition,
23Members hadnotified thattheymaintain nosubsidies notifiable pursuant totheseprovisions. These
notificationsmaybefoundindocumentseriesG/SCM/N/3/...52Membershadsubmittednonotification
asofthecloseoftheperiod covered bythisReport. Atableindicating thestatus ofsubsidy notifications
isreproduced inAnnex AtothisReport. Theprocess ofreviewing these notifications, which was
begun withonespecial session during thelastperiod ofreview, wascontinued ataspecial review session
on28October-1 November 1996 andattheCommittee 'sregular meetings inMay1997 andOctober
1997. Questions posed andanswers provided inthese reviews maybefound intheG/SCM/Q2/...
series.
1TheECiscounted asoneMember.G/L/201
Page3
10. 1996 and1997 updating notifications. Article 25.1oftheAgreement requires thatupdating
notifications besubmitted by30June1996 and30June1997. Asof24October 1997, 40updating
notifications for1996and20updating notifications for1997 hadbeenreceived2.These notifications
maybefound indocument series G/SCM/N/16/.... andG/SCM/N/25.... SeeAnnexes BandC.The
Committee atitsregular meetings inMayandOctober 1997 continued itsreview of1996 updating
notifications. Review of1997 updating notifications isexpected tobegin attheCommittee 'sregular
meeting schedule forApril 1998.
11. Requests Under Article 25.8and25.10. Attheregular meeting inMay1997, therepresentative
oftheECinformed theCommittee thathisdelegation hadrecently made requests under Article 25.10
oftheAgreement. AttheCommittee 'sregular meeting inOctober 1997, theCommittee discussed
requests under Article 25.8 made bytheEC(G/SCM/Q2/JPN/13) andtheUnited States
(G/SCM/Q2/EEC/13), andarequest under Article 25.10 made bytheEC(G/SCM/Q2/USA/11).
V. NON-ACTIONABLE SUBSIDIES
12. Notifications. Article 8.3oftheAgreement provides thatasubsidy programme forwhich non-
actionability isinvoked pursuant toArticle 8.2shallbenotified totheCommittee inadvance ofits
implementation. Arecommendation bytheInformal Contact Group ofaformat forinitial notifications
(PC/IPL/11, Annex 1)wasapproved bytheCommittee atitsmeeting of22February 1995. Asof
24October 1997, nosuchnotifications hadbeenmade.
13. Format forupdating notifications. AWorking Party onSubsidies Notifications wasestablished
on22February1995todiscuss,interalia,aformatforupdatingnotificationsofnon-actionablesubsidies
under Article 8.3oftheAgreement. Atitsregular meeting inOctober 1997, theCommittee adopted
aformat forsuch notifications which wasreferred toitforapproval bytheWorking Party
(G/SCM/W/410).
14. Arbitration. Article 8.5oftheAgreement provides forbinding arbitration incertain cases
relating tonotified non-actionable subsidies. Theinformal group onprocedures forarbitration under
Article 8.5oftheAgreement hasdiscussed extensively thedevelopment ofprocedures fortheconduct
ofarbitrationunderArticle8.5,andapapercontainingproposedprocedures(G/SCM/W/5)wascirculated
totheCommittee on11May1995. Although informal consultations continued during theperiod of
review, noprocedures haveyetbeenadopted. Consultations willcontinue onthisissue.
VI. NOTIFICATION AND EXAMINATION OFCOUNTERVAILING DUTY LAWS AND/OR
REGULATIONS
15. TheCommittee decided initsspecial meeting of22February 1995 thatallMembers which
hadneworexisting legislation and/or regulations which apply inwhole orinparttocountervailing
dutyinvestigations orreviews covered bytheAgreement would notify thefullandintegrated textof
thatlegislation and/or regulations totheCommittee by15March 1995. Ifsuchlegislation and/or
regulations didnotexistorwasnotyetavailable, theMember would inform theCommittee ofthis
fact. TheCommittee alsodecided thatObserver governments should provide theCommittee thetext
ofitslawsandregulations regarding countervailing duties.
2TheECiscounted asoneMember.G/L/201
Page4
16. Asof24October1997,72Members3hadnotifiedtheCommitteeoftheirdomesticcountervailing
dutylegislation ormade communications inthisrespect totheCommittee (G/SCM/N/1 andaddenda).
45Members hadnot,asyet,made notifications under Article 32.6oftheAgreement. Atableindicating
thestatus ofthese notifications isreproduced inAnnex DtothisReport.
17. During thereview period, theCommittee reviewed thenotifications regarding countervailing
dutylegislation bythefollowing Members: Benin, Fiji,Guatemala, Indonesia, India, Japan, Korea,
Liechtenstein,Namibia,Paraguay,Singapore,Thailand,Uganda,andtheUnitedArabEmirates.Written
questions andanswers regarding thesereviews maybefound indocuments oftheG/SCM/Q1.. series.
18. During thereview period, theCommittee undertook further review ofnotifications oflegislation
previously reviewed, pursuant toprocedures adopted bytheCommittee atitsjointspecial meeting
withtheCommitteeonAnti-DumpingPracticesinApril1996.Writtenquestionsandanswersconcerning
thenotifications ofthefollowing Members wereconsidered bytheCommittee: Canada, theEC,India,
Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, NewZealand, Singapore andtheUnited States.
VII. SEMI-ANNUAL REPORTS ONCOUNTERVAILING ACTIONS
19. Notifications for1July-31December 1996. Asof24October 1997, 8Members hadnotified
actions taken during theperiod 1July-31 December 1996. 46Members hadnotified theCommittee
thattheyhadnottaken anycountervailing dutyaction during thisperiod. Theremaining Members
hadnotsubmitted anotification. Thesemi-annual reports were circulated indocument series
G/SCM/N/23. Thestatus ofsemi-annual reports issetoutinAnnex E.
20. Notifications for1January -30June1997. Asof24October 1997, 7Members hadnotified
actions taken during theperiod 1January-30 June1997. 41Members hadnotified theCommittee
thattheyhadnottaken anycountervailing dutyaction during thisperiod. Theremaining Members
hadnotsubmitted anotification. Thesemi-annual reports were circulated indocument series
G/SCM/N/30. Thestatus ofsemi-annual reports issetoutinAnnex E.
21. Atablesummarising notifications ofnewcountervailing dutyactions taken byMembers during
theperiod 1July1996-30 June1997 isreproduced inAnnex FtothisReport.
VIII. REPORTS ONALLPRELIMINARY ORFINAL COUNTERVAILING DUTY ACTIONS
22. Pursuant toArticle 25.11 oftheAgreement, Members aretoreport without delay tothe
Committee allpreliminary andfinalcountervailing actions taken. Guidelines fortheinformation to
becontained inthese reports aresetforthinG/SCM/3. Asof24October 1997, reports ofpreliminary
andfinalcountervailing actions taken during thereview period hadbeenreceived from Argentina,
Australia, theEC,Mexico, NewZealand, South Africa andtheUnited States (G/SCM/N/22, 24,26,
27,28,29,31,32,and33).TheCommittee reviewed thenotifications ofpreliminary andfinalactions
atitsregular meetings inMayandOctober 1997.
IX. OTHER MATTERS DISCUSSED BYTHE COMMITTEE
23. Members inAnnex VII.AttheCommittee 'sregular meeting inOctober 1997, theChairman
informed theCommittee that,according todatainthe1997 World Bank Atlas, theGNP percapita
3TheECiscounted asoneMember.G/L/201
Page5
perannum ofoneMember identified inAnnex VII(b) oftheAgreement (thePhilippines) exceeded
US$1,000. TheCommittee alsodiscussed thestatus ofHonduras, which isnotidentified inAnnex VII
although itsGNP percapita perannum islessthanUS$1,000.
24. Other issues. During theperiod ofreview, theCommittee alsoconsidered thefollowing issues:
- Mexico -countervailing dutyinvestigation oncanned peaches from Greece
- NewZealand -countervailing dutyinvestigation oncanned peaches from theEU
25. Other business. During theperiod ofreview, thefollowing items wereraised under theagenda
item"Other business":
- Korea -alleged subsidies toHanbo steel
- Argentina -provisional countervailing dutyonwheat gluten from theEC
- Australia -questions from theECregarding Australia 'snotification ofsubsidies
- Egypt -request made bytheEC
- Japan -request made bytheEC
- Korea -questions from theECregarding Korea 'snotification ofsubsidies
- DatabaseonAD/CVD actionsG/L/201
Page6
ANNEX A
1995 NEW AND FULL SUBSIDY NOTIFICATIONS
(G/SCM/N/3/...)
Member Member Member Member
Angola Belgium X Jamaica Qatar
Antigua &Barbuda N Denmark X Japan X Romania X
Argentina X Finland X Kenya Rwanda
Australia X France X Korea X St.Kitts&Nevis
Bahrain X Germany X Kuwait St.Lucia
Bangladesh Greece X Lesotho St.Vincent &
Grenadines
Barbados Ireland X Liechtenstein N Senegal X
Belize Italy X Macau Sierra Leone
Benin Luxembourg X Madagascar Singapore X
Bolivia N Netherlands X Malawi Slovak Republic X
Botswana N Portugal X Malaysia X Slovenia X
Brazil X Spain X Maldives Solomon Islands
Brunei Darussalam N Sweden X Mali South Africa X
Bulgaria X United Kingdom X Malta SriLanka X
Burkina Faso N Ecuador Mauritania Suriname N
Burundi Egypt Mauritius N Swaziland N
Cameroon X ElSalvador Mexico X Switzerland X
Canada X Fiji X Mongolia Tanzania
Central African R. Gabon Morocco N Thailand X
Chad Gambia Mozambique Togo
Chile X Ghana N Myanmar Trinidad &Tobago N
Colombia X Grenada Namibia Tunisia X
Congo Guatemala NewZealand N Turkey X
Congo, Democratic
Republic oftheGuinea Bissau Nicaragua N Uganda N
Costa Rica X Guinea, Rep. of Niger United Arab
EmiratesN
Côted'Ivoire N Guyana Nigeria X United States X
Cuba N Haiti Norway X Uruguay X
Cyprus X Honduras N Pakistan X Venezuela X
Czech Republic X Hong Kong, China N Panama Zambia N
Djibouti Hungary X Papua NewGuinea Zimbabwe
Dominica Iceland X Paraguay
Dominican Rep. N India X Peru N
EC X Indonesia X Philippines X
Austria X Israel X Poland X
"N"means thattheMember hasindicated thatitmaintains nonotifiable subsidies.
"X"Means thattheMember notified subsidies.
Blank means thatnonotification wassubmitted.G/L/201
Page7
ANNEX B
1996 UPDATING SUBSIDY NOTIFICATIONS
(G/SCM/N/16/...)
Member Member Member Member
Angola Belgium X Jamaica Qatar
Antigua &Barbuda X Denmark X Japan X Romania X
Argentina Finland X Kenya Rwanda
Australia X France X Korea X St.Kitts&Nevis
Bahrain X Germany X Kuwait St.Lucia
Bangladesh Greece X Lesotho St.Vincent &
Grenadines
Barbados Ireland X Liechtenstein X Senegal X
Belize Italy X Macau Sierra Leone
Benin Luxembourg X Madagascar Singapore X
Bolivia Netherlands X Malawi Slovak Republic
Botswana Portugal X Malaysia Slovenia X
Brazil X Spain X Maldives Solomon Islands
Brunei Darussalam X Sweden X Mali South Africa X
Bulgaria X United Kingdom X Malta SriLanka
Burkina Faso X Ecuador Mauritania Suriname
Burundi Egypt Mauritius Swaziland
Cameroon X ElSalvador Mexico Switzerland X
Canada X Fiji X Mongolia Tanzania
Central African R. Gabon Morocco Thailand X
Chad Gambia Mozambique Togo
Chile X Ghana Myanmar Trinidad &Tobago
Colombia X Grenada Namibia Tunisia X
Congo Guatemala NewZealand X Turkey
Congo, Democratic
Republic oftheGuinea Bissau Nicaragua Uganda
Costa Rica Guinea, Rep. of Niger United Arab
EmiratesX
Côted'Ivoire X Guyana Nigeria United States X
Cuba X Haiti Norway X Uruguay X
Cyprus X Honduras Pakistan Venezuela
Czech Republic X Hong Kong, China X Panama Zambia X
Djibouti Hungary Papua NewGuinea Zimbabwe
Dominica Iceland X Paraguay
Dominican Rep. India Peru
EC X Indonesia X Philippines X
Austria X Israel X Poland X
"X"Means thattheMember notified subsidies.
Blank means thatnonotification wassubmitted.G/L/201
Page8
ANNEX C
1997 UPDATING SUBSIDY NOTIFICATIONS
(G/SCM/N/25/...)
Member Member Member Member
Angola Belgium X Jamaica Qatar
Antigua &Barbuda Denmark X Japan X Romania
Argentina Finland X Kenya Rwanda
Australia X France X Korea X St.Kitts&Nevis
Bahrain X Germany X Kuwait St.Lucia
Bangladesh Greece X Lesotho St.Vincent &
Grenadines
Barbados Ireland X Liechtenstein X Senegal X
Belize Italy X Macau Sierra Leone
Benin Luxembourg X Madagascar Singapore X
Bolivia Netherlands X Malawi Slovak Republic
Botswana Portugal X Malaysia Slovenia X
Brazil Spain X Maldives Solomon Islands
Brunei Darussalam Sweden X Mali South Africa X
Bulgaria United Kingdom X Malta SriLanka
Burkina Faso X Ecuador Mauritania Suriname
Burundi Egypt Mauritius Swaziland
Cameroon ElSalvador Mexico Switzerland X
Canada X Fiji Mongolia Tanzania
Central African R. Gabon Morocco Thailand
Chad Gambia Mozambique Togo
Chile X Ghana Myanmar Trinidad &Tobago
Colombia Grenada Namibia Tunisia X
Congo Guatemala NewZealand X Turkey
Congo, Democratic
Republic oftheGuinea Bissau Nicaragua Uganda
Costa Rica Guinea, Rep. of Niger United Arab
EmiratesX
Côted'Ivoire X Guyana Nigeria United States
Cuba Haiti Norway X Uruguay
Cyprus Honduras Pakistan Venezuela
Czech Republic Hong Kong, China X Panama Zambia
Djibouti Hungary Papua NewGuinea Zimbabwe
Dominica Iceland Paraguay
Dominican Rep. India Peru
EC X Indonesia Philippines
Austria X Israel Poland
"X"Means thattheMember notified subsidies.
Blank means thatnonotification wassubmitted.G/L/201
Page9
ANNEX D
COUNTERVAILING DUTY LEGISLATION NOTIFICATIONS
MEMBER/OBSERVER NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
Angola None
Antigua andBarbuda None
Argentina G/SCM/N/1/ARG/1 +Suppl.1
Australia G/SCM/N/1/AUS/1 +Suppl.1
Bahrain None
Bangladesh None
Barbados G/SCM/N/1/BRB/1
Belize None
Benin G/SCM/N/1/BEN/1
Bolivia G/SCM/N/1/BOL/1 +Suppl.1
Botswana None
Brazil G/SCM/N/1/BRA/2 +Suppl.1
Brunei Darussalam G/SCM/N/1/BRN/1
Bulgaria G/SCM/N/1/BGR/1
Burkina Faso None
Burundi None
Cameroon None
Canada G/SCM/N/1/CAN/3
Central African Republic None
Chad None
Chile G/SCM/N/1/CHL/1
Colombia G/SCM/N/1/COL/1
Congo None
Congo, Democratic Republic ofthe None
Costa Rica G/SCM/N/1/CRI/1
Côted'Ivoire None
Cuba G/SCM/N/1/CUB/1 +Suppl.1
Cyprus G/SCM/N/1/CYP/2
Czech Republic G/SCM/N/1/CZE/1
Djibouti NoneG/L/201
Page10
MEMBER/OBSERVER NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
Dominica None
Dominican Republic G/SCM/N/1/DOM/1
Ecuador G/SCM/N/1/ECU/1 +Suppl. 1
European Communities G/SCM/N/1/EEC/1
Egypt G/SCM/N/1/EGY/1
ElSalvador G/SCM/N/1/SLV/1
Fiji G/SCM/N/1/FJI/1
Gabon None
Gambia None
Ghana None
Grenada None
Guatemala G/SCM/N/1/GTM/2
Guinea Bissau None
Guinea, Rep.of G/SCM/N/1/GIN/1
Guyana None
Haiti None
Honduras G/SCM/N/1/HND/2
Hong Kong, China G/SCM/N/1/HKG/1
Hungary G/SCM/N/1/HUN/1
Iceland G/SCM/N/1/ISL/1
India G/SCM/N/1/IND/2 +Corr.1 +Suppl.1
Indonesia G/SCM/N/1/IDN/2
Israel G/SCM/N/1/ISR/2
Jamaica G/SCM/N/1/JAM/1
Japan G/SCM/N/1/JPN/2 +Corr.1 &2+Suppl.1
Kenya G/SCM/N/1/KEN/1
Korea G/SCM/N/1/KOR/2
Kuwait None
Lesotho None
Liechtenstein G/SCM/N/1/LIE/1
Macau NoneG/L/201
Page11
MEMBER/OBSERVER NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
Madagascar None
Malawi G/SCM/N/1/MWI/1
Malaysia G/SCM/N/1/MYS/1
Maldives G/SCM/N/1/MDV/1
Mali None
Malta G/SCM/N/1/MLT/1
Mauritania None
Mauritius G/SCM/N/1MUS/2
Mexico G/SCM/N/1/MEX/1 +Corr.1
Mongolia None
Morocco G/SCM/N/1/MAR/1
Mozambique None
Myanmar None
Namibia G/SCM/N/1/NAM/1
NewZealand G/SCM/N/1/NZL/2
Nicaragua G/SCM/N/1/NIC/1
Niger None
Nigeria None
Norway G/SCM/N/1/NOR/3
Pakistan G/SCM/N/1/PAK/1
Panama None
Papua NewGuinea None
Paraguay G/SCM/N/1/PRY/2
Peru G/SCM/N/1/PER/1 +Corr.1 +Suppl.1 &2
Philippines G/SCM/N/1/PHL/1
Poland G/SCM/N/1/POL/1
Qatar None
Romania G/SCM/N/1/ROM/1
Rwanda None
Saint Kitts&Nevis None
Saint Lucia G/SCM/N/1/LCA/1G/L/201
Page12
MEMBER/OBSERVER NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
Saint Vincent &Grenadines None
Senegal G/SCM/N/1/SEN/1
Sierra Leone None
Singapore G/SCM/N/1/SGP/2 +Suppl. 1
Slovak Republic G/SCM/N/1/SVK/1
Slovenia G/SCM/N/1/SVN/1
Solomon Islands None
South Africa G/SCM/N/1/ZAF/1
SriLanka G/SCM/N/1/LKA/1
Suriname G/SCM/N/1/SUR/1
Swaziland None
Switzerland G/SCM/N/1/CHE/1
Tanzania None
Thailand G/SCM/N/1/THA/3
Togo None
Trinidad andTobago G/SCM/N/1/TTO/1
Tunisia G/SCM/N/1/TUN/1
Turkey G/SCM/N/1/TUR/2
Uganda G/SCM/N/1/UGA/2
United Arab Emirates G/SCM/N/1/ARE/1
United States G/SCM/N/1/USA/1 +Corr.1 +Suppl.1 &2
Uruguay G/SCM/N/1/URY/1
Venezuela G/SCM/N/1/VEN/1 +Suppl.1 &2
Zambia G/SCM/N/1/ZMB/1
Zimbabwe G/SCM/N/1/ZWE/2
"None" means nonotification provided.G/L/201
Page13
ANNEX E
SEMI-ANNUAL REPORTS
Key: X=Semi-annual report ofactions taken submitted
N=Report ofnoactions taken submitted
notapplicable =obligation didnotapply toMember forthatperiod
blank =Noreport submitted
MEMBER 1July-31 December 1996 1January-30 June1997
Angola
Antigua andBarbuda
Argentina X X
Australia X X
Bahrain N N
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belize
Benin
Bolivia
Botswana N
Brazil N N
Brunei Darussalam N
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso N
Burundi
Cameroon
Canada X X
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile N N
Colombia N N
Congo notapplicable N
Congo, Democratic
Republic ofthenotapplicable NG/L/201
Page14
MEMBER 1July-31 December 1996 1January-30 June1997
Costa Rica N
Côted'Ivoire
Cuba N N
Cyprus N
Czech Republic N N
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic N N
European Communities4X N
Ecuador N
Egypt
ElSalvador N
Fiji
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea Bissau
Guinea, Republic of
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras N N
Hong Kong, China N N
Hungary N N
Iceland N N
India N N
Indonesia N N
Israel N N
Jamaica
4TheECiscounted as1Member.G/L/201
Page15
MEMBER 1July-31 December 1996 1January-30 June1997
Japan N N
Kenya
Korea N N
Kuwait
Lesotho
Liechtenstein N N
Macau
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia N N
Maldives
Mali
Malta N N
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico X X
Mongolia
Morocco N N
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia N
NewZealand X X
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Norway N N
Pakistan N N
Panama notapplicable
Papua NewGuinea
Paraguay
Peru N N
Philippines N N
Poland N NG/L/201
Page16
MEMBER 1July-31 December 1996 1January-30 June1997
Qatar
Romania N N
Rwanda
Saint Kitts&Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent &
Grenadines
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Singapore N N
Slovak Republic N N
Slovenia N
Solomon Islands
South Africa N X
SriLanka N N
Suriname
Swaziland
Switzerland N N
Tanzania N
Thailand N N
Togo
Trinidad andTobago
Tunisia N N
Turkey N N
Uganda N N
United Arab Emirates N
United States X X
Uruguay N
Venezuela X N
Zambia N N
ZimbabweG/L/201
Page17ANNEX F
Summary ofCountervailing Duty Actions
(1July1996-30 June1997)
Initiation Provisional
Measures
(negative preliminary determination not
included)Definitive
DutiesPrice
UndertakingsMeasures
inforce on
30June1997
(definitive
duties and
price
undertakings)
No. Countries1involved No. Countries involved No. Countries involved No. Countries involved
ARGENTINA
2 EEC(2) - - 0 1
AUSTRALIA
0 0 0 0 6
BRAZIL
0 0 0 0 6
CANADA
0 1 ITA(1) 0 0 5
EEC
0 0 0 3G/L/201
Page18Initiation Provisional
Measures
(negative preliminary determination not
included)Definitive
DutiesPrice
UndertakingsMeasures
inforce on
30June1997
(definitive
duties and
price
undertakings)
No. Countries1involved No. Countries involved No. Countries involved No. Countries involved
MEXICO
1 GRC 0 0 0 11
NEW ZEALAND
2 ZAF(2) 0 3 ITA ZAF(2) 2 ZAF(2) 6
UNITED STATES
4 CAN DEU TTO 0 2 ITA TUR 68
VEN
VENEZUELA
0 0 0 0 3G/L/201
Page 19
LIST OFABBREVIATIONS USED INANNEX F
AFG AFGHANISTAN
ALB ALBANIA
DZA ALGERIA
ATG ANTIGUA AND
BARBUDA
ARG ARGENTINA
ARM ARMENIA
AUS AUSTRALIA
AUT AUSTRIA
AZE AZERBAIJAN
BHS BAHAMAS
BHR BAHRAIN
BGD BANGLADESH
BRB BARBADOS
BLR BELARUS
BEL BELGIUM
BLZ BELIZE
BEN BENIN
BMU BERMUDA
BOL BOLIVIA
BIH BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
BWA BOTSWANA
BRA BRAZIL
BRN BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
BGR BULGARIA
BFA BURKINA FASO
BUR BURUNDI
CMR CAMEROON
CAN CANADA
CAF CENTRAL AFRICAN
REPUBLIC
TCD CHAD
CHL CHILE
CHN CHINA
CHT CHINESE TAIPEI
COG CONGO, REPUBLIC
COL COLOMBIA
CRI COSTA RICA
CIV COTE D'IVOIRE
HRV CROATIA
CUB CUBA
CYP CYPRUS
CZE CZECH REPUBLIC
DNK DENMARK
DJI DJIBOUTI
DMA DOMINICA
DOM DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
DRC DEMOCRATICREPUBLIC
OFTHE CONGO
EEC EUROPEANCOMMUNITY
ECU ECUADOR
EGY EGYPT
SLV ELSALVADOR
EST ESTONIA
FJI FIJI
FIN FINLAND
FRA FRANCE
GAB GABON
GMB GAMBIA
GEO GEORGIA
DEU GERMANY
GHA GHANA
GRC GREECE
GRD GRENADA
GTM GUATEMALA
GNB GUINEA-BISSAUGIN GUINEA, REP. OF
GUY GUYANA
HTI HAITI
HND HONDURAS
HKG HONG KONG
HUN HUNGARY
ISL ICELAND
IND INDIA
IDN INDONESIA
IRN IRAN
IRQ IRAQ
IRL IRELAND
ISR ISRAEL
ITA ITALY
JAM JAMAICA
JPN JAPAN
JOR JORDAN
KAZ KAZAKHSTAN
KEN KENYA
KOR KOREA
KWT KUWAIT
KGZ KYRGYZSTAN
LVA LATVIA
LBN LEBANON
LSO LESOTHO
LIE LIECHTENSTEIN
LTU LITHUANIA
LUX LUXEMBOURG
MAC MACAU
MDG MADAGASCAR
MWI MALAWI
MYS MALAYSIA
MDV MALDIVES
MLI MALI
MLT MALTA
MRT MAURITANIA
MUS MAURITIUS
MEX MEXICO
MDA MOLDOVA, REP. OF
MNG MONGOLIA
MAR MOROCCO
MOZ MOZAMBIQUE
NAM NAMIBIA
NLD NETHLANDS
NZL NEW ZEALAND
NIC NICARAGUA
NER NIGER
NGA NIGERIA
NOR NORWAY
OMN OMAN
PAK PAKISTAN
PAN PANAMA
PNG PAPUA NEW GUINEA
PRY PARAGUAY
PER PERU
PHL PHILIPPINES
POL POLAND
PRT PORTUGAL
PRI PUERTO RICO
QUT QATAR
ROM ROMANIA
RUS RUSSIAN FEDERATION
RWA RWANDA
KNA SAINT KITTS &NEVIS
LCA SAINT LUCIA
SAU SAUDI ARABIASEN SENEGAL
SYC SEYCHELLES
SLE SIERRA LEONE
SGP SINGAPORE
SVK SLOVAK REPUBLIC
SVN SLOVENIA
ZAF SOUTH AFRICA
ESP SPAIN
LKA SRILANKA
VCT SAINT VINCENT &
GRENADINES
SDN SUDAN
SUR SURINAME
SWE SWEDEN
CHE SWITZERLAND
TJK TAJIKISTAN
TZA TANZANIA
THA THAILAND
TGO TOGO
TTO TRINIDAD &TOBAGO
TUN TUNISIA
TUR TURKEY
TKM TURKMENISTAN
UGA UGANDA
UKR UKRAINE
ARE UNITEDARABEMIRATES
GBR UNITED KINGDOM
USA UNITED STATES
URY URUGUAY
UZB UZBEKISTAN
VUT VANUATU
VEN VENEZUELA
VNM VIET NAM
ZMB ZAMBIA
ZWE ZIMBABWESECTION X
COMMITTEE ONTECHNICAL BARRIERS TOTRADEWORLD TRADE G/L/207
19November 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-5090)
Original: English Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
REPORT (1997) OFTHE COMMITTEE ONTECHNICAL BARRIERS TOTRADE
1. TheCommittee helditseighth, ninth, tenth andeleventh meetings on14February, 20June,
3October, 13and18November 1997 (G/TBT/M/7-10) respectively, andMr.H.M.Tong (Hong
Kong) wasChairman. Atthose meetings, theCommittee heard statements ontheimplementation and
administration oftheAgreement. Anumber ofMembers informed theCommittee ofmeasures taken
toensure theimplementation andadministration oftheAgreement. Several measures werebrought
totheattention oftheCommittee byMembers whoraised concerns about thepotential adverse trade
effects orinconsistency withtheAgreement ofthose measures.
2. Atitseighthmeeting,theCommitteecarriedoutitsSecondAnnualReviewoftheImplementation
andOperation oftheAgreement under Article 15.3based onbackground documentation contained
inG/TBT/4, anditsSecond Annual Review oftheCode ofGood Practice forthePreparation, Adoption
andApplication ofStandards inAnnex 3based onbackground documentation contained inWTO TBT
Standards Code Directory andG/TBT/CS/2/Rev.1. TheCommittee alsoheard statements ontechnical
assistance.
3. Atitseighth, ninth andtenthmeetings, theCommittee prepared fortheFirstTriennial Review
oftheOperation andImplementation oftheAgreement under Article 15.4. TheTriennial Review
wascarried outatitseleventh meeting (G/TBT/5).
4. ATechnical Working Group wasestablished bytheCommittee tostudy certain ISO/IEC Guides
andhowtheymight contribute tofurthering theobjectives ofArticles 5and6oftheAgreement. The
Working Group heldmeetings on13February, 18Juneand2October (G/TBT/M/7-9).
5. Representatives oftheFAO, IEC, IMF, ISO, ITC, OECD, OIE, UNCTAD, UN/ECE,
WHO/FAO Codex Alimentarious Commission, WHO andtheWorld Bank attended meetings ofthe
Committee inanobserver capacity. ACP, ALADI, EFTA andOIML weregranted observer status
onanadhocbasis.SECTION XI
COMMITTEE ONTRADE-RELATED INVESTMENT MEASURESWORLD TRADE G/L/193
15October 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4450)
REPORT (1997) OFTHE COMMITTEE ON
TRADE-RELATED INVESTMENT MEASURES
I. GENERAL
1. Thisreport issubmitted pursuant toArticle 7.3oftheAgreement onTrade-Related Investment
Measures, which requires theCommittee onTrade-Related Investment Measures toreport annually
totheCouncil forTrade inGoods. TheReport covers theperiod November 1996-September 1997.1
2. TheCommittee meton17March and15September 1997 under thechairmanship of
Mr.VassiliNotis(Greece)andMr.JavierPaulinich(Peru),respectively.Theminutesofthesemeetings
havebeencirculated indocuments G/TRIMS/M/6 and7.Themeetings oftheCommittee wereopen
toallMembers andgovernments withobserver status intheWTO. Atitsmeeting of17March, the
Committee accorded regular observer status tointernational intergovernmental organizations thathad
enjoyed observer status intheCommittee onanadhocbasis(IMF, OECD, UN,UNCTAD andWorld
Bank). TheCommittee considered requests forobserver status made byseveral other international
organizations.
II. IMPLEMENTATION
3. Atthemeetings heldduring theperiod under review, theCommittee continued itsexamination
ofnotifications submitted pursuant toArticle 5.1oftheAgreement onTrade-Related Investment
Measures. Thisprovision requires Members tonotify anytrade-related investment measure ("TRIM")
inconsistent withtheAgreement within 90daysaftertheentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement.
Article 5.2oftheAgreement gives thebenefit ofatransition period fortheelimination ofmeasures
notified under Article 5.1andwhich wereinexistence atleast180dayspreceding theentry intoforce
oftheWTO Agreement. Pursuant toadecision adopted bytheGeneral Council inApril 1995,
governments eligible tobecome original WTO Members thataccepted theWTO Agreement after
1January 1995 haveaperiod of90daysafterthedateoftheiracceptance oftheWTO Agreement
tomake thenotifications foreseen inArticle 5.1,provided thattheperiod fortheelimination ofTRIMs
notified under Article 5.1continues tobegoverned byreference tothedateofentry intoforce ofthe
WTO Agreement itself.2
4. Inaddition tothenotifications ofmeasures under Article 5.1thathadbeensubmitted prior
totheperiod covered bythisreport3,theCommittee received anewnotification from Uganda and
anaddendum tothenotification ofArgentina. Annex 1contains alistofallnotifications ofmeasures
1Theprevious annual report iscontained indocument G/L/133.
2WT/L/64
3These notifications hadbeen submitted byArgentina, Barbados, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the
DominicanRepublic,Ecuador,Egypt,Indonesia,India,Mexico,Malaysia,Nigeria,Pakistan,Peru,thePhilippines,
Poland, Romania, Thailand, Uruguay, Venezuela andSouth Africa.G/L/193
Page2
under Article 5.1.Inthecaseofsome Members, notifications weresubmitted laterthanthe90-day
period foreseen forthem. While thereisnoobligation todoso,some Members notified theCommittee
thattheydidnotapply anyTRIM inconsistent withtheAgreement. During theperiod under review,
suchanotification wasmade byMali. Annex 2listsallMembers which havemade suchnotifications.4
5. IntheCommittee 'sdiscussions onthesenotifications, somedelegations havesought clarification
oradditional information ofafactual nature. Differing views continue tobeexpressed onissues such
asthetiming ofnotifications inrelation totheprovisions ofArticle 5.1,theadequacy oftheinformation
provided innotifications, therecent introduction ormodification ofcertain measures inrelation tothe
provisions ofArticles 2and5.4,andtherelationship oftheprovisions oftheAgreement tothose of
other WTO agreements, including theAgreement onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures andthe
Agreement onAgriculture.
6. Article 5.5deals withtheconditions under which during thetransition periods stipulated in
Article 5.2Members mayapply TRIMs notified under Article 5.1tonewinvestments. While astandard
format forthesubmission ofnotifications under thisprovision hasbeenadopted bytheCommittee
(G/TRIMS/3), sofarnosuchnotifications havebeenmade.
7. AnumberofMembershavesubmittednotificationsasrequiredunderArticle6.2whichprovides
fornotification totheSecretariat ofpublications inwhich information onTRIMs canbefound. A
listofthese notifications hasbeencirculated inG/TRIMS/N/2/Rev.2. Annex 3liststheMembers
which havesubmitted notifications under Article 6.2.
8. During theperiod under review, theCommittee wasinformed oftheinitiation ofthree
proceedings under theDispute Settlement Understanding which referred inter aliatotheTRIMs
Agreement, asreflected inG/TRIMS/D/6-8.
4Notifications under Article 5.1circulated in1995 have been derestricted asof28May 1996. Following
thedecision taken bytheGeneral Council on18July1996 onderestriction andcirculation ofWTO documents,
documentscontainingnotificationsunderArticles5.1,5.5and6.2areissuedunrestricted.Membersmay,however,
atthetimeofthesubmission ofadocument, indicate totheSecretariat thatthedocument beissued asrestricted
iftheysowish.G/L/193
Page3
ANNEX 1
MEMBERS WHICH HAVE SUBMITTED NOTIFICATIONS UNDER ARTICLE 5.1OFTHE
AGREEMENT ONTRADE-RELATED INVESTMENT MEASURES
Member Document Symbol Date ofCommunication
Argentina G/TRIMS/N/1/ARG/1 30March 1995
Argentina G/TRIMS/N/1/ARG/1/Add.1 21March 1997
Barbados G/TRIMS/N/1/BRB/1 31March 1995
Chile G/TRIMS/N/1/CHL/1 14December 1995
Colombia G/TRIMS/N/1/COL/1 31March 1995
Colombia G/TRIMS/N/1/COL/Add.1 4June1995
Colombia G/TRIMS/N/1/COL/2 31July1995
Colombia G/TRIMS/N/1/COL/2/Corr.1 30September 1996
Costa Rica G/TRIMS/N/1/CRI/1 30March 1995
Cuba5G/TRIMS/N/1/CUB/1 18July1995
Cyprus G/TRIMS/N/1/CYP/1 29June1995
Cyprus G/TRIMS/N/1/CYP/2 30October 1995
Dominican Republic G/TRIMS/N/1/DOM/1 26April 1995
Ecuador G/TRIMS/N/1/ECU/1 20March 1996
Egypt G/TRIMS/N/1/EGY/1 29September 1995
Indonesia G/TRIMS/N/1/IDN/1 23May1995
Indonesia G/TRIMS/N/1/IDN/1/Add.1 28October 1996
India G/TRIMS/N/1/IND/1 31March 1995
India G/TRIMS/N/1/IND/1/Add.1 22December 1995
India G/TRIMS/N/1/IND/1/Add.1/Corr.1 18March 1996
5Therepresentative ofCuba hasinformed theCommittee that,asaresult ofanewforeign investment law
enacted in1995, thelocal content measures notified byCuba under Article 5.1arenolonger inforce
(G/TRIMS/M/3, paragraph 5).G/L/193
Page4
Member Document Symbol Date ofCommunication
India G/TRIMS/N/1/IND/1/Add.2 11April 1996
Mexico G/TRIMS/N/1/MEX/1 31March 1995
Mexico G/TRIMS/N/1/MEX/1/Rev.1631March 1995
Malaysia G/TRIMS/N/1/MYS/1 31March 1995
Malaysia G/TRIMS/N/1/MYS/1/Rev.1 14March 1996
Nigeria G/TRIMS/N/1/NGA/1 17July1996
Pakistan G/TRIMS/N/1/PAK/1 30March 1995
Peru G/TRIMS/N/1/PER/1 30March 1995
Philippines G/TRIMS/N/1/PHL/1 31March 1995
Poland G/TRIMS/N/1/POL/1 28September 1995
Poland G/TRIMS/N/1/POL/1/Add.1 4December 1996
Romania G/TRIMS/N/1/ROM/1 31March 1995
Thailand G/TRIMS/N/1/THA/1 30March 1995
Uganda G/TRIMS/N/1/UGA/1 17June1997
Uruguay G/TRIMS/N/1/URY/1 31March 1995
Uruguay G/TRIMS/N/1/URY/1/Add.1 30August 1995
Venezuela G/TRIMS/N/1/VEN/1 31March 1995
South Africa G/TRIMS/N/1/ZAF/1 19April 1995
6English onlyG/L/193
Page5
ANNEX 2
NOTIFICATIONS INDICATING THAT NOTRIMS INCONSISTENT WITH THE
AGREEMENT ONTRADE-RELATED INVESTMENT MEASURES
ARE MAINTAINED
Member Document Symbol Date ofCommunication
Switzerland G/TRIMS/N/1/CHE/1 8August 1995
Israel G/TRIMS/N/1/ISR/1 24October 1996
Honduras G/TRIMS/N/1/HND/1 7July1995
Saint Lucia G/TRIMS/N/1/LCA/1 14February 1996
Mali G/TRIMS/N/1/MLI/1 27May1997
Mauritius G/TRIMS/N/1/MUS/1 27March 1995
Nicaragua G/TRIMS/N/1/NIC/1 18July1996
Singapore G/TRIMS/N/1/SGP/1 9October 1996
Slovenia G/TRIMS/N/1/SVN/1 27March 1995
Trinidad &Tobago G/TRIMS/N/1/TTO/1 1April 1996
Zambia G/TRIMS/N/1/ZMB/1 13April 1995G/L/193
Page6
ANNEX 3
MEMBERS WHICH HAVE SUBMITTED NOTIFICATIONS UNDER ARTICLE 6.2OFTHE
AGREEMENT ONTRADE-RELATED INVESTMENT MEASURES
Argentina
Australia
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Chile
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Israel
Liechtenstein
Nicaragua
Norway
Peru
Philippines
Romania
Singapore
Switzerland
Thailand
Tunisia
Uganda
United States
VenezuelaSECTION XII
INDEPENDENT ENTITY ESTABLISHED PURSUANT
TOTHE AGREEMENT ONPRESHIPMENT INSPECTIONWORLD TRADE G/L/208
19November 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-5091)
Agreement onPreshipment Inspection
Independent Entity
REPORT (1997) OFTHE INDEPENDENT ENTITY TOTHE
COUNCIL FOR TRADE INGOODS
TheAgreement onPreshipment Inspection provides fortheestablishment ofanIndependent
Entity fortheadministration oftheindependent review procedures assetoutinArticle 4ofthe
Agreement. TheIndependent Entity (IE)wasestablished byDecision oftheGeneral Council of
13December1995(WT/L/125/Rev.1).ParagraphI.CoftheStructuresandFunctionsoftheIndependent
Entity (Annex IIofWT/L/125/Rev.1) provides that,
"theIEwillreport totheCouncil forTrade inGoods atleastonceayearbutmore frequently
ifnecessary."
Thereport below ispresented inaccordance withtheabove requirement.
1. Following theDecision oftheGeneral Council, theadministrative andprocedural requirements
necessary tocommence operations oftheIEwere putinplace inApril 1996. WTO Members were
notified thatasof1May1996, theIEwasprepared toreceive applications requesting independent
reviews (G/PSI/IE/2). According toparagraph 2oftheAgreement between theWTO, theICCand
theIFIA, theICCandIFIAshalljointly "draw up,andupdate annually, theirrespective listsofexperts
asprovided forinparagraph (b)(i) and(ii)ofArticle 4ofthePSIAgreement, andassist theIEin
drawing upandupdating thelistofindependent trade experts asprovided forinparagraph b(iii) of
thatArticle; ...".
2. During thereporting period, theListofExperts wasupdated andcirculated asdocument
G/PSI/IE/1/Rev.1. During thisperiod, theIEreceived norequests foranindependent review.SECTION XIII
TEXTILES MONITORING BODYWORLD TRADE G/L/206
18November 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-5062)
REPORT (1997) OFTHE TEXTILES MONITORING BODY
1. ThisreportispresentedbytheTextilesMonitoringBody(TMB)pursuanttothedecisionadopted
bytheGeneral Council on15November 1995 ontheprocedures foranannual overview ofWTO
activities andforreporting under theWTO (WT/L/105). Itcovers theperiod 2October 1996 to
12November 1997. During thisperiod, theTMB held19meetings. Thereports ofthese meetings
arecontained inG/TMB/R/19 to37.1
2. Pursuant toArticle 8.11oftheAgreement onTextiles andClothing (ATC), theTMB adopted
on24July1997 acomprehensive report ontheimplementation oftheATC during thefirststage of
theintegration process (G/L/179). Thisreport, which wassubmitted totheCouncil forTrade inGoods
inorder toassist initsmajor review oftheimplementation oftheATC, covers indetail mostofthe
notifications which werereviewed ortheissues thatwereaddressed bytheTMB during thereporting
period.
3. Thepresent report doesnotgointothedetails oftheactivities oftheTMB during theperiod
covered butrather consists ofaninventory ofthework carried outbytheTMB.
Notifications under Article 2.1oftheATC: Quantitative Restrictions within Bilateral Agreements
Maintained under Article 4orNotified under Article 7or8oftheMFA inForce ontheDaybefore
theEntry intoForce oftheATC
4. TheTMBreviewedunderArticle2.21additionstothenotificationsreceivedunderthisprovision
fromCanada andtheUnited States, following Bulgaria ’saccession totheWTO (G/TMB/R/24 and26)
andfromtheUnited States, following theconsent bytheUnited States totheapplication between the
United States andRomania oftheWTO Agreement andtheMultilateral Trade Agreements inAnnexes 1
and2(G/TMB/R/30).
Notifications under Articles 2.6and2.7(b) oftheATC: FirstStage ofIntegration intoGATT 1994
ofProducts Covered bytheATCbyMembers which have, Pursuant toArticle 6.1,Retained theRight
toUsetheProvisions ofArticle 6
5. TheTMB reviewed under Article 2.21 thenotifications made byEgypt (G/TMB/R/19),
Liechtenstein (G/TMB/R/22) andSouth Africa (G/TMB/R/22). Italsoreverted toitsreview ofthe
notifications made byIsrael (G/TMB/R/21) andSaint KittsandNevis (G/TMB/R/23).
Notifications under Articles 2.8(a) and2.11oftheATC: Second Stage ofIntegration intoGATT 1994
ofProducts Covered bytheATC
6. TheTMBreviewedunderArticle2.21thenotificationsmadepursuanttoArticles2.8(a)and2.11
byBolivia, Costa Rica, theCzech Republic, Egypt, theEuropean Community, India, Japan, Malaysia,
Malta, Mauritius, Peru, thePhilippines, Romania, SriLanka, theUnited States andVenezuela
1TheReport ofthe37thMeeting willbeissued upon itsadoption bytheTMB.G/L/206
Page2
(G/TMB/R/30),NorwayandPakistan(G/TMB/R/31),Canada(G/TMB/R/32),Morocco(G/TMB/R/33),
Argentina, Tunisia andUruguay(G/TMB/R/35), Colombia, ElSalvador, theSlovak Republic and
Switzerland (G/TMB/R/37). Subsequently, theTMB tooknoteofcorrections made byNorway to
itssecond stage integration programme, andthattheimport volume oftheproducts integrated forthe
second stageofintegration bybothPakistan andthePhilippines, asearlier noted bytheTMB, remained
unchanged (G/TMB/R/36).
7. TheTMBstarteditsreviewunderArticle2.21oftheprogrammesofintegrationnotifiedpursuant
toArticles 2.8(a) and2.11byBrazil, theDominican Republic, Guatemala, Hungary, Indonesia, Korea,
Liechtenstein, Mexico, Nicaragua, Poland, Saint KittsandNevis, Slovenia, South Africa, Thailand
andTurkey anddecided torevert toitsreview ofthese programmes atasubsequent meeting, once
furtherinformationorclarificationisreceivedfromthem.Inthemeantime,inpursuanceofArticle2.11,
theTMB hascirculated these notifications toWTO Members.
Notification under Articles 2.8(b), 2.10and2.11oftheATC: Early Integration ofProducts Covered
bytheATC
8. TheTMB started itsreview under Article 2.21oftheprogramme ofintegration notified pursuant
toArticles 2.8(b) 2.10and2.11byTurkey and,seeking further clarification, decided torevert toits
review atasubsequent meeting (G/TMB/R/30).
Notifications under Articles 2.6,2.7(a) and(b),2.8(a) and2.11oftheATC: Communications Received
from Members inResponse toQuestions PutbytheTMB
9. TheTMB tooknoteofcommunications byArgentina, Canada, Colombia, theCzech Republic,
Norway, Pakistan, thePhilippines, Poland (Stage 1),South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey andUruguay
inresponse toquestions putbytheTMB withaviewtoverifying whether thestatistical information
provided regarding integration forthefirstand/or thesecond stages referred, where appropriate, to
those portions oftheHSlinescovered bytheATC andnottotheentire respective 6-digit HSlines
(G/TMB/R/32, 35,36and37).TheTMB started itsexamination oftheresponses provided byCyprus,
theDominican Republic, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Liechtenstein, Poland (Stage 2),Slovenia, SriLanka
andThailand anddecided torevert toitsconsideration ofthesecommunications atasubsequent meeting
(G/TMB/R/32, 35and37).
NotificationunderArticle2.15oftheATC:EliminationofRestrictionsMaintainedPursuanttoArticle2
10. TheTMB reviewed thenotification made byNorway under Article 2.15oftheelimination
intwosteps ofmost oftherestrictions remaining under theATC withrespect toWTO Members.
TheTMB commended Norway fortheearlyelimination ofmostoftherestrictions itmaintained under
thisAgreement (G/TMB/R/36).
Notifications under Article 2.17oftheATC: Administrative Arrangements
11. TheTMBreviewed,pursuanttoArticle2.21,theadministrativearrangementsconcludedbetween
theEuropean Community andArgentina, Hong Kong2,India, Indonesia, Korea, Macau, Malaysia,
Pakistan, Peru, thePhilippines, Singapore, SriLanka andThailand, respectively (G/TMB/R/22, 24
andparagraphs 11to17ofG/TMB/R/30). TheTMB alsoreviewed notifications made bythe
UnitedStatesregardingtheadministrativearrangementsagreedbetweentheUnitedStatesandBangladesh,
2Thename ofthisMember hasbecome "Hong Kong, China" asfrom 1July1997 -seeWT/L/218.G/L/206
Page3
Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, theDominican Republic, Egypt, Fiji,Guatemala, Haiti, Hungary, India,
Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Mauritius, Pakistan, thePhilippines, Poland,
Qatar, Romania, SriLanka, Thailand, Turkey, theUnited Arab Emirates andUruguay, respectively
(G/TMB/R/26, 27,30andparagraphs 6to23ofG/TMB/R/31). Subsequently, theTMB tooknote
ofacommunication byGuatemala related toclarifications theTMB hadsought frombothGuatemala
andtheUnited States withrespect totheadministrative arrangements concluded between Guatemala
andtheUnited States andnotified bytheUnited States pursuant toArticle 2.17(G/TMB/R/35,
paragraph 15).
Notifications under Articles 2.17and5oftheATC
12. TheTMB started itsconsideration ofthenotifications made byPakistan under Article 2.17
andbytheUnited States under Article 5ofamutually satisfactory understanding reached, following
consultations, between thetwoMembers.3Seeking further information andclarification from them,
theTMB decided torevert toitsreview atasubsequent meeting (G/TMB/R/35).
Communications under Article 2.21oftheATC
13. TheTMB considered under Article 2.21acommunication fromColombia, made alsoonbehalf
ofseveral other WTO Members thataremembers oftheInternational Textiles andClothing Bureau
(ITCB), relating toparticular aspects pertaining totheimplementation byWTO Members ofthe
programme ofintegration oftheATC (G/TMB/N/211, G/TMB/N/212, G/TMB/R/21 and22).
14. TheTMB considered afurther notification byColombia, made alsoonbehalf ofanumber
ofWTO Members thatarealsomembers oftheITCB, pursuant toArticle 2.21, alleging certain
discrepancies intheprogramme ofintegration notified bytheEuropean Community under Article 2.6
oftheATC, andrequesting theTMB toreview thismatter interms ofArticle 2.21(G/TMB/R/27,
28andparagraphs 5to42ofG/TMB/R/29). Inthiscontext, theTMB alsoconsidered thestatement
oftheEC'srepresentative thatseveral other WTO Members hadincluded products ofthose HSlines
intheAnnex forwhich onlypartofthelinefellunder thecoverage oftheATC inthelistofproducts
tobeintegrated forthefirstand/or second stages ofimplementation oftheATC (G/TMB/R/29,
paragraphs 43to45).
15. TheTMB hadafollow-up discussion ofthesystemic problem mentioned inparagraph 14above,
whichledtoaconclusionaccordingtowhich,inprinciple,alltheMemberswhichhadnotifiedintegration
programmes could beaffected bytechnical problems resulting essentially from thenon-availability
ofstatistical information corresponding totheprecise product descriptions contained intheAnnex
totheATC, independently ofwhether ornottheyhadincluded "exHSitems" intheirrespective
integration programmes forStage 1and/or Stage 2.Therefore, theTMB decided torequest thatall
Members which hadsubmitted integration programmes, including those which hadnotasyetincluded
insuchprogrammes "exHSitems", ascertain whether thestatistical datacounted incalculating the
totalvolume oftheMember ’s1990imports oftheproducts intheAnnex referred tothewhole HSlines,
oronlytothatportion ofthose HSlineswhich wascovered bytheATC. ItwastheTMB'sexpectation
thatMembers would report toitontheoutcome ofsuchverification (G/TMB/R/34, paragraph 7).
16. Inaddition, theTMB received anotification fromtheEuropean Community stressing theneed
fortheapplication ofequality oftreatment inrespect ofthesystemic issue outlined above. Inlight
ofthecomments made bytheTMB initscomprehensive report totheCouncil forTrade inGoods
onthissystemic issue, andoftheTMB’scontinuing action inrespect ofthose Members thathave
3SeeG/TMB/R/11, paragraph 12.G/L/206
Page4
included “exHSlines”intheirintegration programmes, theEuropean Community didnotinsist on
aformal review ofthisnotification asscheduled bytheTMB, butreserved itsrightinrespect ofits
notification.
Notifications under Article 3.1oftheATC
17. TheTMB tooknoteofanotification byMorocco pursuant toArticle 3.1,afterhaving sought
clarification fromMorocco (G/TMB/R/22). TheTMB alsotooknoteofanadditional notification made
under Article 3.1bytheEuropean Community following Bulgaria ’saccession totheWTO
(G/TMB/R/24).
18. TheTMB alsoconcluded theconsideration ofthenotifications under Article 3.1byMexico
andThailand (G/TMB/R/30, paragraphs 18and19).
Notifications under Article 6.1oftheATC
19. TheTMB tooknoteofthenotifications byBrunei Darussalam andIceland thattheydidnot
wishtoretain therighttousetheprovisions ofArticle 6(G/TMB/R/21). TheTMB alsotooknote
ofthenotifications byBurkina Faso, Liechtenstein, SaintKittsandNevis andtheUnited ArabEmirates
thattheywished toretain therighttousetheprovisions ofArticle 6(G/TMB/R/19, 21,23and27,
respectively).
Notifications under Article 6.9oftheATC
20. TheTMB reviewed, pursuant toArticle 6.9, thenotifications bytheUnited States and
ElSalvador ofarestraint measure agreed between thetwoMembers onimports ofcotton andman–made
fibreskirts (UScategory 342/642) from ElSalvador. Onthebasis ofconsiderations asdetailed in
thereportofthemeeting,theTMBconcludedthatthisrestraintmeasureagreedbetweentheUnitedStates
andElSalvador wasjustified inaccordance withtheprovisions ofArticle 6oftheATC(G/TMB/R/19).4
Subsequently, theTMB considered acommunication received fromElSalvador, related tothisreview,
inwhich ElSalvador, interalia,urged theTMB thatitbeinvited topresent itsobservations onthis
matter, “sothattheywillbetaken intoaccount iftheTMB decides tomake recommendations or
observations onthiscase”.Inview ofthefactthatthisagreed restraint measure hadalready been
reviewed bytheTMB, theTMB decided toseekclarification from ElSalvador regarding this
communication(G/TMB/R/22,paragraph12).NofurthercommunicationwasreceivedfromElSalvador
onthismatter.
Notifications under Article 6.11oftheATC: Transitional Safeguard Actions Referred totheTMB
21. TheTMB reviewed notifications made byBrazil ofasafeguard measure ithadintroduced
provisionally, pursuant toArticle 6.11oftheATC, onimports ofproducts ofcategory 618(woven
artificial filament fabric) fromHong Kong (G/TMB/R/20, paragraphs 4to26),aswellasofasafeguard
measure introduced provisionally byBrazil, pursuant toArticle 6.11oftheATC, onimports ofproducts
ofcategory 838(men’sandboys’shirts, knitted orcrocheted, ofother textile materials) from
Hong Kong5(G/TMB/R/20, paragraphs 27to35)6.
4Theoutcome oftheTMB review assummarized iscontained intheAnnex.
5Seealsoparagraph 28.
6Theoutcome oftheTMB reviews assummarized iscontained intheAnnex.G/L/206
Page5
22. TheTMB reviewed notifications made byBrazil andKorea ofrestraint measures agreed between
thetwoMembers, pursuant toArticle 6.11oftheATC, onimports ofartificial andsynthetic fibre
products ofcategories 611,618,619,620and627from Korea7(G/TMB/R/22, paragraphs 7and8,
G/TMB/R/23, paragraph 8,andG/TMB/R/27, paragraphs 8to37).
Notifications under Article 7oftheATC
23. Inthecontext ofthepreparation forthecomprehensive report ontheimplementation ofthe
ATC during itsfirststage, tobetransmitted totheCouncil forTrade inGoods inthecontext ofthe
major review envisaged inArticle 8.11oftheATC, theTMB alsoissued, inFebruary andApril 1997,
arequest forinformation toWTO Members, reminding themofsome notification obligations contained
intheATC(G/TMB/11). Some ofthereplies received wererelated totheimplementation ofArticle 7
oftheATC. The TMB received and considered such replies from Colombia, Egypt,
theEuropean Community, India, Mauritius, NewZealand, Pakistan andPeru(G/TMB/R/31 to34).
24. TheTMB tooknoteofthecommunication bytheUnited States, addressed totheTMB pursuant
toArticle 7.2oftheATC, thattheUnited States hadrequested theDispute Settlement Body toestablish
aPanel inthematter ofArgentina -Certain Measures Affecting Imports ofFootwear, Textiles, Apparel
andOther Items (G/TMB/R/35).
Notifications under Articles 8.5and4.2oftheATC
25. TheTMBtooknoteofacommunicationreceivedfromthePhilippinesthat,inviewofamutually
agreed solution between thePhilippines andtheUnited States, itrequested thatthematter ithadraised,
pursuant toArticles 8.5and4.2,regarding changes intheUnited States 'rules oforigin, should be
removed fromtheTMB’sagenda. Thiswaswithout prejudice tothePhilippines ’rights under theATC,
inparticular under itsArticle 8(G/TMB/R/26, paragraph 7).
Notification under Article 8.6oftheATC
26. TheTMBconsideredanotificationreceivedfromKorearequestingtheTMBtoconduct,pursuant
toArticle 8.6,anexamination ofsafeguard measures introduced byEcuador, referring totheprovisions
oftheAgreement onTextiles andClothing, onimports ofseveral textile andclothing products from
Korea andHong Kong (G/TMB/R/21, 22andparagraphs 9to18ofG/TMB/R/23). Subsequently,
theTMB tooknoteofacommunication byEcuador thatthemeasure affecting textile imports, referred
totheTMB byKorea, hadexpired on9February 1997 (G/TMB/R/30).
Notification under Articles 8.6,8.7and8.8oftheATC
27. TheTMB reviewed acommunication from Honduras under Articles 8.6and8.7requesting
theTMB to"consider andmake arecommendation atitsnextmeeting concerning theappropriateness
oftheUnited States maintaining arestraint onHonduran exports under category 435(women 'swool
coats andjackets)". Honduras referred alsotoArticle 8.8which states that"whenever theTMB is
called upontomake recommendations orfindings, itshalldoso,preferably within aperiod of30days,
unless adifferent timeperiod isspecified inthisAgreement" (G/TMB/R/28, paragraphs 5to17).
Atitsthirty-second meeting, theTMB reverted, asagreed, tothematter raised byHonduras. Ittook
noteofacommunication bytheUnited States, andexpected thattheUnited States would rescind the
restraint assoonaspossible, andthatitwould communicate thedateinquestion totheTMB atthe
7Theoutcome oftheTMB reviews assummarized iscontained intheAnnex.G/L/206
Page6
latest by10July1997 (G/TMB/R/31, paragraphs 24to26). Atitsthirty-fourth meeting, theTMB
reverted, asagreed, tothatmatter, andtooknoteofcommunications bybothHonduras andthe
United States (G/TMB/R/33, paragraphs 8to11). Atitsthirty-fifth meeting, theTMB, following
uponthematter, asagreed atanearlier meeting, tooknoteofafurther communication from the
United States andofastatement byHonduras (G/TMB/R/34, paragraphs 4to6).Subsequently, the
United States informed theTMB that,inpursuance ofanearlier communication totheTMB, ithad
removed therestraint onimports ofproducts ofUScategory 435fromHonduras on30September 1997
(G/TMB/R/36, paragraph 14).
Notification under Article 8.9oftheATC
28. TheTMB tooknoteofacommunication received from Brazil that“inaccordance with
paragraph 9ofArticle 8oftheATC, theBrazilian Government shallendeavour toaccept infullthe
recommendations oftheTMB concerning transitional safeguards applied toimports ofcategories 618
(woven artificial filament fabrics) and838(men’sandboys’shirts, knitted orcrocheted, ofother textile
materials) from Hong Kong, contained indocument G/TMB/9 ”.TheGovernment ofBrazil also
“reserved itsrights under paragraph 12ofArticle 6oftheATC inrelation tosuchrecommendations ”
(G/TMB/R/22, paragraph 11).Subsequently, theTMB tooknoteofanother communication byBrazil
thatithaddecided, witheffect asfrom6January 1997, torescind thetransitional safeguard itapplied
toimports oftextile products fromHong Kong classified incategory 838(G/TMB/R/24, paragraph 9).
Notification under Article 8.10oftheATC
29. TheTMB considered acommunication from Hong Kong under Article 8.10, related tothe
safeguard measure introduced byBrazil pursuant toArticle 6.11oftheATC onimports ofproducts
ofcategory 618(woven artificial filament fabrics) fromHong Kong8,inwhich Hong Kong conveyed
itsinability toconform withtherecommendation theTMB hadmade, according towhich themeasure
should berescinded byBrazil atlatest by31December 1997 (G/TMB/R/26, paragraphs 8to30).9
Discussion onPanel andAppellate Body Reports Adopted bytheDispute Settlement Body
30. TheTMB hadageneral discussion onthereports ofthepanels “United States -Restrictions
onimports ofcotton andman-made fibreunderwear ”fromCosta Ricaand“United States -Measure
affecting imports ofwoven wool shirts andblouses from India”,andoftherespective subsequent
Appellate Body reports. TheTMB agreed torevert tothisdiscussion atafuture meeting
(G/TMB/R/33, paragraph 14).
Comprehensive Report under Article 8.11oftheATC
31. TheTMB devoted partofseveral meetings tothepreparation andadoption ofitscomprehensive
report totheCouncil forTrade inGoods ontheimplementation oftheATC during itsfirststage,
envisaged inArticle 8.11oftheATC (G/TMB/R/19, 21,22,26,30,31,32,33andG/TMB/R/34).
Inthiscontext theTMB decided tosendtoWTO Members arequest forinformation regarding the
implementation ofthenotification requirements under Article 7.2oftheATC, aswellasofsome of
itsotherprovisions (G/TMB/R/23). Attherequest oftheTMB, theWTO Secretariat provided Members
withbackground statistical information withrespect totrade intextiles andclothing, intimeforthe
major review tobeconducted bytheCouncil forTrade inGoods, pursuant toArticle 8.11(G/L/184).
8Seealsoparagraphs 21and28.
9Theoutcome oftheTMB review assummarized iscontained intheAnnex.G/L/206
Page7
TheTMB alsodecided tosendtoWTO Members, intheearly partofApril 1997, areminder ofthe
request forinformation ithadsenton14February 1997 (G/TMB/R/26).
Working Procedures
32. TheTMB tooknoteofthedecision oftheDispute Settlement Body on3December 1996 to
adopt theRules ofConduct fortheUnderstanding onRules andProcedures Governing theSettlement
ofDisputes (G/TMB/R/22).
Composition oftheTMB
33. Thecomposition oftheTMB during theperiod under review iscontained inparagraphs 2of
G/TMB/R/21, 23,24,25,29,32,33,35,36and37.G/L/206
Page8
ANNEX
Excerpts ofTMB Review ofNotifications Received Pursuant to
Articles 6.9,6.11and8.10oftheATC
Notification under Article 6.9oftheATC
United States/El Salvador: imports ofcotton andman-made fibreskirts (UScategory 342/642)
TheTMB, while examining thespecific andrelevant factual information (market statement)
made available bytheUnited States toElSalvador during thebilateral consultations, observed that
considerable efforts hadbeenmade bytheUnited States tomatch thedataasclosely aspossible to
therequirements ofparagraphs 2,3and4ofArticle 6.
TheTMB noted thatthevolume ofimports intotheUnited States ofproducts ofcategory
342/642, from allsources, hadincreased in1993 and1994, andhadcontinued toincrease in1995.
Thishadtaken place inthecontext ofaproduct subject toquantitative restrictions foralarge number
ofcountries, including some small suppliers inthiscategory.
TheTMB observed thatcertain economic variables suchasthedeclining United States ’domestic
production, thereduction oftheshare oftheUnited States ’market heldbydomestic manufacturers
toarelatively lowlevel, thedecrease inemployment, particularly in1994and1995, andthepressure
putondomestic prices byimports prices, indicated thattheUnited States ’industry producing cotton
andman-made fibres skirts wasexperiencing problems asaresult ofincreased imports. Ontheother
hand, some other economic variables, inparticular theevolution ofaverage wages perworker, could
pointtoadifferent direction. Withrespect tosome othervariables, theTMB noted thatexports remained
atalowlevelandweredeclining; productivity hadremained stable despite reductions inemployment.
Dataonsome elements, supplied atahigher levelofindustry aggregation, suchas,forexample, profits,
investment, inventories andcapacity utilization, could notprovide sufficient guidance. TheTMB
concluded that,taking intoaccount theelements mentioned above, thecircumstances described in
paragraph 2ofArticle 6wereobserved intheUnited States 'market forcotton andman-made fibre
skirts.
TheTMB further observed thatimports ofproducts ofcategory 342/642 intotheUnited States
fromElSalvador hadincreased significantly, particularly in1995. Thiswastaking place inthecontext
ofincreased imports from several other sources, bothrestrained andun-restrained, whose share of
overall imports waslarger thanthatofElSalvador. ElSalvador ’sexports werehowever, onaverage,
priced substantially below theUSaverage domestic price and,withoneexception, below theaverage
prices ofimports fromcountries withahigher share ofimports. TheTMB therefore considered that
thecircumstances described inparagraph 2ofArticle 6could beattributed toincreased imports from
ElSalvador.
TheTMB noted thatthetotalleveloftheagreed restraint, aswellasthatportion oftherestraint
thatwasavailable unconditionally toElSalvador (i.e.thespecific limit), weresubstantially above the
rollback level. Itobserved thatnogrowth ratewasprovided forwithrespect totheGAL. However,
keeping alsoinmind indications given bytheUnited States Government thatGALs canbeincreased
onrequest, itistheTMB'sunderstanding andrecommendation thattheGAL willbeincreased byno
lessthan6percentannually.G/L/206
Page9
Onthebasis oftheconsiderations mentioned above, theTMB concluded thatthisrestraint
measureagreedbetweentheUnitedStatesandElSalvadorwasjustifiedinaccordancewiththeprovisions
ofArticle 6oftheAgreement onTextiles andClothing.
Brazil/Hong Kong: imports ofwoven artificial filament fabrics (category 618)
Notification byBrazil under Article 6.11 oftheATC
TheBrazilian industry wasshowing somewhat contradictory symptoms andtheevolution of
anumber ofeconomic indicators andtheir possible inter-relation could leadtodiverging interpretations.
Theslight increase inproduction, improvement ofproductivity, increase ofexports andriseinwages
could allow aninterpretation thattheindustry hadalready been relatively successful interms of
re-structuring andadjusting tothenewcompetitive conditions. Developments regarding employment,
thenumberofenterprises,capacityutilization,profitsandinvestmentcouldpointtotheoppositedirection.
Thedataprovided anunambiguous indication thattheindustry hadbeen unable totakeadvantage of
thesubstantial increase initsdomestic market. Partofthestrength ofthedomestic demand could be
attributed totheimplementation oftheeconomic stabilization programme, andinparticular tothe
liberalization ofimports undertaken byBrazil during thelastdecade. Adjustment efforts hadbeen
undertaken, which hadnotenabled theBrazilian industry tocompete successfully with imports, in
particular given theprice levels prevailing intheBrazilian market. TheTMB took theview that, under
these circumstances, theBrazilian industry producing, inter alia, woven artificial filament fabrics was
experiencing serious damage.
Onthebasis ofthedatasubmitted byBrazil, itwasdifficult toassess theextent towhich this
damage could beattributed specifically tothedifficulties experienced bytheproducers ofproducts of
category 618. TheTMB, while accepting thatserious damage totheindustry producing category 618
could bedemonstrated, expressed concern that,withrespect tosome variables, ithadtorelyonarguments
byinference, inview ofthelack ofsufficiently specific data relating tothecategory itself.
TheTMB therefore hadtoconsider whether thisserious damage could beattributed toimports
from Hong Kong, inaccordance with paragraph 4ofArticle 6oftheATC. Indoing so,theTMB,
mindful ofthefactthat, according tothisparagraph “none ofthese factors, either alone orcombined
with other factors, cannecessarily give decisive guidance ”,noted thefollowing:
- imports from Hong Kong hadshown asubstantial increase between 1994 and1995;
- thisincrease inimports from Hong Kong hadtaken place inthecontext ofaneven
greater increase inimports from allsources;
- theshare ofimports from Hong Kong inBrazil ’sapparent consumption ofproducts
ofcategory 618hadincreased from 1994 to1995;
- theaverage import price forHong Kong wasbelow domestic prices forproducts at
acomparable stage ofcommercial transaction. Inthisrespect theTMB considered the
argument thatproducts imported from Hong Kong were addressing adifferent segment
ofthemarket from thataddressed bydomestic products, but,duetothelackofnecessary
technical information, could notreach aconclusion onthis.
SuchelementsallowedtheTMBtoconcludethattheseriousdamageexperiencedbytheBrazilianindustry
could beattributed inparttoimports from Hong Kong inaccordance with paragraph 4ofArticle 6.G/L/206
Page10
TheTMB noted thatBrazil hadinvoked theprovisions ofparagraph 11ofArticle 6andapplied
therestraint provisionally, asithadconsidered thatitsindustry wasexperiencing “highly unusual and
critical circumstances, where delay would cause damage which would bedifficult torepair ”.Ittook
noteofthelimited information provided byBrazil toHong Kong onthismatter, andoftheinformation
ithadprovided totheTMB, according towhich afurther increase inimports wasimminent, inview
oftheamount ofimport licences issued, aswell asoftheamounts ofgoods thatcould beimported
intoBrazil atshort notice from Brazilian customs 'warehouses. TheTMB noted thatthese expectations
hadnotmaterialized.
TheTMB wasoftheview thatincases where theprovisions ofparagraph 11ofArticle 6were
invoked, theexpectation wasthattheelements envisaged inparagraphs 2,3and4ofArticle 6would
indicate asunambiguously aspossible thehighly unusual andcritical character ofthecircumstances.
TheTMB wasalsooftheview that, unless such circumstances were met, anyaction taken under Article
6should bepreceded byconsultations between theparties.
TheTMB observed thatparagraph 11ofArticle 6requires ittopromptly conduct anexamination
ofthematter, andtomake appropriate recommendations totheMembers concerned. Inthisregard
theTMB noted thatithadarrived attheconclusions according towhich:
a) serious damage totheindustry producing products category 618, caused byincreased
quantities intotal imports ofthese products, could bedemonstrated;
b) theserious damage experienced bytheBrazilian industry could beattributed inpart
toimports from Hong Kong inaccordance with paragraph 4ofArticle 6.
Itobserved,however,thattherewereindicationstotheeffectthattheBrazilianindustryproducing
products ofcategory 618hadalready been undertaking important restructuring andadjustment. Inlight
ofthistheTMB considered thatashorter period oftime than themaximum time-frame envisaged in
paragraph 12(a) ofArticle 6should enable theindustry inBrazil tosuccessfully accomplish itsadjustment
tothechanged competitive environment. TheTMB recommended therefore thatthemeasure taken
byBrazil against imports from Hong Kong ofproducts ofcategory 618should berescinded atlatest
by31December 1997.
Notification byHong Kong under Article 8.10 oftheATC
Asfollows from theTMB 'sobservations reflected inparticular inparagraphs 17,20,22,23
and25[ofG/TMB/R/26], theBody agreed with Hong Kong 'smain contention according towhich a
determination ofserious damage could notbemade almost entirely byreference to,andtherefore by
inferences drawn from, datarelating tomuch broader industries inrespect ofwhich damage isclaimed.
Ontheother hand, incarefully considering itsexamination oftheparticular case (i.e.theBrazilian
measures against imports ofcategory 618products from Hong Kong), theTMB could notreach the
same conclusions asHong Kong did,since inthiscase thedetermination ofserious damage hadnot
been made almost entirely byreference todatarelating tosuch broader industries, assome important
data andfactual information provided byBrazil were category-specific.
TheTMB recognized, however, thatcertain formulations ofitsreport ontheexamination of
thismatter pursuant toparagraph 11ofArticle 6could beread soastolead toslightly divergent
conclusions, which could bedifferent from thestatement contained inthepreceding paragraph. This
applied inparticular toparagraphs 20and21ofthereport [G/TMB/R/20)] Thereference inthereport
tothefactthattheTMB, with respect tosome variables, hadtorelyonarguments byinference inview
ofthelackofspecific datarelating thecategory itself, wasaimed atindicating theserious limitationsG/L/206
Page11
thattheBody hadindrawing reliable conclusions onthebasis ofdatawhich were related tobroader
industries than tothecategory 618industry.
TheTMBrecalledthatithadalreadyexpressedconcernswithrespecttosomeofthenon-category
specific dataprovided byBrazil, which hadmade itdifficult toassess theextent towhich developments
insome economic variables could beattributed totheevolution ofthemarket incategory 618products.
While inlight oftheconclusions reached inparagraphs 18,23,27and,inparticular, 28[ofG/TMB/R/26],
theTMB didnotconsider itappropriate torevise itsrecommendations adopted inNovember 1996 or
toissue further recommendations, theBody recalled thatithadobserved thatthere were indications
totheeffect thattheBrazilian industry producing products ofcategory 618hadalready been undertaking
important restructuring andadjustment. TheTMB, therefore, expected Brazil tokeep thedevelopments
ofthemarket ofcategory 618products under review, andrecalled thatithadrecommended toBrazil
thatthemeasure taken against imports from Hong Kong ofproducts ofcategory 618should berescinded
atlatest by31December 1997.
Brazil/Hong Kong: imports ofmen’sandboys’shirts, knitted orcrocheted, ofother textile materials
(category 838)
Notification byBrazil under Article 6.11 oftheATC
Onthebasis oftheconsiderations [detailed inparagraphs 31to33ofG/TMB/R/20], theTMB
came totheconclusion thatBrazil hadnotdemonstrated thattheBrazilian industry producing products
ofcategory 838hadexperienced serious damage, asenvisaged inparagraph 2ofArticle 6,and
recommended thatBrazil rescind themeasure.
TheTMB equally observed thattherecourse byBrazil totheprovisions ofparagraph 11of
Article 6wasnotappropriate. TheTMB reiterated itsview thatincases where these provisions were
invoked, theexpectation wasthattheelements envisaged inparagraphs 2,3and4ofArticle 6would
indicate asunambiguously aspossible thehighly unusual andcritical character ofthecircumstances,
andthat, unless such circumstances were met, anyaction taken under Article 6should bepreceded
byconsultations between theparties.
Notifications byBrazil andKorea under Article 6.10 oftheATC: imports ofartificial andsynthetic
fibre products ofcategories 611, 618, 619, 620and627
TheTMB noted that, with respect toallthecategories subject toagreement with Korea, Brazil
hadinvoked theprovisions ofparagraph 11ofArticle 6andapplied therestraints provisionally, asit
hadconsidered thatitsindustry wasexperiencing “highly unusual andcritical circumstances, where
delay would cause damage which would bedifficult torepair ”.Itobserved inthisregard thatBrazil
hadnotprovided toKorea initsmarket statements dataasuptodateascould beexpected tosubstantiate
thecritical circumstances. TheTMB recalled itsview10thatincases where theprovisions ofparagraph 11
ofArticle 6were invoked, theexpectation wasthattheelements envisaged inparagraphs 2,3and4of
Article 6would indicate asunambiguously aspossible thehighly unusual andcritical character ofthe
circumstances. TheTMB wasalsooftheview that, unless such circumstances were met, anyaction
taken under Article 6should bepreceded byconsultations between theparties.
10SeeG/TMB/R/20, paragraph 24.G/L/206
Page12
Category 611-woven fabrics containing 85percent ormore byweight ofartificial staple
TheTMB considered allthefactors mentioned [detailed inparagraphs 11to14,and16of
G/TMB/R/27], none ofwhich, either alone orcombined with other factors, cannecessarily givedecisive
guidance,inassessingwhethertheBrazilianindustryproducingproductsofcategory611wasexperiencing
serious damage. Bearing inmind alsoitsview thatproduct-specific information anddatashould have
amajor impact ontheoverall assessment whether serious damage oractual threat thereof could be
demonstrated,11theTMB concluded thatthecircumstances described inparagraph 2ofArticle 6were
observed inBrazil ’smarket forwoven fabrics containing 85percentormore byweight ofartificial
staple.
TheTMB further observed thatimports ofproducts ofcategory 611intoBrazil from Korea
hadincreased bymore that287percentinvolume from 1994 to1995, sothatKorea hadconsolidated
itsposition asthemain supplier ontheBrazilian market forcategory 611. Korea ’sshare ofthetotal
volume ofimports ofproducts ofcategory 611into Brazil hadincreased from 36.8 percent to
64.1 percentbetween 1994 and1995. Theaverage price ofimports ofproducts ofcategory 611from
Korea hadfallen over thesame period, andwas33percentbelow domestic prices in1995. TheTMB
therefore considered thatthecircumstances described inparagraph 2ofArticle 6could beattributed
toasharp andsubstantial increase inimports from Korea.
Onthebasis oftheabove considerations andbearing inmind thefactthatalltheelements of
theagreement, mentioned inparagraph 8[ofG/TMB/R/27], were inconformity with therelevant
paragraphs ofArticle 6,theTMB concluded thatthisrestraint measure agreed between Brazil andKorea
wasjustified inaccordance with theprovisions ofArticle 6oftheATC.
Category 618-woven artificial filament fabrics
Considering allthefactors mentioned [detailed inparagraphs 11to14,and20ofG/TMB/R/27],
none ofwhich, either alone orcombined with other factors, cannecessarily give decisive guidance,
andbearing inmind alsoitsview thatproduct-specific information anddatashould have amajor impact
ontheoverall assessment whether serious damage oractual threat thereof could bedemonstrated, the
TMB concluded thatthecircumstances described inparagraph 2ofArticle 6were observed inBrazil ’s
market forwoven artificial filament fabrics.
TheTMB further observed thatimports ofproducts ofcategory 618intoBrazil from Korea
hadincreased bymore that186percent involume from 1994 to1995, sothatKorea hadremained
thesecond supplier ontheBrazilian market forcategory 618,although Korea ’sshare ofthetotalvolume
ofimports ofproducts ofcategory 618intoBrazil haddecreased from 28.1 percentto24.5 percent.
Theaverage price ofimports ofproducts ofcategory 618from Korea hadfallen over thesame period.
TheTMB therefore considered thatthecircumstances described inparagraph 2ofArticle 6could be
attributed toasharp andsubstantial increase inimports from Korea.
Onthebasis oftheabove considerations andbearing inmind thefactthatalltheelements of
theagreement, mentioned inparagraph 8[ofG/TMB/R/27], were inconformity with therelevant
paragraphs ofArticle 6,theTMB concluded thatthisrestraint measure agreed between Brazil andKorea
onimports ofproducts ofcategory 618wasjustified inaccordance with theprovisions ofArticle 6
oftheATC.
11SeeG/TMB/R/26, paragraph 25.G/L/206
Page13
TheTMB further recalled that, inthecontext ofitsreview ofthesafeguard measure taken at
thesame time byBrazil onimports from Hong Kong ofproducts ofcategory 618, ithadobserved that
there were indications totheeffect thattheBrazilian industry producing products ofcategory 618had
alreadybeenundertakingimportantrestructuringandadjustment.InlightofthistheTMBhadconsidered
thatashorter period oftime than themaximum time-frame envisaged inparagraph 12(a) ofArticle 6
should enable theindustry inBrazil tosuccessfully accomplish itsadjustment tothechanged competitive
environment, andhadtherefore recommended thatthemeasure taken byBrazil against imports from
Hong Kong ofproducts ofcategory 618should berescinded atlatest by31December 1997.12
Category 619-polyester filament fabrics
TheTMB considered allthefactors mentioned [detailed inparagraphs 11to14,and25of
G/TMB/R/27], none ofwhich, either alone orcombined withother factors, cannecessarily givedecisive
guidance,inassessingwhethertheBrazilianindustryproducingproductsofcategory619wasexperiencing
serious damage. Bearing inmind alsoitsview thatproduct-specific information anddatashould have
amajor impact ontheoverall assessment whether serious damage oractual threat thereof could be
demonstrated, theTMB concluded thatthecircumstances described inparagraph 2ofArticle 6were
observed inBrazil ’smarket forpolyester filament fabrics.
TheTMB further observed thatimports ofproducts ofcategory 619intoBrazil from Korea
hadincreased bymore that139percentinvolume from 1994 to1995, sothatKorea hadconsolidated
itsposition asthemain supplier ontheBrazilian market forcategory 619. Korea ’sshare ofthetotal
volume ofimports ofproducts ofcategory 619intoBrazil hadincreased from 43.9 percent to60.1
percentbetween 1994 and1995. Theaverage price ofimports ofproducts ofcategory 619from Korea
hadfallen over thesame period, andwas44.4 percent below domestic prices in1995. TheTMB
therefore considered thatthecircumstances described inparagraph 2ofArticle 6could beattributed
toasharp andsubstantial increase inimports from Korea.
Onthebasis oftheabove considerations andbearing inmind thefactthatalltheelements of
theagreement, mentioned inparagraph 8[ofG/TMB/R/27], were inconformity with therelevant
paragraphs ofArticle 6,theTMB concluded thatthisrestraint measure agreed between Brazil andKorea
onimports ofproducts ofcategory 619wasjustified inaccordance with theprovisions ofArticle 6
oftheATC.
Category 620-other synthetic filament fabrics
TheTMB considered allthefactors mentioned [detailed inparagraphs 11to14,and29of
G/TMB/R/27], none ofwhich, either alone orcombined with other factors, cannecessarily givedecisive
guidance,inassessingwhethertheBrazilianindustryproducingproductsofcategory620wasexperiencing
serious damage. Bearing inmind alsoitsview thatproduct-specific information anddatashould have
amajor impact ontheoverall assessment whether serious damage oractual threat thereof could be
demonstrated, theTMB concluded thatthecircumstances described inparagraph 2ofArticle 6were
observed inBrazil ’smarket forother synthetic filament fabrics.
TheTMB further observed thatimports ofproducts ofcategory 620intoBrazil from Korea
hadincreased bymore that600percentinvolume from 1994 to1995, sothatKorea hadbecome the
main supplier ontheBrazilian market forcategory 620. Korea ’sshare ofthetotal volume ofimports
ofproducts ofcategory 620intoBrazil hadincreased from 24.9 percentto53.5 percentbetween 1994
12SeeG/TMB/R/20, paragraph 26.G/L/206
Page14
and1995. Theaverage price ofimports ofproducts ofcategory 620from Korea hadfallen over the
same period, andwas36.9 percent below theaverage domestic price in1995. TheTMB therefore
considered thatthecircumstances described inparagraph 2ofArticle 6could beattributed toasharp
andsubstantial increase inimports from Korea.
Onthebasis oftheabove considerations andbearing inmind thefactthatalltheelements of
theagreement, mentioned inparagraph 8[ofG/TMB/R/27], were inconformity with therelevant
paragraphs ofArticle 6,theTMB concluded thatthisrestraint measure agreed between Brazil andKorea
onimports ofproducts ofcategory 620wasjustified inaccordance with theprovisions ofArticle 6
oftheATC.
Category 627-sheeting ofstaple filament fibre combination
TheTMB considered allthefactors mentioned [detailed inparagraphs 11to14,and33of
G/TMB/R/27], none ofwhich, either alone orcombined with other factors, cannecessarily givedecisive
guidance,inassessingwhethertheBrazilianindustryproducingproductsofcategory627wasexperiencing
serious damage. Bearing inmind alsoitsview thatproduct-specific information anddatashould have
amajor impact ontheoverall assessment whether serious damage oractual threat thereof could be
demonstrated, theTMB concluded thatthecircumstances described inparagraph 2ofArticle 6were
observed inBrazil ’smarket forsheeting ofstaple filament fibre combination.
TheTMB further observed thatimports ofproducts ofcategory 627intoBrazil from Korea
hadincreased bymore that229percentinvolume from 1994 to1995, sothatKorea hadmaintained
itsposition asthemain supplier ontheBrazilian market forcategory 627, although Korea ’sshare of
thetotal volume ofimports ofproducts ofcategory 627intoBrazil haddecreased from 39.7 percent
to37.3 percentbetween 1994 and1995. Theaverage price ofimports ofproducts ofcategory 627
from Korea hadfallen over thesame period, andwas40.9 percentbelow theaverage domestic price
in1995. TheTMB therefore considered thatthecircumstances described inparagraph 2ofArticle 6
could beattributed toasharp andsubstantial increase inimports from Korea.
Onthebasis oftheabove considerations andbearing inmind thefactthatalltheelements of
theagreement, mentioned inparagraph 8[ofG/TMB/R/27], were inconformity with therelevant
paragraphs ofArticle 6,theTMB concluded thatthisrestraint measure agreed between Brazil andKorea
onimports ofproducts ofcategory 627wasjustified inaccordance with theprovisions ofArticle 6
oftheATC.SECTION XIV
WORKING PARTY ONSTATE TRADING ENTERPRISESWORLD TRADE G/L/198
17November 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-5029)
REPORT (1997) OFTHE WORKING PARTY ON
STATE TRADING ENTERPRISES
I. Organization ofthework oftheWorking Party
1. TheWorking Party onState Trading Enterprises wasestablished bytheCouncil forTrade
inGoods atitsmeeting on20February 1995 pursuant toparagraph 5oftheUnderstanding onthe
Interpretation ofArticle XVII oftheGeneral Agreement onTariffs andTrade 1994 (hereinafter "the
Understanding"). Membership oftheWorking Party isopentoallMembers indicating theirwishto
serve onit.Observer governments intheGeneral Council oftheWTO haveobserver status inthe
Working Party. During theperiod under review, Mr. Peter May (Australia) and
Mr.Jacques Teyssier d'Orfeuil (France) respectively served asChairman oftheWorking Party.
2. Themandate oftheWorking Party, assetoutinparagraph 5oftheUnderstanding, is:(1)to
review notifications andcounter-notifications onstatetrading; (2)toreview, inthelight ofthe
notifications received, theadequacy ofthequestionnaire onstatetrading (BISD 9S/184-185) andthe
coverage ofstatetrading enterprises notified under paragraph 1oftheUnderstanding; and(3)todevelop
anillustrative listshowing thekinds ofrelationships between governments andenterprises, andthe
kinds ofactivities, engaged inbythese enterprises, which mayberelevant forthepurposes of
Article XVII.
3. Thisreport issubmitted under paragraph 5oftheUnderstanding. Itsetsouttheactivities
oftheWorking Party during theperiod under review (November 1996 -November 1997).
4. Participants intheWorking Party'smeetings todateare:Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh,
Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic,
Egypt,ElSalvador,EuropeanCommunitiesandtheirmemberStates,HongKong1,Honduras,Hungary,
India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, NewZealand,
Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Slovak Republic, South Africa,
Switzerland,Thailand,Turkey,UnitedStates,Uruguay,VenezuelaandZambia.China,ChineseTaipei,
Russian Federation andVietnam participated asobservers.
5. TheWorking Party held three formal meetings during theperiod under review: on
18February 1997, 18July1997and14November 1997. TheMinutes oftheWorking Party'smeetings
arecontained indocuments G/STR/M/7 -9.Inaddition, theChairman convened seven informal
meetings withtheobjective ofadvancing work onthetasks mandated totheWorking Party inthe
Understanding.
II. Notification andreview ofMembers 'statetrading activities
6. AllMembers arerequired under Article XVII ofGATT 1994 andparagraph 1ofthe
Understanding tosubmit annually notifications oftheirstatetrading activities. Inthefirstandfourth
years, "new andfull"notifications arerequired, while intheintervening years anupdating notification
1Thename ofthisMember haschanged to"Hong Kong, China" asfrom 1July1997.G/L/198
Page2
istobemade indicating anychanges since thefullnotification. Ateachofthethree meetings, the
Chairmanmadeastatementconcerningtheneedfortimelycompliancewiththenotificationrequirements
under Article XVII andtheUnderstanding.
7. Since thefirstrequest for"new andfull"notifications ofstatetrading enterprises wascirculated
(inMarch 1995), suchnotifications havebeenreceived from 55Members, counting theEuropean
Communities andtheirmember States asone. Updating notifications for1996 havebeenreceived
from 28Members, andfor1997 from 16Members. (seetheAnnex tothisreport)
8. Atitsmeeting on18February 1997, theWorking Party conducted areview of:(1)newand
fullnotifications from Côted'Ivoire, ElSalvador, Iceland, Israel, Jamaica, Slovenia andTunisia;
updating notifications from Colombia, Indonesia, Japan, Slovak Republic, South Africa, Thailand,
PeruandtheUnited Arab Emirates. Anumber ofMembers raised detailed questions onsome ofthe
notifications, bothnewandupdating, andtheChairman commented thatsomeofthesequestions seemed
ofthenature ofcounter-notifications, ofwhich todatenonehadbeenmade.
9. Atitsmeeting on18July1997, theWorking Party conducted areview ofnewandfull
notifications from Botswana, Bulgaria, Mexico, Namibia andVenezuela, aswellasofupdating
notifications from Hungary, Korea, Mauritius, Pakistan andthePhilippines. Onedelegation raised
theissueofthedelay inwritten responses towritten questions submitted onthenotifications, andthe
Chairman stressed theneedforthewritten question-and-answer process toproceed inatimely fashion.
Thequestion andanswer documents arecarried intheseries G/STR/Q1/---.
10. Atitsmeeting on14November 1997, theWorking Party conducted areview ofnewandfull
notifications fromLiechtenstein andZambia, andreviewed updating notifications fromthefollowing
Members:Argentina,Canada,Chile,NewZealand,Norway,Peru,Romania,SouthAfrica,Switzerland,
Thailand, Turkey andtheUnited States. Anumber ofquestions wereputonseveral ofthenotifications,
andthere wasanexchange ofviews onwhether ornot,under certain circumstances, thegranting of
licences under tariff ratequotas mayconstitute anexclusive orspecial rightorprivilege inthesense
ofArticle XVII ortheUnderstanding.
III. Mandated work programme oftheWorking Party
11. Regarding itsmandated work programme, theWorking Party decided atitsmeeting in
February 1996 thatsubstantive work ontherevision ofthe1960 questionnaire onstatetrading and
thedevelopment ofanillustrative listwould betaken upininformal consultations opentoanyMember
wishing toparticipate.
12. Atthemeeting on18February, theChairman reported totheWorking Party ontheinformal
consultation hehadjustheldonthetwoissues. Hesaidthatwhile therewerestillproblems toresolve,
itappeared thattheGroup wasclose toreaching consensus onadrafttextofarevised questionnaire
(subsequently circulated asG/STR/W/30/Rev.1) thatcould beputtotheWorking Party andconsidered
foradoption. Healsoreported thatwhile work ontheillustrative listhadnotkeptpacewiththaton
thequestionnaire, therewereproposals onthetableanditwashoped thataworking textofanillustrative
listcould soonbedeveloped.
13. Atthemeeting on18July, theChairman reported totheWorking Party onthetwoinformal
consultations hehadheldonthetwoissues. Hesaidthattheearlier prognosis forconsensus onthe
draftrevised questionnaire hadproved tobetoooptimistic. While good progress hadbeenmade on
some parts ofthetext,other parts -particularly thetypeofstatistical information toberequested in
thequestionnaire -were proving quite difficult. Hewould continue theinformal consultations andG/L/198
Page3
wasencouraged byparticipants 'commitment toresolve theoutstanding differences. Healsorecalled
theneedforparallel work ontheillustrative listandthequestionnaire.
14. Atthemeeting on14November, itwasstressed byanumber ofMembers thatthedevelopment
ofanillustrative listshould assist inclarifying whatconstituted anexclusive orspecial rightorprivilege
inthesense ofArticle XVII andtheUnderstanding. TheChairman made aprogress report onthe
informal consultation hehadheldonthetwoissues. Hesaidthatgood progress hasbeenmade on
therevised draftquestionnaire andthatitseemed possible toreach agreement onafinaltextinthe
nearfuture. Work wasalsoaccelerating onanillustrative list,andaconsolidated drafttextwould
beconsidered atthenextinformal meeting. Hewould continue hisinformal consultations andhoped
toseebothtasks completed bytheearly partof1998, inorder toenable arevised questionnaire to
beputinplace forthesubmission ofnewandfullnotifications duein1998.G/L/198
Page4
ANNEX
NOTIFICATIONS2SUBMITTED BYWTO MEMBERS UNDER
ARTICLE XVII:4(a) OFGATT 1994 AND PARAGRAPH 1OFTHE
WTO UNDERSTANDING ONTHE INTERPRETATION OFARTICLE XVII
Status asof10November 1997
Member NewandFullNotification Updating
Notification
(1996)Updating
Notification
(1997)
Angola
Antigua andBarbuda
Argentina X X X
Australia X X
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados X
Belize
Benin
Bolivia
Botswana X
Brazil X
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria X
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Canada X X X
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile X X X
Colombia X X
Congo
Costa Rica X
2An"x"indicates thenotification hasbeenmade. Where a"newandfull"notification wassubmitted
laterthanthedeadline forupdating notifications, itwasconsidered asresponding alsototherelevant
request forupdating notifications.G/L/198
Page5
Member NewandFullNotification Updating
Notification
(1996)Updating
Notification
(1997)
Côted'Ivoire X
Cuba
Cyprus X
Czech Republic X
Democratic Republic oftheCongo
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
ElSalvador X
European Community X X
Fiji
Gabon
Gambia X
Ghana
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea Bissau
Guinea, Rep. of X
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras X
Hong Kong X X X
Hungary X X
Iceland X
India X
Indonesia X X
Israel X
Jamaica X
Japan X X X
Kenya
Korea X X
Kuwait
LesothoG/L/198
Page6
Member NewandFullNotification Updating
Notification
(1996)Updating
Notification
(1997)
Liechtenstein X X X
Macau X
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia X
Maldives
Mali
Malta X
Mauritania
Mauritius X X X
Mexico X X
Mongolia
Morocco X
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia X
NewZealand X X X
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Norway X X X
Pakistan X X X
Panama
Pap.NewGuinea
Paraguay
Peru X X X
Philippines X X
Poland X
Qatar
Romania X X X
Rwanda
Saint Kitts&Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent &Grenadines
SenegalG/L/198
Page7
Member NewandFullNotification Updating
Notification
(1996)Updating
Notification
(1997)
Sierra Leone
Singapore X X
Slovak Republic X X
Slovenia X
Solomon Islands
South Africa X X X
SriLanka
Suriname
Swaziland
Switzerland X X X
Tanzania
Thailand X X X
Togo
Trinidad &Tobago
Tunisia X
Turkey X X X
Uganda
United Arab Emirates X X
United States X X X
Uruguay X
Venezuela X
Zambia X
Zimbabwe
Total*55/117 28/117 16/117
*The denominator used here (117) reflects thefact that foreach obligation, theECsubmits asingle notification that covers all
15member States. The official total membership oftheWTO (132) includes theECplus the15individual member States.SECTION XV
BODIES ESTABLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OFTHE
COUNCIL FOR TRADE INGOODS
-COMMITTEE OFPARTICIPANTS ONTHE EXPANSION OF
TRADE ININFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTSWORLD TRADE G/L/216
5December 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-5336)
REPORT (1997) OFTHE COMMITTEE OFPARTICIPANTS ONTHE EXPANSION
OFTRADE ININFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS
1. TheCommittee ofParticipants ontheExpansion ofTrade inInformation Technology Products,
hereinafter referred toastheCommittee, wasestablished pursuant totheprovisions oftheMinisterial
Declaration onTrade inInformation Technology Products (WT/MIN(96)/16), hereafter referred to
astheMinisterial Declaration, andtheImplementation oftheMinisterial Declaration onTrade in
Information Technology Products (G/L/160), inorder tocarry outtheprovisions ofparagraphs 3,
5,6and7oftheAnnex totheDeclaration.
2. TheCommittee hasheldthree formal meetings in1997: on29September, 30October, and
3December. Theminutes ofthese meetings arecontained indocuments G/IT/M/1 toG/IT/M/3.
Itwasagreed thatMr.A.Hoda (Deputy Director General) would serve asChairman oftheCommittee
untilsuchtimeastheCommittee tookaformal decision ontheissue ofthechairmanship.
3. Membership intheCommittee isopentorepresentatives ofallparticipants. Atitsmeeting
of30October 1997, theCommittee adopted rules ofprocedure which provide forobserver status in
theCommittee toWTO Members which arenotparticipants totheMinisterial Declaration and
Governments thatareobservers totheCouncil forTrade inGoods. Furthermore, requests forobserver
status byinternational intergovernmental organizations willbeconsidered onacase-by-case basis.
Atthismeeting, itwasalsodecided thattheWorld Customs Organization (WCO) would begranted
observer status tomeetings where theissues ofHSclassification andHSamendments wereincluded
intheagenda.
4. During itsfirsttwomeetings, theCommittee discussed andtookdecisions, where necessary,
onorganizational matters inparticular onchairmanship, rulesofprocedure, observership, document
distribution, anddocument derestriction.
5. TheCommittee hasalsoreviewed thestatus ofimplementation, asummary ofwhich isprovided
indocument G/IT/1 anditsrevisions. Itwasnoted thatmostparticipants hadsubmitted theformal
documentation forrectification andmodification oftheirWTO schedules inorder toincorporate the
commitmentsarisingfromtheMinisterialDeclaration,andthatotherswhohadnotdoneso,hadindicated
thedocumentation would beforthcoming. Itwasfurther noted thatparticipants which were inthe
process ofacceding totheWTO were implementing thecommitments onanautonomous basis.
6. Pursuant totheprovisions oftheMinisterial Declaration, theCommittee metprior to
30September 1997toconsider theissueofdivergences inclassifying information technology products.
TheCommittee tooknoteofdocument G/IT/2 anditscorrigendum andaddendum, which provide an
overview ofthedivergences inclassification ofAttachment Bitems, andagreed tocontinue work on
thisissue.
./.G/L/216
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7. TheCommittee tooknoteofthetimeframe of1October to31December 1997forparticipants
tosubmit listsofadditional information technology products forpossible additional tariffconcessions.
Many participants indicated thatwork wasongoing onthismatter, andnoted thattheirlistswould be
forthcoming.
8. Other work oftheCommittee during itsfirstthree meetings concerned thefuture work
programme. Participants stated theirinterest inexamining non-tariff measures, specifically mentioning
standards andimport licensing, andmatters related totheprocedures toaddress theconcerns ofsmall-
andmedium-sized exporting participants regarding theirrights under Article XXVIII. Inregard to
thecoverage ofproducts ascontained intheMinisterial Declaration, itwasfurther agreed thatasurvey
would beconducted among theparticipants ontheiruseofmandatory technical regulations, mandatory
conformity assessment procedures, andinaddition theirapplication withrespect tothetwospecific
standards, namely IEC950andCISPR 22.
9. TheCommittee tooknoteoftheinterest expressed byLatvia andPanama tobecome participants
totheMinisterial Declaration.
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