WORLD TRADE G/L/144
11March 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-0891)
RULES OFPROCEDURE FOR MEETINGS OF
THE COMMITTEE ONSUBSIDIES AND COUNTERVAILING MEASURES*
Approved bytheCouncil forTrade inGoods on22May1996
Chapter I—Meetings
Rule1
TheCommittee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures shallmeet notlessthantwice a
yearinregular session, andotherwise asappropriate.
Rule2
Meetings oftheCommittee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures shallbeconvened by
theDirector-General byanotice issued preferably threeweeks, butinanycase,notlessthantencalendar
dayspriortothedatesetforthemeeting. Intheevent thatthetenthdayfallsonaweekend oraholiday,
thenotice shallbeissued nolaterthanthepreceding WTO working day. Meetings maybeconvened
withshorter notice formatters ofsignificant importance orurgency attherequest ofaMember concurred
inbythemajority oftheMembers.
Chapter II—Agenda
Rule3
Alistoftheitems proposed fortheagenda ofthemeeting shallbecommunicated toMembers
together withtheconvening notice forthemeeting. ItshallbeopentoanyMember tosuggest items
forinclusion intheproposed agenda upto,andnotincluding, thedayonwhich thenotice ofthemeeting
istobeissued.
Rule4
Requests foritems tobeplaced ontheagenda ofaforthcoming meeting shallbecommunicated
totheSecretariat inwriting, together withtheaccompanying documentation tobeissued inconnection
withthatitem. Documentation forconsideration atameeting shallbecirculated preferably threeweeks,
butinanycasenotlaterthantencalendar daysprior tothedatesetforthemeeting.
*These rules follow therules adopted bytheGeneral Council, incorporating changes made bytheCouncil forTrade
inGoods initsrules, withrelevant changes tomake therules applicable totheCommittee. Where aparticular provision
isindicated asbeing "notapplicable", itmeans thatthecorrespondingly numbered provision oftheGeneral Council 'srules
isnotapplicable totheCommittee 'sproceedings.G/L/144
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Rule5
Notapplicable.
Rule6
Thefirstitemofbusiness ateachmeeting shallbetheconsideration andapproval oftheagenda.
Representatives maysuggest amendments totheproposed agenda, oradditions totheagenda under
"Other Business". Representatives shall provide theChairperson ortheSecretariat, andtheother
Members directly concerned, whenever possible, advance notice ofitems intended toberaised under
"Other Business".
Rule7
TheCommitteeonSubsidiesandCountervailingMeasuresmayamendtheagendaorgivepriority
tocertain items atanytimeinthecourse ofthemeeting.
Chapter III—Representation
Rule8
Each Member shallberepresented byanaccredited representative.
Rule9
Eachrepresentative maybeaccompanied bysuchalternates andadvisers astherepresentative
mayrequire.
Chapter IV—Observers
Rule10
Representatives ofStates orseparate customs territories mayattend themeetings asobservers
ontheinvitation oftheCommittee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures inaccordance with
paragraphs 9to11oftheguidelines inAnnex 2totheRules ofProcedure oftheGeneral Council.
Rule11
Representatives ofinternational intergovernmental organizations mayattend themeetings as
observers ontheinvitation oftheCommittee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures inaccordance
withtheguidelines inAnnex 3totheRules ofProcedure oftheGeneral Council.G/L/144
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Chapter V—Officers
Rule12
TheCommittee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures shallelectaChairperson1andmay
electaVice-Chairperson fromamong therepresentatives ofMembers. Theelection shalltakeplace
atthefirstregular meeting oftheyearandshalltakeeffect attheendofthemeeting. TheChairperson
andVice-Chairperson shallholdoffice untiltheendofthefirstregular meeting ofthefollowing year.
Rule13
IftheChairpersonisabsentfromanymeetingorpartthereof,theVice-Chairpersonshallperform
thefunctions oftheChairperson. IfnoVice-Chairperson waselected oriftheVice-Chairperson is
notpresent, theCommittee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures shallelectaninterim Chairperson
forthatmeeting orthatpartofthemeeting.
Rule14
IftheChairpersoncannolongerperformthefunctionsoftheoffice,theCommitteeonSubsidies
andCountervailing Measures shalldesignate theVice-Chairperson referred toinRule12or,ifno
Vice-Chairperson waselected, shallelectaninterim Chairperson, toperform those functions pending
theelection ofanewChairperson.
Rule15
TheChairperson shall normally participate intheproceedings assuch andnotasthe
representative ofaMember. TheChairperson may, however, atanytimerequest permission toact
inthelatter capacity.
Chapter VI—Conduct ofbusiness
Rule16
Notapplicable.
Rule17
Inaddition toexercising thepowers conferred elsewhere bythese rules, theChairperson shall
declare theopening andclosing ofeachmeeting, shalldirect thediscussion, accord therighttospeak,
submit questions fordecision, announce decisions, ruleonpoints oforder and,subject tothese rules,
havecomplete control oftheproceedings. TheChairperson mayalsocallaspeaker toorder ifthe
remarks ofthespeaker arenotrelevant.
1TheCommittee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures shallapply therelevant guidelines contained inthe"Guidelines
forAppointment ofOfficers toWTO Bodies" (WT/L/31 dated 7February 1995).G/L/144
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Rule18
During thediscussion ofanymatter, arepresentative mayraiseapoint oforder. Inthiscase
theChairperson shallimmediately statetheruling. Iftheruling ischallenged, theChairperson shall
immediately submit itfordecision anditshallstand unless overruled.
Rule19
During thediscussion ofanymatter, arepresentative maymove theadjournment ofthedebate.
Anysuchmotion shallhavepriority. Inaddition totheproponent ofthemotion, onerepresentative
maybeallowed tospeak infavour of,andtworepresentatives against, themotion, afterwhich the
motion shallbesubmitted fordecision immediately.
Rule20
Arepresentative mayatanytimemove theclosure ofthedebate. Inaddition totheproponent
ofthemotion, notmore thanonerepresentative maybegranted permission tospeak infavour ofthe
motion andnotmore thantworepresentatives maybegranted permission tospeak against themotion,
afterwhich themotion shallbesubmitted fordecision immediately.
Rule21
During thecourse ofthedebate, theChairperson mayannounce thelistofspeakers and,with
theconsent ofthemeeting, declare thelistclosed. TheChairperson may, however, accord theright
ofreply toanyrepresentative ifaspeech delivered afterthelisthasbeendeclared closed makes this
desirable.
Rule22
TheChairperson, withtheconsent ofthemeeting, maylimitthetimeallowed toeachspeaker.
Rule23
Representatives shall endeavour, totheextent thatasituation permits, tokeep their oral
statements brief. Representatives wishing todevelop theirposition onaparticular matter infuller detail
maycirculate awritten statement fordistribution toMembers, thesummary ofwhich, atthe
representative 'srequest, may bereflected intherecords oftheCommittee onSubsidies and
Countervailing Measures.
Rule24
Inorder toexpedite theconduct ofbusiness, theChairperson mayinvite representatives that
wishtoexpress theirsupport foragiven proposal toshow theirhands, inorder tobedulyrecorded
intherecords oftheCommittee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures assupporting statements;
thus,onlyrepresentatives withdissenting views orwishing tomake explicit points orproposals would
actually beinvited tomake astatement. Thisprocedure shallonlybeapplied inorder toavoid undue
repetition ofpoints already made, andwillnotpreclude anyrepresentative whosowishes fromtaking
thefloor.G/L/144
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Rule25
Representatives should avoid unduly longdebates under "Other Business". Discussions on
substantive issues under "Other Business" shall beavoided, andtheCommittee onSubsidies and
Countervailing Measures shall limit itself totaking noteoftheannouncement bythesponsoring
delegation, aswellasanyreactions tosuchanannouncement byother delegations directly concerned.
Rule26
While theCommittee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures isnotexpected totakeaction
inrespect ofanitemintroduced as"Other Business", nothing shallprevent theCommittee onSubsidies
andCountervailing Measures, ifitsodecides, totakeaction inrespect ofanysuchitemataparticular
meeting, orinrespect ofanyitemforwhich documentation wasnotcirculated atleasttencalendar
daysinadvance.
Rule27
Representatives should make every effort toavoid therepetition ofafulldebate ateachmeeting
onanyissue thathasalready beenfullydebated inthepastandonwhich there appears tohavebeen
nochange inMembers 'positions already onrecord.
Rule28
Proposals andamendments toproposals shallnormally beintroduced inwriting andcirculated
toallrepresentatives notlaterthantwelve hours before thecommencement ofthemeeting atwhich
theyaretobediscussed.
Rule29
Iftwoormore proposals aremoved relating tothesamequestion, themeeting shallfirstdecide
onthemost far-reaching proposal andthenonthenextmost far-reaching proposal andsoon.
Rule30
When anamendment ismoved toaproposal, theamendment shallbesubmitted fordecision
firstand,ifitisadopted, theamended proposal shallthenbesubmitted fordecision.
Rule31
When twoormore amendments aremoved toaproposal, themeeting shalldecide firston
theamendment farthest removed insubstance from theoriginal proposal, then, ifnecessary, onthe
amendment nextfarthest removed, andsoonuntilalltheamendments havebeensubmitted fordecision.
Rule32
Parts ofaproposal maybedecided onseparately ifarepresentative requests thattheproposal
bedivided.G/L/144
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Chapter VII—Decision-Making
Rule33
Where adecision cannotbearrived atbyconsensus, thematter atissue shallbereferred to
theCouncil forTrade inGoods.
Rule34
Notapplicable.
Chapter VIII—Languages
Rule35
English, French andSpanish shallbetheworking languages.
Chapter IX—Records
Rule36
Records ofthediscussions oftheCommittee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures shall
beintheform ofminutes.2
Chapter X—Publicity ofmeetings
Rule37
Themeetings oftheCommittee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures shallordinarily
beheldinprivate. Itmaybedecided thataparticular meeting ormeetings should beheldinpublic.
Rule38
After aprivate meeting hasbeenheld, theChairperson mayissueacommuniqué tothePress.
Chapter XI—Revision
Rule39
TheCommittee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures maydecide atanytimetorevise
these rules oranypartofthem.
2Thecustomary practice under theGATT 1947, whereby representatives may, upon theirrequest, verify those portions
ofthedraft records containing their statements, prior totheissuance ofsuch records, shall becontinued.