RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/NOP/9
22August 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-3280)
Working Group onNotification
Obligations andProcedures
MEETING HELD ON3JULY 1996
Chairman: Mr.A.Shoyer (United States)
Note bytheSecretariat
1. Theagenda fortheninth meeting oftheWorking Group, inWTO/AIR/361 of18June1996,
wasadopted.
2. TheChairman commented thatthecurrent meeting would bethelastopportunity fordetailed,
substantive discussions onthesubjects intheGroup 'sagenda. When itreconvened inSeptember the
main taskwould betoputthefinishing touches onanysubjects notconcluded atthismeeting andto
concentrate ondeveloping theGroup 'sconclusions andrecommendations forthereport totheCTG.
ThereaftertheChairmanandtheSecretariatwouldprepareandcirculateadraftreport,andatthemeeting
on3October thegoalwould betofinalize thereport. Heappealed toparticipants tomake every effort
tobring forward theirfurther ideas andtomove towards conclusions onasmuch oftheagenda as
possible.
Agenda Item2A Duplication/Overlapping inNotification Obligations intheAreaofAgriculture/
Subsidies
3. TheChairmanpresentedadraftChairman'sText(G/NOP/W/15)whichcontainedtwocomplete,
proposed documents which could beadopted andissued bytherespective committees asrevisions to
theexisting documents, G/AG/2 andG/SCM/6. These proposed documents (inG/NOP/W/15) included
themodified notification formats theGroup hadbeendiscussing. Thecover noteexplained thechanges
fromtheoriginal proposed documents which reflected thesuggestions thatparticipants hadputforward
atthelasttwomeetings.
4. Anumber ofparticipants noted thatthisdraftdocument hadjustbeenreceived andmore time
would beneeded toexamine itindetail. Some commented thattheyhadhoped therevised formats
would haveincluded some elements ofstreamlining andmodification butaccepted thatthedocument
aspresented wasapositive approach toimproving theprocedures withrespect toagriculture subsidy
notifications.
5. Oneparticipant commented thatthelastparagraph ofthecover notecould usefully beincluded
intheformats themselves andasked when theywould actually beapplied, noting thatMembers were
already intheprocess ofpreparing theirnotifications inthisarea. TheChairman suggested, inresponse
tothese comments, thattheymight beincluded intheGroup 'sreport onthisaspect ofitswork. He
alsonoted thattheoutcome oftheGroup 'sdiscussions would taketheform ofarecommendation to
theCTG forwhatever action theymight deem appropriate. Inthemeantime existing formats and
procedures would continue tobeused. Heurged allparticipants togiveconsideration totheproposed
textwithaviewtofinalizing theirdecision onitattheGroup 'sSeptember meeting.G/NOP/9
Page2
Agenda Item2B TheQuestion ofCompliance withNotification Obligations
6. TheChairman recalled thattheGroup hadspent considerable timelastyearandearlier this
yearlooking atthenotification systems -thequestionnaires, formats andguidelines -andheobserved
thattheGroup havenotfound anymajor deficiencies inthese aspects ofthenotification process. He
recalled some delegations saying thatoncetheirdomestic procedures wereputinplace andthefirst
notifications prepared, thesystem wasnotasformidable asoncethought. They anticipated thatthe
second round ofnotifications would bemuch easier toprepare. Healsocommented thattheGroup
hadfound initslastfewmeetings thatthisagenda item-compliance withnotification obligations -
andthenextitem-assistance todeveloping countries -were areas where theGroup could make an
important contribution toimproving thesystem. Iftheycould identify whyMembers were having
difficulty inmeeting theirobligations, theywould bebetter placed tocome upwithideas onhowto
assist them.
7. Herecalled thesuggestions made atanearlier meeting thatcompliance might beimproved
ifMembers established acentral entity inthecapital tooversee andcoordinate theentire notification
process. Some participants hadexpressed theviewthatthisideawould bedifficult toputintoafirm
recommendation butitmight haveaplace asanobservation oftheGroup. Heasked iftheGroup
might envisage, initsreport, toatleastsuggest thatacentral entity tocoordinate theflowifinformation
inthetwodirections might beahelpful means toimprove compliance?
8. Oneparticipant wondered howthisconcept might bereflected intheGroup 'sreport asmany
Members hadalready established various internal procedures tomeettheirnotification obligations and
asitwasnotclearifthesameformula would beappropriate toallMembers. Inresponse, theChairman
commented thattheGroup could reflect thisideaasanobservation that,onthebasisoftheirdiscussions,
itwasconsidered thatsome formofcentral coordination might behelpful inimproving thepreparation
andsubmission ofnotifications. Thecentral coordination neednotbethesame forallMembers in
recognitionofthedifferentstructures,problemsandnaturesofthenotificationrequirementsinMembers.
9. TheChairman thenturned toanother suggestion advanced earlier thatgeneral guidelines could
bedeveloped forthevarious WTO committees fortheperiodic review ofquestionnaires orrequiring
thatchairpersons remind Members oftheiroutstanding obligations before eachmeeting. Again, it
wasnotclearifthissuggestion might bestbeframed asarecommendation oranobservation. Another
possible approach would betodevelop arecommendation thattheCTG prepare guidelines applicable
tothecommittees under itspurview requiring theregular review ofquestionnaires andformats and
publication ofthesituation asregards notification. Suchregular review ofthesystem andtheresulting
transparency might alsogosome waytoimproving compliance.
10. Onthegeneraltopicofcompliance,oneparticipantsuggestedthatthedetailedlistofnotifications
received from eachoftheMembers (G/NOP/W/14) might notbeappropriate foranyreport going
totheSingapore Ministerial Meeting. Inresponse, theChairman recalled thatthisGroup would be
reporting totheCTGandwould havenoinput totheformthatinformation onthistopicwoldbepassed
totheSingapore Meeting. Another participant commented thatthelackofnotifications wasaserious
problem which wasverydifficult toaddress. Onemethod ofencouraging compliance, intheabsence
ofother sanctions, wastopublicize theoverall situation. Thiswould beapositive inducement to
Members while alsoproviding useful information onthegeneral compliance situation.
11. Alsoonthesubject ofcompliance withnotification obligations, itwasstressed thatmuch could
bedoneinthecommittees toevaluate bothonaqualitative andaquantitative basis whycompliance
rates were solow. Auseful toolindealing with non-compliance would betheuseof
counter-notifications. Inthisregard, oneparticipant observed thatthemore active thecommittees
were inthisareaandthemore persistent inrequesting notifications, thehigher were theirratesofG/NOP/9
Page3
compliance. Nevertheless, itwasrecognized thatthenotification system hadbeenineffect foronly
eighteen months andfurther experience would berequired toobtain aclearer picture ofitseffectiveness.
Therefore, itwasimportant thattheGroup 'sreport include some reference toafuture review of
notification obligations. Itwasalsosuggested thatadvances ininformation technology should also
beconsidered under thistopic. Possibilities included thesubmission ofinformation through electronic
transmission.
Agenda Item2C AssistancetoSomeDevelopingCountriesinMeetingtheirNotificationObligations
12. TheChairman referred totheproposal forapractical handbook onnotification obligations.
Henoted thattheGroup hadelaborated thestructure andcontent ofthishandbook about asmuch as
itcould. TheGroup haddecided onseparate handbooks foreachofthegoods agreements; theywould
eachbedivided intofoursections containing (i)ageneral overview; (ii)alisting ofallnotifications;
(iii)alldocuments issued bytherespective committees containing questionnaire/formats/guidelines,
andfinally, (iv)"mock samples" ofcompleted notifications. Atthelastmeeting participants hadbeen
presentedwithactualsamplesoftwocompletedsectionsofthishandbookandtheirviewsonthestructure
ofthehandbook hadbeenreflected intheSecretariat Note onthese discussions (G/NOP/8).
13. Hethenstated thatmany delegations hadindicated thatthisinformation would bemostuseful
ifitcould bemade available assoonaspossible andasitappeared thatno-one haddifficulty withthe
concept ofahandbook andthere wasbroad agreement onitsstructure andcontents, heproposed that
work should proceed onthepreparation ofthishandbook.
14. TheChairman invited thecomments oftheDirector oftheTechnical Co-operation andTraining
Division onthissuggestion. Mr.Campeas stated thatmany delegations hadsought assistance incarrying
outtheirnotificationobligationsand,inresponse,workhadproceededonthepreparationofthehandbook
aspartofthatDivision 'sregular work programme. Thestructure andcontent asdeveloped bythe
Group hadbeenadopted asguidelines forthepreparation ofthishandbook. Inaddition tothetwo
sections prepared forconsideration oftheGroup atthelastmeeting, ontheAgreements onAgriculture
andTechnical Barriers toTrade, work wasproceeding ontwoadditional sections withtheintention
ofcompletingthesebeforethesummerbreak.WorkwouldcontinueintheAutumnonadditionalsections
tobecirculated asavailable rather thanwaiting forallsections tobeassembled.
15. Anumber ofparticipants supported theinitiative toproceed withthework asthiswould put
thehandbook intoapplication much soonthanotherwise possible. Oneparticipant suggested thatthe
textoftherelevant agreements beincluded asafifthsection ineachhandbook andthiswasaccepted.
Some concern wasexpressed withrespect tothe"mock samples" astherehadbeendifferences ofviews
insome committees about howcertain notifications should becompleted. Itwassuggested thatthere
should besome form oflinkwiththecommittees toensure thatthese concerns were recognized in
thepreparation ofthe"mock samples". Inthisregard itwaspointed outthatthesamples would be
prepared bytheSecretariat officials who, inmostcases, would alsobethesecretaries oftheconcerned
committees. These individuals would haveanunderstanding ofthestatus ofdiscussions andofany
points ofsensitivity. Eachcommittee could alsobeprovided withacopyoftherespective handbook,
forinformation. Inaddition, there would beadisclaimer inthehandbooks thattheywere notlegal
interpretations oftheagreements butwereaproduct oftheSecretariat 'stechnical assistance programme.
Itwasalsonoted thatthehandbooks would beprepared inloose-leaf format, facilitating update, as
required.
16. Hethenrecalled thesuggestion byNorway atthelastmeeting thataparticular orspecial form
ofassistance tosome developing countries should beconsidered. Theideawastoprovide longer term
andintensive assistance focusing ondeveloping thesystems orstructures inthedeveloping countriesG/NOP/9
Page4
andparticularly theLLDCs, possibly incooperation withother organizations tobuild thecapacity to
respond tothenotification requirements aswellasproviding thetraining ontheinformational needs.
17. Thedelegate ofNorway confirmed thattheirsuggestion hadbeenfullysetoutintheNoteon
thelastmeeting (G/NOP/8, paragraph 23)andadded thatconsideration should alsobegiven tothe
financial implications ofthisproposal. Shenoted thatafundhadbeenestablished towhich Norway
hadcontributed andinwhich some other Members wereconsidering participation. Oncondition that
there were clearly defined technical projects developed fortheareaunder discussion, thiscould be
acandidate fortheuseofsome ofthese funds.
18. TheChairman commented thatthisproposal envisaged anewprogramme interms ofresources
andstaffandnotsimply onextension ofcurrent activities. Itwould require apoolofknowledgeable
people willing tospend sufficient timeintherecipient countries. Healsorecalled asuggestion made
earlier intheGroup 'swork foranexchange ofexperts, thatis,Member governments could offerthe
services oftheirofficials toserve temporarily inthedeveloping countries toassist inthisarea. The
Chairman noted inrespect ofthese suggestions thattheGroup wasconsidering recommendations to
theCTG and,insodoing, itwould havetopoint tothebudget implications butneednotgointoa
fullanalysis ofthisaspect.
19. ThesecondproposalbyNorwaywasthattheGroupshouldlookatthecontentofthe"reminders"
thatMemberswerereceivingfromtheCentralRegistryofNotifications.Keepinginmindthedifficulties
ofdeveloping countries inprocessing themassofinformation theyreceive fromtheWTO, itappeared
thatthereminders fromtheCRN weredifficult tounderstand inthattheyreferred onlytotheprovision
oftheagreements, without a"word" description oftheobligation. Ithadbeensuggested thattheGroup
should transmit amessage totheCRN that,although theyhaddoneagood jobingetting thissystem
started, andthatitwashelpful toMembers, further workshould bedonetomake thereminders simpler,
more understandable, andmore pedagogic. Forinstance, theCRN reminders could havereferences
tosections inthehandbook ortheycould contain simple information onthenotification requirements.
20. Oneparticipant questioned therelationship ofthenotification obligations listed intheCRN
"reminder"tothelistofallnotificationrequirementsprovidedearlierbytheSecretariat.Itwasexplained
thattheCRN "reminders" covered onlytheone-time orperiodic obligations thatcould beidentified
fortheMember concerned butexcluded theadhocrequirements. TheChairman suggested thatsome
form oflanguage could beprepared fortheGroup 'sconsideration inSeptember suggesting ways to
ensure thattheCRN'sreminders were ascomplete andclear aspossible.
Agenda Item2D NotificationObligationsPursuanttoDecisionsbytheGATT1947CONTRACTING
PARTIES
21. TheChairman recalled thatatthelasttwomeetings hehadlisted some examples ofnotification
obligations created inpastyears bytheGATT 1947 CONTRACTING PARTIES which appeared to
beobsolete orredundant inthecurrent situation. Itwaspossible thatthesituation asregards the
Decisions relating toQuantitative Restrictions, andNon-tariff Measures andtoImport Licensing was
different fromthatoftheother two,Marks ofOrigin andLiquidation ofStrategic Stocks. TheCP's
Decisions onQRsandNTMs hadbeenclearly superseded bytheCTG Decisions of1December 1995
(G/L/59 and60)andbythenewprocesses which theyhadestablished. Theformer import licensing
procedures established bytheCP'sDecision hadalsobeensuperseded bythenewQuestionnaire on
Import Licensing (G/LIC/3).
22. Oneparticipant expressed agreement with asuggestion made atthelastmeeting thata
recommendation could bemade totheCTG thattheDecisions oftheGATT 1947 CONTRACTING
PARTIES onQRs/NTMs andImport Licensing werenowobsolete andshould bedeleted. ItwasnotG/NOP/9
Page5
clear, however, whatwould betheappropriate procedure. TheChairman suggested thatoneapproach
would betomake arecommendation totheCTG thattheGeneral Council should taketherequired
steps todelete these Decisions. Another approach would befortheCTG toasktheappropriate
committees toreview thefurther needfortheseDecisions withaviewtodeveloping recommendations
totheGeneral Council fortheirdeletion. Heundertook tosuggest specific language forconsideration
atthenextmeeting.
Agenda Item2E Preparation ofWorking Group 'sReport totheCTG
23. TheChairman saidthatitwasnothisintention togotoodeeply intothissubject atthismeeting-
thatwould betheGroup 'staskinSeptember. Butinthecoming weeks heandtheSecretariat would
havetostartdrafting, sohewanted togivetheGroup theopportunity togiveatleastpreliminary ideas,
guidance orevencautions concerning thereport. Heenvisaged adescriptive report covering thesix
broad topics which theGroup hadaddressed andsetting outunder eachthediscussions, points raised
andsuggestions made, leading tothefinalconclusions, and/or recommendations. Healsoanticipated
asection withobservations ontheGroup 'sfindings inregard tothetwokeyareasofitsexamination -the
overall notification system, howithadbeenoperating during itsfirstyearandahalf,andtheimportance
ofassistance toMembers inmeeting theirobligations.
Agenda Item2F Other Business
24. Thenextmeeting would takeplaceonFriday, 13September inthemorning. Thiswasachange
from thepreviously scheduled date.