WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/L/491
11 October 2001
(01-4956)
REPORT (2001) OF THE WORKING PARTY ON
STATE TRADING ENTERPRISES1
I. ORGANIZATION OF THE WORK OF THE WORKING PARTY
1. The Working Party on State Trading Enterprises was established by the Council for Trade in
Goods at its meeting of 20 February 1995, pursuant to paragraph 5 of the Understanding on the
Interpretation of Article XVII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (hereinafter "the
Understanding").  Membership of the Working Part y is open to all Members indicating their wish to
serve on it.  Observer governments in the General Council of the WTO have observer status in theWorking Party.  During the period under review (21 November 2000 – 9 October 2001), first
Mr. Breffini Carpenter (Ireland), and then Ms. Maij a Manika (Latvia), served as Chair of the Working
Party.
2. The mandate of the Working Party, as set out in paragraph 5 of the Understanding, is: (i) to
review notifications and counter-notifications on stat e trading;  (ii) to review, in the light of the
notifications received, the adequacy of the questionnaire on state trading (BISD 9S/184) and the
coverage of state trading enterprises notified under paragraph 1 of the Understanding;  and (iii) to
develop an illustrative list showing the kinds of  relationships between governments and enterprises,
and the kinds of activities engaged in by these enterprises, which may be relevant for the purposes of
Article XVII of GATT 1994.
3. This Report is submitted under paragraph 5 of the Understanding.   It sets out the activities of
the Working Party during the period under review.
4. Participants in the Working Party's meetings to date are: Argentina; Australia; Bangladesh;
Brazil; Brunei Darussalam; Burundi; Canada; Chile; Colombia; Costa Rica; Cuba; Cyprus;
Czech Republic; Egypt; El Salvador; European Communities; Guatemala; Hong Kong, China;
Honduras; Hungary; Iceland; India; Indonesia; Israel; Japan; Korea; Latvia; Malaysia; Malta;
Mauritius; Mexico; Morocco; New Zealand; Norway; Pakistan; Paraguay; Peru; Philippines; Poland;Romania; Singapore; Slovak Republic; South Africa; Switzerland; Thailand; Trinidad and Tobago;
Turkey; United States; Uruguay; Venezuela; and Zambia.  China,  P.R.; Chinese Taipei; Ethiopia;
Jordan; Russian Federation; Saudi Arabia; Sudan; and Vietnam participated as observers.
5. The Working Party held one formal meeting during the period under review, on
9 October 2001.  The Minutes of this meeting will be circulated in document G/STR/M/19.
                                                     
1 As agreed by the Council for Trade in Goods at its meeting of 5 October 2001, this report is being
forwarded directly to the General Council following adoption by the Working Party on State Trading
Enterprises at its meeting of 9 October 2001.G/L/491
Page 2
II. NOTIFICATION AND REVIEW OF MEMBERS' STATE TRADING ACTIVITIES
6. Under Article XVII of GATT 1994 and paragraph 1 of the Understanding, all Members of the
WTO are required to submit annual notifications of their state trading activities.  New and full
notifications were first required in 1995 and, subsequently, every third year thereafter, while updating
notifications are to be made in the intervening years, indicating any changes since the last new andfull notification.  At the formal meeting held during the period under review, the Chairman made a
statement concerning the need for timely compliance with notification requirements.
7. New and full notifications for 2001 have been received from 25 Members and for 1998 from
45 Members.  Updating notifications for 2000 have been received from 34 Members and for 1999
from 38 Members.
2  (See Annex to this Report.)
8. At its meeting of 9 October 2001, the Working Party reviewed 57 notifications: 2001 new and
full notifications of Bolivia; Burundi; Chad; Czech Republic; Estonia; Ghana; Guatemala; HongKong, China; Jamaica; Japan; Liechtenstein; Latvia; Macao, China; Malta; Mongolia; New Zealand;
Oman; Panama; Romania; Slovenia; South Africa; Switzerland; and Thailand; 2000 updating
notifications of Dominica; El Salvador; Guatemala; Jordan; Liechtenstein; Pakistan; Panama; Poland;
Romania; St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Slovak Republic; South Africa; Switzerland; and Uganda;
1999 updating notifications of Dominica; El Salvador; Jordan; Pakistan; Panama; Poland; Romania;St. Vincent and the Grenadines; South Africa; and Uganda; 1998 new and full notifications of
Dominica; El Salvador; Jordan; Pakistan; Panama; Poland; Romania; St. Vincent and the Grenadines;
South Africa; and Uganda.  In addition, the 2000 and 1999 updating and 1998 new and full
notifications of Bahrain and the 1999 updating and 1998 new and full notifications of Switzerland –
reviewed at the Working Party's meeting of 20 November 2000 – were also on the agenda at themeeting of 9 October 2001 on the request of Argentina, which had posed questions on those
notifications.  At that meeting, the Working Party also adopted its Annual Report to the Council for
Trade in Goods for the year 2001.
                                                     
2 The European Communities and its Member States are counted as one Member.G/L/491
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ANNEX
NOTIFICATIONS SUBMITTED BY WTO MEMBERS UNDER
ARTICLE XVII:4(A) OF GATT 1994 AND PARAGRAPH 1 OF THE
UNDERSTANDING ON THE INTERPRETATION OF ARTICLE XVII
Status as of 9 October 20013
Member New and Full
Notification
(1998)
G/STR/N/4Updating
Notification
(1999)
G/STR/N/5Updating
Notification
(2000)
G/STR/N/6New and Full
Notification
(2001)
G/STR/N/7
Albania n.a. n.a.
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina X X
Australia X X
B a h r a i n XXX
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belize
Benin
Bolivia X X X
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi X
Cameroon
Canada
Central African Republic
C h a d XXX X
C h i l e XXX X
Colombia X
Congo
Costa Rica X
Côte d'Ivoire
Croatia n.a. n.a. n.a.
                                                     
3An "X" indicates that a notification has been made.  An "n.a." indicates that the notification obligation
did not apply to the country in question as it was not a WTO Member at the time.G/L/491
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Member New and Full
Notification
(1998)
G/STR/N/4Updating
Notification
(1999)
G/STR/N/5Updating
Notification
(2000)
G/STR/N/6New and Full
Notification
(2001)
G/STR/N/7
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic X X X X
Democratic Republic of
the Congo
Djibouti
D o m i n i c a XXX
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt X
E l  S a l v a d o r XXX
Estonia n.a. n.a. X
European Communities X
Fiji X
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia n.a. n.a.
Ghana X
Grenada
Guatemala X X X X
Guinea Bissau
Guinea, Republic of
Guyana
H a i t i XXX
Honduras
Hong Kong, China X X X X
Hungary X X X
Iceland X X
India X
Indonesia X
Israel
Jamaica X
Japan X X
Jordan n.a. n.a. X
Kenya
Korea, Republic of XG/L/491
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Member New and Full
Notification
(1998)
G/STR/N/4Updating
Notification
(1999)
G/STR/N/5Updating
Notification
(2000)
G/STR/N/6New and Full
Notification
(2001)
G/STR/N/7
Kuwait
Kyrgyz Republic n.a.
Latvia X X X X
Lesotho
Liechtenstein X X X X
Lithuania n.a. n.a. n.a.
Macao, China X X X X
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali X
Malta X X X
Mauritania
Mauritius
M e x i c o XXX
Moldova n.a. n.a. n.a.
Mongolia X X X X
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
N a m i b i a XXX
New Zealand X X X X
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
N o r w a y XXX
Oman n.a. n.a. X
P a k i s t a n XXX
P a n a m a XXX X
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay X
Peru
Philippines
P o l a n d XXX
Qatar XG/L/491
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Member New and Full
Notification
(1998)
G/STR/N/4Updating
Notification
(1999)
G/STR/N/5Updating
Notification
(2000)
G/STR/N/6New and Full
Notification
(2001)
G/STR/N/7
R o m a n i a XXX X
Rwanda
Saint Kitts & Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent &
GrenadinesXXX
Senegal
Sierra Leone
S i n g a p o r e XXX
Slovak Republic X X X
S l o v e n i a XXX X
Solomon Islands
S o u t h  A f r i c a XXX X
Sri Lanka
Suriname
Swaziland
Switzerland X X X X
Tanzania
Thailand X
Togo
Trinidad & Tobago X
Tunisia
T u r k e y XXX
U g a n d a XXX
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uruguay
Venezuela X X X
Zambia X X
Zimbabwe
Number of Notifying
Members/Total Number
of Members445/117 38/119 34/124 25/127
__________
                                                     
4 The numerator and denominator used here reflect the fact that, for each notification obligation, the European Communities
submits a single notification that covers all 15 Member States.  The total membership of the WTO (142 as of the adoption of thi s report on
9 October 2001) includes the European Communities plus the 15 Member States.