WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/L/281
26 November 1998
(98-4759)
REPORT (1998) OF THE WORKING PARTY ON
STATE TRADING ENTERPRISES
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 (15 November 1997 – 24 November 1998),
Mr. Jacques Teyssier d'Orfeuil (France) served as Chairman of the Working Party.
2. The mandate of the Working Party, as set out in paragraph 5 of the Understanding, is:  (1) to
review notifications and counter-notifications on stat e trading;  (2) to review, in the light of the
notifications received, the adequacy of the questionnaire on state trading (BISD 9S/184-185) and thecoverage of state trading enterprises notified under paragraph 1 of the Understanding;  and (3) 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.
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 Part y's meetings to date are:  Argentina; Australia; Bangladesh;
Brazil; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; Colombia; Costa Rica; Cuba; Cyprus; Czech Republic;
Egypt; El Salvador; European Communities; Hong Kong, China; Honduras; Hungary; India;
Indonesia; Israel; Japan; Korea; Malaysia; Malta; Mauritius; Mexico; Morocco; New Zealand;
Norway; Pakistan; Peru; Philippines; Poland; Roma nia; Singapore; Slovak Republic; South Africa;
Switzerland; Thailand; Turkey; United States; Uruguay; Venezuela; and Zambia.  China P.R.,Chinese Taipei, Russian Federation, and Vietnam participated as observers.
5. The Working Party held three formal meetings during the period under review:  On 2 April 1998,
on 18 September 1998, and on 24 November 1998.  The Minutes of the Working Party's meetings are
contained in documents G/STR/M/10-12.  In addition, the Chairman convened five informal meetings
with the objective of advancing work on the tasks mandated to the Working Party in the
Understanding.G/L/281
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II. NOTIFICATION AND REVIEW OF MEMBERS' STATE TRADING ACTIVITIES
6. All Members of the WTO are required under Article XVII of GATT 1994 and paragraph 1 of the
Understanding to submit annual notifications of their state trading activities. New and full
notifications were required in 1995 and every third year thereafter, while in the intervening years an
updating notification is to be made indicating any changes since the new and full notification.  At twoof the three formal meetings, the Chairman made a statement concerning the need for timely
compliance with the notification requirements under Article XVII and the Understanding.
7. New and full notifications of state trading enterprises for 1995 have been received from
58 Members.  Updating notifications for 1996 have been received from 28 Members, and for 1997
from 29 Members.  New and full notifications for 1998 have been received from 9 Members. (See
Annex to this Report.)
 1
8. At its meeting of 2 April 1998, the Working Party conducted a review of:  (1) 1995 new and full
notifications from Gambia; Haiti; and Nigeria; and (2) 1997 updating notifications from Australia;
Brazil; Hong Kong, China; Hungary; Japan; Singa pore; Uruguay; and Venezuela.  There was little
discussion of the notifications reviewed.  Some questions were raised as to whether certain Members
making new and full notifications had previous ly maintained state trading enterprises, and
clarification was sought of information in some  of the updating notifications.  The question and
answer documents are carried in the series G/STR/Q1/---.
9. At its meeting of 18 September 1998, the Working Party conducted a review of: (1) 1995 new and
full notification from Qatar; (2) 1998 new and full notification from Mongolia; and (3) 1997 updating
notifications from Jamaica; Macau; and the Slovak Republic. There was no discussion of the
notifications reviewed.  One Member did, however, indicate its interest to pose written questions at alater date.  The question and answer documents are carried in the series G/STR/Q1/---.
10. At its meeting of 24 November 1998, the Working Party approved its Annual Report to the
Council for Trade in Goods for the year 1998.
III. REVIEW OF ADEQUACY OF QUESTIONNAIRE ON STATE TRADING
11. At its meeting of 2 April 1998, the Working Party adopted a revised questionnaire on state trading
(G/STR/3).  The adoption of the revised questionnaire on state trading represents fulfilment of the
second of the three mandates with which Ministers at Marrakesh charged the Working Party.  The
Working Party also agreed to continue its work, in a way consistent with its mandate, on possible
further information needed to enhance transparen cy.  The Council for Trade in Goods approved the
revised questionnaire at its meeting of 21 April 1998, after which it was circulated as the basis for the
1998 new and full notifications on state trading.  The Working Party also agreed to extend thedeadline for submission of the 1998 notifications from 30 June to 30 September 1998.
IV. DEVELOPMENT OF ILLUSTRATIVE LIST OF STATE TRADING
RELATIONSHIPS AND ACTIVITIES
12. Regarding the third of the Working Party's specific mandates, the Chairman made a brief report at
the meeting of 2 April 1998.  He said that considerable progress had been made, and that the outlook
                                                     
1 The European Communities and their member States are counted as one Member.G/L/281
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for further work was good.  One area on which there were differing positions was whether certain
activities should be included in the illustrative list.
13. Two informal meetings were subsequently held, at which a Chairman's text of a draft illustrative
list was discussed at length.  Despite apparent agreement on the draft illustrative list at the second
informal meeting, the Working Party was not able to approve it at the meeting of 18 September 1998.
14. At the Working Party's meeting of 24 November 1998, the United States placed the question of
the draft illustrative list on the agenda under 'Other Business'.G/L/281
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ANNEX
NOTIFICATIONS SUBMITTED BY WTO MEMBERS UNDER
ARTICLE XVII:4(A) OF GATT 1994 AND PARAGRAPH 1 OF THE
WTO UNDERSTANDING ON THE INTERPRETATION OF ARTICLE XVII2
Status as of 24 November 1998
Member New and Full
Notification
(1995)Updating
Notification
(1996)Updating
Notification
(1997)New and Full
Notification
(1998)
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina X X
Australia X X X
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados X
Belize
Benin
Bolivia
Botswana X
Brazil X X
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria X
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Canada X X X
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile X X X
Colombia X X X
Congo
Costa Rica X X X
Côte d'Ivoire X
Cuba
Cyprus X
                                                     
     2An "x" indicates that a notification has been made.  This annex no longer considers a new and full
notification submitted later than the deadline for updating notifications as responding also to that request forupdating notifications.G/L/281
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Member New and Full
Notification
(1995)Updating
Notification
(1996)Updating
Notification
(1997)New and Full
Notification
(1998)
Czech Republic X
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt X
El Salvador X
European Community X X
Fiji
Gabon
Gambia X
Ghana
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea Bissau
Guinea, Rep. of X
Guyana
Haiti X X X
Honduras X
Hong Kong, China X X X X
Hungary X X X X
Iceland X
India X
Indonesia X X X
Israel X
Jamaica X X
Japan X X X
Kenya
Korea X X
Kuwait
Lesotho
Liechtenstein X X X
Macau X X
Madagascar
MalawiG/L/281
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Member New and Full
Notification
(1995)Updating
Notification
(1996)Updating
Notification
(1997)New and Full
Notification
(1998)
Malaysia X
Maldives
Mali
Malta X X
Mauritania
Mauritius X X X
Mexico X
Mongolia X
Morocco X
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia X
New Zealand X X X
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria X X X
Norway X X X
Pakistan X X
Panama
Pap. New Guinea
Paraguay X
Peru X X X
Philippines X X
Poland X
Qatar X
Romania X X
Rwanda
Saint Kitts & Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent & Grenadines
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Singapore X X X
Slovak Republic X X X
Slovenia X X X
Solomon IslandsG/L/281
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Member New and Full
Notification
(1995)Updating
Notification
(1996)Updating
Notification
(1997)New and Full
Notification
(1998)
South Africa X X X
Sri Lanka
Suriname
Swaziland
Switzerland X X X
Tanzania
Thailand X X X
Togo
Trinidad & Tobago X
Tunisia X
Turkey X X
Uganda
United Arab Emirates X
United States X X X
Uruguay X X
Venezuela X X X
Zambia X
Zimbabwe
Total*58/117 28/117 29/117 9/117
* The denominator used here (117) reflects the fact that, for each obligation, the EC submits a single notification that covers  all
15 member States.  The official total membership of the WTO (132) includes the EC plus the 15 individual member States.
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