RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/CTE/W/34
5July1996
ORGANIZATION(96-2582)
Committee onTrade andEnvironment
ITEM 4:THE PROVISIONS OFTHE MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM
WITH RESPECT TOTHE TRANSPARENCY OFTRADE MEASURES USED
FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PURPOSES AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEASURES
AND REQUIREMENTS WHICH HAVE SIGNIFICANT TRADE EFFECTS
TheCentral Registry ofNotifications (CRN)
Note bytheSecretariat
1. Atthemeeting oftheCommittee on20-21 July1996, arequest wasmade tothe
Secretariat toprepare aninformation noteonthecoverage andoperation oftheWTO Central
Registry ofNotifications (CRN). Thisnoteresponds tothatrequest.
2. TheMarrakesh Ministerial Decision onNotification Procedures states that"[a]central
registry ofnotifications shallbeestablished under theresponsibility oftheSecretariat. While
Members willcontinue tofollow existing notification procedures, theSecretariat shallensure that
thecentral registry records suchelements oftheinformation provided onthemeasures bythe
Member concerned asitspurpose, itstrade coverage, andtherequirement under which ithasbeen
notified. Thecentral registry shallcross-reference itsrecords ofnotifications byMember and
obligation."
3. TheCRN isanelectronic database tokeeptrack ofnotifications byproviding:
- aninventory ofallnotification requirements under theWTO;
- anindex ofallnotifications received bytheSecretariat from Members; and
- upon request, information oncompliance byMembers withnotification
requirements.
4. ATask Force wassetupintheSecretariat in1995 tooversee thecreation oftheCRN.
TheRegistry operates inthesame wayasthetraditional library catalogue which stores onindex
cards essential information about eachiteminitscollection. TheCRN isacollection ofrecords,
which store essential information onnotifications. Arecord iscreated intheCRN atthesame
timethenotification received from aMember iscirculated. Each record contains information on:
- notifying Member(s);
- Members towhom thenotification applies;
- thedateofthenotification;
- thesubject ofthenotification;
- therequirement under which thenotification ismade;
- periodicity;
- trade coverage (sectors, products, etc.towhich thenotification refers);
- theexistence ofacounternotification;
- thesymbol ofthecorresponding full-text notification document;
- other miscellaneous information.
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5. Notification requirements under theWTO arenumerous and,given thepotential
membership oftheOrganisation, several thousand separate notifications willbemade eachyearto
theSecretariat. TheCRN permits datasearches tobemade bothattheDivisional levelofthe
Secretariat andfrom acentral point. Itispossible tofindoutwhich Members havenotified under
aparticular requirement, andwhether aparticular Member hasfulfilled itsobligations. The
results ofsearches maybeprinted andthisinformation canbeusedindifferent ways: bythe
Secretariat formissions, asinput inthecompilation ofTPRreports ortoprovide more general
information onthetrading system. Asrequired bytheMinisterial Decision, theCRN willbe
usedtoinform eachMember annually oftheregular notification obligations towhich thatMember
willbeexpected torespond inthecourse ofthefollowing year, andtodraw theattention of
individual Members totheirregular notification requirements which remain unfulfilled.
6. TheCRN canbeusedbytheSecretariat toperiodically compile notifications of
trade-related environmental measures bysearching for(i)notifications made under specific WTO
provisions which relate expressly totheenvironment (e.g.notifications under Annex 2,
paragraph 12oftheAgreement onAgriculture, andunder Article 8.2(c)oftheAgreement on
Subsidies andCountervailing Measures) aswellas(ii)notifications inwhich thepolicy objective
ofthemeasures isstated tobetheprotection oftheenvironment (e.g.notifications under the
Agreement onTechnical Barriers toTrade). Insome cases, theSecretariat mayneedtoexercise
itsjudgement onwhether ornottoinclude ameasure where thestated policy objectives are
several orareunclear.