RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/SCM/W/410
6October 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4222)
Committee onSubsidies
andCountervailing Measures
WORKING PARTY ONSUBSIDY NOTIFICATIONS
Draft Format forUpdates ofNotifications
under Article 8.3oftheAgreement on
Subsidies andCountervailing Measures
Note from theChairman
Atits3October 1997 meeting, theWorking Party onSubsidy Notifications agreed torefer
totheCommittee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures forapproval theattached draftformat
forupdate notifications under Article 8.3.
_______________
General Rules
1. ForeachprogrammenotifiedunderArticle8.3oftheAgreementonSubsidiesandCountervailing
Measures, provide alloftheinformation identified below thatapplies.
2. Totheextent thatassistance under anotified programme isprovided tospecific products or
sectors, organize theupdate notification byproduct orsector.
3. Foranyquestion forwhich noresponse isprovided, explain thelackofresponse.
4. Inanswering questions concerning changes inanotified programme, thereference pointshould
bethemost recent notification/update ofthatprogramme.
5. Ifnochanges ofthetypespecified inagiven question havebeenmade during therelevant
period, provide anaffirmative statement tothateffect inresponse tothatquestion.
6. Theduedateforeachyearly update notification shallbetheanniversary dateoftheoriginal
notification.
7. Statistical information reported ineachyearly update shallcover themost recent 12-month
period forwhich dataareavailable (theprogramme 'sfiscal year, e.g.), asoftheduedateforthe
notification. Thisperiod shallbeknown asthe"current year".
8. AllArticles referred tointhisformat areArticles oftheAgreement onSubsidies and
Countervailing Measures.G/SCM/W/410
Page2
9. Asprovidedinfootnote34toArticle8.3,confidentialinformation,includingconfidentialbusiness
information, need notbesubmitted innotifications under Article 8.3. Ifnecessary toprotect
confidentiality, information maybeprovided onabasis thatdoesnotpermit theidentification ofthe
recipients ofassistance.
10. Nothing inthisformat shallinanywayprejudice therightofother Members torequest, or
affect theobligation ofthenotifying Member toprovide, information about individual cases of
subsidization under anotified programme, asprovided forinArticles 8.3,25.8and25.9.
11. Asusedinthisformat (i.e., inquestions II.1(a), III.1(a) andIV.1(a)), theterm"approved"
means thetimewhen, intheadministrative process leading tothegranting ofasubsidy, afirm
commitment istaken bythegranting authority topayoutasubsidy.
12. Within twoyears ofthereceipt bytheCommittee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures
ofthefirstnotification ofthistype, theCommittee shallinitiate areview ofthisformat withaview
tomaking allnecessary modifications inlightofexperience inusing theformat. Upon completion
ofthereview, theCommittee shalltakeadecision whether tocontinue ormodify theformat.
I. ForallProgrammes Notified under Article 8.3
1. Identify thestarting andending dates oftheannual period covered bytheupdate (referred to
inthisquestionnaire asthe"update year"), andofthecurrent year(asdefined initem7ofthegeneral
rulesabove), aswellasthedateoftheoriginal notification. With regard toallquestions concerning
changes intheprogramme (marked withanasterisk*), provide information fortheupdate year.
Forallother questions, concerning statistical programme data, information should relate to
thecurrent year.
2. Provide dataonglobal expenditures under theprogramme during thecurrent year.
3.* Provide details ofanychange inthepolicy objectives oftheassistance, including, ifapplicable,
anysectoral objectives.
4.* Ifthere hasbeenanychange inthelaw,regulation and/or other legalinstrument under which
theassistance isprovided (including thecreation ofanynewlaw,regulation and/or legalinstrument)
provide anarrative explanation ofthenature andpurpose ofthechange. Alsoprovide acopyofsuch
law,regulation orother legalinstrument, withaclearidentification ofthetextthatreflects thechange.
Ifthese documents arenotinaWTO language, provide atranslation inEnglish, French, orSpanish
of(i)therelevant legalprovisions reflecting thechange, and(ii)thetableofcontents orrelevant chapter
headings ofthelaw,regulation and/or other legalinstrument.
5.* Providedetailsofanychangeinthelevel(s)ofgovernmentinvolvedintheprovisionofassistance
underthenotifiedprogramme,includinganychangeintheinstitutionalframeworkfortheimplementation
oftheprogramme and/or intheroleofnon-governmental entities, ifapplicable.
6.* Identify andexplain indetail anychange intheentities ortypes ofentities asappropriate,
industries,regions,etc.eligibleforassistanceundertheprogramme,and/orintheeligibilityrequirements
orapplication procedures under theprogramme. Provide allrelevant documentation reflecting the
change (e.g.brochures, application forms, etc.), including anynewly-created documents, totheextent
thatsuchdocumentation isnotalready provided inresponse toquestion I.4.G/SCM/W/410
Page3
7.* Provide details ofanychange infinancing instruments, orintheincidence and/or duration
ofassistance under eachinstrument. ("Incidence" asusedheremeans towhom andhowtheassistance
isprovided, i.e.whether toproducers, users, orothers; through whatmechanism; whether afixed
orfluctuating amount perunit; ifthelatter, howdetermined.)
8.* Provide details ofanychange inthetotalamount ofassistance budgeted under theprogramme,
and/or inthetermination dateoftheprogramme ortheprojects financed thereunder.
9.* Provide details ofanychange inthearrangements formonitoring, auditing andevaluation of
theprogramme, including thecreation ofanysucharrangements.
II. ForNotified Assistance forResearch Activities
1. Forthecurrent year, identify anddescribe theresearch areas1covered bytheprogramme (i.e.
theresearch areas identified intheoriginal notification under Article 8.3,assubsequently modified
under theprogramme), and
(a) Provide foreachresearch area:
(1) thenumber ofprojects receiving assistance; and
(2) thenumber ofprojects approved forreceipt ofassistance, butforwhich assistance has
notyetbeendisbursed.
(b) Forboththeabove categories andforeachresearch area, alsoprovide:
(1) theaverage per-project amount ofassistance. Identify andlistthefiveprojects with
thehighest amounts ofassistance, andforeachofthese projects provide theamount
ofassistance andthelevelofaidintensity. Ifthese fiveprojects account forlessthan
25%oftotalexpenditure inthecategory orresearch areaconcerned, provide thesame
information fortheprojects withthenexthighest amounts ofassistance untilthe25%
threshold isreached, uptoamaximum offiveadditional projects.
(2) theaverage per-project aidintensity i.e.theassistance expressed asapercentage of
eligible costs. Identify thefiveprojects withthehighest levelofaidintensity andlist
them, giving theaidintensity andtheamount ofassistance foreach.
Withregard to(b)(1) and(b)(2) above, separate setsofdatashould begiven for(a)industrial
research; (b)pre-competitive development activity; (c)other categories which should bespecified,
including activities thatspanindustrial research andpre-competitive development.
2.* Provide details ofanychange inthecontractual arrangements, ifrelevant, under which the
research isconducted.
1Ifthere isnomore thanoneresearch areawithin thenotified programme, thedataconcerned should beprovided for
theprogramme asawhole.G/SCM/W/410
Page4
3.* Provide adetailed description andexplanation ofanychange intheprogramme 'sstructure
and/or operation, toinclude inparticular:
(a) anychange inthetechnical description ofthespecific goals oftheresearch, inhow
theseactivities fallwithin thedefinitions of"industrial research" and"pre-competitive
development activity" infootnotes 28and29toArticle 8.2(a), and/or intheendresult
oftheindustrial research;
(b) inthecaseofindustrial research, anychange inthenewknowledge being sought and/or
inthenewproducts, processes, orservices, orimprovements thereto, thatareintended
tobedeveloped using suchnewknowledge;
(c) inthecaseofpre-competitive development activity, anychange intheendresult of
such activity and/or inthewayinwhich existing products, production lines,
manufacturing processes, services orother on-going operations willbeaffected asa
result ofsuchactivity;
(d) inthecaseofaprototype, anychange inhowtheprototype willbedeveloped and/or
inthemodifications thatwould berequired tomake theprototype capable ofcommercial
use;
(e) anychangeintheamountsofassistancepermittedundertheprogrammefor(1)industrial
research and(2)pre-competitive development and/or inthemethodology usedto
calculate thecosts ofsuchresearch/activity;
(f) anychange inthespecific types ofcostscovered bytheassistance, inthemethodology
usedtocalculate these costs, and/or inthemeans bywhich itisensured thatthe
assistance islimited exclusively tothecostsidentified initems (i)-(v) ofArticle 8.2(a);
(g) anychange inthemeans bywhich itisensured thattheassistance doesnotcover more
than75% ofthecosts ofindustrial research, 50% ofthecosts ofpre-competitive
development activity or,insituations referred toinfootnote 30toArticle 8.2(a), 62.5%
ofthesumofthese costs.
III. ForNotified Assistance toDisadvantaged Regions Within theTerritory ofaMember
1. Listtheregions receiving assistance during thecurrent year, andanychange insuchregions
since themost recent notification/update, and
(a) Provide, foreachregion:
(1) thenumber ofprojects receiving assistance;
(2) thenumber ofprojects approved forreceipt ofassistance, butforwhich assistance has
notyetbeendisbursed.
(b) Forboththeabove categories andforeachregion, alsoprovide:
(1) theaidceiling(s) foreachregion, expressed interms ofinvestment costs orcosts of
jobcreation;G/SCM/W/410
Page5
(2) theaverage per-project amount ofassistance. Identify andlistthethree projects with
thehighest amounts ofassistance, andforeachofthese projects provide theamount
ofassistance (expressed interms ofassistance forinvestment costs orcosts ofjob
creation). Ifthese three projects account forlessthan25%oftotalexpenditure inthe
category orregion concerned, provide thesame information fortheprojects withthe
nexthighest amounts ofassistance untilthe25%threshold isreached, uptoamaximum
ofthree additional projects;
(3) theaverage per-project aidintensity, i.e.theassistance expressed asapercentage of
theactual oranticipated investment costs (asdefined intheoriginal notification, or
assubsequentlymodifiedundertheprogramme)orasanamountperactualoranticipated
jobcreated, andthelevels ofaidintensity forthethree projects having thehighest
levels ofaidintensity.
2.* Provide adetailed description andexplanation ofanychange intheprogramme 'sstructure
and/or operation, toinclude inparticular:
(a) anychange intheceilings, expressed interms ofinvestment costs orcosts ofjob
creation, applicable totheamount ofassistance thatcanbeprovided toindividual
projects;
(b) anychange inthemethodology usedtocalculate theinvestment costsandcostsofjob
creation forpurposes ofapplying suchceilings;
(c) anychange inthemeans bywhich suchceilings havebeendifferentiated according
tothedifferent levels ofdevelopment oftheassisted regions;
(d) anychange intheceilings applicable todifferent eligible regions, asaresult ofchanges
inrelative levels ofdevelopment oftheassisted regions (relate anysuchchanges to
thecriteria inforce andthestatistical datagiven inparagraph 5);
(e) anychange inthegeographic boundaries and/or administrative identity ofanyeligible
region;
(f) anychange inanyprovisions thatmayexisttoavoid thepredominant useofasubsidy
by,orthegranting ofdisproportionately largeamounts ofsubsidy to,certain enterprises
asprovided forinArticle 2;
(g) anychange inthemeans bywhich itisensured thattheamount ofassistance doesnot
exceed theapplicable ceilings.
3.* Provide details ofanychange inthegeneral framework ofregional development pursuant to
which theassistance isgranted.
4.* Provide details ofanychange inthecriteria onthebasis ofwhich theassisted regions were
designated asdisadvantaged, including anychange intherelevant law(s)/regulation(s), inthe
measurement(s)ofeconomicdevelopmentusedinthosecriteriaand/orinthemethodologyforcalculating
suchmeasurement(s).
5. Provide thethreemostrecent years'statistical dataontherelevant economic criteria thatwere
usedindetermining thateachregion receiving assistance under theprogramme during thecurrent year
wasdisadvantaged.G/SCM/W/410
Page6
6. Indicate, forthecurrent year, thetotalamounts ofassistance provided toeachregion covered
bytheprogramme for:
(1) jobcreation and/or
(2) investments
plustheaidceilings forandthepopulation ofeachregion concerned.
7. Using themethod described below, select oneormore assisted regions, oroneormore groups
ofallregions covered byagiven aidceiling, andforthose selected regions orgroups ofregions provide
datatodemonstrate thatthedistribution ofassistance inthecurrent yearhasbeensufficiently broad
andeventoavoid thepredominant useofasubsidy by,orthegranting ofdisproportionately large
amounts ofsubsidy to,certain enterprises asprovided forinArticle 2.
Selection should bemade asfollows: Select foreachupdate asufficient number ofregions
orgroups ofregions thatwithin threeyears, allregions covered bytheprogramme havebeenincluded
inanupdating notification, thereby providing anindication ofthenon-specificity (within themeaning
ofArticle 2)ofassistance across theprogramme asawhole. Inthefirstupdate, include theregions
orgroups ofregions withthehighest aidceilings, inthesecond update theregions orgroups ofregions
withthesecond highest aidceilings, etc.,returning again tothebeginning when allregions havebeen
covered inanupdating notification.
IV. ForNotified Assistance toPromote Adaptation ofExisting Facilities toNewEnvironmental
Requirements
1. (a) Forthecurrent year, provide;
(1) thenumber ofprojects receiving assistance;
(2) thenumber ofprojects approved forthereceipt ofassistance, butforwhich assistance
hasnotyetbeendisbursed.
(b) Forbothoftheabove categories, alsoprovide:
(1) theaverage per-project amount ofassistance. Identify andlistthefiveprojects with
thehighest amounts ofassistance, andforeachofthese projects provide theamount
ofassistance andthelevelofaidintensity. Ifthese fiveprojects account forlessthan
25%oftotalexpenditure inthecategory concerned, provide thesame information for
theprojects withthenexthighest amounts ofassistance untilthe25%threshold is
reached, uptoamaximum offiveadditional projects.
(2) theaverage per-project aidintensity, i.e.theassistance expressed asapercentage of
eligible costs. Identify thefiveprojects withthehighest levelofaidintensity andlist
them, giving theaidintensity andtheamount ofassistance foreach.
2.* Provide adetailed description andexplanation ofanychange intheprogramme 'sstructure
and/or operation, toinclude inparticular:
(a) anychange inthespecific newenvironmental requirements inconnection withwhich
theassistance isprovided;G/SCM/W/410
Page7
(b) anychange inthetimeframe(s) forapplication ofthenewenvironmental requirements;
(c) anychange inthebasis onwhich theassistance isprovided (i.e.whether onthetotal
costofthereduction ofthenuisances orpollution oronanindividual phase of
implementation ofthenewenvironmental requirements);
(d) anychangeintechnicaldescription(includinganyrefinementtoanearlier,moregeneral,
technical description) oftheadaptation ofexisting facilities necessary tomeetthenew
environmental requirements, and/or intheidentity ofthose facilities aspreviously
notified (question III(f) oforiginal notification format);
(e) anychange inthelaworregulation thatimposes thenewenvironmental requirements;
(f) anychange inthenuisances andpollution intended tobereduced bytherequirements,
and/or inhowtherequirements willresult insuchreduction;
(g) anychange inthelevelofgovernment atwhich therequirements areimposed;
(h) anychange inhowtherequirements result ingreater constraints andfinancial burdens
onfirms;
(i) anychange inthespecific types ofcosts covered bytheassistance and/or inthe
methodology usedtocalculate thecosts ofadaptation ofexisting facilities tothenew
environmental requirements;
(j) anychange inthemeans bywhich itisensured thattheassistance isaone-time, non-
recurring measure, thattheassistance islimited totheadaptation ofexisting facilities,
thattheassistance doesnotcover more than20%ofthecosts ofthisadaptation, that
theassistance isdirectly linked andproportionate toafirm'splanned reduction of
nuisances andpollution, andthattheassistance doesnotcover anymanufacturing cost
savings thatmaybeachieved.