G/L/1449  
G/SCM/162  
 
28 November 2022  
(22-8870) Page: 1/12 
Council for Trade in Goods  
Committee on Subsidies and  
Countervailing Measures    
 
 
CURRENT FUNCTIONING OF THE  
COMMITTEE ON SUBSIDIES AND COUNTERVAILING MEASURES  
REPORT TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS  
BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMITTEE ON SUBSIDIES AND COUNTERVAILING MEASURES  
The following report is being submitted by the Chairperson of the Committee on Subsidies and 
Countervailing Measures (SCM Committee), Ms Sally Bardayán Rivera , at the request of the 
Chairperson of the Council for Trade in Goods1, and was prepared with the  assistance of the 
Secretariat.  
 
1  PAST EFFORTS TO IMPROVE THE WORK OF THE COMMITTEE  
The past efforts to improve the work of the Committee are referred to in detail under 
section two below. However, the following are the highlights of these past efforts whic h 
resulted in the current status of the Committee's practices : 
 
• Decision of the Committee in 1995 to set the dates of regular meetings to be held in the last 
weeks of April and October of each year (G/SCM/M/1).  
• Adoption of the questionnaire format for sub sidy notifications in 1995 (G/SCM/6) and the 
adoption of the revised version of that document in 2003 (G/SCM/6/Rev.1).  
• Adoption of the procedures for the review of new and full subsidy notifications, which provide 
that such review shall take place at spec ial meetings and be based on written questions and 
replies (G/SCM/117).  
• Adoption of the Committee's approved procedures for the review of the legislative 
notifications in 1996 and the revision of those procedures in 2014 (G/SCM/W/293/Rev.1).  
• Adoption of t he agreed format for semi -annual reports (G/SCM/2) in 1995 and the adoption 
of its revised version in 2009 (G/SCM/2/Rev.1).  
• Adoption of the minimum information to be provided in reports under Article 25.11 on all 
preliminary or final countervailing actions in 1995 (G/SCM/3) and the adoption of the revised 
version of that document in 2009 (G/SCM/3/Rev.1)  
• Adoption of the "one -time notification" format in 2009 to relieve the Members without 
competent authorities to conduct countervailing duty investigations from the obligation to 
submit semi -annual reports of countervailing actions (G/SCM/129).  
• Circulation of the annotated draft a gendas six weeks prior to the formal meetings of the 
Committee.  
 
1 JOB/CTG/18 . G/L/1449 • G/SCM/162  
 
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  • Circulation of a deadlines document following each meeting to recapitulate the deadlines for 
answers to questions raised in connection to the last meeting and indicate the future 
deadlines for  all documentation to be submitted in connection with the next meeting.  
• Constant coordination among the three Rules Committees (Anti -Dumping Practices, 
Subsidies and Countervailing Measures and Safeguards), as their meetings are held in the 
same week. Coordination among the three Rules Committees and the Working Party on State 
Trading Enterprises (WPSTE) which holds its meetings back -to-back with the three 
Committees.  
• Issuance of reminders for each notification cycle of semi -annual reports covering precedi ng 
six months.  
• Annual update and circulation of the Secretariat's report on the notification obligations under 
the SCM Agreement.  
• Members are reminded and encouraged by the Chairs at every meeting to use the 
e-subscription function.  
• Members are reminded and encouraged by the Chairs at every meeting to provide their 
missing notifications.  
• Courtesy copies of all room documents issued prior to the meetings and placed online are 
also sent to an updated contact list of delegates responsible for the Committee.   
• The launch in 2022 of the new online "Countervailing Notification Portal" for the submission 
of Members' semi -annual reports.  
• The launch in 2021 of the "Explore Data" function of the portal which provides online access 
to all information submitted by Mem bers in their semi -annual reports.  
• The launch in 2022 of the "Trade Remedies Data Portal", a searchable database of 
information on trade remedy actions that presents this information in an accessible, 
customizable and user -friendly manner.  
In addition, the following topics/proposals have been discussed at the Committee:  
• The proposal to amend the review procedures for 2023 new and full subsidy notifications, 
which was first submitted by Canada, the European Union, Japan, and the United States, 
has been on the agenda of the regular meetings of the Committee since October 2019.2 To 
date the Committee has not reached a consensus on this proposal.  
• The United States' proposal to institute a written procedure for questions and answers under 
Articles 2 5.8 and 25.9 of the SCM Agreement has been on the agenda of the Committee's 
regular meetings since September 2014.3 To date, the Committee has not reached a 
consensus on this proposal.  
• At the Committee's regular meeting in spring 2014, Australia suggested  adding another 
Annex to the Secretariat's report in G/SCM/W/546/… series containing a table with all 
requests under Article 27.6 for the Secretariat to calculate export competitiveness.4 No 
decision was made by the Committee on this suggestion.  
• At the Co mmittee's regular meeting in spring 2016, the United States suggested that the 
Committee consider expanding the information notified regarding fisheries subsidies to 
 
2 G/SCM/W/5 83. 
3 Last revision of the proposal can be found in document G/SCM/W/557/Rev.4.  
4 G/SCM/M/89.  G/L/1449 • G/SCM/162  
 
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  include certain stock and catch -related information. No consensus was reached on this 
suggestion.5 
• At the Committee's regular meeting in spring 2016,  Brazil proposed the establishment of an 
Implementation Working Group on countervailing measures, with an identical mandate to 
that of the Working Group on Implementation of the Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices 
(i.e., exchange of investigating authorities' experiences, and eventual development of 
recommendations).6 No consensus was reached on this proposal.  
• At the Committee's regular meeting in spring 2018, Australia, Canada, the European Union, 
Iceland, New Zealand, Norway and the United  States requested an agenda item on the 
implementation of paragraph 2 of the Ministerial Decision on fisheries subsidies 
(WT/MIN(17)/64; 13 December 2017), concerning subsidy notifications. Members discusse d 
various suggestions to increase the level of compliance with the notification obligations on 
fisheries subsidies. No decision was made by the Committee on that matter.  
2  CURRENT STATUS OF COMMITTEE PRACTICES  
2.1  Assistance to delegates  
The Committee does not r egularly organize training activities for Geneva -based delegates on the 
practical aspects of its functioning and has never been requested by Members to provide such 
activities. The Secretariat systematically provides assistance to all delegations involved in the 
meetings before and after the meetings. The Secretariat circulates the so -called "deadlines 
document" containing the specific dates by which Members should submit the various documentation 
in connection with the last meeting and in conjunction with the following meeting. It also contacts 
all delegations with items listed on the agenda (by phone/email/in person) to remind them of the 
upcoming meeting, the issues raised and whether there are any outstanding questions to answer 
before or at the meeting.   
 
At every Committee meeting, which is heavily attended by capital -based officials, the Chair regularly 
promotes the use of the e -subscription tool (i.e. contact list) and also the use of Documents Online 
and Documents for Meetings.  
 
The Committee has no t undertaken specific initiatives to increase the participation of capital -based 
officials per se , as the Committee has always been heavily attended by capital -based delegations. 
The fact that the dates of the meetings were decided by the Committee in 1995  to take place in the 
last week of April and the last week of October (unless that falls on a WTO holiday), made it easy 
for capital -based officials to plan their travel and organize their meeting dates. The only exception 
was during the COVID -19 pandemic when capital -based officials and in a couple of meetings 
Geneva -based delegates,  were unable to attend in person. However, despite time zone differences, 
capital -based officials attend online meetings via interprefy and interact effectively. The continued 
use of interprefy even after the COVID -19 pandemic, has definitely increased attendance and 
enhanced participation of more capital -based officials who can now attend such meetings online via 
a flexible virtual tool.  
 
2.2  Organization of Committee work  
2.2.1   Digital tools used for Committee work  
The Secretariat has been involved in a series of projects aimed at digitizing the trade remedy 
notification process and improving the way information on the use of trade remedy measures is 
compiled, stored and presented to Mem bers. A major development in this regard is the launch of 
the Anti -Dumping and Countervailing Notification Portals, which allow Members to electronically 
create and submit their semi -annual reports through a dedicated e -platform while minimizing effort 
and reducing reporting errors, and the addition of the "Explore Data" function, which provides online 
access to all information submitted by Members in their semi -annual reports.  
 
 
5 G/SCM/M/97.  
6 For Committee discussions, see G/SCM/M/97. Written proposals can be found in G/SCM/W/567  and 
G/SCM/W/568 . G/L/1449 • G/SCM/162  
 
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  The Secretariat started promoting the new portals as early as 2019 and upon th e initial launch in 
October 2020 the Secretariat held a series of presentations, demonstrations and trainings tailored 
to increase Members' awareness of the Portals and their functionality, for which it has received very 
positive feedback from Members.  
In parallel, the Secretariat has upgraded and restructured the Anti -Dumping ("AD") and 
Countervailing Duty ("CVD") databases, which has required intensive work with individual Members 
to clean up past records in those databases. This work has culminated in th e development, by the 
Rules and IT Divisions of the WTO Secretariat, of the Trade Remedies Data Portal, a searchable 
database of information on trade remedy actions that presents this information in an accessible, 
customizable and user -friendly manner. Thi s Portal was presented to Members at the Committee 
meeting in October 2022 and has gone online as of 1  November 2022.  
 
2.2.2   Planning and organization of formal meetings  
The Committee holds its special and regular meetings at the same time each year, i.e., the last week 
of April and the last week of October. These dates have been fixed by virtue of a Committee decision 
dated 22 February 1995.7 In the rare occurrence that any day of these weeks fall on a WTO official 
holiday, the Committee is informed and de cides on an alternative meeting date, usually the following 
week.  
 
Having a fixed schedule of meetings allows for advance planning and predictability for delegations 
considering that those meetings are usually attended by capital -based officials.  
 
It should also be noted that the dates of the Committee's meetings are coo rdinated with the 
Committees on Safeguards (SG) and Anti -Dumping Practices (ADP) which hold their meetings in the 
same weeks (the "Rules week" meetings). The same coordination is also extended to the WPSTE 
which holds its meetings back -to-back with the thr ee Committees. All four bodies involve to a large 
extent the same capital -based officials.   
 
Table 1: Number of formal and informal meetings  
Year  Formal meeting  
(number and duration)  Informal meetings  
(number and duration)  Other (e.g. workshops, 
symposia , etc.)  
2019 
(spring)  Special meeting (30.04.2019)  
Regular meeting (30.04.2019)  
Total duration: 1 day  18 April 2019 (0.5 day)  --- 
2019 
(autumn)  Special meeting (19.11.2019)  
Regular meeting (19.11.2019)  
Total duration: 1 day  27 June 2019 (0.5 day)  Presentation by the 
Secretariat on the technical 
assistance activities offered 
by the Secretariat regarding 
preparation of subsidy 
notifications (at the informal 
meeting)  
2020 
(spring)  COVID -19 pandemic – 
meetings cancelled  --- --- 
2020 
(autumn)  Special meeting (27.10.2020)  
Regular meeting (27.10.2020)  
Total duration: 1 day  --- --- 
2021 
(spring)  Special meeting (27.04.2021)  
Regular meeting (27.04.2021)  
Total duration: 1 day  --- --- 
 
7 G/SCM/M/1.  G/L/1449 • G/SCM/162  
 
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  Year  Formal meeting  
(number and duration)  Informal meetings  
(number and duration)  Other (e.g. workshops, 
symposia , etc.)  
2021 
(autumn)  Special meeting (26.10.2021)  
Regular meeting (26.1 0.2021)  
Total duration: 1 day  --- --- 
2022 
(spring)  Special meeting (26.04.2022)  
Regular meeting (26.04.2022)  
Total duration: 1 day  3 March 2022 (0.5 day)  Presentation by the 
Secretariat on the CV 
Notification Portal  
2022 
(autumn)  Special meeting (25.10.2022)  
Regular meeting (25.10.2022)  
Total duration: 1 day  --- Presentation by the 
Secretariat on the new Trade 
Remedies Data Portal  
 
2.2.3   Formal meetings  
i. Communicating the initial agenda of the special meeting of the Committee  
The Committee reviews the new and full subsidy notifications of Members at special meetings, which 
are held back -to-back with its regular meetings. According to the agreed review procedures, o nly 
new and full subsidy notifications distributed in all three WTO working la nguages not less than 
17 weeks before a meeting may be reviewed at  that meeting. Shortly after that deadline, the 
Secretariat circulates an airgram listing the new and full subsidy notifications which will be reviewed 
at the next special meeting of the Com mittee (Table 2). In this document, the Secretariat also 
reminds the specific deadlines with respect to the review procedures (i.e., regarding submitting 
written questions and answers on the notifications to be reviewed).  
 
ii. Annotated draft agendas and a irgrams  
In addition to the list of new and full subsidy notifications to be reviewed by the Committee, the 
Secretariat issues - since 1995 - detailed annotated draft agendas for both special and regular 
meetings, approximately six weeks before each regular  meeting, where different items are listed 
along with the relevant information and deadlines. The annotated draft agendas provide detailed 
background explanation regarding each agenda item. They also inform Members of the dates by 
which they can (i) submit  written questions and replies; (ii) provide any comments on the proposed 
agenda items or (iii) add any items to the agenda, prior to the issuance of the formal airgram 
convening the meetings.  
 
The formal airgrams for both special and regular meetings are  issued at a minimum 10 days prior 
to the first meeting of the Rules week (SG, SCM, ADP). The airgrams contain the proposed agendas 
which were circulated in detailed form in the annotated draft agenda documents, along with any 
items requested by the set de adline to be placed on the agenda by any Member.  
 
The order of the agenda of the regular meeting is fixed, whereby standing agenda items for review 
of different notifications come first, followed by the Chair's reports on various issues (i.e., timeliness 
and completeness of notifications; Permanent Group of Experts; constant dollar methodology for 
graduation from SCM Agreement Annex VII(b); etc.), any issues requested to be placed on the 
agenda by any Member or group of Members and ultimately followed by O ther Business, date of the 
next meeting, election of officers (spring meeting) and adoption of the Committee's Annual Report 
to the Council for Trade in Goods (autumn meeting).  
 
A list of contact details for the delegates responsible for the Committee has been created many years 
ago. It is updated continuously and is issued as a room document prior to each meeting. Annotated 
draft agendas, airgrams, draft annual reports and all communications issued by the Committee or 
the Chair and pl aced online, are also sent by email to this contact list to keep delegates attending 
the meetings informed.  G/L/1449 • G/SCM/162  
 
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  Immediately after meetings, the Secretariat circulates a deadlines document, for follow -up 
documents related to the meeting just concluded, and for  documents to be submitted for 
consideration at the next meeting .   
 
Table 2: Preparation of airgrams and agendas  
Year  Date of formal 
meetings  Date of circulation 
of annotated draft 
agendas  No. of 
days 
before 
the 
meeting  Date of 
circulation of 
airgrams  No. of 
days 
before 
the 
meeting  
2019 
(spring)  30 April 2019  22 March 2019  39 days  8 January 20198 
18 April 20199 112 days  
12 days  
2019 
(autumn)  19 November 2019  11 October 2019  39 days  26 July 20198 
8 November 20199 116 days  
11 days  
2020 
(spring)  COVID -19 pandemic 
– meetings cancelled  --- --- --- --- 
2020 
(autumn)  27 October 2020  18 September 2020  39 days  30 June 20208 
16 October 20209 119 days  
11 days  
2021 
(spring)  27 April 2021  19 March 2021  39 days  11 January 20218 
16 April 20219 106 days  
11 days  
2021 
(autumn)  26 October 2021  17 September 2021  39 days  29 June 20218 
15 October 20219 119 days  
11 days  
2022 
(spring)  26 April 2022  18 March 2022  39 days  11 January 20228 
14 April 20229 105 days  
12 days  
2022 
(autumn)  25 October 2022  16 September 2022  39 days  29 June 20228 
14 October 20229 118 days  
11 days  
 
iii. Distribution of documents before and after the formal meetings of the Committee  
• Prior to each meeting, the Secretariat circulates a list reflecting the status of the semi -annual 
reports, i.e., indicating the reports that have and have not been received. Two documents are 
circulated per semester to remind Members to submit their semi -annual reports covering a given 
reporting period (January -June and July -December).  
• The Secretariat issues – on an ongoing basis – monthly reports containing information on the 
different ad hoc  notifications received from Members. The Secretariat has a service that provides 
the electronic version of such documents to delegates and other government officials, upon 
request.  
• The Secretariat circulates prior to each meeting an updated list of Member s' authorities 
competent to conduct countervailing duty investigations as notified by Members.  
• Prior to each meeting, the Secretariat circulates an updated list of contact details of delegations 
for Members' review and submission of further updates, if an y. 
 
8 Contains the list of notificat ions to be reviewed at the special meeting of the Committee.  
9 Final airgrams for both special and regular meetings.  G/L/1449 • G/SCM/162  
 
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  • Prior to the October meeting each year, the Secretariat circulates the draft annual report for 
Members' review and written comments.  
• Immediately after meetings, the Secretariat circulates a deadlines document, for follow -up 
documents related to the mee ting just concluded, and for documents to be submitted for 
consideration at the next meeting. In addition, following a meeting of the Committee the 
Secretariat normally prepares a strictly factual news item for the WTO website, approved by the 
Chair of the  Committee, reflecting the main topics that were raised at the meeting.  
iv. Preparation of the minutes  
The Secretariat prepares the minutes of both the special and regular meetings of the Committee. In 
practice, both documents are circulated simultaneously . 
 
The Secretariat starts drafting the minutes of the meetings immediately after the regular meeting 
of the Committee but can only finalize the first drafts when it receives all the written versions of the 
statements or after the recordings of the meetings  are transcribed to make sure that the minutes 
are comprehensive, accurate and complete. The minutes are basically a detailed summary of what 
Members said at the meeting. The Secretariat normally awaits deadlines pertaining to the questions 
and answers to be provided following the meeting to lapse (these questions and answers are usually 
circulated and referred to in the draft minutes) before the draft minutes are sent to Members for 
comments. The draft minutes are then sent to Members that took the floor a t the meetings to 
comment on whether the summary reflects their interventions or not. The draft minutes are also 
sent to Members regarding which an item was raised, even if they did not take the floor. Members 
who took the floor at the meeting are given at  least 10 calendar days to comment on their own 
interventions. The minutes are then immediately circulated once any necessary changes have been 
introduced.  
Table 3: Preparation of the minutes/summary reports  
Year  Last date of the 
formal meeting  Date of cir culation of the 
minutes  No. of pages  No. of days 
after the 
meeting  
2019 
(spring)  30 April 2019  10 September 2019  30 pages  133 days  
2019 
(autumn)  19 November 2019  13 February 2020  33 pages  86 days  
2020 
(spring)  COVID -19 pandemic – 
meetings cancelled  --- --- --- 
2020 
(autumn)  27 October 2020  25 February 2021  37 pages  121 days  
2021 
(spring)  27 April 2021  20 August 2021  36 pages  115 days  
2021 
(autumn)  26 October 2021  2 March 2022  31 pages  127 days  
2022 
(spring)  26 April 2022  16 September 2022  48 pages  143 days  
2022 
(autumn)  25 October 2022  - - - 
 
2.2.4   Informal meetings  
Between 2019 and 2022 the Committee held three informal meetings.  G/L/1449 • G/SCM/162  
 
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  Table 4: Convening of informal meetings  
Year  Date of informal 
meeting  Date of communication 
convening the informal 
meeting  No. of days before 
the meeting  
2019  18 April 2019  5 April 2019  13 days  
2019  27 June 2019  18 June 2019  9 days  
2022  3 March 2022  17 February 2022  14 days  
 
2.3  Substantive work  
2.3.1   Thematic sessions  
The Committee has not organized any thematic sessions since 2015.  
 
2.3.2   Notifications  
i. Legislative notifications  
Pursuant to Article 32.6 of the SCM Agreement, Members must notify the full integrated text(s) of 
their laws, regulations and administrative procedures in one of the WTO languages. Any modification 
to the laws, regulations or administrative procedures must also be notified promptly. A notification 
has to be made even where a Member does not maintain such laws/regulations.  
 
Legisl ative notifications are reviewed at the regular meetings of the SCM Committee. In addition to 
its general Rules of Procedures, the Committee adopted specific procedures for the review of 
legislative notifications in 1996. These procedures were revised to a dd further clarity in 2014 
(G/SCM/W/293/Rev.1) which resulted in the retention of all unanswered written questions, posed to 
legislative notifications under review, on the agendas of the Committee's meetings until written 
answers are submitted . Legislative  notifications are formatted and circulated by the Secretariat upon 
receipt.  
 
ii. Notifications of domestic authorities under Article 25.12  
Article 25.12 of the SCM Agreement calls for notification of domestic authorities competent to initiate 
and conduct  CVD investigations. This notification requirement can be fulfilled by providing to the 
Committee the name, address, telephone and fax numbers, and e -mail address(es) of the 
investigating authority. There is no standard format for such notifications.  
 
The Secretariat circulates prior to each meeting an updated list of Members' authorities competent 
to conduct countervailing duty investigations as notified by Members in G/SCM/N/18/… series.  
 
iii. Notifications of countervailing duty actions: semi -annual rep orts and ad hoc notifications  
Article 25.11 of the SCM Agreement requires Members to notify, without delay, all preliminary or 
final actions taken with respect to countervailing duties. It also stipulates that Members shall submit, 
on a semi -annual basis, reports on any countervailing duty actions taken within the preceding 
six months. In June 1995, the Committee agreed on a standard format for semi -annual reports 
(G/SCM/2) and on the minimum information to be provided in reports under Article  25.11 on all 
preliminary or final countervailing actions (G/SCM/3). At its regular meeting on 20  October 2009, 
the Committee adopted revised versions of these two notification formats.10 
 
There is a significant number of Members that do not have a competent authority to conduct 
countervailing duty investigations and which therefore have not imposed any countervailing 
measures and are unlikely to do so in the foreseeable future. In order to relieve these Members from 
the obligation to submit semi -annual reports of countervailing actions, the Committee, at its regular 
meeting on 20 October 200911, adopted a one -time notification format (G/SCM/129). A Member 
 
10 G/SCM/2/Rev.1 and G/SCM/3/Rev.1.   
11 G/SCM/M/71, para. 129.  G/L/1449 • G/SCM/162  
 
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  submitting this type of notification will not be expected to submit semi -annual reports of 
count ervailing actions until such time as it sets up a competent authority and starts conducting 
investigations. This is a tangible improvement that both provides transparency and assists 
developing countries and LDCs in complying with this notification obligat ion by alleviating their 
burden in submitting repeated nil notifications. One-time notifications are circulated in the 
G/SCM/N/202/... series. To date, 47 Members have submitted such one -time notification.  
 
Semi-annual reports are not circulated automatica lly as submitted by Members. The Secretariat 
checks these reports thoroughly prior to circulation to ensure there are no anomalies or data 
inconsistencies in the documents. In case of the identification of any potential issues, the Secretariat 
immediately contacts the Member concerned and provides its comments and suggestions in this 
respect. Following the confirmation received from the relevant Member, the Secretariat circulates 
the report. In some cases, Members' feedback may take some time which can caus e some delays in 
the circulation of the report until after the circulation of the final airgram of the meeting.  
In addition to the circulation of the semi -annual reports, a list developed by the Secretariat reflecting 
the status of these notifications is circulated prior to each meeting. The Secretariat also issues – on 
an ongoing basis - monthly reports containing information on the different ad hoc  notifications 
received from Members and it has a service that provides the electronic version of such docum ents 
to delegates and other government officials, upon request.   
 
The Secretariat has been involved in a series of projects aimed at digitizing the trade remedy 
notification process and improving the way information on the use of trade remedy measures is 
compiled, stored and presented to Members.  
 
A major development in this regard is the launch, in 2020, of the Anti -Dumping and Countervailing 
Notification Portals, which allow Members to electronically create and submit through a dedicated 
e-platform semi -annual reports while minimizing effort and reducing reporting errors, and the 
addition of the "Explore Data" function, which provides online access to all information submitted by 
Members in their semi -annual reports. The Secretariat has given presentation s, demonstrations and 
training sessions tailored to the needs of individual delegations to increase Members' awareness of 
the Portals and their functionality for which it has received very positive feedback from Members. In 
parallel, the Secretariat has up graded and restructured the AD and CVD databases, which has 
required intensive work with individual Members to clean up past records in those databases.  
 
This work has culminated in the development, by the Rules and IT Divisions of the WTO Secretariat, 
of the Trade Remedies Data Portal, a searchable database of information on trade remedy actions 
that presents this information in an accessible, customizable and user -friendly manner. This Portal 
has been presented to Members at the Committee meeting in Octo ber 2022 and has gone online in 
November 2022.  
 
iv. New and full subsidy notifications  
Article 26.1 of the SCM Agreement stipulates that the Committee shall examine new and full 
notifications of Members in special sessions to be held every third year and that updating 
notifications made in the intervening years are to be examined at each reg ular meeting of the 
Committee. In May 2001, the Committee decided that new and full subsidy notifications would be 
made every two years and that the annual updating notifications would be de -emphasised.12 The 
Committee extended this decision in 2003 and 20 05.13  
 
In July 1995, the Committee adopted a questionnaire format for subsidy notifications under 
Article  25 of the SCM  Agreement and under Article XVI of the GATT 1994 (G/SCM/6).14 In 
November  2003, the Committee adopted a revised version of this questio nnaire format for subsidy 
notifications (G/SCM/6/Rev.1).15 The adoption of the original format for subsidy notifications in 1995 
and the adoption of the revised format for subsidy notifications in 2003 were based on discussions 
 
12 G/SCM/M/30, para. 6.  
13 G/SCM/M/46, para. 43; G/SCM/M/53, para. 35.  
14 G/SCM/M/3, para. 5.  
15 G/SCM/M/48, para. 212.  G/L/1449 • G/SCM/162  
 
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  in the Working Party on Subs idy Notifications, which the Committee had established in 
February  1995 pursuant to footnote 54 to Article 25.3 of the SCM  Agreement.16 
Members' subsidy notifications are reviewed at special meetings of the Committee, which are held 
back-to-back with the C ommittee's regular meetings. At such meetings, Members may raise 
questions regarding a notified programme, the failure to notify a programme, or the failure to submit 
any notification. The procedures followed by the Committee for such reviews, as contained  in 
document G/SCM/117, were most recently re -adopted in April 2021, for the review of 2021 new and 
full notifications.17 Written questions and answers concerning subsidy notifications are circulated in 
the G/SCM/Q2/… document series. All unanswered writte n questions posed regarding new and full 
subsidy notifications are  identified in the annotated draft agenda and also retained  in the final 
airgram  of the special meeting.  
 
v. Other notification obligations  
• Article 27.13 of the SCM Agreement exempts, for a limited period of time, certain subsidies 
granted in connection with privatization programmes provided certain conditions are met. To 
qualify for this exemption, any such privatization programme must be notified, following the 
format in G/SC M/15.  
 
• Article 27.5 of the SCM Agreement provides that a developing Member which reaches export 
competitiveness in a given product has to phase out its export subsidies for that product within 
two years. For Members in Annex VII which reach export competit iveness, this period is 
eight years. Under Article 27.6, export competitiveness may be determined either on the basis 
of a notification by the developing Member at issue, or on the basis of a computation by the 
Secretariat conducted at the request of any M ember. No standard format has been developed for 
such notifications, and to date, no such notifications have been submitted.  
 
vi. Committee discussions to raise awareness on the notification obligations  
At every regular meeting of the Committee, the Chair raises the issue of missing notifications under 
each agenda item pertaining to different notification obligations and strongly urges Members to fulfil 
their notification obligations. The Chair's call for notifications and the subsequent discussions are 
reflected in both the minutes of the meetings and the annual reports of the Committee.  
 
Since Spring 2009, pursuant to the request of the Chair of the Trade Policy Review Body  (TPRB) , 
the Committee has discussed, at formal and informal meetings, "ways to impr ove the timeliness and 
completeness of notifications and other information flows on trade measures". Under this agenda 
item, the Chairs provide a status report on the new and full subsidy notifications and invite Members 
with pending notifications to updat e the Committee about their progress in preparing subsidy 
notifications. Under this agenda item, the Chairs regularly remind Members of the assistance offered 
by the Secretariat regarding the notification obligations and invite Members that are having 
difficulties in complying with their obligations to request assistance from the Secretariat. The 
substance of those discussions is reflected in the minutes of the Committee meetings.  
 
Furthermore, the annual report of the Committee includes several tables refl ecting the status of 
different types of notifications submitted by Members and those that are missing.  
 
2.3.3   Reports prepared by the Secretariat  
i. Annual report on the notification obligations under the SCM Agreement  
Every year since 2009, the Secretariat has prepared, at the request of Members, a background note 
providing a snapshot of the level of compliance since 1995 with the various notification obligations 
under the SCM Agreement. The report not only explains all the notification obligatio ns under the 
SCM Agreement, but also provides detailed information about Members' level of compliance with 
those obligations. The Secretariat updates this report before the spring meetings of the Committee 
and circulates it in the G/SCM/W/546/… series.  
 
 
16 G/SCM/M/1 , para. 84.  
17 G/SCM/M/115.  G/L/1449 • G/SCM/162  
 
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  ii. Technical cooperation handbook on notification requirements  
The Secretariat has modified the Handbook of SCM -related notification obligations and the mock 
examples for certain notifications to be submitted. These can be found on the subsidies and 
counter vailing measures webpage and can offer additional clarity as to how and when the notification 
obligations should be fulfilled.18 In addition, the Trade Remedies Data Portal contains information on 
how to submit notifications.  
 
iii. Updates on Article 27.4 extensions of the transition period for the elimination of export 
subsidies  
Members that were granted extensions under Article 27.4 pursuant to the procedures in WT/L/691 
were required, under paragraph 2(c) of the procedures, to submit transparency notific ations in 
respect of each of the final two -years phase -out period, calendar years 2014 and 2015. The Members 
with extensions were to have completed the elimination of their export subsidies not later than 
31 December 2015. They also were required to provid e a final transparency notification in respect 
of calendar year 2015. The Secretariat updates and circulates a table showing the status of 
notifications and of actions reported by Members with extensions under Article 27.4 in the revisions 
of the document RD/SCM/36.  
 
iv. Annual update on constant dollar methodology for graduation from SCM Annex VII  
Pursuant to the Doha Ministerial Decision on Implementation -Related Issues and Concerns 
(document WT/MIN(01)/17, para. 10.1), Annex VII(b) to the Agreement on S ubsidies and 
Countervailing Measures includes the Members that are listed therein until their GNP per capita 
reaches USD  1,000 in constant 1990 dollars for three consecutive years, and that as of 
1 January  2003, the methodology set forth in G/SCM/38, Appen dix 2 applies for making these 
calculations. Every year since 2003, in accordance with this Decision, the Secretariat circulates notes 
updating the GNP per capita figures for the Members listed in Annex VII(b) based on that 
methodology. Those notes are con tained in the document series G/SCM/110, the most recent version 
of which, Addendum  19, was circulated on 31 March 2022.  
 
In addition, in response to a request made at the July 2021 meeting of the Council for Trade in 
Goods with respect to the proposal by the LDC Group19, the Secretariat also conducted GNP per 
capita calculations for all WTO Members using the agreed methodology in G/SCM/38.20 
 
v. Other reports prepared by the Secretariat  
• Prior to the October meeting each year, the Secretariat also issues a draft annual report to 
Members for comments. These reports are adopted by the Committee at the end of the 
October  meeting.  
 
• The Secretariat circulates monthly reports of ad hoc anti -dumping actions notified by Members. 
These notifications are compiled by the Secretariat in those circulated reports, while the original 
notifications are kept electronically with the Secretariat for inspection by Government officials 
wishing to do so.  
 
2.3.4   Participation by external stakeholders  
The International Moneta ry Fund, World Bank and UNCTAD have regular Observer status in the 
Committee. Pursuant to a decision of the Committee in October 1998, the Organization of African, 
Caribbean and Pacific States ("OACPS")  and the OECD are invited to attend meetings on an ad hoc 
basis.  
 
2.3.5   Work with other Committees or WTO bodies  
Coordination among the three Rules Committees; ADP, SCM and SG is constant.  
 
 
18 https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/scm_e/scm_e.ht m  
19 WT/GC/W/742  - G/C/W/752 . 
20 G/SCM/W/585.  G/L/1449 • G/SCM/162  
 
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  Latest examples of presentations made jointly by the Committees on ADP and SCM are as follows:  
 
• in October 2015, explaining  the notifications formats (audio and presentations placed online 
until now for Members' benefit);  
  
• in October 2022, introducing the Trade Remedies Data Portal (audio and presentations are 
available online for Members' benefit).  
 
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