JOB/GC/204/Rev.4  
JOB/CTG/14/Rev.4  
 
24 November 2020 
(20-8495) Page: 1/4 
General Council  
Council for Trade in Goods  Original: English  
 
 
PROCEDURES TO ENHANCE TRANSPARENCY AND STRENGTHEN  
NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS UNDER WTO AGREEMENTS  
COMMUNICATION FROM ARGENTINA, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, COSTA RICA, THE EUROPEAN UNION, 
ISRAEL, JAPAN, NEW ZEALAND, THE SEPARATE CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF TAIWAN, PENGHU, 
KINMEN AND MATSU, UNITED KINGDOM, AND THE UNITED STATES  
Revision  
The following communication, dat ed 23 November  2020, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegations of Argentina, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, the European Union, Israel, Japan, New 
Zealand,  the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, United Kingdom, 
and the United States.  
 
_______________  
 
 
Draft General Council Decision  
 
Procedures to Enhance Transparency and Strengthen Notification Requirements  
Under WTO  Agreements  
 
Decision of X  Date  
 
 
The General Council , 
 
Recognizing  that transparency and notification requirements constitute fundamental elements 
of many WTO  agreements and a properly functioning WTO  system, and thus of Members' 
obligations;  
 
Acknowledging  the chronic low level of compliance with existing notification r equirements 
under many WTO  agreements; and  
 
Desiring  to strengthen and enhance transparency and improve the operation and effectiveness 
of notification requirements;  
 
Decides as follows:  
 
Scope of Decision  
 
1. For the purpose of this decision "notification " shall mean the notification obligations in relation 
to each of the following WTO  Agreements and Understandings:  
 
Agreement on Agriculture;  
Agreement on Implementation of Article  VI of the GATT  1994 (Anti -Dumping);  
Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailin g Measures;  
Agreement on Safeguards;  
Understanding on the Interpretation of Article  XVII of the GATT  1994 (State Trading);  
Agreement on Implementation of Article  VII of the GATT  1994 (Customs Valuation);  JOB/GC/204/Rev.4 • JOB/CTG/14/Rev.4  
 
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  Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures;  
Agreement on Rules of Origin;  
Agreement on Preshipment Inspection;  
Decision on Notification Procedures for Quantitative Restrictions (G/L/59/Rev.1);  
Agreement on Trade Related Investment Measures;  
Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures;  
Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade; and  
Agreement on Trade Facilitation, Section  I. 
 
Reaffirming existing commitments  
 
2. The Members reaffirm existing notification obligations and recommit to submitting timely 
notifications.  
 
Engagement in WTO  bodies to facilitate compliance  
 
3. The General Council instructs the Working Group on Notification Obligations and Procedures 
(Working Group) to:  
 
(a) meet before [x  date] to develop recommendations on improving Member compliance 
with t heir notification obligations ; 
 
(b) consult with appropriate committees, other working groups and bodies as appropriate, 
and consider both systemic and specific improvements that can help Members improve 
compliance with notification obligations ; 
 
(c) consu lt with the WTO  Secretariat as appropriate, including the WTO  Institute for 
Training and Technical Cooperation (ITTC) to assess the contribution of WTO  trade -
related technical assistance to improving notification compliance, as well as the Central 
Registry  of Notifications ; 
 
(d) work with the Secretariat to update the Technical Cooperation Handbook on Notification 
Requirements for each of the agreements and understandings listed in paragraph  1 and 
present it to the Council for Trade in Goods for its [x  date] meeting ; 
 
(e) report to the Council for Trade in Goods on its findings and recommendations before 
[x date], and provide updates at each subsequent meeting.  
 
4. The General Council instructs the Trade Policy Review Body to ensure that beginning in [20XX] 
all trade policy reviews include a specific, standardized focus on the Member's compliance with its 
notification obligations.  
 
5. The General Council instructs the Committee on Agriculture to review and update G/AG/2 
within two  years of this Decision, with a view to improving Members ' compliance with notification 
obligations.  
 
6. The General Council encourages Members to bring to the attention of the relevant Committees 
any notifications that a Member considers have not been made.  
 
Explanation for delay  
 
7. A Member that fails to submit a notification within the applicable notification deadline should 
submit to the relevant committee within six  months after the relevant notification deadline and every 
six months thereafter an explana tion for the delay, the anticipated time -frame for its notification, 
and any elements of a partial notification that a Member can produce to limit any delay in 
transparency.  
 
Technical assistance and capacity building  
 
8. A Member may request assistance fr om the Secretariat in compiling and completing a 
notification. The Secretariat is instructed to provide such assistance in full consultation with that 
Member.  JOB/GC/204/Rev.4 • JOB/CTG/14/Rev.4  
 
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9. A developing country Member encountering difficulties to fulfil its notification obligations is 
encouraged:  
 
(a) to request assistance and support for capacity building from the Secretariat, either in 
the form of WTO  trade -related technical assistance or as ad hoc  assistance for a 
particular notification; and  
 
(b) to submit to the relevant committ ee and to the Working Group by six  months after the 
deadline provided under the relevant Agreement or Understanding listed in paragraph  1 
and every six  months thereafter information on those notifications that it has not 
submitted due to a lack of capacity , including information on the assistance and support 
for capacity building that the Member requires in order to submit required notifications.  
 
10. In accordance with paragraph  9, a developing country Member that has requested assistance 
in preparing a no tification, and which has submitted information on assistance and capacity building 
requirements to the Working Group and the relevant Committee, shall not be subject to measures 
under paragraph  12(a) until two  years after the notification deadline has pas sed. 
 
11. Least Developed Country Members shall not be subject to any measures under paragraph  12 
if they have:  
 
(a) in accordance with paragraph  9, requested assistance ; and 
 
(b) submitted written information to the Secretariat, the Working Group, and the  relevant 
Committee, on the assistance and capacity building needed in order to submit the 
relevant notification.  
 
Administrative measures  
 
12. Beginning in 20XX1, a Member that has failed to submit a notification within the applicable 
notification deadline2 shall be subject to the following measures:  
 
(a) Phase  1 Measures  shall apply to a Member one year3 after the expiry of the notification 
deadline.  
 
A Member subject to Phase  1 Measures:  
 
(i) Shall be designated as a "WTO Member with notification delay "; 
 
(ii) Shall be called upon to speak in WTO  formal meetings after all other 
WTO Members have taken the floor, but before any observers;  
 
(iii) Shall be identified as a "Member with notification delay " when offered the floor in 
the General Council;  
 
(iv) Shall have its overall notification compliance reported upon annually by the 
Secretariat in the Council for Trade in Goods; and  
 
(v) Shall not have its representatives be nominated to preside over  WTO bodies.  
 
 
1 As regards outstanding one-time notifications or required updates containing the most current 
information, laid out in G/L/223/ – and its revisions, Phase  1 Measures shall apply beginning one  year after the 
adoption of this Decision.  
2 For the purposes of this Decision, the SPS  Committee and TBT  Committee, respectively, will develop 
guidelines on the conditions under which a Member shall be deemed to have failed to provide a required 
notification with respect to ad hoc  notifications for the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary  and 
Phytosanitary Measures and Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade such that administrative measures shall 
be applied pursuant to paragraph  12 of this decision. This decision shall not apply to ad hoc notifications under 
the TBT or SPS  Agreements unt il the relevant guidelines have been adopted.  
3 As regards the notification  DS:1, until a revision of G/AG/2 is agreed, Phase  1 measures shall apply 
three  years after the expiry of the notification deadline.  JOB/GC/204/Rev.4 • JOB/CTG/14/Rev.4  
 
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  (b) Phase  2 Measures  shall apply to a Member that has been subject to Phase  1 Measures 
for one  year, and has nevertheless not submitted the relevant notification(s).  
 
In addition to the Phase  1 Measures which shall continue to apply, a Member subject to 
Phase  2 Measures:  
 
(i) shall have its notification performance reported upon by the Secretariat annually 
at General Council Meetings;  
 
(ii) may pose questions during Trade Policy Reviews, but Members shall not be 
obliged to respond; and  
 
(iii) shall be assessed a charge to its next annual contribution, and each annual 
contribution until the relevant notification is submitted. The charge shall be set 
at the rate of [x][2][3][5]% of its normal assessed contribution to the 
WTO budget per outstanding notification.  
 
13. Phase  1 and 2 Measures shall be immediately rescinded when the Member has submitted the 
relevant notification(s).  
 
14. The charges resulting from Phase  2 measures shall not exceed [Y]% of a Member 's normal 
assessed annual contribution. The charges collected under Phase  2 Measures should, as far as 
practicable, be utilised for technical assistance and capacity building to help Members better comply 
with notification obligations.  
 
15. When measures are applied at Phase s 1 and 2, the Director -General shall inform the relevant 
Minister representing that Member.  
 
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