G/L/1452  
G/SG/277  
 
28 November 2022  
(22-8866) Page: 1/5 
Council for Trade in Goods  
Committee on Safeguards    
 
CURRENT FUNCTIONING OF THE  
COMMITTEE ON SAFEGUARDS  
REPORT TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS  
BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMITTEE ON SAFEGUARDS  
The following report has been prepared by Ms Maryam Abdulaziz Aldoseri, under her own 
responsibility as Chairperson of the Committee on Safeguards, with the assistance of the Secretariat, 
at the request of the Chairperson of the Council for Trade in Goods.1 
 
1  PAST EFFORTS TO IMPROVE THE WORK OF THE COMMITTEE  
Other than the efforts undertaken earlier, from which the current status of the Committee's practices 
as described in Section 2 was derived, the following development is noteworthy: In August 2016, a 
proposal was made to establish a Working Group on Implementation. The proposed purpose of this 
Working Group was to function as a forum where Members will exchange views on technical matters 
related to the implementation of the Safeguards Agreement and to pr epare recommendations to the 
consideration of the Committee on Safeguards ("Committee"). The Committee discussed this 
proposal in autumn 2016 and in spring 2017, but could not reach consensus on the matter.2  
 
2  CURRENT STATUS OF COMMITTEE PRACTICES  
2.1  Assista nce to delegates  
The Committee does not regularly 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 provide s assistance to all delegations involved in the 
meetings before and after the meetings. The Secretariat circulates a deadlines document containing 
the specific dates by which Members should submit the various documentation in connection with 
the last meeti ng and in conjunction with the following meeting. It reminds delegates of the issues 
raised and whether there are any outstanding questions to answer before or at the meeting.  
 
At every meeting of the Committee, the Chair regularly promotes the use of the  e-subscription tool 
and the use of Documents for Meetings, and urges delegates to subscribe to the "contact list" (see 
details below in section 2.2.2).  
 
The Committee has not undertaken specific initiatives to increase the participation of capital -based 
officials per se , as the Committee has always been heavily attended by large capital -based 
delegations. The fact that the dates of the meetings were decide d by the Committee, in the 1990s, 
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 with certainty and pr edictability. 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 attended onli ne meetings 
via Interprefy and interacted effectively.  The continued use of Interprefy, even after the COVID -19 
 
1 See document JOB/CTG/18 . 
2 See minutes of the Committee G/SG/M/51, agenda item3.   G/L/1452 • G/SG/277  
 
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  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 Committee routinely makes use of the e -subscription tool, the Documents for Meetings and the 
contact list (see below in section 2.2.2).  
 
2.2.2   Planning and org anization of meetings  
The Committee has fixed dates for its regular meetings, by virtue of a 1997 decision (G/SG/M/9). 
These are usually held in the last week of April (the spring meeting) and the last week of October 
(the autumn meeting), which allows for  advance planning and predictability. In the rare occurrence 
that any day of these weeks fall on a WTO official holiday, the Committee is informed and decides 
on an alternative meeting date, usually the following week.  
 
It should be noted that the dates o f the Committee's meetings are coordinated with the Committee 
on Anti -Dumping Practices (ADP) and the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures 
(SCM), which hold their meetings in the same weeks (the "Rules week" meetings). The same 
coordination i s also extended to the Working Party on State Trading Enterprises, which holds its 
meetings back -to-back with the three Committees. All four bodies involve to a large extent the same 
capital -based officials.  
 
In addition to its Rules of Procedures, the Com mittee has adopted specific procedures for the review 
of its legislative notifications in 1996 (S/SG/W/116), which is a crucial part of its work and monitoring 
function.  
 
(Annotated draft agenda and airgrams)  
The Committee issues – since 1995 - detailed an notated draft agenda approximately six weeks 
before each regular the meeting, where different items are listed along with the relevant information 
and deadlines. The annotated draft agenda also inform Members of the date by which they can 
submit any commen ts or add any items to the agenda, prior to the issuance of the formal airgram 
convening the meeting.  All unanswered written questions posed regarding legislative notifications 
are identified in the annotated draft agenda and are retained in the final airg ram of the meeting.  
 
The formal airgram is issued minimum 10 days prior to the meeting. The airgram contains the 
proposed agenda, as foreshadowed in the annotated draft agenda document, along with any items 
requested, by the set deadline, to be placed on t he agenda by any Member.  
 
In all regular Committee meetings, the first section of the agenda relates to legislative notifications 
and the second section relates to safeguard actions. Both sections are standardized in the sense that 
they include all notific ations submitted since the last regular meeting. The items therein are 
organized in alphabetical order of the notifying Member. The following sections contain other specific 
items requested by Members.  
 
A list of contact details of the delegates responsib le 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 agenda, airgrams, draft annual reports and all communications issued by the Committee or 
the Chair are  placed online prior to the meetings, and are also sent by email to this contact list to 
keep delegates attending the meetings informed.  
 
(Other documents circulated before and after meetings)  
Prior to each meeting, the Secretariat circulates an updated list of contact details of delegations for 
Members' review and submission of further updates, if any.  
 
Prior to the October meeting each year, the Secretariat circulates the draft annual report for 
Members' review and written comments.  
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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. In addition, following a meeting of the C ommittee 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.  
 
(Preparation of the minutes)  
For each Regular meeting, the Sec retariat starts drafting the minutes of the meetings immediately 
after the Regular meeting but can only finalize the first draft when it receives all of the written 
versions of the statements or after the recording of the meeting is transcribed to make sur e 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 the 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 at 
the meeting to com ment on the summaries of their interventions. 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 10 calendar days to comment on their own i nterventions. 
The minutes are then immediately circulated once any necessary changes have been introduced.  
(See Table 3 for more details.)  
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  Twice (half day for the 
spring meeting and one day 
for the autumn meeting)  Twice (half day each)  Meeting of the "Friends of 
SG Proceedings"3 (in 
conjunction with the spring 
meeting)  
Meeting of the "Friends of 
SG Proceedings" (in 
conjunction with the autumn 
meeting)  
2020  Once (half day in autumn) 
(No meeting in spring due to 
COVID.)  Four times (half day each)  n.a. 
2021  Twice (one day each)  Twice (half day each)  n.a.  
 
2022  Twice (one day for the 
spring meeting and half day 
for the autumn meeting)  None.  Notification seminar (in 
conjunction with the spring 
meeting)  
 
Table 2: Preparation of annotated draft agendas and airgrams  
Year Date of formal meeting  Date of circulation of 
airgram  No. of days before the 
meeting  
2019  29 April  
18 November  18 April  
8 November  11 calendar days  
10 calendar days  
2020  26 October  16 October  10 calendar days  
 
3 A meeting of the " Friends of SG Proceedings"  is organized by certain Members, open to all 
WTO Members. Its purpose is explained to be sharing each other's experiences and learn ing from each other.  G/L/1452 • G/SG/277  
 
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  Year Date of formal meeting  Date of circulation of 
airgram  No. of days before the 
meeting  
2021  26 April  
25 October  16 April  
15 October  10 calendar days  
10 calendar days  
2022  25 April  
24 October  14 April  
14 October  11 calendar days  
10 calendar days  
 
Table 3: Preparation of the minutes/summary reports  
Year Last date of the 
formal meeting  Date of circulation 
of the minutes  No. of pages  No. of days after 
the meeting  
2019  29 April  
18 November  22 August  
31 March 2020  17 
20 115 
134 
2020  (No meeting in spring 
due to COVID -19) 
26 October   
 
23 February 2021   
 
28  
 
120 
2021  26 April  
25 October  27 July  
21 February 2022  19 
18 92 
119 
2022  25 April  
24 October  16 September  
(not yet)  17 144 
 
2.2.3   Informal meetings  
Informal meetings are convened by e -mails (see above, in section 2.2.2), and after September 2021, 
via an ICN document as well. Convening notices always provide explanations by the Chairperson on 
the purpose of the meeting.  
 
Table 4: Convening of informal meetings  
Year Date of informal meeting  Date of communication 
convening the informal 
meeting  No. of days between the 
two timings  
2019  1 February  
27 September  21 January  
16 September  11 
11 
2020  10 March  
27 July  
29 September  
14 December  5 February  
7 July  
15 September  
3 December  33 
20 
14 
11 
2021  2 March  
6 October  17 February  
24 September  13 
12 
2022  (none until now)   -- 
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  2.3  Substantive work  
2.3.1   Thematic sessions  
All of the informal meetings referred to in table 4 were held for the purpose of discussing a specific 
theme.  
 
2.3.2   Notifications  
The Secretariat has created and updated the Handbook of SG -related Notification Obligations. The 
Handbook, which can be found on the WTO webpage under the SG section, can provide additional 
clarity as to how and  when the notifications should be made.  
 
At every regular Committee meeting, the Chair raises the issue of missing legislative notifications, 
and urges Members to fulfil their notification obligations. This is reflected in the minutes of all 
Committee meet ings and in the Committee's annual reports.   
 
The notification format has been revised three times – in 2009, in 2020 and in 2021. The latest 
format is contained in document G/SG/1/Rev.3.  
 
The Committee held a notification seminar in the spring of 2022.  
 
2.3.3   Reports prepared by the Secretariat  
Prior to the October meeting each year, the Secretariat sends (by e -mail, by circulating, and by 
posting on the Documents for Meetings), as an "RD" document, the draft annual report to Members 
for comments. These reports are adopted by the Committee at the end of the October meeting each 
year. 
 
At its October 2015 meeting, the Committee agreed to make the information in one of the Annexes 
of the annual report (mapping all the notifications received in the course of  the year) more 
informative. At its October 2018 meeting, the Committee agreed to a further brush -up of the same 
Annex.  
 
2.3.4   Participation by external stakeholders  
The International Monetary Fund, World Bank and UNCTAD have regular Observer status in the 
Comm ittee. 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  
Procedures, includ ing the timing of the meetings, are closely coordinated among the 
three  Committees of SG, ADP, and SCM. (See also section 2.2.2.)  
 
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