G/L/1403  
G/STR/28  
 
6 October 2021  
(21-7535) Page: 1/2 
Council for Trade in Goods  
Working Party on State Trading Enterprises    
 
  
REPORT (2021) OF THE WORKING PARTY ON  
STATE TRADING ENTERPRISES  
(ADOPTED 5 OCTOBER 2021)  
1  ORGANIZATION OF THE WORK OF THE WORKING PARTY  
1.  The Working Party on State Trading Enterprises (the Working Party) was established by the 
Council for Trade in Goods at its meeting of 20  February  1995, pursuant to paragraph  5 of the 
Understanding on the Interpretation of Article  XVII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and 
Trade  1994 (the Understanding). Membership of the Working Party is open to all Members indicating 
their wish to serve on it. Observer governments in the Gen eral Council of the WTO have observer 
status in the Working Party.  
2.  The mandate of the Working Party is set out in paragraph  5 of the Understanding. The 
Working  Party completed its mandate to develop an illustrative list of state trading relationships and 
activities with the adoption of the Illustrative List by the Council for Trade in Goods on 
15 October  1999 (G/STR/4). Having also completed the mandated revision of the questionnaire on 
state trading, the Working Party now reviews notifications, in light o f the revised questionnaire 
adopted on 14  November  2003 (G/STR/3/Rev.1), as well as counter -notifications.  
3.  This Report is submitted under paragraph  5 of the Understanding, which provides that the 
Working Group shall report annually to the Council for Trade  in Goods. It sets out the activities of 
the Working Party during the review period, which runs from 3 November 2020 through 
5 October  2021. During this period, the Working Party held two formal meetings, one under the 
Chairmanship of Ms Johana Méndez (Pan ama) on 3 May 2021, and a second one under the 
Chairmanship of Mr Sultan Alsharif (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), on 5 October 2021. The minutes of 
the former have been circulated as document G/STR/M/38, while minutes of the latter will be 
circulated as G/STR/M /39.  
4.  During the first part of the review period, Ms Johana Méndez (Panama) was Chair of the Working 
Party, and in November 2020 the Working Party elected Ms Laura Gauer (Switzerland) as Vice -Chair. 
On 28 July 2021 the General Council elected Mr Sultan Als harif (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) as Chair 
of the Working Party, and in October 2021 the Working Party elected Ms Bing Lou (New Zealand) as 
Vice-Chair.  
2  NOTIFICATION AND REVIEW OF MEMBERS' STATE TRADING ACTIVITIES  
5.  Article  XVII:4 of the GATT  1994 and paragraph  1 of the Understanding require Members to notify 
their state trading enterprises to the Council for Trade in Goods. New and full notifications were first 
required in 1995 and, subsequently, every third year thereafter, with updating notifications to be 
made in the intervening years. Beginning in 2003, updating notifications were eliminated and the 
frequency of new and full notifications was increased to once every two years. This new approach 
was initially implemented on a trial basis. On 8  June 2012, the Working Party adopted the 
recommendation contained in document G/STR/8 to extend the current frequency of notifications on 
an indefinite basis.  
6.  During the period under review, the Working Party reviewed new and full notifications from: 
Australia, Brazil, C hile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Iceland, Israel, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, G/L/1403 • G/STR/28  
 
- 2 - 
 
  Philippines, Switzerland and Thailand. It also returned to the previously reviewed notifications of 
China, India and Viet Nam.  
7.  The Working Party also took up the following age nda item: continued non -notification of state 
trading enterprises by the Russian Federation (item requested by the United States).  
3  COMPLIANCE WITH THE NOTIFICATION OBLIGATION  
8.  As of 5 October 2021, 41 new and full notifications have been received for the 2018 -2019 
notification period. Between 2 November 2020 and 5 October 2021, the Working Party has also 
received 7 new and full notifications for earlier notification periods.1 
9.  The following Members have not submitted any notification for the 2018 -2019 notification period: 
Afghanistan; Angola; Antigua and Barbuda; Armenia; Kingdom of Bahrain; Bangladesh; Barbados; 
Belize; Benin; Plurinational State of Bolivia; Botswana; Brunei Darussalam; Burkina Faso; Burundi; 
Cabo Verde; Cameroon; Central African Repub lic; Chad; China; Colombia; Congo; Côte d'Ivoire; 
Cuba; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Djibouti; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; 
Eswatini; Fiji; Gabon; The Gambia; Ghana; Grenada; Guinea; Guinea -Bissau; Guyana; Haiti; India; 
Jamaica; Jorda n; Kenya; the State of Kuwait; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Lesotho; Liberia; 
Liechtenstein; Madagascar; Malawi; Malaysia; Maldives; Mali; Mauritania; Mexico; Mongolia; 
Morocco; Mozambique; Myanmar; Namibia; Nepal; Nicaragua; Niger; Nigeria; Norway; O man; 
Papua New Guinea; Paraguay; Peru; Philippines; Qatar; Russian Federation; Rwanda; Saint Kitts 
and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Samoa; Senegal; Sierra Leone; 
Solomon  Islands; South Africa; Sri Lanka; Suriname; Tajikistan; Tanza nia; Togo; Trinidad and 
Tobago; Tunisia; Turkey; Uganda; Vanuatu; Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; Viet Nam; Yemen; 
Zambia; and Zimbabwe.  
10.  Document G/STR/27 sets out the status of state trading notifications since 1995.  
4  ADOPTION OF THE ANNUAL REPORT  
11.  The Wo rking Party adopted its Annual Report to the Council for Trade in Goods for the 
year 2021.   
__________  
 
1 Document G/STR/2 7.