G/C/W/841  
 
7 December  2023 
(23-8277) Page: 1/2 
Council for Trade in Goods  Original: English  
 
  
FOLLOW -UP NOTE FROM THE CHAIRPERSON  OF THE CTG 
MEETING OF 30  NOVEMBER – 1 DECEMBER  2023 
1.1.  At its meeting of 30 November – 1 December  2023, the Council for Trade in Goods (hereinafter 
"the Council") agreed on a trial basis on "the creation of a new 'follow -up' document, under the 
authority of the Chairperson, concisely collating agreed next steps, deadlines, and actions to be 
taken by de legations in preparation for the next formal meeting."1 This new document has been 
prepared under the responsibility of  the Chairperson with a view to implementing this agreement as 
a follow -up to this formal meeting , and in preparation of the next formal  meeting of the Council , 
which has been  tentatively scheduled for 30  April – 1 May 2024.  
1.2.  Please take note of the f ollowing information:  
SUBJECT  DETAIL  
1. Remarks by the 
Chairperson:  The Chairperson 's remarks under each item are available on eAgenda . 
2. Decisions taken at 
the meeting:  1. Members adopted two  ad hoc reports  and agreed to submit them to the 
General Council : 
a. Report on Improvements in the Functioning of the Council for Trade in 
Goods and its Subsidiary Bodies ( G/L/1523 ); 
b. Report on the WTO  Response to the COVID -19 Pandemic and Preparedness 
for Future Pandemics ( G/L/1521 ); 
2. Members agreed to follow  written procedure s for the approval of an updated 
version of the annual report. Since no comments were received  on the draft 
circulated to Members by the Secretariat in an email of 4 December  2023, the 
Annual Report was adopted on 6 December  2023 and submit ted to the General 
Council ( G/L/1524); 
3. On a trial basis , Members adopted  four measures to improve the functioning 
of the CT G. These measures concerned the following : (i) the circulation of 
information regarding informal meetings; (ii)  the Chairperson's follow -up note 
on actions following formal meetings; (iii)  the CTG  information hub; and 
(iv) the format and content of the convening notice (Airgram) ( G/L/1522 ). 
3. Upcoming 
meetings : The provisional dates of upcoming meetings of the Council  are currently described 
in the tentative calendar of meetings ( JOB/CTG/40 ). A regularly updated list of such 
information is available via the WTO Calendar  of meetings  and the Council for Trade 
in Goods  webpage s. 
 
The Secretariat informed Members that on 18  April 2024 it will hold a n information 
session for delegates on the functioning of the CTG. The Secretariat is currently also 
exploring dates to organize the next Annual Information Session  on the WTO's Digital 
Tools, of which the  2022 session can be accessed here. 
 
1 G/L/1522  G/C/W/841  
 
- 2 - 
 
  SUBJECT  DETAIL  
4. Key dates for the 
upcoming 
meeting : Please take note of the following tentative dates concerning the CTG's next formal 
meeting:  
 
Date of the meeting : 30 April – 1 May 2024 
Activation of the meeting's eAgenda : 28 March  2024 
Circulation of the meeting's initial convening notice : 28 March  2024 
Closure of the meeting's agenda : 15 April 2024 
Circulation of the meeting's r evised convening notice , including the meeting's 
tentative agenda : 16 April 2024 
Circulation of the meeting's a nnotated agenda : 19 April 2024 
 
5. Guidance on how 
to add items to the 
agenda of the next 
meeting  Members can add items to the agenda in two  ways: 
1. Directly through the Collaborative Agenda section of the eAgenda2; or 
2. By sending an email  to the CTG team 
(Roy.Santana@wto.org , Arti.Daswani @wto.org  and Craig.James@wto.org ). 
For transparency, the Secretariat will also include any such request in the 
eAgenda.  
6. Agreed items 
reverted to by the 
Council , and 
standing items  At the upcoming meeting, the Council will consider  the following standing agenda 
items:  
1. Notified Regional Trade Agreements ; 
2. A report by the Secretariat on the status of notifications under the provisions 
of the agreements in Annex  1(a) of the WTO  Agreement , as of 
31 December  2023, which will be circulated as the next revision in the 
G/L/223/ -_ document series.  
 
 
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2 Please refer to the  Guidelines on how to use the eAgenda for the Council for Trade in Goods .