G/L/ 1434  
G/STR/29  
 
21 October 2022  
(22-7921) Page: 1/2 
   
 
 
REPORT (2022) OF THE WORKING PARTY ON  
STATE TRADING ENTERPRISES  
ADOPTED ON 21 OCTOBER 2022  
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 of  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. The report sets out the 
activities of the Working Party during the review period, which runs from 6 October 2021 through 
21 October  2022. During this period, the Working Party held two formal meetings, on 13 May 2022 
and 21 October 2022. The minu tes of the former were circulated as document G/STR/M/40, and 
minutes of the latter will be circulated as G/STR/M/41.  
4.  During the first part of the review period, Mr Sultan Alsharif (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) was Chair 
of the Working Party and Ms Bing Lou ( New Zealand) was Vice -Chair. On 23 May 2022, the General 
Council elected Mr Agustín Navarro de Vicente -Gella (Spain) as Chair of the Working Party, and in 
September 2022 the Working Party elected Ms Lucille Veronique Brutus (Seychelles) as Vice -Chair.  
2  NOTI FICATION 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 in the 
intervening years. Since 2004, new and full notifications have been due every two years and 
updating notifications have been eliminated.  
6.  During the period under review, the Working Party reviewed new and full notifications from: 
Argentina; Australia; Brazil; Cambodia; Canada; China; Dominican Republic; El Salvador; 
European  Union; Georgia; Honduras; Hong Kong, China; Iceland; Israel; Japan; Kyrgyz Rep ublic; 
Macao, China; Malaysia; Mali; Moldova; New Zealand; Nicaragua; North Macedonia; Kingdom of 
Saudi Arabia; Seychelles; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; Tonga; Ukraine; United Kingdom; 
and United States of America. It also returned to the previousl y reviewed notifications of India and 
Viet Nam.  G/L/1434 • G/STR/29  
 
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  7.  The Working Party also took up the following agenda 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 10 October 2022, the Work ing Party has received 30 new and full notifications for the 
2020-2021 notification period. Between 6 October 2021 and 10 October 2022, the Working Party 
also received four new and full notifications for earlier notification periods.  
9.  The following Members have not submitted any notification for the 2020 -2021 notification period: 
Afghanistan; Albania; Antigua and Barbuda; Armenia; Kingdom of Bahrain; Bangladesh; Barbados; 
Belize; Benin; Plurinational State of Bolivia; Botswana; Brunei Darussalam; Burkina Fas o; Burundi; 
Cabo Verde; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; Chile; China; Colombia; Congo; Costa Rica; 
Côte d'Ivoire; Cuba; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Djibouti; Dominica; Ecuador; Egypt; 
Eswatini; Fiji; Gabon; the Gambia; Ghana; Grenada; Guate mala; Guinea; Guinea -Bissau; Guyana; 
Haiti; India; Indonesia; Jamaica; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Republic of Korea; the State of 
Kuwait; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Lesotho; Liberia; Liechtenstein; Madagascar; Malawi; 
Malaysia; Maldives; Mauritania;  Mauritius; Mexico; Mongolia; Montenegro; Morocco; Mozambique; 
Myanmar; Namibia; Nepal; Niger; Nigeria; Norway; Oman; Pakistan; Panama; 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; Switzerland; Tajikistan; Tanzania; Togo; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; 
Türkiye; Uganda; United Arab Emirates; Uruguay; Vanuatu; Bolivarian Rep ublic of Venezuela; 
Viet Nam; Yemen; Zambia; and Zimbabwe.  
10.  An overview of the status of state trading notifications since 1995 will be circulated as document 
G/STR/30.  
4  OTHER BUSINESS1 
11.  At the October 2022 meeting, the Chair made a statement on the ongoing  consultations in the 
General Council and the Council for Trade in Goods regarding WTO reform and improving the 
functioning of the WTO Committees.  
12.  The United States indicated that it would provide a revised version of the "Illustrative List" 
(G/STR/4) base d on Members' notifications.  
5  ADOPTION OF THE ANNUAL REPORT  
13.  The Working Party adopted its Annual Report to the Council for Trade in Goods for the 
year 2022.   
 
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1 See minutes of the meeting of the Working Party of 21 October 2022, G/STR/M/41 (to be circulated).