G/L/1196  
G/STR/18  
 
9 November 2017  
(17-6050) Page: 1/2 
    
 
REPORT (2017) OF THE  WORKING PARTY ON  
STATE TRADING ENTERP RISES  
1  ORGANIZATION OF THE WORK OF THE WORKING PARTY  
1.  The Working Party on State Trading Enterprises 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 Agree ment on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (hereinafter "the 
Understanding"). Membership of the Working Party is open to all Members indicating their wish to 
serve on it. Observer governments in the General 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 Counc il 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/R ev.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 22 October 2016 through 
9 November 2017. During this period, the Working Party held one formal meeting under the 
Chairmanship of Ms Yeili Rangel Peñaranda (Colombia) on 9 May 2017 and one formal meeting 
under the Chairman ship of Ms. Rike Octaviana (Indonesia) on 9 November 2017. The minutes of 
the former have been circulated as document G/STR/M/31, while minutes of the latter will be 
circulated as G/STR/M/32.  
2  NOTIFICATION AND REV IEW OF MEMBERS' STAT E TRADING ACTIVITIES  
4.  Article XVII:4 of 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 thereafte r, 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 
notification on an indefinite basis.  
5.  During the period under review, the Working Party reviewed new and full no tifications from the 
following Members: Argentina; Australia; Burundi; Chile; Colombia; the European Union; Iceland; 
Indonesia; Malawi; Malaysia; Mali; Mexico; Moldova; Pakistan; Qatar; The Former Yugoslav 
Republic of Macedonia; Togo; Tunisia; Turkey; Unit ed States; Zambia. It also returned to the 
previously reviewed notifications of Australia; Canada; China; India; Tunisia; United States; 
Viet Nam.  
6.  During one or both of the Working Party's meetings during the period under review, the 
Working Party also too k up the following agenda items: (i) Continued Non -Notification of STEs by 
the Russian Federation (item requested by the European Union and the United States); (ii) 
Continued Non -Notification of STEs by the United Arab Emirates (item requested by the 
Unite d States).  G/L/1196 • G/STR/18  
 
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  7.  Finally, the Working Party adopted its Annual Report to the Council for Trade in Goods for the 
year 2017.  
3  COMPLIANCE WITH THE NOTIFICATION OBLIGAT ION  
8.  As of the end of the review period, 45 new and full notifications have been received for the 
2016 notification period (G/STR/N/16).  
9.  The following Members have not submitted any notification for 2016: Albania, Angola; Antigua 
and Barbuda; Armenia; Bahrain, the Kingdom of; Bangladesh; Barbados; Belize; Benin; Bolivia, 
the Plurinational State of; Bots wana; Brunei Darussalam; Burkina Faso; Cabo Verde; Cambodia; 
Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; China; Congo; Côte d'Ivoire; Cuba; Democratic 
Republic of the Congo; Djibouti; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Fiji; Gabon; The 
Gambia; Georgia; G hana; Grenada; Guatemala; Guinea; Guinea -Bissau; Guyana; Haiti; Honduras; 
Iceland; India; Israel; Jordan; Kenya; Kuwait, the State of; Kyrgyz Republic; Lao Peoples' 
Democratic Republic; Lesotho; Madagascar; Maldives; Mauritania; Mongolia; Mozambique; 
Myanm ar; Namibia; Nepal; Nicaragua; Niger; Nigeria; Oman; Panama; Papua New Guinea; 
Paraguay; Peru; Philippines; Russian Federation; Rwanda; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint 
Vincent and the Grenadines; Samoa; Saudi  Arabia, the Kingdom of; Senegal; Sier ra Leone; 
Solomon Islands; Sri Lanka; Suriname; Swaziland; Tajikistan; Tanzania; Thailand; Tonga; Trinidad 
and Tobago; Uganda; United Arab Emirates; Uruguay; Vanuatu; Venezuela, the Bolivarian 
Republic of; Yemen; and Zimbabwe.  
10.  Information on the status of state trading notifications since 1995 is set out in document 
G/STR/17.  
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