G/L/1451  
G/SG/276  
 
28 November 2022  
(22-8865) Page: 1/2 
Council for Trade in Goods  
Committee on Safeguards    
 
 
WTO RESPONSE TO THE PANDEMIC  
REPORT TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS  
BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMITTEE ON SAFEGUARDS  
The following report is being submitted by the Chairperson of the Committee on Safeguards ("the 
SG Committee"), Ms Maryam Abdulaziz Aldoseri, at the request of the Chairperson of the Council for 
Trade in Goods1, and was prepared with the assistance of the  Secretariat.  
INFORMATION FOR THE CTG REPORT ON COVID -19 RELATED ACTIONS  
Committee work  
As a result of the pandemic -related lockdown, the SG Committee meeting scheduled for the week 
of 27 April 2020 was cancelled.2 At the 17 April 2020 meeting of the Head s of Delegations, the DG 
urged Chairs to consult with Members on how to proceed with the work of the regular Committees.  
Upon the call by the DG, the Chairperson of the SG Committee, together with the Chairpersons of 
the Committee on Antidumping Practices and the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing 
Measures, initiated informal consultations with Members. During these consultations the Chairs 
(i) explained that they were reaching out to see how to proceed with the work of the Committees, 
noting that th ere was a back log of different meetings that had not happened, and it was not certain 
when the meetings would be held; and (ii) informed Members  what was on the agendas for the 
April 2020 meetings and asked whether it would be agreeable to have virtual me etings to discuss 
any/some/all of these items or a written process for certain agenda items.  
On 13 May 2020, the Chairs of the three Committees informed Members that no consensus could be 
reached about holding the meetings remotely, or having a written exchange of questions and 
answers, or a combination of both.  
On 5 June 2020, the Chairs of the three Committees s ent another communication to the Membership 
reminding delegations of the Committees' decisions on having the regular meetings in the last weeks 
of April and October. This reminder was sent to Members in order to set the dates of the fall meetings 
of the Committees. In this communication, the Chairs also asked Members to contact them if any 
Member had any objections to holding the meetings in the week of 26 October 2020.  
As no objection was raised by the deadline set by the Chairs, the Secretariat circulated the so -called 
"deadlines document" containing the specific dates by which Members should submit the various 
documentation in conjunction with the October 2020 meetings of the three Committees.  
Since October 2020, the SG Committee mee tings have taken place in hybrid mode, with some 
delegates attending in person and others joining via a virtual platform.  
 
1 JOB/CTG/18.  
2 Communication sent by the DG to the Heads of Delegations dated 14 March 2020.  G/L/1451 • G/SG/276  
 
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  Transparency  
In accordance with Article 12.6 of the Agreement, a Member submitted several legislative 
notifications illustrating the p rocedural adaptations it undertook in its trade remedies investigations 
as a result of COVID -19. 
Dedicated COVID -19 related activities or discussions in the Committee  
Two Members requested to place an item on the agenda of the October 2020 meeting pertaini ng to 
Members' safeguards investigation procedures during the pandemic. Members explored, in an 
informal mode, whether competent authorities had made any adjustments to their laws, practices 
or procedures as they continued to operate during the pandemic pe riod and the different approaches 
followed by Members in this respect.  
 
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