WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/AG/W/73 
15 October 2009 
 (09-5064) 
Committee on Agriculture  
  
 
IMPROVEMENT OF TIMELINESS AND COMPLETENESS OF NOTIFICATIONS  
UNDER EXISTING PROCEDURES 
 
Members' suggestions of " best practices "
 
 
Note by the Secretariat1 
  1. The present note provides a compilation of Members' suggestions of "best practices"  for the 
preparation of notifications under existing procedures and formats
2, further to the discussions held 
during the 55th and 56th meetings of the Committee on Agriculture in regular session. This 
compilation will be updated periodically to take account  of any contributions that may be received in 
the future. 
I. SUGGESTIONS OF A GENERAL NATURE 
2. Suggestions have been made to: 
(a) indicate in the product description column of the notification, where possible, the 
relevant tariff lines and the appli cable nomenclature (i.e. HS 2002); 
(b) indicate whether changes have occurred in scheduled commitments pursuant to 
procedures initiated under Article XXIV:6 or Article XXVIII of GATT 1994 (e.g. 
creation of new tariff quotas, expansion of tariff quota volumes, etc.); provide a 
source for the schedule of commitments bei ng used in preparing the notification; 
(c) include references to official government websites to provide further information; 
(d) when notifications have been revised, provide a clear indication of the changes and 
the reason for these changes;  and 
(e) submit, where possible, notifications in Excel format. 
II. TARIFF AND OTHER QUOTAS (TABLES MA:1 AND MA:2) 
3. Suggestions have been made to: 
(a) indicate whether the product is subject to SPS measures or other restrictions that have 
prevented the tariff quota from being filled; 
(b) include the relevant in- and out-of-quota tari ffs being applied in the relevant period; 
                                                      
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members or to their rights or obligations under the WTO. 
2 G/AG/2 and G/AG/2/Add.1 refer. G/AG/W/73 
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  (c) cross-reference any triggering of the SSG on the applicable tariff quota product, 
including the notification symbol;  and 
(d) indicate whether imports for re-export, or  imports under prefer ential arrangements 
have been counted against the tariff quota. 
III. SPECIAL SAFEGUARD (TABLES MA:3 TO MA:5) 
4. Suggestions have been made to: 
(a) indicate the additional duties that were applied, along with dates, shipments and 
tonnages affected;  
(b) indicate the exporting Members that were affected by the triggering of the safeguard; 
(c) indicate whether the product concerned is subject to scheduled tariff quota 
commitments; 
(d) explain the rationale for the grouping of tariff lines used to trigger the SSG 
(particularly the volume-based SSG); 
(e) indicate whether the additional duties apply on a shipment-by-shipment basis or for 
the remainder of the reporting period; 
(f) cross-reference the individual Table MA:3  and MA:4 notifications in the annual 
summary Table MA:5; 
(g) explain why the most recent three-year peri od was not used to calculate the trigger 
level (e.g. in 2009, the relevant Me mber may be using 2005-07 imports); 
(h) indicate the source and methodology for the domestic consumption data used to 
calculate the trigger level;  and 
(i) cross-reference previous notifications of the SSG being triggered on the same 
product. 
IV. DOMESTIC SUPPORT (TABLE DS:1 AND SUPPORTING TABLES DS:1 TO DS:9) 
5. Suggestions have been made to: 
(a) provide the total value of agricultural pr oduction on a commodity and product level to 
justify claims of  de minimis  exemptions, including the source of the data; 
(b) cross-reference the relevant Tables DS:2 in Table DS:1;  and 
(c) provide subtotals and totals for Green and Blue Box expenditures in the notification.  G/AG/W/73 
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  V. EXPORT COMPETITION (TABLES ES:1 TO ES:3 AND SUPPORTING TABLES 
ES:1 AND ES:2) 
6. Suggestions have been made to: 
(a) indicate the applicable HS sub-heading (i.e. 6-digit) level covered by each notified 
product category for all Tables ES:1 to ES:3.   This would be highly relevant for 
product categories that may contain both basic and processed products, but also for 
the "incorporated products" and "alcohol" categories. This would facilitate the 
verification of the reported level of exports and also whether the same tariff lines are being subsidized through more than one product category;  and 
(b) harmonize reporting periods across Tables ES:1 to ES:3, and in Table NF:1; the 
periods in supporting attachments, annexes et c. should also correlate with the data 
reported in the notifications.  
VI. INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY BUILDING 
7. Suggestions have been made for Members to share experiences in: 
(a) setting up internal communication mechanisms for preparing or reviewing 
notifications;  
(b) establishing a systemic file or handbook, aiming at providing any references and 
assistance to newly appointed officers in pr eparing or reviewing notifications;  and 
(c) developing in-house training courses for the new officers in charge of WTO matters. 
In this regard, some Members would be interested in learning from each others' 
specific experiences, i.e. how to prepare the questions, and whether there is any 
database, resource, or even a think tank, which could provide th e required references 
and assistance in handling the relevant info rmation.  This would ultimately prevent 
the repetition of some questions and ensure  that unresolved matters be followed-up 
adequately.   
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