WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
G/TRIMS/W/83 
19 September 2011 
 (11-4501) 
  
  
 
REPORT (2011) OF THE COMMITTEE ON 
TRADE-RELATED INVESTMENT MEASURES 
 
DRAFT 
  
I. GENERAL 
1. This report is submitted pursuant to Article  7.3 of the Agreement on Trade-Related 
Investment Measures ("TRIMs" Agreement), which requires the Committee on Trade-Related 
Investment Measures (the "Committee") to report annually to the Council for Trade in Goods.  The 
Report covers the period Oc tober 2010 – October 2011.
1 
2. The Committee met formally once in 2011.  Th is meeting was held on 3 October 2011 under 
the Chairpersonship of Mrs Zhao Hong (China).  The minutes of the formal meeting may be found in 
document G/TRIMS/M/31.  The meeting was open to all Members, governments with observer status 
in the WTO and international intergovernmental organizations to which the Committee has accorded 
regular observer status (IMF, OECD, UN, UNCTAD  and World Bank).  Decisions on requests for 
observer status made by several other international organizations are pending. 
II. NOTIFICATIONS 
3. Pursuant to Article 5.1 of the Agreement on TRIMs, Members were required to notify any 
trade-related investment measure ("TRIM") inconsiste nt with the Agreement within 90 days after the 
entry into force of the WTO Agreement.  Article 5. 2 of the Agreement allows for  transition periods 
for the elimination of measures notified under Arti cle 5.1 and which were in existence at least 
180 days preceding the entry into force of the WTO Agreement.  Pursuant to a decision adopted by the General Council in April 1995, governments el igible to become orig inal WTO Members that 
accepted the WTO Agreement after 1 January 1995 ha d a period of 90 days after the date of their 
acceptance of the WTO Agreement to make the notifica tions foreseen in Article 5.1, with the period 
for the elimination of TRIMs notified under Article 5. 1 being governed by reference to the date of 
entry into force of the WTO Agreement itself.
2 
4. Annex 1 to this report contains a list of a ll notifications of measures under Article 5.1.3  In the 
case of some Members, notifications have been submitted later than the 90-day period foreseen. 
5. Some Members have notified to the Committee th at they do not apply any TRIM inconsistent 
with the Agreement.  Annex 2 to this report lists  all Members that have made such notifications. 
                                                      
1 The annual report for 2010 is contained in document G/L/928 of 4 October 2010. 
2 WT/L/64. 
3 Notifications under Article 5.1 circulated in 1995 have been derestricted since 28 May 1996.  
Pursuant to the General Council's Decision of 14 May 2002 (WT/L/452), documents containing notifications 
under Articles 5.1, 5.5 and 6.2 are issued unrestricted. G/TRIMS/W/83 
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  6. Article 6.2 provides for notification to the Secret ariat of publications in which information on 
TRIMs can be found.  Annex 3 lists the Members th at have submitted such notifications.  During the 
period covered by this report, no tifications were made by Lesot ho and United Arab Emirates.  As 
agreed by the Committee at its meeting on 20 Ma y 2009, the Secretariat has been circulating 
reminders every six months.
4  These reminders contain guidance for all Members to indicate what 
Article 6.2 and its related decisi on required and to request that an y information submitted should also 
contain, if possible, any websites where relevant information could be found.  The reminders also 
request all Members that had never notified such pub lications to do so without delay and request all 
Members that had previously notified to constantly  update their notifications , if appropriate, without 
delay. The latest updated list of these notifi cations has been circulated in document 
G/TRIMS/N/2/Rev.21. 
III. SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT PROPOSALS RELATED TO THE 
TRIMS AGREEMENT 
7. Pursuant to the Decision adopted by the General Council on 1 August 2004 (WT/L/579) and 
paragraph 37 of the Hong Kong Ministerial D eclaration (WT/MIN(05)/DEC), the TRIMs Committee 
continued its consideration of the Category II Sp ecial and Differential Treatment ("S&D") proposals 
which were referred to it by the Ch airperson of the General Council. 
8. The proposals were originally submitted by the African Group in document 
TN/CTD/W/3/Rev.2 and relate to Articles 4 and 5.3 of the TRIMs Agreement.  In April 2007, Kenya 
on behalf of the African Group submitted a revised version of the proposals, which deals more 
specifically with the concerns of the proponents.5  In June and October 2007, the Chairperson held 
informal discussions with interested delegations  on the revised proposals.  These were further 
discussed at the meeting of the Committee held on 1 November 2007 at which the representative of 
Kenya said that they were open to listen to an y new ideas concerning these proposals, particularly 
with respect to the drafting, and that the African Group felt that it had gone as far as it could on this 
issue, unless there were other suggestions by othe r Members.  No further revisions to the draft 
proposals have been received from the proponents since then.  In accordance with paragraph 37 of the 
Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, the Chairp erson of the TRIMs Committee submitted an oral 
report (18 December 2007)6 to the General Council on the work  undertaken by the Committee with 
respect to the S&D proposals. 
9. At the Committee meeting of 23 October 2008, the Chairperson said that he would be willing 
to continue his informal consultations on this issu e should Members so wish and would report back to 
the Committee and the General Council at an a ppropriate time on any further developments. 
10. At the Committee meeting of 16 October 2009, no delegation took the floor with respect to 
this issue and the Chairperson indicated that she ha d no further developments to report to the General 
Council in this respect.  The Chairperson reiterated her willingness to continue informal consultations 
on this issue should Members so wish and woul d report back to the Committee and the General 
Council at an appropriate time on any further deve lopments.  She invited Members requesting such 
consultations to contact her or the Secretariat in th is regard.  The Chairperson made an oral report to 
this effect to the General Council at its meeting held on 17 December 2009.7 
                                                      
4 Reminders for 2011 were circulated in documents G/TRIMS/W/81  and G/TRIMS/W /82. 
5 The latest revised version of the African Group's proposals was annexed to document 
G/TRIMS/M/30, and is reproduced in Annex 4 to this report. 
6 WT/GC/M/112, paragraph 142. 
7 WT/GC/M/124, paragraph 52.  G/TRIMS/W/83 
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  11. At the Committee meeting of 1 October 2010, no  delegation took the floor regarding this 
issue and the Chairperson indicated that she had no further developments to  report to the General 
Council in this respect.  The Chairperson reiterate d the willingness to continue informal consultations 
on this issue, should Members so wish, and indicated  that any further developments would be reported 
back to the Committee and the Ge neral Council at an appropriat e time.  She invited Members 
requesting such consultations to contact the Ch airperson or the Secretariat in this regard. 
12. No further developments occurred on this front to date. 
IV. COMMUNICATIONS BY MEMBERS AND RELATED DISCUSSIONS 
13. Since the last Committee meeting in October 2010, two communications were received from 
Indonesia on 22 December 2010. The first was entitled "Indonesia's replies to questions posed by the 
United States and Comments made by Canada and the European Union during the Committee 
meeting of 1 October 2010".8  The second was entitled "Indonesia's Regulations on Communication 
and Information regarding the Supply of the Univ ersal Telecommunication Service Obligation and the 
Guidelines for Evaluation of the Achievement of Domestic Component Level in Telecommunication 
Operations - Indonesia's replies to Follow- up Questions posed by Japan in document 
G/TRIMS/W/78".9  
V. TRANSITIONAL REVIEW MECHANISM PURSUANT TO PARAGPAH 18 OF THE 
PROTOCOL OF ACCESSION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA10 
14. Pursuant to Paragraph 18 of the Protocol of Accession of the People's Republic of China, the 
Committee carried out the ninth and final annua l review of China's implementation of its 
commitments under the TRIMs Agreement and related pr ovisions of the Protocol of Accession.  In a 
communication dated […..] 2011, China submitted in formation on Annex 1A of its Protocol of 
Accession in connection with this review. Th is submission was circulated in document 
G/TRIMS/W/[...], dated […...] 2011.  The review took place at the meeting of 3 October 2011.  The Report of the Chairperson of the Committee on Chin a's ninth Transitional Re view was submitted to 
the Council for Trade in Goods in document G/L/[... ].  The discussions held by the Committee on this 
item are reflected in the relevant section of th e minutes of the meeting (G/TRIMS/M/31).    
VI. DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING 
15. The next Committee meeting will be held on [....]  
VII. ELECTION OF OFFICERS 
16. At its meeting of 3 October 2011, the Committee elected Mr Patrick Va n Gheel (Belgium) as 
its Chairperson for the period 2011-2012. 
                                                      
8 G/TRIMS/W/79. 
9 G/TRIMS/W/80. 
10 WT/L/432.  G/TRIMS/W/83 
Page 4  
 
  ANNEX 1 
 
Members that have Submitted Notifications under Article 5.1  
of the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures 
 
 
Member  Document Symbol  Date of Communication  
Argentina G/TRIMS/N/1/ARG/1 30 March 1995 
Argentina G/TRIMS/N/1/ARG/1/Add.1 21 March 1997 
Barbados G/TRIMS/N/1/BRB/1 31 March 1995 
Bolivia1  G/TRIMS/N/1/BOL/1 24 June 1998 
Chile2  G/TRIMS/N/1/CHL/1 14 December 1995 
Colombia G/TRIMS/N/1/COL/1 31 March 1995 
Colombia G/TRIMS/N/1/COL/1/Add.1 4 June 1995 
Colombia3 G/TRIMS/N/1/COL/2 31 July 1995 
Colombia G/TRIMS/N/1/COL/2/Corr.1 30 September 1996 
Costa Rica4 G/TRIMS/N/1/CRI/1 30 March 1995 
Cuba5  G/TRIMS/N/1/CUB/1 18 July 1995 
Cyprus6  G/TRIMS/N/1/CYP/2 30 October 1995 
Dominican Republic G/TRIMS/N/1/DOM/1 26 April 1995 
Ecuador G/TRIMS/N/1/ECU/1 20 March 1996 
Egypt  G/TRIMS/N/1/EGY/1 29 September 1995 
India  G/TRIMS/N/1/IND/1 31 March 1995 
India  G/TRIMS/N/1/IND/1/Add.1 22 December 1995 
India  G/TRIMS/N/1/IND/1/Add.1/Corr.1 18 March 1996 
India  G/TRIMS/N/1/IND/1/Add.2 11 April 1996 
Indonesia G/TRIMS/N/1/IDN/1 23 May 1995 
Indonesia G/TRIMS/N/1/IDN/1/Add.1 28 October 1996 
Malaysia G/TRIMS/N/1/MYS/1 31 March 1995 
Malaysia G/TRIMS/N/1/MYS/1/Rev.1 14 March 1996 
Mexico  G/TRIMS/N/1/MEX/1 31 March 1995 
                                                      
1 Bolivia subsequently submitted a notification indicating that it does not apply any trade-related 
investment measures that are not in conformity  with the Agreement (G/TRIMS/N/1/BOL/1/Add.1). 
2 Chile subsequently submitted a notification indica ting that it has eliminated measures notified under 
Article 5.1 (G/TRIMS /N/1/CHL/1/Add.1). 
3 Colombia subsequently submitted a notification indicating that it had issued Decree No. 1473 of 
10 May 2004, whereby Decree No. 2439 of 1994 establis hing import control mechanisms for certain agricultural 
products had been repealed (G/TRIMS/N/1/COL/3).   
4 Costa Rica subsequently submitted a notification indicating that it intended to eliminate measures 
notified under Article 5.1 in advance of the expiry of the transition period (G /TRIMS/N/1/CRI/1/Add.1). 
5 Cuba subsequently informed the Committee that the measures notified by Cuba under Article 5.1 are 
no longer in force (G/TRIMS/M/3, paragraph 5). 
6 This notification superseded Cyprus' previous one  (G/TRIMS/N/1/CYP/1) of 29 June 1995; Cyprus 
subsequently submitted a notification indicating that it has eliminated measures notified under Article 5.1 
(G/TRIMS/N/1/CYP/2/Add.1).  G/TRIMS/W/83 
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  Member  Document Symbol  Date of Communication  
Mexico7 G/TRIMS/N/1/MEX/1/Rev.18 31 March 1995 
Nigeria9 G/TRIMS/N/1/NGA/1 17 July 1996 
Pakistan G/TRIMS/N/1/PAK/1 30 March 1995 
Peru  G/TRIMS/N/1/PER/1 3 March 1995 
Philippines G/TRIMS/N/1/PHL/1 31 March 1995 Poland
10 G/TRIMS/N/1/POL/1 28 September 1995 
Romania G/TRIMS/N/1/ROM/1 31 March 1995 
South Africa G/TRIMS/N/1/ZAF/1 19 April 1995 
Thailand G/TRIMS/N/1/THA/1 30  March 1995 
Uganda  G/TRIMS/N/1/UGA/1 17 June 1997 
Uruguay G/TRIMS/N/1/URY/1 31 March 1995 
Uruguay G/TRIMS/N/1/URY/1/Add.1 30 August 1995 
Venezuela G/TRIMS/N/1/VEN/1 31 March 1995 
                                                      
7 Mexico subsequently submitted a notification indicating that all provisions under the Automotive 
Decree had ceased to be operative as of 1 January 2004 (G/C/42). 
8 In English only. 
9 Nigeria subsequently submitted a notification indicating that the Nigerian Enterprises Promotion Act 
of 1989 has been repealed and replaced with the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission Decree 1995 
(G/TRIMS/N/1/NGA/1/Add.1). 
10 Poland subsequently submitted a notification in dicating that it has eliminated measures notified 
under Article 5.1 (G/TRIMS/N/1/POL/1/Add.1). G/TRIMS/W/83 
Page 6  
 
  ANNEX 2 
 
Notifications Indicating that No TRIMs Inconsistent with the Agreement 
on Trade-Related Investment Measures are Maintained 
 
 
Member  Document Symbol  Date of Communication  
Bolivia  G/TRIMS/N/1/BOL/1/Add.1 4 March 1999 
Costa Rica   G/TRIMS/N/1/CRI/1/Add.11 16 September 1999 
Cyprus   G/TRIMS/N/1/CYP/2/Add.1 26 May 2000 
El Salvador G/TRIMS/N/1/SLV/1 5 November 2003 
Haiti  G/TRIMS/N/1/HTI/1 27 February 1998 
Honduras G/TRIMS/N/1/HND/1 7 July 1995 
Israel  G/TRIMS/N/1/ISR/1 24 October 1996 
Jamaica  G/TRIMS/N/1/JAM/1 9 June 1998 
Jordan   G/TRIMS/N/1/JOR/1 22 May 2000 
Maldives  G/TRIMS/N/1/MLV/1 30 September 1999 
Mali  G/TRIMS/N/1/MLI/1 27 May 1997 
Mauritius G/TRIMS/N/1/MUS/1 27 March 1995 
New Zealand G/TRIMS/N/1/NZL/1 20 May 1999 
Nicaragua G/TRIMS/N/1/NIC/1 18 July 1996 
Oman  G/TRIMS/N/1/OMN/1 20 December 2000 
Saint Lucia G/TRIMS/N/1/LCA/1 14 February 1996 
Saudi Arabia G/TRIMS/N/1/SAU/1 3 October 2006 
Singapore G/TRIMS/N/1/SGP/1 9 October 1996 
Slovenia G/TRIMS/N/1/SVN/1 27 March 1995 
Sri Lanka  G/TRIMS/N/1/LKA/1 14 March 2000 
Switzerland G/TRIMS/N/1/CHE/1 8 August 1995 
Chinese  Taipei  G/TRIMS/N/1/TPKM/1 27 May 2002 
Trinidad & Tobago G/TRIMS/N/1/TTO/1 1 April 1996 
Zambia  G/TRIMS/N/1/ZMB/1 13 April 1995 
                                                      
1 A Corrigendum to the English version was issued in G/TRIMS/N/1/CRI/1/Add.1/Corr.1, dated 
26 October 1999.  G/TRIMS/W/83 
 Page 7 
 
 
  ANNEX 3 
 
Members that have Submitted Notifications under Article 6.2 of 
the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures 
 
 
Albania Kyrgyz Republic Angola Lesotho Argentina Liechtenstein Armenia Macao, China 
Australia  Madagascar 
Bahrain Malaysia Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Maldives Bolivia, plurinational state of   Malí Brazil Mauritius 
Brunei Darussalam Mexico 
Burkina Faso Moldova Burundi Mongolia Cameroon Namibia Canada New Zealand Chad Nicaragua 
Chile Nigeria 
China Norway Colombia Oman Costa Rica Panama Croatia Paraguay 
Cuba Peru 
Dominica Philippines Dominican Republic Qatar Ecuador Senegal El Salvador Singapore European Union (including the member States) South Africa 
Fiji Islands, Rep. of the Sri Lanka 
Gabon Suriname Georgia Switzerland Ghana Chinese Taipei Haiti Thailand 
Hong Kong, China Trinidad and Tobago 
Iceland Tunisia India Turkey Indonesia Uganda Israel Ukraine Jamaica United Arab Emirates 
Japan United States 
Jordan Uruguay Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Zambia Korea Zimbabwe Kuwait  G/TRIMS/W/83 
Page 8  
 
  ANNEX 4 
 
April 2007 
 
S&D CATEGORY II PROPOSALS ON THE TRIMS AGREEMENT 
 
Revised proposal received from the delegation of Kenya on behalf of the African Group 
 
 Proposal related to Article 4 of the TRIMs Agreement 
  Members shall interpret and apply Article 4 of the TRIMs Agreement in accordance with the 
balance-of-payments provisions referred to in Artic le 4 of the TRIMs Agreement, and in a manner 
that fully supports measures taken by developing and least-developed country Members to safeguard 
their external financial position, balance-of-payme nts and sufficiency of reserves, taking full account 
of paragraph 1.1 of the Ministerial Decision on Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns.
1  
  Members shall interpret and apply Article 4 of the TRIMs Agreement in accordance with the 
provisions of Article XVIII of GA TT 1994 referred to in Article 4 of the TRIMs Agreement, and in a 
manner that fully supports measures taken by de veloping and least-developed country Members to 
promote the establishment of a particular industr y, taking full account of paragraph 1.1 of the 
Ministerial Decision on Implementati on-Related Issues and Concerns.
2   
 
 In considering requests to apply TR IMs under Article XVIII of the GATT 1994, 
Members shall take into account any diffi culties encountered by  least-developed and 
developing countries in meeting the notif ication and consultation requirements 
contained in Article XVIII, paragraphs 14 to 19, and the WTO Secretariat shall 
accord them such technical assistance and support as they may need in order to 
prepare their notifications and to carry out those consultations. 
 
 In order to assist least-developed and other low-income developing  countries 
whose dependence on primary production is pa rticularly high and whose overall level 
of industrialisation is particularly low to accelerate their industrialisation process and 
to diversify the structure of their economi es in line with the objective recognized in 
Article XXXVI:5 of the GATT 1994 and its Ad Note, the phrase "free to deviate 
temporarily from the provisions of Article 2" that is contained in Article 4 of the TRIMs Agreement shall be understood to re fer, in the case of these countries, to a 
reasonable period of time sufficient to establish the particular industry in question on a competitive footing. 
 
Proposal related to Article 5.3 of the TRIMs Agreement 
 
 Further to the Hong Kong Ministerial Decisi on in favour of least-developed countries on 
Special and Differential Treatment relating to the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment 
Measures3, other low-income developing countries that demonstrate difficulties in implementing 
                                                      
1 Paragraph 1.1 of the Ministerial Decision on Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns, adopted 
on 14 November 2001, "reaffirms that Article XVIII of  the GATT 1994 is a special and differential treatment 
provision for developing countries and that recourse to it should be less onerous than to Article XII of the 
GATT 1994". 
2 Ibid. 
3 WT/MIN(05)/DEC.  G/TRIMS/W/83 
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  the provisions of the TRIMs Agreement shall be provided with a new opportunity to notify TRIMs 
and to request transition periods to eliminate the measures.     With regard to requests made in this area by least-developed and other low-income 
developing country Members under Article IX of the WTO Ag reement, account shall be taken of 
their particular circumstances when setting the terms and conditions, incl uding time-frames, under 
which transition periods are granted.   
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