WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/L/898 
20 October 2009 
 (09-5143) 
  
  
 
REPORT (2009) OF THE WORKING PARTY ON 
STATE TRADING ENTERPRISES  
 
 
I. 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, pursu ant to paragraph 5 of the Understanding on the 
Interpretation of Article XVII of the General Agre ement 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.  During the period under review (3 October  2008 to 16 October 2009, i.e. the period 
of time between the regular meetings of the Wo rking Party), Mr. Haitao ZHU (China) assumed the 
Chairpersonship of the Working Party from Mrs.  Virag DANI HALGAND (Hungary).  Mr ZHU was 
appointed Chair by the Council for Trade in Goods at its meeting on 24 March 2009.     
2. The mandate of the Working Party, as set out in paragraph 5 of the Understanding, is:  (i) to 
review notifications and counter-no tifications on state trading;  (ii) to review, in the light of the 
notifications received, the adequacy of the qu estionnaire on state trading (BISD 9S/184) and the 
coverage of state trading enterprises notified unde r paragraph 1 of the Understanding; and (iii) to 
develop an illustrative list showing the kinds of relationships between governments and enterprises, 
and the kinds of activities engaged in by these enterp rises, which may be relevant for the purposes of 
Article XVII of the GATT 1994.  Regarding the revi ew of notifications, the Working Party having 
completed the mandated revision of the questionnaire on state trading, now reviews notifications in 
light of the questionnaire adopted on 2 April 1998 (G/STR/3) and revised on 14 November 2003 
(G/STR/3/Rev.1).  The notifications reviewed for th e current period are listed below in paragraph 8.  
Regarding the Illustrative List of State Tradi ng Relationships and Activities, the Working Party 
completed its mandate with the adoption of the illu strative list by the Council for Trade in Goods on 
15 October 1999 (G/STR/4).   
3. This Report is submitted under para graph 5 of the Understanding.  It sets out the activities of 
the Working Party during the period under review.   
4. Participants in the Working Party's meetings to date are:  Argentina;  Australia;  Bangladesh;  
Barbados;  Brazil;  Brunei Darussalam;  Burundi;  Cana da;  Chile;  China;  Colombia;  Costa Rica;  
Cuba;  Ecuador;  Egypt;  El Salvador;  European Communities
1;  Guatemala;  Haiti;  Honduras;  
Hong Kong, China;  Iceland;  India;  Indonesia;  Isr ael;  Jamaica;  Japan;  Jo rdan;  Kenya;  Korea;  
Macao, China;  Malaysia;  Malta;  Mauritius;  Mexi co;  Morocco;  New Zealand;  Norway;  Oman;  
Pakistan;  Paraguay;  Peru;  Philippines;  Saudi Arabia;  Singapore;  South Africa;  Switzerland;  
Chinese Taipei;  Thailand;  Trinidad and Tobago;  Tunisia;  Turkey;  Ukraine;  United States;  
Uruguay;  Venezuela;  Vietnam;  Zambia and Zimb abwe.  Ethiopia;  Iran;  Russian Federation and 
Sudan have participated as observers.   
                                                      
1 The European Communities and its 27 Me mber States are counted as one.   G/L/898 
Page 2  
 
  5. Following the regular meeting held on 3 Octobe r 2008, the Working Party held one informal 
consultation and one regular meeti ng during the period under review.  The informal consultation was 
held on 1 April 2009 and the regular meeting wa s held on 16 October 2009.  The minutes of the 
regular meeting held on 16 October 2009 will be circulated in document G/STR/M/19.   
6. The next regular meeting of the Working Party will be held on 22 October 2010.   
II. NOTIFICATION AND REVIEW OF MEMBERS' STATE TRADING ACTIVITIES 
7. 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, ever y third year thereafter, while updating notifications 
were to be made in the intervening years, i ndicating any changes since the last new and full 
notification.  On 11 November 2003, the Worki ng Party adopted the recommendation contained in 
document G/STR/5 regarding the frequency of notif ications.  The said recommendation, approved by 
the Council for Trade in Goods on 26 November 2003, modified the periodicity of state trading notifications so that new and full notifications on state trading were due every two years instead of 
every three years and the requirement of updati ng notifications in the intervening years was 
eliminated.  On 3 October 2008 the Working Part y recommended to the Council for Trade in Goods 
that the application of the recommendation containe d in G/STR/5 be extended for a further period of 
two years.  A recommendation to that effect was subsequently circulated as G/STR/6.  Informal 
consultations will be held prior to  30 June 2010 to review the fre quency of notifications and decide 
whether to extend the application of the recommenda tion in G/STR/6 either as presently drafted or in 
a modified form, for a further period.   
8. In the period under review six updating notifica tions and 23 new and full notifications were 
received.  The Working Party reviewed all of these notificaions at its regular meeting on 16 October 2009:  the 2008 new and full no tifications from Colombia, Croatia, the 
European Communities, Honduras, Indonesia, Japan , Liechtenstein, Mozambique, New Zealand, 
Saudi Arabia, Suriname and Chinese Taipei;  the 2006 new and full notifications from Croatia, 
Honduras, Indonesia, New Zealand and Suriname;  the 2004 new and full notifications from 
Honduras, the Republic of Korea and Chinese Taip ei;  a 2001 new and full notification from the 
Republic of Korea;  a 1998 new and full notifica tion from Honduras; and the 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 
2002 and 2003 updating notifications from Honduras.   
9. At the regular meeting of the Working Party,  Australia and Turkey posed written questions 
relating to Indonesia's new and full notifications  contained in documents G/STR/N/11/IDN and 
G/STR/N/12/IDN, as well as the new and full notifications of Korea contained in documents 
G/STR/N/7/KOR and G/STR/N/10/KOR.  Australia also directed written questions to Japan concerning its notification submitted in document G/STR/N/12/JPN.  The United States asked questions to Indonesia, Japan, Kor ea and New Zealand in respect of  their respective new and full 
notifications.  Additionally, Australia circulated  written questions requesting India and Norway to 
inform the Working Party of when they expected to  submit outstanding notifications in order to allow 
Members to review their state trading enterprises (G/STR/Q1/IND/2 and G/STR/Q1/NOR/6).   
10. The Working Party adopted its Annual Report to the Council for Trade in Goods for the 
year 2009.   
III. COMPLIANCE WITH THE NOTIFICATION OBLIGATION 
11. As of the date of 16 October 2009, 28 notifica tions (out of a possible 126 notifications) have 
been received for the 2008 notification period (G/STR /N/12) and 30 notifications (out of a possible  G/L/898 
 Page 3 
 
 
  124 notifications) for the 2006 notification period (G /STR/11).  More detailed information with 
respect to the status of notifications since 1995 is set out in the table found in the Annex to this report.   
12. The Working Party held informal consultations on 1 April 2009 in response to the request 
from the Chairman of the General Council of 26 Fe bruary 2009 to hold consul tations with Members 
on ways to improve the timeliness and completeness of notification obligations  and other information 
flows.  Members were supportive of the discussi on and engaged constructively in the informal 
consultations.  Members agreed to building on cu rrent practices in the Working Party to seek to 
improve Members' performance in meeting the no tification obligations.  These steps included:  
preparation by the Secretariat of a table record ing all notifications made to the Working Party 
since 1995 (to be updated on a regular basis, the most re cent of which is attached as an Annex to this 
report);  reminders to Members once the notificati on deadline has passed (in addition to reminders 
currently being sent prior to the deadline), includi ng an offer of support from the Secretariat to 
provide assistance in completing the notifications an d reminding that a nil notification should also be 
submitted;  circulating a list of Members that ha ve submitted notifications in the calendar year;  
offering technical assistance around the time of the regular meeting of the Working Party to coincide 
with possible Capital-based attendance (in addition to assistance being available from the Secretariat 
at any time);  and reminding delegations on a regular  basis to submit questions on notifications well 
before the regular meeting.    
  G/L/898 
Page 4 NOTIFICATIONS SUBMITTED BY WTO MEMBERS UNDER ARTICLE XVII:4(A)  
OF THE GATT 1994 AND PARAGRAPH 1 OF  THE UNDERSTANDING ON THE  
INTERPRETATION OF ARTICLE XVII OF THE GATT 1994 
 
Status as of 18 September 20092 
 
Member New and Full 
Notification 
(1995) 
G/STR/N/1 Updating 
Notification 
(1996) 
G/STR/N/2 Updating 
Notification 
(1997) 
G/STR/N/3 New and Full 
Notification 
(1998) 
G/STR/N/4 Updating 
Notification 
(1999) 
G/STR/N/5 Updating 
Notification 
(2000) 
G/STR/N/6 New and Full 
Notification 
(2001) 
G/STR/N/7 Updating 
Notification 
(2002) 
G/STR/N/8 Updating 
Notification 
(2003) 
G/STR/N/9 New and Full 
Notification 
(2004) 
G/STR/N/10 New and Full 
Notification 
(2006) 
G/STR/N/11 New and Full 
Notification 
(2008) 
G/STR/N/12 
Albania (ALB) * * * * * A    N N N 
Angola (AGO) * A           
Antigua and 
Barbuda (ATG) A            
Argentina (ARG) A N  N N N N N N N N N N 
Armenia (ARM) * * * * * * * * A N N N 
Australia (AUS) A X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Bahrain (BHR) A   X X X       
Bangladesh (BGD) A            
Barbados (BRB) A X            
Belize (BLZ) A            
Benin (BEN) * A           
Bolivarian Republic 
of Venezuela (VEN) A X X X X X X X      
Bolivia (BOL) A    N N N      
Botswana (BWA) A N            
Brazil (BRA) A X  X          
                                                      
2 "X" indicates that a notification has been made.   
  "N" indicates that a nil notification has been made.   
  "*" indicates that the country/customs territory was not yet a Member of the WTO.   
  "A" indicates the year in which the WTO Agre ement entered into for ce for that Member.   
  "§" indicates that the country in question is currently a member of  the European Communities.   
   The shaded boxes indicate that the corresponding notification was submitted by the European Communities.     
   G/L/898
 Page 5Member New and Full 
Notification 
(1995) 
G/STR/N/1 Updating 
Notification 
(1996) 
G/STR/N/2 Updating 
Notification 
(1997) 
G/STR/N/3 New and Full 
Notification 
(1998) 
G/STR/N/4 Updating 
Notification 
(1999) 
G/STR/N/5 Updating 
Notification 
(2000) 
G/STR/N/6 New and Full 
Notification 
(2001) 
G/STR/N/7 Updating 
Notification 
(2002) 
G/STR/N/8 Updating 
Notification 
(2003) 
G/STR/N/9 New and Full 
Notification 
(2004) 
G/STR/N/10 New and Full 
Notification 
(2006) 
G/STR/N/11 New and Full 
Notification 
(2008) 
G/STR/N/12 
Brunei Darussalam 
(BRN) A            
Bulgaria (BGR)3§ N A     N N  N   
Burkina Faso (BFA) A            
Burundi (BDI) A      N      
Cambodia (KHM) * * * * * * * * * A   
Cameroon (CMR) A            
Canada (CAN) A X X X X X X X X X X X  
Cape Verde (CPV) * * * * * * * * * * * A 
Central African 
Republic (CAF) A            
Chad (TCD) * A  N N N N      
Chile (CHL) A X X X X X X X X X X X X 
China (CHN) * * * * * * A X X X    
Colombia (COL) A X X  X   X X X X X X 
Costa Rica (CRI) A X X X X X X X X     
Côte d'Ivoire (CIV) A X            
Croatia (HRV) * * * * * A  N N N N N 
Cuba (CUB) A            
Cyprus (CYP)4§ A X      N N N    
Czech Republic 
(CZE)4§ A X N N N N N N N N N   
Democratic 
Republic of the Congo (COD)  
*  
*  
A          
Djibouti (DJI) A            
Dominica (DMA) A   X X X       
                                                      
3 This Member became a Euro pean Communities' member St ate on 1 January 2007.   
4 This Member became a Eu ropean Communities' member  State on 1 May 2004.    
  G/L/898 
Page 6 Member New and Full 
Notification 
(1995) 
G/STR/N/1 Updating 
Notification 
(1996) 
G/STR/N/2 Updating 
Notification 
(1997) 
G/STR/N/3 New and Full 
Notification 
(1998) 
G/STR/N/4 Updating 
Notification 
(1999) 
G/STR/N/5 Updating 
Notification 
(2000) 
G/STR/N/6 New and Full 
Notification 
(2001) 
G/STR/N/7 Updating 
Notification 
(2002) 
G/STR/N/8 Updating 
Notification 
(2003) 
G/STR/N/9 New and Full 
Notification 
(2004) 
G/STR/N/10 New and Full 
Notification 
(2006) 
G/STR/N/11 New and Full 
Notification 
(2008) 
G/STR/N/12 
Dominican 
Republic (DOM) A            
Ecuador (ECU) * A           
Egypt (EGY) A   N         
El Salvador (SLV) A N   N N N       
Estonia (EST)4 § * * * * A  N N N    
European 
Communities (EEC) A X X X X X X X N N N N N 
Fiji (FJI) * A  X         
Former Yugoslav 
Republic of Macedonia (MKD)  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
* A N   
Gabon (GAB) A            
Gambia (GMB) N A           
Georgia (GEO) * * * * * A N N     
Ghana (GHA) A      N   N   
Grenada (GRD) * A           
Guatemala (GTM) A N N N N N N N N     
Guinea, Republic of 
(GIN) A N      N N N    
Guinea Bissau 
(GNB) A            
Guyana (GUY) A            
Haiti (HTI) N A N N N N N       
Honduras (HND) A N N N N N N N N N N N N 
Hong Kong, China 
(HKG) A N N N N N N N N N N N N 
Hungary (HUN)4§ A N N N N N N N N N    
Iceland (ISL) A X   X X        
India (IND) A X      X       
   G/L/898
 Page 7Member New and Full 
Notification 
(1995) 
G/STR/N/1 Updating 
Notification 
(1996) 
G/STR/N/2 Updating 
Notification 
(1997) 
G/STR/N/3 New and Full 
Notification 
(1998) 
G/STR/N/4 Updating 
Notification 
(1999) 
G/STR/N/5 Updating 
Notification 
(2000) 
G/STR/N/6 New and Full 
Notification 
(2001) 
G/STR/N/7 Updating 
Notification 
(2002) 
G/STR/N/8 Updating 
Notification 
(2003) 
G/STR/N/9 New and Full 
Notification 
(2004) 
G/STR/N/10 New and Full 
Notification 
(2006) 
G/STR/N/11 New and Full 
Notification 
(2008) 
G/STR/N/12 
Indonesia (IDN) A X X  N   X X  X X X 
Israel (ISR) A X            
Jamaica (JAM) A X  X    N      
Japan (JPN) A X X X X   X   X X X 
Jordan (JOR) * * * X X A X X X X    
Kenya (KEN) A          N  
Korea, Republic of 
(KOR) A X X  X   X   X   
Kuwait (KWT) A            
Kyrgyz Republic 
(KGZ) * * * A         
Latvia (LVA)4§ * * * X A X N N N N N   
Lesotho (LSO) A            
Liechtenstein (LIE) A X X X X X X X X X X  X 
Lithuania (LTU)4§ * * * * * * A X      
Macao, China 
(MAC) A N N N N N N N N N N N N 
Madagascar (MDG) A            
Malawi (MWI) A            
Malaysia (MYS) A X            
Maldives (MDV) A            
Mali (MLI) A            
Malta (MLT)4§ A X   X X X X X     
Mauritania (MRT) A            
Mauritius (MUS) A X X X     X     
Mexico (MEX) A N N N N N N       
Moldova (MDA) * * * * * * A N N N N N  
Mongolia (MNG) * * A N N N N      
Morocco (MAR) A X             
  G/L/898 
Page 8 Member New and Full 
Notification 
(1995) 
G/STR/N/1 Updating 
Notification 
(1996) 
G/STR/N/2 Updating 
Notification 
(1997) 
G/STR/N/3 New and Full 
Notification 
(1998) 
G/STR/N/4 Updating 
Notification 
(1999) 
G/STR/N/5 Updating 
Notification 
(2000) 
G/STR/N/6 New and Full 
Notification 
(2001) 
G/STR/N/7 Updating 
Notification 
(2002) 
G/STR/N/8 Updating 
Notification 
(2003) 
G/STR/N/9 New and Full 
Notification 
(2004) 
G/STR/N/10 New and Full 
Notification 
(2006) 
G/STR/N/11 New and Full 
Notification 
(2008) 
G/STR/N/12 
Mozambique 
(MOZ) A           N 
Myanmar (MYN) A            
Namibia (NAM) A X   X X X       
Nepal (NPL) * * * * * * * * * A   
New Zealand (NZL) A X X X X X X X   X X X 
Nicaragua (NIC) A            
Niger (NER) * A           
Nigeria (NGA) A N N N N N N N N    N 
Norway (NOR) A X X X X X X X      
Oman (OMN) * * * * * A X  X    
Pakistan (PAK) A N  N N N N N N N    
Panama (PAN) * * A N N N N N N N   
Papua New Guinea 
(PNG) * A           
Paraguay (PRY) A   X         
Peru (PER) A X X X N N N N N N N   
Philippines (PHL) A X X  X X X X      
Poland (POL)4§ A X   N N N N N N    
Qatar (QAT) N A   N     N N  
Romania (ROU)3§ A N N N N N N N N N N N  
Rwanda (RWA) * A           
Saint Kitts & Nevis 
(KNA) * A           
Saint Lucia (LCA) A            
Saint Vincent & 
Grenadines (VCT) A   X X X        
   G/L/898
 Page 9Member New and Full 
Notification 
(1995) 
G/STR/N/1 Updating 
Notification 
(1996) 
G/STR/N/2 Updating 
Notification 
(1997) 
G/STR/N/3 New and Full 
Notification 
(1998) 
G/STR/N/4 Updating 
Notification 
(1999) 
G/STR/N/5 Updating 
Notification 
(2000) 
G/STR/N/6 New and Full 
Notification 
(2001) 
G/STR/N/7 Updating 
Notification 
(2002) 
G/STR/N/8 Updating 
Notification 
(2003) 
G/STR/N/9 New and Full 
Notification 
(2004) 
G/STR/N/10 New and Full 
Notification 
(2006) 
G/STR/N/11 New and Full 
Notification 
(2008) 
G/STR/N/12 
Saudi Arabia 
(SAU)5 * * * * * * * * * * N N 
Senegal (SEN) A            
Sierra Leone (SLE) A            
Singapore (SGP) A N N N N N N   N N N N 
Slovak Republic 
(SVK)4§ A X X X X X N N N N    
Slovenia (SVN)4§ A X X X X X N N N N    
Solomon Islands 
(SLB) * A           
South Africa (ZAF) A X X X N N N N N     
Sri Lanka (LKA) A            
Suriname (SUR) A         N N N 
Swaziland (SWZ) A            
Switzerland (CHE) A X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Separate Customs 
Territory of Taiwan, 
Penghu, Kinmen 
and Matsu (TPKM) * * * * * * * A X X X X X 
Tanzania (TZA) A            
Thailand (THA) A X X X    X X X X X X 
Togo (TGO) A            
Tonga (TON)6 * * * * * * * * * * *  
Trinidad & Tobago 
(TTO) A   X      X X  
Tunisia (TUN) A X  X X X X X X X X   
Turkey (TUR) A X  X X X X X X   X X 
Uganda (UGA) A   N N N    N   
                                                      
5 Saudi Arabia became a Member of the WTO on 11 December 2005.   
6 Tonga became a Member of th e WTO on 27 July 2007.    
  G/L/898 
Page 10 Member New and Full 
Notification 
(1995) 
G/STR/N/1 Updating 
Notification 
(1996) 
G/STR/N/2 Updating 
Notification 
(1997) 
G/STR/N/3 New and Full 
Notification 
(1998) 
G/STR/N/4 Updating 
Notification 
(1999) 
G/STR/N/5 Updating 
Notification 
(2000) 
G/STR/N/6 New and Full 
Notification 
(2001) 
G/STR/N/7 Updating 
Notification 
(2002) 
G/STR/N/8 Updating 
Notification 
(2003) 
G/STR/N/9 New and Full 
Notification 
(2004) 
G/STR/N/10 New and Full 
Notification 
(2006) 
G/STR/N/11 New and Full 
Notification 
(2008) 
G/STR/N/12 
Ukraine (UKR) * * * * * * * * * * * A X 
United Arab 
Emirates (ARE) N A           
United States 
(USA) A X X X X X X X X X X X X 
Uruguay (URY) A X  X          
Viet Nam (VNM)7 * * * * * * * * * * *  
Zambia (ZMB) A N   N N  N N N N N  
Zimbabwe (ZWE) A          N N 
Number of 
Notifying Members/Total 
Number of 
Members
8 59/97 33/113 36/116 54/118 48/120 45/12 5 55/128 43/129 35/131 37/123 30/124 28/126 
 
 
 
__________  
                                                      
7 Viet Nam became a Member of the WTO on 11 January 2007.   
8 The numerator and denominator used for th e years 1995-2003 reflect th e fact that, for each  notification oblig ation, the Europe an Communities submitted a single 
notification that covered all of its then 15 member States.  As  Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Est onia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania , Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia 
became European Comm unities' member States on 1 May 2004, they were counted separately in this table a nd not as part of the Eur opean Communities, for the period 1995-
2003.  The numerator and the denominator used for the years 2004 and 2006 count the European Communities and its then 25 member  States as one;  while the numerator and the 
denominator used for the year 2008 count the European Communities and its 27 member States as one.  The total number of Members  of the World Trade Organization is 
currently 153.