. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SCM/136 
22 April 2010 
 (10-2107) 
Committee on Subsidies 
and Countervailing Measures Original:   English 
 
 
 
REQUEST BY JAPAN REGARDING OTHER BUSINESS TO BE DISCUSSED  
AT THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE SCM COMMITTEE TO BE  
HELD ON 27 APRIL 2010 - FEED-IN TARIFF PROGRAMME  
OF THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO, CANADA 
 
  The following communication, dated 21 April 2010,  is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Japan.  
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Questions from Japan Regarding the Ontario Feed-In Tariff (FIT) Programme of Ontario, 
Canada 
  We register our concerns with respect to th e Feed-In Tariff (FIT) Programme of the Province 
of Ontario, Canada.   The FIT Programme was established by the Green Energy and Green Economy Act, 2009, enacted on 14 May 2009.  The Act states that "the Minister may direct the Ontario Power Authority 
(OPA) to develop a feed-in tariff program".  The Mini ster shall issue "directions that set out the goals 
relating to domestic content to be achieved dur ing the period to be covered by the program." 
  On 24 September 2009, Deputy Premier George Smitherman issued a directive requiring that 
"each wind power and solar PV project and solar mi cro FIT project contain a defined percentage of 
domestic content."  It also requires that "the FI T Contract should include a standardized method for 
calculating the level of domestic content in a proj ect" and that "domestic provisions will be enforced 
through the FIT Contract."   We have strong concerns about this Ontario FI T Programme with respect to its inconsistency 
with GATT and TRIMs.  We also question whethe r this programme is consistent with the SCM 
Agreement.  It is in this regard th at we have several questions as follows: 
  (i)   Is it a correct understanding that the OP A ensures the payment of the "contract price" 
if the suppliers of renewable energy run the Contract Facilities which are developed 
and constructed such that the Domestic Cont ent Level is equal to or greater than the 
Minimum Required Domestic Content Level"? 
  (ii)   Is it a correct understanding that the "c ontract price" is set to support the income of 
the suppliers or the price of renewable energy, which is traded at the market price without the FIT Programme? 
 
 (iii)   Is the "contract price" higher than the market price?  
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   (iv)   Is the OPA, established by the Electricity Restructuring Act, 2004, a public body 
owned by the Government of Ontario? 
  (v)   Is it a correct understanding that the "cont ract price" is not applicable to suppliers 
who run the Contract Facilities which do not meet the Minimum Required Domestic 
Content Level? 
      (vi)  Are there any supplier who has met the Minimum Required Domestic Content Level 
since last October when the FIT programme wa s initiated?  If any, what percentage of 
FIT contractors has met it? 
 
 Although we appreciate the objective of the FIT programme, which is to encourage the use of 
renewable energy, as mentioned above, we are conc erned that the FIT programme may have been 
designed and implemented in a manner which is not consistent with the WTO agreements.  We would 
appreciate it if Canada responds to our questions. 
 
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