. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SCM/117 
26 April 2005 
 (05-1691) 
Committee on Subsidies  
and Countervailing Measures  
 
 
 
PROCEDURE FOR REVIEW 
OF 2005 NEW AND FULL SUBSIDY NOTIFICATIONS 
 
Note by the Secretariat  
 
 
 At its Regular Meeting on 14 April 2005, the Committee adopted the following procedure for the review of 2005 new and full subsidy notifications.
1 
 
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1. Pursuant to Article 25.1 of the SCM Agre ement, 2005 new and full subsidy notifications 
must be submitted by 30 June 2005.   As delays in notification would make it difficult for the 
Secretariat to translate and circulate notifications in a manner which would allow the procedures set forth below to operate, the Committee consider s it important that all Members respect the 
30 June 2005 deadline for submission of notificatio ns, as well as the deadlines for the questions and 
answers procedure set out below.  
2. The 2005 new and full subsidy notif ications will be reviewed at special meetings to be held in 
conjunction with the regular meetings of the SC M Committee in Autumn 2005, Spring 2006, and (if 
required) Autumn 2006.  The length of the special meetings will be determined by the Chair in light of the number and extent of the notifications schedul ed for review.  Only notifications distributed in 
all three WTO working languages not less than sevent een weeks before a meeting may be reviewed at 
that meeting.   
3. The review of new and full notifications w ill be held on the basis of a written procedure, 
i.e. on the basis of written questions and
 written answers provided before the meeting.  Written 
questions shall be submitted to the notifying Member and to the Secretariat not less than 
thirteen weeks before the date of the meeting at which a notification is to be reviewed, and written 
responses shall be submitted not less than four week s before the date of that meeting.  Members 
desiring clarification of answers, identifying issues for discussion, or otherwise following-up on 
written responses are encouraged to submit follow-up qu estions in writing in advance of the meeting.  
Written answers to follow-up questions are required on ly where the follow-up questions are submitted 
in writing.   
4. The written procedure is intended to avoid th e repetition of lengthy questions and answers in 
the meeting and to allow the Committee to (a) fo llow-up in areas where the written answers were 
unclear and (b) discuss issues identified as a result of the written procedure.  The result should be 
shorter and more focused meetings where meaningful discussion could occur. 
                                                      
1 This procedure was circulated as a draft in document G/SCM/W/532, dated 2 March 2005.  At the 
invitation of the Chairman, at its Regular Meeting on 14 April 2005, the Committee agreed to abbreviate the 
timeframes referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 of the draft procedure.  The procedure herein reflects the changes 
to those timeframes, as agreed by the Committee. G/SCM/117 
Page 2  
 
5. In order for this format to be effectiv e, two conditions must be fulfilled.  First
, questions and 
answers need to be provided on a timely basis.  Thus, a Member is not required to provide written 
answers in advance of a meeting where the questions  were provided after the deadline had passed.  On 
the other hand, a Member that fails to provide wr itten answers within the specified time period shall 
provide full oral answers at the meeting itself.  Second , the purpose of the written procedure is to 
allow better discussion in the meetings, not to re place the meetings.  Meaningful discussion can only 
occur if the responsible official s are present;  thus, Members shoul d make maximum efforts to bring 
appropriate capital-based officials to the reviews of their notifications. 
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