WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/IP/W/4/Add.1/Rev.1 
16 February 2005 
 (05-0643) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights Special Session  
 
  
MULTILATERAL NOTIFICATION AND REGISTRATION SYSTEMS 
 
Note by the Secretariat
 
 
Revision  
   
 
 
    
THE WTO CENTRAL REGISTRY OF NOTIFICATIONS (CRN) 
  1. Document TN/IP/W/4/Add.1 of 27 November 2002 provides information on the WTO 
Central Registry of Notifications (CRN).  At its meeting of 30 N ovember 2004, the Special Session of 
the Council for TRIPS agreed that the Secretariat would update document TN /IP/W/4/Add.1 to take 
into account any new developments concerning the CRN. 
2. The CRN was established in 1995 pursuant to the Decision on Notification Procedures, 
adopted by Ministers at Marrakesh (see the Annex to  this document).  According to its Preamble, the 
Decision is aimed at improving the operation of  notification procedures under the WTO Multilateral 
Trade Agreements and, where applicable, the Plurilateral Trade Agreements, and thereby at 
contributing to the transparency of Members' tr ade policies and the effectiveness of surveillance 
arrangements established to that end. 
3. The CRN is a WTO computer database which reco rds all regular notifications received by the 
Organization from Members and records descriptive information on each notification submitted.  
Regular notifications are those for which the Secretaria t is able to determine that an obligation exists 
to notify certain information with in a given period.  References to  documents can be retrieved from 
the CRN by means of specific s earches, e.g., by the requirement  under which the notification was 
made or by Member. 
4. Pursuant to the terms set out in the above-mentioned Ministerial Decision, the following are 
the main characteristics of the CRN  and the way that it is used: 
 - the CRN records such elements of the information provided on the measure by the 
Member concerned as its purpose, its tr ade coverage, and the requirement under 
which it has been notified; 
 This document has been prepa red under the Secretariat's own 
responsibility and without prejudice to the positions of Members 
and to their rights and obligations under the WTO.  TN/IP/W/4/Add.1/Rev.1 
Page 2  
 
  - the CRN records for each notification cross-references by Member and obligation; 
  - the administrator of the CRN inform s each Member annually of the regular 
notification obligations to which that Memb er will be expected to respond in the 
course of the following year; 
 
 - the administrator of the CRN further draws the attention of individual Members to 
regular notification requirements which remain unfulfilled; 
  - information in the CRN regarding indivi dual notifications is made available on 
request to any Member entitled to r eceive the notification concerned. 
 
5. The CRN is an internal WTO computer database.  However, some of the data recorded in this 
database have been incorporated in Documents Online  and are directly accessible through the WTO 
Members' website and the WTO public website.  A CRN web interface was created in May 2004 
under Documents Online .  It is accessible on Documents Online , either from the Browse  page in the 
sub-heading Frequently Consulted, or from the  Search  page.  It permits the retrieval of notification 
documents using specific data fields on the CRN database.  The search mechanism operates in the 
same way as the standard search interface of Documents Online , and offers similar online help 
features to assist the user in formulating his/he r queries.  Documents retrieved by a search are 
presented in the standard display format of Documents Online  and may be consulted directly on-
screen or, alternatively, downlo aded to a local computer.  
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  TN/IP/W/4/Add.1/Rev.1 
 Page 3 
 
 
 ANNEX 
 
DECISION ON NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES1 
  
 Ministers decide  to recommend adoption by the Ministerial Conference of the decision on 
improvement and review of notifi cation procedures set out below. 
 
 Members, 
 
 Desiring  to improve the operation of notifi cation procedures under the Agreement 
Establishing the World Trade Organization (hereinaft er referred to as the "WTO Agreement"), and 
thereby to contribute to the transparency of Me mbers' trade policies and to the effectiveness of 
surveillance arrangements established to that end;  
 Recalling  obligations under the WTO Agreement to publish and notify, including obligations 
assumed under the terms of specific protocols of accession, waivers, and other agreements entered 
into by Members;   Agree  as follows: 
 
I. General obligation to notify 
  Members affirm their commitment to obligati ons under the Multilateral Trade Agreements 
and, where applicable, the Plurilateral Trade Agre ements, regarding publication and notification. 
 
 Members recall their undertakings set out in  the Understanding Regarding Notification, 
Consultation, Dispute Settlement and Surveilla nce adopted on 28 November 1979 (BISD 26S/210).  
With regard to their undertaking therein to notify, to the maximum extent possible, their adoption of 
trade measures affecting the operation of GATT 1994, such notification itself being without prejudice to views on the consistency of measures with or th eir relevance to rights and obligations under the 
Multilateral Trade Agreements and, where applicab le, the Plurilateral Trade Agreements, Members 
agree to be guided, as appropriate, by the annexed li st of measures.  Members therefore agree that the 
introduction or modification of such measures is subject to the notification requirements of the 
1979 Understanding.  
II. Central registry of notifications 
 
 A central registry of notifications shall be established under the responsibility of the 
Secretariat.  While Members will continue to foll ow existing notification procedures, the Secretariat 
shall ensure that the central regist ry records such elements of the in formation provided on the measure 
by the Member concerned as its purpose, its trade coverage, and the require ment under which it has 
been notified.  The central registry shall cross-re ference its records of notifications by Member and 
obligation. 
  The central registry shall inform each Member annually of the regular notification obligations 
to which that Member will be expected to respond in the course of the following year.  
                                                     
 
1 "The Legal Texts, The Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations", World 
Trade Organization 1999, pages 388-390. TN/IP/W/4/Add.1/Rev.1 
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  The central registry shall draw the attenti on of individual Members to regular notification 
requirements which remain unfulfilled.   Information in the central registry regarding i ndividual notifications shall be made available 
on request to any Member entitled to receive the notification concerned. 
 
III. Review of notification obligations and procedures 
  The Council for Trade in Goods will undertake a review of notification obligations and 
procedures under the Agreements in Annex 1A of th e WTO Agreement.  The review will be carried 
out by a working group, membership in which will be open to all Members.  The group will be 
established immediately after the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement.   The terms of reference of the working group will be:  
 - to undertake a thorough review of all ex isting notification obligations of Members 
established under the Agreements in Annex 1A of the WTO Agreement, with a view 
to simplifying, standardizing and consolida ting these obligations to the greatest extent 
practicable, as well as to improving complia nce with these obligations, bearing in 
mind the overall objective of improving the transparency of the trade policies of Members and the effectiveness of surveillan ce arrangements established to this end, 
and also bearing in mind the possible need of some developing country Members for 
assistance in meeting their notification obligations; 
  - to make recommendations to the Council fo r Trade in Goods not later than two years 
after the entry into force of the WTO Agreement. 
 
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 ANNEX 
 
INDICATIVE LIST1 OF NOTIFIABLE MEASURES 
 
 
Tariffs (including range and sc ope of bindings, GSP provisions, rates applied to members of 
free-trade areas/customs unions, other preferences) 
 Tariff quotas and surcharges  Quantitative restrictions, including voluntary export restraints and orderly marketing arrangements 
affecting imports 
 
Other non-tariff measures such as licensing and mixing requirements;  variable levies 
 Customs valuation  
Rules of origin 
 Government procurement  Technical barriers  
Safeguard actions 
 Anti-dumping actions  Countervailing actions 
 
Export taxes  Export subsidies, tax exemptions and concessionary export financing 
 Free-trade zones, including in-bond manufacturing 
 
Export restrictions, including voluntary export restraints and orderly marketing arrangements 
 Other government assistance, including subsidies, tax exemptions  
Role of state-trading enterprises 
 Foreign exchange controls re lated to imports and exports 
 Government-mandated countertrade 
 
Any other measure covered by the Multilateral Trade Agreements in Annex 1A to the WTO 
Agreement 
__________ 
                                                     
 
 
1 This list does not alter existing notification requir ements in the Multilateral Trade Agreements in 
Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement or, where applicable, the Plurilateral Trade Agreements in Annex 4 of the 
WTO Agreement.