WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/L/763 
17 November 2005 
 (05-5421) 
  
  
 
REPORT (2005) OF THE COUN CIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS  
 
  In accordance with the "Procedures for an Annual Overview of WTO Activities and for 
Reporting under the WTO" (WT/L/105), the Council for Trade in Goods is to report each year to the 
General Council on the activities in the Council as well as in the subsidiary bodies. The reports are to 
be "factual in nature, containing an  indication of actions and decisions  taken, with cross references to 
reports of subordinate bodies and could follow the model of the GATT 1947 Council reports to the 
CONTRACTING PARTIES".  
 Since the CTG 2004 annual report (G/L/721) w as issued, the Council for Trade in Goods has 
met four times in formal session on the following  dates:  11 March 2005 (minutes contained in 
document G/C/M/79);  10 May and 15 June 2005 (G/C/M/80);  15 July 2005 (G/C/M/81);  and 10 November 2005 (G/C/M/82
1).   
  The subject matters which were raised a nd/or acted upon in the Council are as follows: 
 
1. Election of Chairperson 2. Appointment of officers 3. Matters of the Committee on Market Access  4. Matters of the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures 
5. Waivers under Article IX of the WTO Agreement 
6. EC enlargement 7. Review of the Operation of the Agreem ent on Trade-Related Investment Measures under 
 Article 9 8. Regional Trade Agreements 9. Post ATC Adjustment-Related Issues  
 Issues Related to Trade in Textiles 
10. Nigeria Trade Restrictive Measures 11. Notifications 12. Transitional Review under Paragraph 18 of the Protocol on the Accession of the People's 
Republic of China 
13. Consideration of annual reports of subsidiary bodies 
 
1. Election of Chairperson for the Council for Trade in Goods   
 At its meeting of 11 March
 the Council elected H.E. Ambassador Vesa Tapani Himanen 
(Finland) as its Chairman for 2005.  
                                                      
1 To be issued. G/L/763 
Page 2  
 
 2. Appointment of Officers for the subsidiary bodies of the Council  
 At its meeting of 11 March
, the Council took note of the consensus on the following persons 
nominated for election as Chairpersons of its subsidiary bodies:  Customs Valuation Jooha Woo (Korea) 
Agriculture (Regular Sessions) Dr. Magdi Farahat (Egypt)  
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measu res Gregg Young (United States) 
Anti-Dumping Practices Frida Collste (Sweden) Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Victoria Campeanu (Romania) Safeguards Ana Novik (Chile) 
State Trade Enterprises Benjamin Katjipuka (Namibia) 
Rules of Origin Vera Thorstensen (Brazil) Import Licensing Pamela Cooper (Canada) Market Access Martin Pospisil (Czech Republic) Technical Barriers to Trade Margers Krams (Latvia) 
Trade-Related Investment Measures Antonio Buencamino (Philippines) 
Trade in Information Technology Products (ITA) Simon Chan (Hong Kong, China)   At the same meeting, the Council agreed to proceed on the understanding that as concerns 
Vice-Chairpersons, it would be for the subsidiary bodies  to decide if they needed a Vice-Chairperson in 
cases where the option existed under the respective Ag reement and/or rules of procedure, and for the 
respective Chairperson to hold  the necessary consultations. 
  Upon the unforeseen departure of Mr. Buen camino from Geneva, the Council elected 
Mr. Suren Badral of Mongolia as Chair of the TRIMS Committee at its meeting of 15 July
.  At its 
meeting of 10 November , the Council elected Mr. Christian Hä berli (Switzerland) as Chair of the 
Agriculture Committee (Regular Sessions) to replac e Mr. Farahat who left his government function. 
 
3. Matters of the Committee on Market Access  
 
 At its meetings on 15 June  and 10 November  the Council took note of the periodic reports (in 
documents G/MA/157 and Corr.1 and G/MA/163) of the Committee on Market Access.  Also, at the 
10 November  meeting, the Committee considered the background note on certain unspecified 
commitments .  It agreed on the proce dures outlined therein. 
 
4. Matters of the Committee on Sani tary and Phytosanitary Measures  
  At its meeting on 15 July
, the Council considered the Co mmittee's Report on Proposals for 
Special and Differential Treatment, and the Second Review of th e Operation and Implementation of the 
Sanitary and PhytoSanitary Agreemen t.  The Council agreed to forward these two reports to the General 
Council for appropriate action.  
 
5. Waivers under Article IX of the WTO Agreement  
 
(a) Introduction of Harmonized System 1996 changes into WTO Schedules of tariff concessions 
Requests for a waiver (Argentina – G/L/735/Rev.1, G/C/W/514/Rev.1;  Malaysia – G/L/ 734, 
G/C/W/512;  Panama – G/L/736, G/C/W/515; and Israel (G/L/744, G/C/W/528)) 
 At its meeting on 15 June , the Council considered requests from Argentina, Malaysia, and 
Panama for waivers in connection with the intr oduction of HS96 changes to their Schedules of 
concessions.  The Council approved the waiver requ ests and recommended that the draft decisions 
contained in the cited G/C/W/- documents be forwarded to the General Council for adoption.  G/L/763 
 Page 3 
 
 
  
 At its meeting on 10 November , the Council considered a request from Israel in connection 
with the introduction of HS96 changes to their Schedules of tariff concessions.  The Council approved 
the waiver request and recommended that the draft decision contained in G/C/W/528 be forwarded to 
the General Council for adoption.  
 
(b) Introduction of Harmonized System 2002 changes into WTO Schedules of tariff concessions  – Requests for a waiver (G/C/W/533)   At its meeting on 10 November
, the Council considered a collect ive request for a waiver in 
connection with the introduction of HS2002 chang es to the Schedules of concessions.  The Council 
approved the waiver request and recommended that the draft decisions contained in G/C/W/533 be 
forwarded to the General Council for adoption. 
 
(c) Albania – Request for a waiver to extend the staging period of implementation for a number 
of products 
  At its meeting on 11 March
, the Council considered a request from Albania for a waiver to 
extend the staging period of implementation of its tariff commitments for a number of products.  The 
Council approved the waiver request and recomme nded that the draft decision contained in 
G/C/W/507 and Corr.1 be forwarded to the General Council for adoption. 
 
(d) United States – Request for waiver for the African Growth and Opportunity Act, the  Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, as amended and the ANDEAN Trade Promotion 
 Act, as amended (G/C/W/508 and Add.1, G/C/ W/509 and Add.1, and G/C/W/510 and Add.1) 
 
 At its meetings on 11 March
, 15 June , 15 July  and 10 November  the Council considered a 
request from the United States for three waivers relate d to the above programmes.  At its meeting of 
15 July , the Council agreed that the Chairman would report on his own responsibility to the General 
Council that the Council had been unable to complete  its examination of the three requests and would 
request that the General Council agree to allow it to  continue its work and to report back to the 
General Council once it had completed its examination. 
 
(e) Senegal – Request for an extension of the wa iver for continued use of minimum values for 
customs valuation purposes (G/C/W/523 and G/C/W/524) 
  At its meeting on 15 June
 and 10 November  the Council considered a request from Senegal 
for an extension of its existing waiver allowing the use of minimum values for customs valuation 
purposes.    (f) European Communities – Request for an extensio n of Article XIII waiver for the tariff rate 
quota for bananas of ACP origin (G/C/W/529) 
 
 At its meeting on 10 November
, the Council agreed to revert to this matter at its next meeting. 
 
6. EC enlargement  
 
 At its meeting on 11 March , the Council agreed on the extensi on of the deadline set out in the 
communication from the EC (G/L/695/Add.1/Rev.1) a nd agreed to refer the matter to the General 
Council for adoption.  
 G/L/763 
Page 4  
 
 7. Review of the operation of the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures under 
Article 9   
(a) Review of the operation of th e TRIMs Agreement under Article 9  
 
 At its meetings on 11 March
 the Council took note of the statements made regarding, 
inter alia , the submissions  by Brazil and India in documents  G/C/W/428 and JOB(04)/93.  The 
Chairman reported that his consultations had proved inconclusive.  At its meeting on 15 July  and 10 
November  the Council took note of the statements made by Brazil and India and agreed to revert to 
the matter at a future meeting .  
 
(b) Pakistan's request for extension of th e transition period under the TRIMs Agreement  
  At its meetings on 11 March
 the Council took note of the Chairman's report that his 
predecessor's  consultations on the matter had been inconclusive.  At the 15 July  meeting, the Chair 
indicated that the issue was on-going and asked if there were any developments.  Pakistan informed 
the Committee that it had no new information on th e matter.  The Council took note of the statement 
and agreed to keep the matter under review.   
 
8. Regional Trade Agreements  
  At its meetings on 11 March
, 15 June , 15 July , and 10 November , the Council adopted the 
terms of reference under which the CRTA should examine the following Agreements: 
  (a) Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA States and Chile   - Notification from the Parties (WT/REG179/N/1, WT/REG179/1) 
 
 (b) Free Trade Agreement between Albania and Romania   - Notification from Albania (WT/REG180/N/1, WT/REG180/1)   (c) Free Trade Agreement between Al bania and Bosnia and Herzegovina 
  - Notification from Albania (WT/REG181/N/1, WT/REG181/1) 
 
 (d) Free Trade Agreement between Albani a and the Former Yugoslav Republic of 
Macedonia  
  - Notification from Albania (WT/REG182/N/1, WT/REG182/1)  
 (e) Free Trade Agreement between Albania and Moldova 
  - Notification from the Parties (WT/REG183/N/1, WT/REG183/1)   (f) Free Trade Agreement between the United States and Australia   - Notification from the Parties (WT/REG184/N/1, WT/REG184/1)  
 (g) Free Trade Agreement between Thailand and Australia 
  - Notification from the Parties (WT/REG185/N/1, WT/REG185/1)   (h) Free Trade Agreement between Moldova and Bulgaria   - Notification from Moldova (WT/REG186/N/1, WT/REG186/1) 
 
 (i) Free Trade Agreement between Mo ldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina 
  - Notification from Moldova (WT/REG187/N/1, WT/REG187/1)   G/L/763 
 Page 5 
 
 
  (j) Free Trade Agreement between Moldov a and the Former Yugoslav Republic of  
  Macedonia    - Notification from Moldova (WT/REG188/N/1, WT/REG188/1)   (k) Free Trade Agreement between Moldova and Croatia 
  - Notification from Moldova (WT/REG189/N/1, WT/REG189/1) 
  (l) Free Trade Agreement between Moldova and Serbia and Montenegro   - Notification from Moldova (WT/REG190/N/1, WT/REG190/1)  
(m) Free Trade Agreement between Ro mania and Bosnia and Herzegovina 
  - Notification from Romania (WT/REG191/N/1, WT/REG191/1)   (n) Free Trade Agreement between Romania and Serbia and Montenegro   - Notification from Romania (WT/REG192/N/1, WT/REG192/1) 
 
 (o) Free Trade Agreement between Romani a and the Former Yugoslav Republic of  
  Macedonia   - Notification from the Parties (WT/REG193/N/1, WT/REG193/1)   (p) Free Trade Agreement between Bu lgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina 
  - Notification from Bulgaria (WT/REG194/N/1, WT/REG194/1) 
  (q) Free Trade Agreement between Bulgaria and Serbia and Montenegro   - Notification from Bulgaria (WT/REG195/N/1, WT/REG195/1)  
 (r) Free Trade Agreement between Panama and El Salvador 
  - Notification from the Parties (WT/REG196/N/1, WT/REG196/1)   (s) Free Trade Agreement between Croatia  and the Former Yugoslav Republic of  
  Macedonia   - Notification from the Parties (WT/REG197/N/1,WT/REG197/1, 
WT/REG197/2) 
  (t) Economic Partnership Agreem ent between Japan and Mexico 
  - Notification from the Parties (WT/REG198/N/1, WT/REG198/1)  
 (u) Free Trade Agreement between Romania and Israel  
  - Notification from the Parties (WT/REG199/N/1, WT/REG199/1)  
(v) Free Trade Agreement between the Fo rmer Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and 
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 
  - Notification from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia   
   (WT/REG200/N/1, WT/REG200/1) 
  (w) Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA States and Tunisia    - Notification from the Parties (WT/REG201/N/1, WT/REG201/1)  
 (x) Free Trade Agreement between Turkey and Tunisia  
  - Notification from the Parties (WT/REG203/N/1, WT/REG203/1)  G/L/763 
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  (y) Interim Free Trade Agreement betw een Turkey and the Palestine Liberation 
 Organization for the benefit of the Palestinian Authority  
  - Notification from Turkey (WT/REG204/N/1, WT/REG204/1)   (z) Free Trade Agreement between Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro  
  - Notification from Croatia (WT/REG205/N/1, WT/REG205/1) 
 
9. Post-ATC Adjustment-Related Issues  Issues Related to Trade in Textiles   
 At its meeting on 11 March
, the Chairman reported to the Council on his informal 
consultations on this matter.  One Member intr oduced a submission entitled, "The Dismantling of 
Textile and Clothing Quotas:  Impacts, Issues a nd Proposals for Action" (JOB(05)/31).  The Council 
agreed that the Chair would further consult on this matter.  The meeting of 10 May  was suspended 
because of a lack of consensus to  place this matter on the agenda.  The meeting was resumed on 
15 June  on the basis of a reformulated agenda item which read, "Issues Related to Trade in Textiles".    
At this meeting, another Member indicated its in tention to submit a proposal and the Council agreed 
to revert to this item when such a su bmission was received.  At the 15 July  meeting, the Council 
agreed that the Chairman would further consult on th is matter and that the Council would revert to it 
at its next meeting.  At the 10 November  meeting , the Council again agreed to revert to the matter at 
its next meeting and that the Chairman woul d hold further consultations in the interim.  
 10. Nigeria Trade Restrictive Measures   
 At its meeting on 15 July
, the Council took note of statements from three Members on the 
new tariff regime and trade restrictive measures in Nigeria. 
 
11. Notifications  
  Status of notifications under the provisions of the Agreements in Annex 1A of the WTO Agreement 
 
 At its meeting on 11 March
, the Council took note of the latest revision of the status of 
notifications contained in document G/L/223/Rev.12.  
 
12. Transitional Review under paragraph 18 of th e Protocol on the Accession of the People's 
Republic of China  
  At its meeting on 10 November
, the Council took note of the reports of the CTG subsidiary 
bodies which had carried out their reviews, and carri ed out the CTG-specific review with respect to 
the information requirements stipulated in Annex 1A of the Protocol of Accession.  The Council agreed to send the report (G/L/763), together with th e reports of the subsidiary bodies, to the General 
Council.  13. Consideration of annual reports of subsidiary bodies of the CTG  
 
 At its meeting on 10 November
, the Council took note of the annu al reports of its subsidiary 
bodies. 
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