RESTRICTED  
  
G/LIC/W/52  
 
25 September 2019  
(19-6146) Page: 1/6 
Committee on Import Licensing    
 
DRAFT REPORT (201 9) OF THE COMMITTEE O N IMPORT LICENSING  
TO THE COUNCIL FOR T RADE IN GOODS  
 
1.  The Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures (hereinafter "the Agreement") which entered 
into force on 1 January 1995, establishes disciplines on users of import licensing systems with the 
principal objective of ensuring that the procedures applied for gra nting import licences do not in 
themselves restrict trade. It aims to simplify, clarify and minimize the administrative requirements 
necessary to obtain import licences.  
 
2.  The Committee on Import Licensing was established to afford Members the opportuni ty of 
consulting on any matter relating to the operation of the Agreement or the furtherance of its 
objectives. The Committee's Rules of Procedure, which were approved by the Council for Trade in 
Goods, are contained in document G/L/147.  
 
3.  All Members o f the WTO are ipso facto  members of the Committee. Observer governments in the 
General Council of the WTO have Observer status in the Committee. The International Monetary 
Fund, the World Bank and UNCTAD have regular observer status in the Committee.  
 
4.  The focus of this report is on the period since the Committee's last annual report (G/L/1269), 
namely  23 October 201 8 - 4 October 201 9 (hereinafter "the review period"). In 201 9, the Committee 
held two formal meetings on 4 April and 4 October  2019(G/LIC/M/ 49 and [G/LIC/M/ 50]) and two 
informal meetings on 8 March and 18 September  2019. On 6 June, the Committee elected by 
acclamation, Ms. Carol Tsang  (Hong Kong, China ) as Chairperson for the Committee  of 201 9. 
Pursuant to  the Committee's Rules of Procedure, the  officers  shall hold office until the end of the 
first meeting of the following year .  
 
5.  Pursuant to Articles  1.4(a) and/or 8.2(b) of the Agreement and procedures agreed by the 
Committee, all Members are required, to notify the ir laws, regulations and administrative procedures 
relevant to import licensing  and to submit copies of any relevant publications or laws and regulations 
upon becoming a WTO Member . Any subsequent changes to these laws, regulations and 
administra tive procedures are also required to be published and notified. During the review period, 
the Committee reviewed  2 notifications  (Annex I) from the following 2 Members:  Myanmar; 
Tajikistan . These notifications can be found in the document series G/LIC/N/1/ -. Copies of 
publications and legislation submitted with these notifications a re available for consultation via  the 
Secretariat.  
 
6.  The Committee also reviewed , pursuant to paragraphs 5.1 -5.4 of Article  5, 18 notifications  
(Annex II) relating to the institution of new import licensing procedures or changes in these 
procedures from 9 Members:  Angola; Costa Rica; Hong Kong, China; Morocco; Myanmar; the 
Russian Federation; Singapore; Switzerland and Ukraine . These notifications can be fou nd in 
documents series G/LIC/N/2/ -. Article  5.5 of the Agreement allows Members to submit reverse 
notifications, where a Member considers that another Member has not notified the institution of a 
licensing procedure or changes in the procedures. However, n o such reverse notifications have been 
received  under this provision since the entry into force of this Agreement . 
 
7.  Article  7.3 of the Agreement requires all Members to provide replies to the Questionnaire on 
Import Licensing Procedures1 by 30  Septembe r each year. During the review p eriod, the Committee 
reviewed  23 notifications (Annex III) from the following 19 Members: Argentina; Australia; Canada ; 
Colombia; Costa Rica; El Salvador; the European  Union;  Georgia; India; Kazakhstan ; Macao, China; 
                                                
1 Annexed to document G/LIC/3.  G/LIC/W/52  
 
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  Mauritius; Mexico; Montenegro;  Nicaragua;  Panama ; Singapore; South Africa;  and Uruguay .2 These 
notifications can be found in document series G/LIC/N/3/ -. 
 
8. During the review period, Myanmar submitted its first notification to this Committee . The Chair 
urged Members who had not yet notified and those who had not updated their notifications  to do so 
as soon as possible.  
 
9.  The Committee has provided a regular forum for exchanging views on notifications submitted by 
Members. Written comments and questions concerning notifications submitted to the Committee 
and/or on import licensing procedures maintained by Members, and replies thereto, may  be found 
in the document series G/LIC/Q/ -. During the review period: the European Union posed follow -up 
questions  or comments  to Brazil (G/LIC/Q/BRA/2 3 and 24 ); China (G/LIC/Q/ CHN/27 ); and Thailand 
(G/LIC/Q/THA/4 ). The United States posed questions to the Dominican Republic (G/LIC/Q/DOM/1); 
Ghana (G/LIC/Q/GHA/2 and 4); and Myanmar (G/LIC/Q/MMR/1). The following Members provided 
written responses to comments and questions: the Russian Federation to the European Union 
(G/LIC/Q/ RUS/5); and Ghana to the United States (G/LIC/Q/ GHA/3). At the Committee meetings, 
Members exchanged views on the issues raised.  
10. In addition , the following Members requested to include in the agenda specific issues regarding 
other Members' imp ort licensing regimes/measures.  At the Committee meeting(s) held during the 
review period, the United States made statements on Indonesia's import licensing regime for 
cellphones, handheld computers and tablets;  on India's import licens ing requirements for  boric acid ; 
on Myanmar 's import licensing requirements on agricultural products;  on Viet Nam's import licensing 
for cyber security products; on Dominican Republic's import permits for agricultural products; on 
China's import licensing on certain recoverab le materials  and on Ghana's import licensing 
requirements for poultry products . Canada made  a statement on India's  quantitative restrictions on 
certain pulses . The European Union made a statement on Tunis ia's import restrictive measures 
introduced on 28 November 2018 . Members whose licensing measures had been questioned 
responded at the meeting s and other interested Members made comments as well .  
11.  Improving transparency in notification procedures and templates has been a standing issue on 
the agenda of the Committee's meetings. At the informal meeting held on 8 March,  with a view to 
clarify and streamline notification requirements under different provisions of the Agreement, the 
Secretariat made a presentation (circulated in document RD/LIC/13)  on a new form for notification s 
under Article s 5.1-5.4, which can also be used for notification under Article 1.4(a) and Article 8.2(b) . 
The template ha d been drafted based on views expressed and best practices of  Members. At its 
formal meeting held on 4 April, some Members including Myanmar, Japan, Colombia, Chinese Taipei 
shared their experience in using the new form . The Committee agreed that the notification form, 
circulated in G/LIC/W/28, be used by Members on a voluntary basis f or notifications under respective 
provisions.  
12. On the new import licensing website ( https://importlicensing.wto.org ), at the formal meeting on 
4 April, the Secretariat  informed the Committee that all Memb er Profiles, which h ad been prepared 
for each Member based on its notifications,  had been uploaded on the website  for verification by 
Members . Members appreciated the work by the Secretariat and believed that the website  would 
enhance transparency and facilitate trade after its official launch . So far, while a few Members have 
completed their verifications, the work is still ongoing for most othe r Members. The website will be 
launched when the verification work is completed.  
13. Regarding future work of the Committee , the Chairperson tabled a number of issues for 
discussion with Members at the informal meeting held on 18 September, including  how to improve 
the level of notification performance  and the functioning of the Committee to facilitate Members' 
active participation  in its work. In response, Members provided some preliminary feedback and 
floated some new ideas and the Chairperson propos ed to organize further consultations to follow  up 
on the discussions.  
14. With a view to address ing developing Members'  capacity constraints in fulfilling their notification 
obligations under the Agreement , in particular those of Least -Develop ed Countrie s, the third 
Workshop on Import Licensing was held from 30 September  to 4 October  2019 in Geneva. Thirty -one 
                                                
2 New notifications have been received from Cuba, Mauritius (2019) , Turkey and  Sri Lanka which are 
under preparation and will be circulated soon. They will be reviewed at the Committee's next meeting . G/LIC/W/52  
 
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  participants representing 31 WTO developing Members  (including LDCs)  participated in this 
workshop.  In addition, d uring the review period , upon the request of individual Member s, 
Member -specific technical assistance workshops on import licensing  and notifications  were held  in 
Myanmar , Bahrain , Philippines, Lao PDR and Chinese Taipei.  These technical assistance activities  not 
only improved the overall understanding of the Agreement, but also effectively enhanced the 
capacities  of government  officials  of relevant administrative bodies in these countries to prepare 
their import licensing notifications.  
 
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  G/LIC/W/52  
 
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  ANNEX I: NOTIFICATIONS REVIEWED DURING THE REVIEW PE RIOD PURSUANT  
TO ARTICLES  1.4(A) A ND/OR 8.2(B) OF THE AGREEMENT  
FROM 23 OCTOBER 201 8 TO 4 OCTOBER  2019 
 
MEMBER  DOCUMENT  DATE OF ISSUANCE OF THE 
DOCUMENT  
MYANMAR  G/LIC/N/1/MMR/1  25.03.2019  
TAJIKISTAN  G/LIC/N/1/TJK/2  19.12.2018  
 
  G/LIC/W/52  
 
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  ANNEX II: NOTIFICATIONS REVIEWED DURING THE REVIEW PE RIOD  
PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 5.1-5.4 OF THE AGREEMENT  
 FROM 23 OCTOBER 201 8 TO 4 OCTOBER  2019 
 
MEMBER  DOCUMENT  DATE OF ISSUANCE OF 
THE DOCUMENT  
ANGOLA  G/LIC/N/2/AGO/1  
G/LIC/N/2/AGO/2  30.10.2018  
30.10.2018  
COSTA RICA  G/LIC/N/2/CRI/3  12.12.2018  
HONG KONG, CHINA  G/LIC/N/2/HKG/9  
G/LIC/N/2/HKG/10  
G/LIC/N/2/HKG/11  
G/LIC/N/2/HKG/12  
G/LIC/N/2/HKG/13  08.02.2019  
08.02.2019  
08.02.2019  
07.03.2019  
12.09.2019  
MOROCCO  G/LIC/N/2/MAR/2  
G/LIC/N/2/MAR/3  
G/LIC/N/2/MAR/4  12.09.2019  
12.09.2019  
12.09.2019  
MYANMAR  G/LIC/N/2/MMR/1  25.03.2019  
RUSSIAN FEDERATION  G/LIC/N/2/RUS/3  
G/LIC/N/2/RUS/4  09.08.2019  
09.08.2019  
SINGAPORE  G/LIC/N/2/SGP/6  13.09.2019  
SWITZERLAND  G/LIC/N/2/CHE/3  07.03.2019  
UKRAINE  G/LIC/N/2/UKR/8  
G/LIC/N/2/UKR/8/ADD.1  26.03.2019  
02.04.2019  G/LIC/W/52  
 
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  ANNEX III: NOTIFICAT IONS REVIEWED DURING THE REVIEW PE RIOD  
PURSUANT TO ARTIC LE 7.3 OF THE AGREEME NT  
FROM 23 OCTOBER 201 8 TO 4 OCTOBER  2019 
MEMBER  DOCUMENT  
(YEAR NOTIFIED FOR)  DATE OF 
ISSUANCE OF THE 
DOCUMENT  
ARGENTINA  G/LIC/ N/3/ARG/ 15 2019 19.09.2019  
AUSTRALIA  G/LIC/N/3/AUS/11  
G/LIC/N/3/AUS/12  2018 
2019 20.09.2019  
23.09.2019  
CANADA  G/LIC/N/3/CAN/1 8 2018 24.09.2019  
COLOMBIA  G/LIC/N/3 /COL/12  2018 22.03.2019  
COSTA RICA  G/LIC/N/3/CRI/13 
G/LIC/N/3/CRI/14  
G/LIC/N/3/CRI/15  2016 
2017 
2018 12.12.2018  
12.12.2018  
12.12.2018  
EL SALVADOR  G/LIC/N/3/SLV/3  2018 17.12.2018  
EUROPEAN UNION  G/LIC/N/3/EU/ 8 2019 24.09.2019  
GEORGIA  G/LIC/N/3/GEO/8  2018 19.11.2018  
INDIA  G/LIC/N/3/IND/18  2018 17.01.2019  
KAZAK HSTAN  G/LIC/N/3/KAZ/3  2018 26.02.2019  
MACAO, CHINA  G/LIC/N/3/MAC/22  2019 27.05.2019  
MAURITIUS  G/LIC/N/3/MUS/8  
 2018 
 12.10.2018  
MEXICO  G/LIC/N/3/MEX/6  2019 24.09.2019  
MONTENEGRO  G/LIC/N/3/MNE/3  2019 27.05.2019  
NICARAGUA  G/LIC/N/3/NIC/10  2018 14.03.2019  
PANAMA  G/LIC/N/3/PAN/9  
G/LIC/N/3/PAN/10  2018 
2019 20.05.2019  
20.05.2019  
SINGAPORE  G/LIC/N/3/SGP/14  2018 26.11.2018  
SOUTH AFRICA  G/LIC/N/3/ZAF/7  2018 19.12.2018  
URUGUAY  G/LIC/N/3/URY/12  
 2018 25.01.2019  
 
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