WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/L/845 
7 December 2007 
 (07-5410) 
  
  
 
REPORT (2007) 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 2006 annual report (G/L/808) w as issued, the Council for Trade in Goods has 
met five times in formal session on the following dates:  30 January 2007 (minutes contained in document G/C/M/87);  19 March 2007 (G/C/M/88) ;  21 May 2007 (G/C/M/89);  9 July 2007 
(G/C/M/90);  and 23 November 2007 (G/C/M/91
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. Waivers under Article IX of the WTO Agreement 
5. EC enlargement 
6. Notification format for regional trade agreements 7. Notification of regional trade agreements 8. Issues related to trade in textiles 9. Thailand - Customs valuation and domestic taxation practices affecting the importation of 
cigarettes from the Philippines 
10. Notifications 
11. Transitional Review under Paragraph 18 of the Protocol on the Accession of the People's 
Republic of China 
12. Consideration of annual reports of subsidiary bodies  
 
1. Election of Chairperson for the Council for Trade in Goods   
 At its meeting of 19 March
 the Council elected H.E. Ambassador Karsten Vagn Nielsen 
(Denmark) as its Chairman for 2007.  
                                                      
1 To be issued. G/L/845 
Page 2  
 
  2. Appointment of Officers for the subsidiary bodies of the Council  
 At its meeting of 19 March
, the Council agreed on the nominations of the following persons 
for election as Chairpersons of its subsidiary bodies:  
Committee on Market Access Mohammad SAEED (Pakistan)  
Committee on Agriculture Valeria SUCASSI (Uruguay)  
Committee on Sanitary & Phytosanitary Measures Marinus HUIGE (Netherlands) 
Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices Gareth MEYER (Australia) 
Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Pablo KLEIN (Mexico) 
Committee on Safeguards Jo McKEAGG (New Zealand) 
Committee on Import Licensing Marco J. KASSAJA (Tanzania) 
Committee on Rules of Origin Vera  THORSTENSEN (Brazil)  
Committee on Customs Valuation Joe MCCLINTOCK (United Kingdom)  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade R. S. SIDHU (India)  
Committee on TRIMS Mathias BOGAERT (Belgium)  
Committee on State Trading Enterprises Pornvit SILA-ON (Thailand) 
Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade in 
Information Technology Products (ITA Committee) Amr ALJOWAILY (Egypt) 
 
 
 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. 
 
 At the meeting of 9 July , the Council was informed that Mr. Aljowaily had left Geneva and 
could no longer serve as Chair of the Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade in 
Information Technology Products (ITA Committee).  The Council agreed on the nomination of 
Mr. Khalid I. Emara (Egypt) for election as the Ch air of the ITA Committee to replace Mr. Aljowaily. 
 3. Matters of the Committee on Market Access  
 
 At its meetings on 21 May
 and 23 November  the Council took note of the periodic reports (in 
documents G/MA/195 and G/ MA/197) of the Committe e on Market Access.   
 
4. Waivers under Article IX of the WTO Agreement  
 
(a) Introduction of Harmonized System 1996 changes into WTO Schedules of tariff concessions 
Requests for extensions of waiver (Argentina – G/C/W/576;  Panama – G/C/W/ 575) 
 At its meeting on 21 May , the Council considered requests from Argentina and Panama for 
extensions of waivers in connection with the in troduction 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. 
 (b) Introduction of Harmonized System 2002 changes into WTO Schedules of tariff concessions  – Requests for a waiver (G/C/W/585/Rev.1) 
 
 At its meeting on 23 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  G/L/845 
 Page 3 
 
 
  approved the waiver request and recommended that the draft decision contained in G/C/W/585/Rev.1 
be forwarded to the General Council for adoption. 
 
(c) Introduction of Harmonized System 2007 chang es into WTO Schedules of tariff concessions 
– Requests for a waiver (G/C/W/584) 
 
 At its meeting on 23 November , the Council considered a collect ive request for a waiver in 
connection with the introduction of HS 2007 chang es to the Schedules of concessions.  The Council 
approved the waiver request and recommended that  the draft decision contained in G/C/W/584 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/Rev.1;  G/C/W/509/Rev.1;  G/C/W/510/Rev.1) 
 
 At its meeting on 19 March , the United States circulated for consideration revised draft 
waiver decisions for the three programmes.  The Council continued its consideration of these requests 
and their accompanying draft decisions at its meetings on 19 March , 21 May , 9 July , and 
23 November .     
 (e) Senegal – Request for an extension of the wa iver for continued use of minimum values for 
customs valuation purposes (G/C/W/581;  G/C/W/582) 
  At its meetings on  9 July
 and 23 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 19 March
 the Council took note of the statements made and agreed to 
suspend this item until further notice. 
 
(g) United States – Request for an extension of th e waiver for the Former Trust Territory of the 
Pacific Islands (G/C/W/570) 
  At its meetings of 19 March
, 21 May , and 9 July , the Council considered a request from the 
United States for an extension of its existing waiver  for the Former Trust Territory of the Pacific 
Islands.  At its meeting on 9 July , the Council approved the waiver request and recommended that the 
draft decision contained in G/C/W/570 be forw arded to the General Council for adoption. 
 (h) Mongolia – Request for a waiver from the accession commitment on export of raw cashmere 
(G/C/W/571;  G/C/W/580) 
 
 At its meeting on 9 July
, the Council considered a request from Mongolia for a waiver from 
its accession commitment on the export of raw cashme re.  At this meeting, the Council approved the 
waiver request and recommended that the draft deci sion contained in G/C/W/580 be forwarded to the 
General Council for adoption. 
 G/L/845 
Page 4  
 
  5. EC enlargement (G/L/695/Add.4;  G/ L/695/Add.5;  G/L/695/Add.6;  G/L/821;  
G/L/821/Add.1) 
 
 At its meeting on 30 January
, the Council agreed on the extension of the deadline set out in 
the communication from the EC (G/L/695/Add.4).  At its meeting on 21 May , the Council agreed on 
the extension of the deadlines set out in the communications from the EC (G/L/695/Add.5 and 
G/L/821).  At its meeting on 23 November , the Council further agreed on the extension of the 
deadlines set out in the communications from the EC (G/L/695/Add.6 and G/L/821/Add.1).   
 
6. Notification format for regional trade agreements  (WT/REG/16)  
 
 At its meeting on 19 March , the Council adopted the notification format for regional trade 
agreements contained in document WT/REG/16.  
7. Notification of Regional Trade Agreements  
 
 At its meetings on 21 May
, 9 July , and 23 November , the Council took note that the following 
regional trade agreements had been notified to the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements: 
  
A. Gulf Cooperation Council Customs Uni on – notification from Saudi Arabia in 
document  WT/REG222/N/1; 
 
B. Pan-Arab Free Trade Area Agreement – notification from Saudi Arabia in 
document  WT/REG223/N/1; 
 C. Agreement between the EFTA States a nd the Republic of Lebanon – notification 
from the Parties in document WT/REG224/N/1; 
 D. Agreement between Turkey and Syria – notification from Turkey in document 
WT/REG/225/N/1; 
 E. Agreement between the European Communities and Albania – notification from 
the Parties in document WT/REG226/N/1;  
 F. Agreement between Panama and Singa pore – notification from the Parties in 
document WT/REG227/N/1; 
 
G. Agreement between India and Singapore – Notification from Singapore in documents 
WT/REG228/N/1 and S/C/N/393; 
 H. Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partne rship – Notification from Singapore in 
document WT/REG229/N/1; 
 
I. Agreement between Chile and China - Notification from the Parties in document 
WT/REG230/N/1; 
 J.  The South African Customs Union – Notif ication from Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, 
South African and Swaziland in document WT/REG231/N/1; 
 K. Agreement between Japan and the Kingdom of Thailand for an Economic 
Partnership in document WT/REG235/N/1:   G/L/845 
 Page 5 
 
 
   L. Agreement between Japan and the Repub lic of Chile for a Strategic Economic 
Partnership in document WT/REG234/N/1;  
 M. Agreement on amendment of and accession to the Central European Free Trade 
Agreement in document WT/REG233/N/1/Rev.1;  
 N. Free Trade Agreement between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the EFTA States  in 
document WT/REG232/N/1. 
 
8. Issues Related to Trade in Textiles (G/C/W/522;  G/C/W/549;  G/C/W/573 and Corr.1) 
  At its meetings on 19 March
, 21 May , 9 July  and 23 November , the Council continued its 
discussion of the proposals contained in documents G/C/W/549;  G/C/W/573 and Corr.1.    
 
9. Thailand - Customs valuation and domestic taxation practices affecting the importation 
of cigarettes from the Philippines (G/C/W/574) 
  At its meeting on 19 March
, the Council took note of the concerns raised by the Philippines, 
as circulated in document G/C/W/574, as well as a statement by Switzerland on the above matter.   
 
10. Notifications  
 
Status of notifications under the provisions of the Agreements in Annex 1A of the WTO Agreement 
 
 At its meeting on 19 March , the Council took note of the latest revision of the status of 
notifications contained in document G/L/223/Rev.14.  
 
11. Transitional Review under paragraph 18 of th e Protocol on the Accession of the People's 
Republic of China  
 
 At its meeting on 23 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/844), together with th e reports of the subsidiary bodies, to the General 
Council.  
12. Consideration of annual reports of subsidiary bodies of the CTG  
 
 At its meeting on 23 November
, the Council took note of the annu al reports of its subsidiary 
bodies.  
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