It has helped complete and consolidate the database and, at the same time, shed light on remaining reporting gaps. The peer review procedure created for this project might well serve as a model for examining notifications in other international organisations as well. A unique database was generated in the course of this project. Comprehensive information about public support programmes to manufacturing industry and peer review documents which strongly contribute to the understanding of national support policies, both of which exist by country, constitute an enormous potential for analytical exploitation. Due to the existence of such gaps, the Working Party decided that, at this stage, the report should be strictly factual and focus on overall developments and features of public support in the OECD area, excluding country-specific analysis and country comparisons.
Further discussion is required before a decision can be made with regard to future work.
The decline of support in current prices observed in the period 1986-89 did not continue in the period under review. There should be a more significant upward trend in public support in the OECD area when 1992-93 data for certain large support programmes becomes available. While support increased over the period in approximately two thirds of the participating countries, it decreased in the other third. Reductions in the areas of SMEs, sectoral aid and investment incentives were largely outweighed by stronger support in all other areas. The number of programmes reported increased by 26 per cent.