COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
COM(95) 33 final 
Brussels, 17.02.1995 
95/0030 (ACC) 
Proposal for a 
COUNCIL DECISION 
on the signature, without reservation of ratification, 
of the Convention on Customs Treatment of 
Pool Containers used in International Transport 
(Geneva, 21 January 1994) 
(presented by the Commission) 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 
1. The attached is a proposal for a Council Decision to sign the Convention on Customs 
Treatment of Pool Containers used in International Transport (Container Pool Convention), 
done by the United Nations at Geneva on 21 January 1994, without reserve of ratification. 
The text of the Convention is given in Annex I to the proposed Council Decision. 
2. The object of the Convention is to promote efficient use of containers in international 
transport by streamlining administrative procedures with a view to reducing the number of 
empty units transported. This is to be done by introducing the concept of "equivalent 
compensation", meaning that instead of an imported container having to be re-exported 
within a given period, another container of the same type may be re-exported in its place; 
likewise for exported containers. The Convention grants this facility to containers belonging 
to a pool, i.e. operated in common under a scheme agreed by the members of the pool. 
Subject to certain conditions laid down in the Convention, setting up a pool will enable 
such containers to be used free of all customs restrictions on import, export and internal 
traffic. 
tl 
3. The Convention includes a territoriality clause permitting the territories of Contracting 
Parties which form a regional economic integration organization to be deemed a single 
territory. It also contains a clause enabling the Community to become a Contracting Party 
for matters within its competence. This means that the Community will have exclusive 
competence, in its own right, for most of the matters governed by the Convention, while for 
others the Member States will have competence. Once the Community has signed the 
Convention, the United Nations Secretary General will be informed of the precise balance 
by means of a communication from the Commission, following consultation with the 
Member States. In the event of a vote in the Administrative Committee, the Community 
will have as many votes as its Member States would have in total as Contracting Parties to 
the Convention. 
4. The Commission has conducted a thorough comparison of the Convention and Community 
legislation. It will be necessary to take into account certain constraints pertaining to the 
customs union and the current level of harmonization with regard to the import and export 
of spare parts for repairs, and container accessories and equipment, for which Community 
legislation in some cases requires the presentation of a customs document and the provision 
of a security. 
5. Given that its aim is to facilitate international container transport, the Convention has a 
direct bearing on the way the customs union works and therefore on the implementation of 
the Community's commercial policy. Moreover, since it has major practical advantages for 
economic operators in the Community, it should be brought into force in the Community 
without delay. It is therefore proposed that the Convention be signed without reserve of 
ratification. 
6. Since, under Article 113, the Community has competence for most of the matters governed 
by the Convention, while others are matters for the national governments, the Community 
and its Member States should become Contracting Parties to the Convention for those 
matters falling within their respective competence. 
7. Consequently the Convention on Customs Treatment of Pool Containers used in 
International Transport (Container Pool Convention) may be signed without reservation of 
ratification. 
Proposal for a 
COUNCIL DECISION 
on the signature, without reservation of ratification, 
of the Convention on Customs Treatment of 
Pool Containers used in International Transport 
(Geneva, 21 January 1994) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 113 
thereof, read in conjunction with Article 228(2), 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Whereas the Convention on Customs Treatment of Pool Containers used in International 
Transport, negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations and done at Geneva on 21 January 
1994, seeks to promote efficient use of containers in international transport by facilitating 
administrative procedures, with a view to reducing transport of empty units; 
Whereas Article 14(3) of the Convention provides for its signature by regional economic 
integration organizations; 
Whereas, in the light of its major practical advantages for economic operators, the Convention 
should be approved and signed by the Community without reservation of ratification; 
Whereas the Convention should nonethelss be approved with reservations reflecting certain 
constraints pertaining to the customs union and to the current level of harmonization with regard to 
the import and export of spare parts for repairs and of container accessories and equipment; 
Whereas, therefore, the Community should become a Contracting Party to the Convention, with 
the above-mentioned reservations, 
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: 
Article 1 
The Convention on Customs Treatment of Pool Containers used in International Transport is 
hereby approved, with reservations, on behalf of the European Community. 
The text of the Convention and the reservations entered thereto appear in Annexes I and II to this 
Decision. 
Article 2 
The President of the Council is hereby authorized to designate the person empowered to sign the 
Convention referred to in Article 1, without reservation of ratification, in order to bind the 
Community. 
Done at Brussels, 
For the Council 
The President 
ANNEX I 
CONVENTION ON CUSTOMS TREATMENT OF POOL CONTAINERS 
USED IN INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT 
(Container Pool Convention) 
PREAMBLE 
The Contracting Parties. 
Conscious of the increasing importance of international transport of goods in containers, 
Desiring to enhance the efficient use of containers in international transport, 
Considering the necessity to facilitate administrative procedures, in order to provide for a reduced 
transport of empty units, 
Have agreed as follows: 
CHAPTER I 
GENERAL 
Article 1 
Definitions 
For the purposes of this Convention: 
(a) the term "import duties and taxes" shall mean Customs duties and all other duties, taxes, fees 
and other charges which are collected on, or in connection with, the importation of goods, but 
not including fees and charges limited in amount to the approximate cost of services rendered; 
(b) the term "container" shall mean an article of transport equipment (lift-van, movable tank or 
other similar structure): 
(i) fully or partially enclosed to constitute a compartment intended for containing goods; 
(ii) of a permanent character and accordingly strong enough to be suitable for repeated use; 
(iii) specially designed to facilitate the transport of goods by one or more modes of transport 
without intermediate reloading; 
(iv) designed for ready handling, particularly when being transferred from one mode of 
transport to another; 
(v) designed to be easy to fill and to empty; 
(vi) having an internal volume of one cubic metre or more except for air freight containers; 
"demountable bodies" and "platform flats" are to be treated as containers; 
the term "container" shall include standard air freight containers having an internal volume of 
less than one cubic metre provided they fulfil the requirements of subparagraphs (i) to (v); 
the term "container" shall include the accessories and equipment of the container, appropriate 
for the type concerned, provided that such accessories and equipment are carried with the 
container. The term "container" shall not include vehicles, accessories or spare parts of 
vehicles, or packaging; 
(c) the term "partially enclosed", as applied to containers in article 1, subparagraph (b) (i), shall 
relate to containers generally consisting of a floor and a superstructure marking off a loading 
space equivalent to that of a closed container. The superstructure is generally made up of 
metal members forming the frame of a container. Containers of this type may also comprise 
one or more lateral or frontal walls. In some cases there is only a roof attached to the floor by 
uprights. This type of container is used in particular for the transport of bulky goods (motor 
cars, for example); 
(d) the term "demountable body" shall mean a load compartment which has no means of 
locomotion and which is designed in particular to be transported upon a road vehicle, the 
chassis of which, together with the underframing of the body is especially adapted for this 
purpose. It covers also a swap-body which is a load compartment designed especially for 
combined rail/road transport; 
(e) the term "platform flat" shall mean a loadable platform having no or ah incomplete 
superstructure but having the same length and width as the base of a container and equipped 
with top and bottom corner fittings, so that some of the same securing and lifting devices tan 
be used; 
(f) the term "repair" shall concern solely minor restoration and routine maintenance; 
(g) the term "accessories and equipment of the container" shall cover in particular the following 
devices even if they are removable: 
(i) equipment for controlling, modifying or maintaining the temperature inside the container; 
(ii) small appliances, such as temperature or impact recorders, designed to indicate or record 
variations in environmental conditions and impact; 
(iii) internal partitions, pallets, shelves, supports, hooks, sheets, bags and similar devices 
especially designed for use in containers; 
(h) the term "Pool" shall mean the use in common of containers established by an agreement; 
(i) the term "Pool member" shall mean the operator of containers who is a party to the agreement 
setting up the Pool; 
j) the term "operator" of a container shall mean the person, who, whether or not its owner, has 
effective control of its use; 
(k) the term "person" shall mean both natural and legal persons; 
(1) the term "equivalent compensation" shall mean the system which allows the re-exportation or 
re-importation of a container of the same type as that of another container previously imported 
or exported; 
(m) the term "internal traffic" shall mean the carriage of goods loaded in the territory of a 
Contracting Party for unloading at a place within the territory of the same Contracting Party; 
(n) the term "Contracting Party" shall mean a State or regional economic integration organization, 
party to this Convention; 
(o) the term "regional economic integration organization" shall mean an organization constituted 
by and composed of States referred to in article 14, paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Convention 
which has competence to adopt its own legislation that is binding on its Member States, in 
respect of matters governed by this Convention, and has competence to decide, in accordance 
with its internal procedures, to sign, ratify or accede to this Convention, 
10 
(p) the term "ratification" shall mean ratification, acceptance or approval. 
Article 2 
Objective 
This Convention aims at facilitating the use in common of containers by members of a Pool, on the 
basis of equivalent compensation. 
Article 3 
Scope 
This Convention shall apply to an exchange between Contracting Parties of containers for use as 
part of a Pool whose members are established in the territory of those Contracting Parties. 
Affole 4 
Facilities 
Each Contracting Party shall grant admission to containers as referred to in article 3 of this 
Convention, without payment of import duties and taxes, free of import prohibitions or restrictions 
of an economic character, without limitations as to use in internal traffic and without requiring, on 
their importation and exportation, Customs documents and security, provided that the conditions 
laid down in article 5 of this Convention are complied with. 
Article 5 
Conditions 
1. Each Contracting Party shall apply the facilities of article 4 of this Convention to containers 
used in a Pool on the conditions that: 
(a) they have been previously exported or will be subsequently re-exported, or that an equal 
number of containers of the same type have been previously exported or will 
subsequently be re-exported; 
ii 
(b) under the agreement setting up the Pool, the Pool members: 
(i) exchange among themselves containers in the course of international transport of 
goods; 
(ii) keep records, for each type of container, showing the movement of containers so 
exchanged; 
(iii) undertake to deliver to one another the number of containers of each type necessary 
to offset, over periods of 12 months, the outstanding balances of the accounts so 
kept, so as to ensure a balance for each Pool member between the number of 
containers of each type which he has placed at the disposal of the Pool and the 
number of Pool containers of these same types at his disposal in the territory of the 
Contracting Party in which he is established. The period of 12 months may be 
extended by the competent Customs authorities of that Contracting Party. 
2. Each Contracting Party may decide whether containers placed at the disposal of the Pool by 
any Pool member established in its territory shall meet the conditions contained in its 
legislation concerning admission and unrestricted use in internal traffic on its territory. 
3. The provisions of paragraph 1 of this article shall be applicable only if: 
(a) containers bear durable and unique marks agreed upon in the Pool agreement, which 
shall allow identification of the container; 
(b) the Pool agreement has been communicated to the Customs authorities of the 
Contracting Parties concerned, and these authorities have approved it as being in 
conformity with the provisions of this Convention. Competent authorities shall inform 
the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe of 
their approval and will also inform him of the names of the Contracting Parties 
concerned. The Executive Secretary transmits this information to the Contracting 
Parties concerned. 
Article 6 
Component parts for repair 
1. When the Pool agreement foresees the setting up of a Pool for identifiable component parts 
used for the repair of the Pool containers, articles 4, 5 (paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 (b)) and 9 of this 
Convention shall apply mutatis mutandis to those component parts. 
12 
2. When the Pool agreement does not foresee the setting up of a Pool for the component parts 
used for the repair of the Pool containers, temporary admission without payment of import 
duties and taxes, and without application of import prohibitions or restrictions of economic 
character shall be granted to these component parts without the production of Customs 
documents being required on their importation and re-exportation and without the furnishing 
of a form of security. 
When the provisions of the preceding paragraph cannot be applied, in lieu of a Customs 
document and security for spare parts, the person to whom the temporary admission facilities 
are granted may be required to undertake in writing. 
(a) to supply to the Customs authorities a list of component parts with an undertaking to re­
export; and 
(b) to pay such import duties and taxes as may be required in the case where the conditions 
of temporary admission have not been fulfilled. 
Component parts granted temporary admission not used for repair shall be re-exported within 
six months from the date of importation. However, this period may be extended by the 
competent Customs authorities. 
3. Replaced parts not re-exported shall, in conformity with the regulations of the country 
concerned and as the Customs authorities of that country may authorize, be: 
(a) subjected to the import duties and taxes to which they are liable at the time when, and in 
the condition in which, they are presented; 
(b) abandoned, free of all expense, to the competent authorities of that country; or 
(c) destroyed, under official supervision at the expense of the parties concerned. 
Article 7 
Accessories and equipment of containers 
1. When the Pool agreement foresees the setting up of a Pool for identifiable accessories and 
equipment of containers, which are either imported with a container of the Pool to be re­
exported separately or with another container of the Pool, or imported separately to be re­
exported with a container of the Pool, articles 4, 5 (paragraphs 1, 2 and 3(b)) and 9 of this 
13 
Convention shall apply mutatis mutandis to those accessories and equipment. 
2. When the Pool agreement does not foresee the setting up of a Pool for the accessories and 
equipment of containers, which are either imported with a container of the Pool to be re­
exported separately or with another container of the Pool, or imported separately to be re­
exported with a container of the Pool: 
(a) the provisions of article 6, paragraph 2, shall apply to these accessories and equipment; 
(b) each Contracting Party reserves the right not to grant temporary admission to 
accessories and equipment which have been the subject of purchase, hire-purchase, lease 
or a contract of a similar nature concluded by a person resident or established in its 
territory; 
(c) notwithstanding the requirement of the period for the re-exportation laid down in article 
6, paragraph 2, which shall apply to accessories and equipment by virtue of point (a) of 
this article, seriously damaged accessories and equipment shall not be required to be re­
exported provided that, in conformity with the regulations of the country concerned and 
as the Customs authorities of that country may authorize, they are: 
(i) subjected to the import duties and taxes to which they are liable at the time when, 
and in the condition in which, they are presented; 
(ii) abandoned, free of all expense, to the competent authorities of that country; or 
(iii) destroyed, under official supervision, at the expense of the parties concerned, any 
parts or materials salvaged being subjected to the import duties and taxes to which 
they are liable at the time when, and in the condition in which, they are presented. 
Article 8 
Regional economic integration organization 
1. For the purpose of this Convention, the territories of Contracting Parties which form a 
regional economic integration organization may be taken to be a single territory. 
14 
Nothing in this Convention shall prevent a regional economic integration organization 
Contracting Party to this Convention, from enacting special provisions applicable to the use of 
Pool containers in the territory of that organization, provided those provisions do not reduce 
the facilities provided for by this Convention. 
Article 9 
Controls 
1. Each Contracting Party shall have the right to cany out controls regarding the correct 
application of this Convention. 
2. Pool members established in the territory of a Contracting Party shall provide the Customs 
authorities of that Contracting Party, on their request, with the list of the numbers of 
containers placed at the disposal of the Pool, and the number of Pool containers of each tiype 
in its territory. 
Article 10 
Infringements 
1. Any infringement of the provisions of this Convention shall render the perpetrator liable, on 
the territory of the Contracting Party in which the infringement was committed, to any 
measures provided for by the laws of that Contracting Party. 
2. When it is not possible to determine the territory on which an irregularity has been committed, 
it shall be deemed to have been committed on the territory of the Contracting Party where it 
was detected. 
Article 11 
Exchange of information 
The Contracting Parties shall communicate to each other, on demand and in so far as their laws 
permit, the information required to implement the provisions of this Convention. 
15 
Article 12 
Greater facilities 
This Convention shall not prevent the application of greater facilities which Contracting Parties 
grant or may wish to grant either by unilateral provisions or by virtue of bilateral or multilateral 
agreements provided that such facilities do not impede the application of the provisions of this 
Convention. 
Article 13 
Safeguard clause 
This Convention shall not affect the provisions regarding competition applicable in one or several 
Contracting Parties. 
CHAPTER H 
FINAL PROVISIONS 
Article 14 
Signature, ratification and accession 
1. Member States of the United Nations or its specialized agencies may become Contracting 
Parties to this Convention by: 
(a) signature without reservation of ratification; 
(b) depositing an instrument of ratification, after signature subject to ratification; 
(c) depositing an instrument of accession. 
2. Any State other than those referred to in paragraph 1 of this article, to which an invitation to 
that effect has been addressed by the depositary at the request of the Administrative 
Committee, may become a Contracting Party to this Convention by acceding thereto after its 
entry into force. 
16 
3. Any regional economic integration organization may become, in accordance with the 
provisions of paragraph 1 of this article, a Contracting Party to this Convention. Such 
organization, Contracting Party to this Convention, shall inform the depositary of its 
competence and any subsequent changes thereto, with respect to the matters governed by this 
Convention. The organization concerned shall, for the matters within its competence, exercise 
the rights and fulfil the responsibilities which this Convention confers on States which are 
Contracting Parties to this Convention. In matters within the competence of the organization, 
of which the depositary has been informed, the member States of the organization, which are 
Contracting Parties to this Convention, shall not be entitled to exercise individually these 
rights, including inter alia the right to vote. 
4. This Convention shall be open for signature from 15 April 1994 to 14 April 1995 inclusive, at 
the Office of the United Nations in Geneva. Thereafter, it shall be open for accession. 
Article 15 
Reservations 
Any Contracting Party may enter reservations to paragraph 2 of articles 6 and 7, concerning the 
requirement of Customs document and security. Any Contracting Party which has entered 
reservations may withdraw them, in whole or in part, at any time, by notification to the depositary 
specifying the date on which such withdrawal takes effect. 
Article 16 
Entry into force 
This Convention shall enter into force six months after the date on which five States or 
regional economic integration organizations referred to in article 14, paragraphs 1 and 3, have 
signed this Convention without reservation of ratification or have deposited their instruments 
of ratification or accession. For the purpose of this paragraph, any signature without 
reservation of ratification of, or any instrument deposited by, such a regional economic 
integration organization shall not be counted as additional to those of its member States. 
17 
This Convention shall enter into force for all additional States or regional economic integration 
organizations referred to in article 14, paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, six months after the date of 
signature without reservation of ratification, or of deposit of instruments of ratification or 
accession. 
Any instrument of ratification or accession deposited after the entry into force of an 
amendment to this Convention in accordance with article 21 shall be deemed to apply to this 
Convention as amended. 
Any such instrument deposited after an amendment has been accepted but before it has entered 
into force shall be deemed to apply to this Convention as amended on the date when the 
amendment enters into force 
This Convention shall apply to a specific Pool only when all the States or regional economic 
integration organizations concerned by that Pool have become Contracting Parties to this 
Convention. 
Article 17 
Denunciation 
1. Any Contracting Party may denounce this Convention by so notifying the depositary. 
2. Denunciation shall take effect fifteen months after the date of receipt by the depositary of the 
notification of denunciation. 
Article 18 
Termination 
If, after the entry into force of this Convention, the number of Contracting Parties is for any period 
of twelve consecutive months reduced to less than five, the Convention shall cease to have effect 
from the end of the twelve-month period. For the purpose of the present article, the presence of a 
regional economic integration organization shall not be counted as additional to its Member States. 
18 
Article 19 -
Administrative Committee 
1. There shall be established an Administrative Committee (hereinafter called "the Committee") 
to consider the operation of the present Convention, to consider any amendments proposed 
thereto and to consider measures to secure uniformity in the interpretation and application 
thereof. 
2. The Contracting Parties shall be members of the Committee. The Committee may decide that 
the competent administration of any State or regional economic integration organization which 
is not a Contracting Party, or representatives of international organizations may, for questions 
which interest them, attend the sessions of the Committee as observers. 
3. The Executive Secretary of the United Nations liconomic Commission for Europe, 
(hereinafter called the "Executive Secretary") shall provide the Committee with secretariat 
services. 
4. The Committee shall, on the occasion of every session, elect a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman. 
5. The competent administrations of the Contracting Parties shall communicate to the Executive 
Secretary proposals for amendments to the present Convention and the reasons therefor, 
together with any requests for the inclusion of items on the agenda of the sessions of the 
Committee. The Executive Secretary shall bring these communications to the attention of the 
competent administrations of the Contracting Parties and to the depositary. 
6. The Executive Secretary shall convene the Committee: 
(a) two years after the Convention has entered into force; 
(b) thereafter, at a date fixed by the Committee, but not less frequently than every five years; 
(c) at the request of the competent administrations of at least two Contracting Parties. 
He shall circulate the draft agenda to the competent administrations of the Contracting Parties 
and to the observers referred to in paragraph 2 of this article, at least six weeks before the 
Committee meets. 
19 
7. On the decision of the Committee taken by virtue of the provisions of paragraph 2 of this 
article, the Executive Secretary shall invite the competent administrations of the States and the 
organizations referred to in the said paragraph 2 to be represented by observers at the sessions 
of the Committee. 
8. A quorum consisting of not less than one-third of the Contracting Parties is required for the 
purposes of taking decisions. For the purpose of this paragraph, the presence of a regional 
economic integration organization shall not be counted as additional to its member States. 
9. Proposals shall be put to the vote. Except as provided in paragraph 10 of this article, each 
Contracting Party represented at the meeting shall have one vote. Proposals other than 
proposals for amendments shall be adopted by the Committee by a majority of the members 
present and voting. Proposals for amendments shall be adopted by a two-thirds majority of the 
members present and voting. 
10. Where article 14, paragraph 3 applies, the regional economic integration organizations, 
Contracting Parties to this Convention, shall have, in case of voting, only a number of votes 
equal to the total votes allotted to their member States which are Contracting Parties to this 
Convention. 
11. Before the closure of its session, the Committee shall adopt a report. 
12. In the absence of relevant provisions in this article, the Rules of Procedure of the United 
Nations Economic Commission for Europe shall be applicable unless the Committee decides 
otherwise. 
20 
Article 20 
Settlement of disputes 
1. Any dispute between two or more Contracting Parties concerning the interpretation or 
application of this Convention shall, in so far as possible, be settled by direct negotiation 
between them. 
2. Any dispute which is not settled by direct negotiation shall be referred by the Contracting 
Parties in dispute to the Committee which shall consider the dispute and make 
recommendations for its settlement. 
3. The Contracting Parties in dispute may agree in advance to accept the recommendations of the 
Committee as binding. 
Article 21 
Amendment procedure 
1. In accordance with article 19 of this Convention, the Committee may recommend amendments 
to this Convention. 
2. The text of any amendment so recommended shall be communicated by the depositary to all 
Contracting Parties to this Convention and to the other signatories. 
3. Any recommended amendment communicated in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article 
shall enter into force with respect to all Contracting Parties three months after the expiry of a 
period of eighteen months following the date of communication of the recommended 
amendment if no objection to the recommended amendment has been notified during that 
period to the depositary by a Contracting Party. 
4. If an objection to the recommended amendment has, been notified to the depositary by a 
Contracting Party before the expiry of the period of ei ghteen months specified in paragraph 3 
of this article, the amendment shall be deemed not to have been accepted and shall have no 
effect whatsoever. 
21 
Article 22 
Depositary 
1. The Secretary-General of the United Nations is designated as the depositary of this 
Convention. 
2. The functions of the Secretary-General of the United Nations as depositary shall be as set out 
in Part VII of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, concluded at Vienna on 23 May 
1969. 
3. In the event of any difference appearing between a Contracting Party and the depositary as to 
the performance of the latter^ functions, the depositary or that Contracting Party shall bring 
the question to the attention of the other Contracting Parties and the signatories or, where 
appropriate, to the Committee. 
Article 23 
Registration and authentic texts 
In accordance with article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations, this Convention shall be 
registered with the secretariat of the United Nations. 
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorized thereto, have signed this 
Convention. 
DONE at Geneva, this twenty-first day of January 1994 in a single copy in the Arabic, 
Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish languages, the six texts being equally authentic. 
22 
ANNEX II 
RESERVATIONS 
The Community approves the Convention on Customs Treatment of Pool Containers used in 
International Transport (container Pool Convention), with the following reservations: 
In respect of Articles 6 and 7 Community legislation, in certain cases, requires the presentation of a 
customs document and the provision of a security for component parts for repairs and for container 
accessories and equipment. 
23 
ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(95) 33 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN «2 07 
Catalog number : CB-CO-95-042-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-85484-7 
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 
L-2985 Luxembourg