REPORT
(2020) OF THE WORKING PARTY ON
STATE TRADING ENTERPRISES
Adopted 2 November 2020
1 OrganiZation of the work
of the Working Party
1. The Working Party on State Trading Enterprises (the Working Party) was
established by the Council for Trade in Goods at its meeting of 20 February 1995,
pursuant to paragraph 5 of the Understanding on the Interpretation of
Article XVII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (the
Understanding). Membership of the Working Party is open to all Members indicating
their wish to serve on it. Observer governments in the General Council of the
WTO have observer status in the Working Party.
2. The mandate of the Working Party is set out in paragraph 5 of
the Understanding. The Working Party completed its mandate to develop an
illustrative list of state trading relationships and activities with the
adoption of the Illustrative List by the Council for Trade in Goods on
15 October 1999 (G/STR/4).
Having also completed the mandated revision of the questionnaire on state
trading, the Working Party now reviews notifications, in light of the revised
questionnaire adopted on 14 November 2003 (G/STR/3/Rev.1),
as well as counter-notifications.
3. This Report is submitted under paragraph 5 of the
Understanding, which provides that the Working Group shall report annually to
the Council for Trade in Goods. It sets out the activities of the Working Party
during the review period, which runs from 2 November 2019 through
2 November 2020. During this period, the Working Party held one
formal meeting under the Chairmanship of Ms Johana Méndez (Panama), on 2
November 2020. The minutes of the meeting will be circulated as G/STR/M/37. The
meeting originally scheduled for 24 April 2020 could not be held because of the
COVID-19 pandemic.[1]
4. During the first part of the review period, Mr Kristian Henk
(Austria) was Chair of the Working Party, and in April 2020 the Working
Party elected Mr Tayutic Mena Retana (Costa Rica) as Vice-Chair. In July 2020
the Council for Trade in Goods elected Ms Johana Méndez (Panama) as Chair of
the Working Party and in November 2020 the Working Party elected Ms Laura Gauer
(Switzerland) as Vice-Chair of the Working Party.
[1] On 24 April 2020, the Chair of the Working Party, Mr Kristian Henk,
proposed to Members to reassess the situation by 30 June 2020, the deadline for
new and full notifications for the most recent notification period
(G/STR/N/18). On 29 June 2020, the Chair noted the limited number of
notifications received, urged Members to submit their notifications, and
proposed to hold the following meeting of the Working Party on
2 November 2020, the date already scheduled for the autumn meeting of
the Working Party, which would follow the regular meetings of the Committees on
Anti-Dumping Practices, Safeguards, and Subsidies and Countervailing Measures.
This proposal was met with no objections.