REPORT (2023) OF THE WORKING PARTY ON
STATE TRADING ENTERPRISES

ADOPTED ON 20 october 2023

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. Pursuant to this mandate, the Working Party completed an illustrative list of state trading relationships and activities, adopted 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. The report sets out the activities of the Working Party during the review period, which runs from 22 October 2022 through 20 October 2023. During this period, the Working Party held two formal meetings, on 28 April 2023 and 20 October 2023. The minutes of the former were circulated as document _G/STR/M/42, and minutes of the latter will be circulated as _G/STR/M/43. The Working Party also met in informal mode on 28 April 2023 and 9 June 2023 (see _G/STR/34).

4.  During the first part of the review period, Mr Agustín Navarro de Vicente-Gella (Spain) was Chair of the Working Party and Ms Lucille Veronique Brutus (Seychelles) was Vice-Chair. On 5 June 2023, the General Council elected Ms Laura Ulda CALLIGARO (Italy) as Chair of the Working Party.

2  Notification and review of Members' state trading activities

5.  Article XVII:4 of the GATT 1994 and paragraph 1 of the Understanding require Members to notify their state trading enterprises to the Council for Trade in Goods. New and full notifications were first required in 1995 and, subsequently, every third year thereafter, with updating notifications in the intervening years. Since 2004, new and full notifications have been due every two years and updating notifications have been eliminated.

6.  During the period under review, the Working Party reviewed new and full notifications from: Albania, Burkina Faso, Chile, Costa Rica, Haiti, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Mauritius, Panama, Philippines, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei and Uruguay. The Working Party also returned to the previously reviewed notifications of China, India, Mexico, New Zealand, Thailand and Viet Nam.

7.  The Working Party also took up the following agenda item: continued non-notification of state trading enterprises by the Russian Federation (item requested by the United States).

8.  In addition, in the context of the implementation of the outcome of the Twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference, the Working Party took stock of its current functioning, discussed ways to improve it, and agreed on five steps to improve the functioning of the Working Party (G/STR/33), as set out in more detail in the report to the CTG on this matter (_G/STR/34).

3  Compliance with the notification obligation

9.  As of 20 October 2023, the Working Party has received 44 new and full notifications for the 2020‑2021 notification period. Between 22 October 2022 and 20 October 2023, the Working Party has also received 4 new and full notifications for earlier notification periods.

10.  The following Members have not submitted any notification for the 2020-2021 notification period: Afghanistan, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Kingdom of Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Plurinational State of Bolivia, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Colombia, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Ecuador, Egypt, Eswatini, Fiji, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, the State of Kuwait, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritania, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Qatar, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Samoa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Türkiye, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

11.  An overview of the status of state trading notifications since 1995 will be circulated as document _G/STR/36.

4  dATES OF THE REGULAR MEETINGS IN 2024

12.  As part of the steps agreed on by Members to improve the functioning of the Working Party, referred to at paragraph 8 above, Members set the dates of both regular meetings of 2024 during the autumn meeting of 2023.

5  Adoption of the annual report

13.  The Working Party adopted its Annual Report to the Council for Trade in Goods for the year 2023.

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