Working Party on State Trading Enterprises - State Trading - Notifications pursuant to article XVII:4(a) of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994) and paragraph 1 of the Understanding on the Interpretation of Article XVII of the GATT 1994

STATE TRADING

NOTIFICATIONS PURSUANT TO ARTICLE XVII:4(A) OF THE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE 1994 (GATT 1994) AND PARAGRAPH 1 OF THE UNDERSTANDING ON

THE INTERPRETATION OF ARTICLE XVII OF THE GATT 1994

1.     Pursuant to Article XVII:4(a) of the GATT 1994 and paragraph 1 of the Understanding on the Interpretation of Article XVII of the GATT 1994, Members are required to notify their state trading enterprises to the Council for Trade in Goods, in accordance with the following working definition of such enterprises:

 

        "Governmental and non-governmental enterprises, including marketing boards, which have been granted exclusive or special rights or privileges, including statutory or constitutional powers, in the exercise of which they influence through their purchases or sales the level or direction of imports or exports."

 

2.     Members have agreed to submit new and full notifications of state trading enterprises every two years (by 30 June of every even-numbered year), for the two previous calendar years.[1] Members are therefore required to submit their new and full notifications for the years 2024 and 2025 by 30 June 2026.

 

3.     For Members that maintained one or more state trading enterprises during the years 2024 and 2025, the questionnaire format to notify such enterprises is contained in document _G/STR/3/Rev.1, together with guidelines for completing that questionnaire.

 

4.     Members that maintained no state trading enterprises falling within the above working definition during the years 2024 and 2025 are also required to make a notification, simply indicating that they maintained no such enterprise during 2024-2025. This is referred to as a "nil notification".

 

5.     Notifications should be submitted by email to crn@wto.org. Enquiries may be sent to the secretary and deputy secretary of the Working Party on State Trading Enterprises, whose current email addresses are christopher.clinton@wto.org and anastasiia.zakharova@wto.org.

 

6.     Responses to this call for notifications will be issued in the _G/STR/N/21 series under the respective Member codes.

 

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[1] _G/STR/8, and Minutes of the meeting of the Council for Trade in Goods of 22 June 2012 (_G/C/M/111), paras. 3.1-3.3.