REPORT (2024) OF THE WORKING PARTY ON
STATE TRADING ENTERPRISES
ADOPTED ON 4 November 2024
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 21 October 2023 through 4 November 2024. During this
period, the Working Party held two formal meetings, on 19 April 2024 and 4
November 2024. The minutes of the former were circulated as document _G/STR/M/44, and minutes of the
latter will be circulated as _G/STR/M/45.
4. The meeting of 19 April
2024 was chaired by H.E. Dr. Adamu Mohammed Abdulhamid, Chairperson
of the Council for Trade in Goods, in the absence of the then Chairperson of
the Working Party, Ms Laura Ulda CALLIGARO (Italy), who was no longer in
Geneva. On 28 May 2024, the Council for Trade in Goods elected Ms Jooyoung LEE
(Republic of Korea) as Chairperson 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; Argentina; Australia;
Kingdom of Bahrain; Brazil; Canada; China; Costa Rica; Eswatini; European
Union; Georgia; Haiti; Honduras; Hong Kong, China; Iceland; Israel; Japan;
Kazakhstan; Republic of Korea; Lesotho; Liechtenstein; Macao, China; Montenegro;
New Zealand; Nicaragua; North Macedonia; Seychelles; Singapore; South Africa;
Switzerland; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; Ukraine; United Kingdom; United States; and
Uruguay. The
Working Party also returned to the previously reviewed notifications of China,
India, Mauritius, the Philippines, and South Africa.
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).
3 Compliance with
the notification obligation
8. As
of 4 November 2024, the Working Party has received 36 new and full
notifications for the 2022-2023 notification period. Between 21 October 2023
and 4 November 2024, the Working Party has also received 10 new and full notifications for earlier notification periods.
9. The following Members have not submitted any
notification for the 2022-2023 notification period: Afghanistan;
Angola; Antigua and Barbuda; Armenia; Bangladesh; Barbados; Belize; Benin;
Plurinational State of Bolivia; Botswana; Brunei Darussalam; Burkina Faso;
Burundi; Cabo Verde; Cambodia; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad;
Colombia; Congo; Côte d'Ivoire; Cuba; Democratic Republic of the Congo;
Djibouti; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Fiji;
Gabon; the Gambia; Ghana; Grenada; Guatemala; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Guyana;
India; Indonesia; Jamaica; Jordan; Kenya; the State of Kuwait; Kyrgyz Republic;
Lao People's Democratic Republic; Liberia; Madagascar; Malawi; Malaysia;
Maldives; Mali; Mauritania; Mauritius; Mexico; Republic of Moldova; Mongolia;
Morocco; Mozambique; Myanmar; Namibia; Nepal; Niger; Nigeria; Norway; Oman; Pakistan;
Panama; Papua New Guinea; Paraguay; Peru; Philippines; Qatar; Russian
Federation; Rwanda; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines; Samoa; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Solomon
Islands; Sri Lanka; Suriname; Tajikistan; Tanzania; Togo; Tonga; Trinidad and
Tobago; Tunisia; Türkiye; Uganda; United Arab Emirates; Vanuatu; Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela; Viet Nam; Yemen; Zambia; and Zimbabwe.
10. An
overview of the status of state trading notifications since 1995 will be
circulated as document _G/STR/38.
4 dATES OF THE
REGULAR MEETINGS IN 2025
11. As
part of the steps agreed on by Members in 2023 to improve the functioning of
the Working Party, Members set the dates of both regular meetings of 2025
during the autumn meeting of 2024.
5 Adoption of the
annual report
12. The Working Party adopted its Annual Report to the
Council for Trade in Goods for the year 2024.
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