REPORT
OF THE COMMITTEE TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS
ACTIONS TAKEN AND POSSIBLE FUTURE ACTIONS TO
IMPROVE
THE SUBMISSION OF NOTIFICATIONS
(ADOPTED ON 27 OCTOBER 2025)
1 iNTRODUCTION
1.1. This report is being prepared at
the request[1] of the Council for Trade in Goods (CTG) and has been adopted by the
Committee on Trade-Related Investment Measures (the Committee) on 27 October
2025 for submission to the CTG.
1.2. At its formal meeting of 9 April 2025, the
CTG considered a new Secretariat report entitled "Notifications Status of Regular/Periodic and One Time
Only Notifications in the Goods Area (1995‑2024)" (_G/C/W/859). The report, prepared at the request of the CTG, provides detailed data
on submission rates and trends regarding these types of notifications. At the
same April 2025 meeting of the CTG, Members recognized that each subsidiary
body is best placed to address the specific notification obligations within its
purview. Accordingly, they agreed that the CTG could play a coordinating role
to support improvements in the overall status of such notifications, building
on the model of the earlier reform by doing
discussions.
1.3. All CTG subsidiary bodies were thus requested to: (1) discuss the additional steps that could be taken to improve the
regular/periodic and one‑time only notification requirements they oversee;
(2) identify the steps needed to improve the quality and timeliness of
notification; and (3) inform the Council of past actions that have worked
well in improving the number of submitted notifications. All subsidiary bodies
were also requested to report back to the CTG by 10 November 2025, to
enable consideration at the final formal CTG meeting of the year.
1.4. At the
Fall meeting of the TRIMs Committee held on 9 October 2025, Members were given an opportunity to
discuss ideas about how to improve the timeliness and quality of notifications[2]. At that meeting, the Chairperson recalled
that, in the context of the TRIMs Agreement, the only notification obligation in
force was the one-time notification of publications in which TRIMs may be found
(Article 6.2 of the TRIMs Agreement). As of 9 October, 32 Members still had to
make a notification to the TRIMs Committee under Article 6.2 of the TRIMs
Agreement. The Chairperson listed the following actions
taken by the Committee with the assistance of the Secretariat, that have worked well in improving the number of submitted notifications.
i. Engagement with Members
2.1. The Secretariat (the Central
Registry of Notifications – CRN) reaches out systematically to all Members that
have not submitted their notifications to ensure that these are submitted in
time for circulation and review at the upcoming meetings. These letters are
sent twice a year to specific Members whose notification is still missing.
2.2. The Secretariat regularly meets with delegations
(Geneva and capital-based officials) and responds to all questions they may
have on the notification obligations under the TRIMs Agreement.
2.3. In addition, in the context of the
reform of the functioning of the Committee conducted in 2023, training sessions on the functioning of the Committee and Members'
notifications obligations are held once a year. The presentations and the
video/audio recording of those sessions have been made available on the
Committee WTO webpage for Members to consult.
2.4. Moreover, the Secretariat maintains a Technical
Cooperation Handbook and sample notifications on its dedicated webpage in all three WTO
languages. These resources provide continuous support for Members outside of
the scheduled technical assistance events.
ii. Reminders and Deadline Management
2.5. To support timely submissions, reminders
encouraging Members to notify the publications
in which TRIMs may be found, under Article 6.2 of the TRIMs
Agreement, are circulated to the entire Membership before each regular meeting
of the Committee. The latest reminder was circulated on 25 August 2025 in
document _G/TRIMS/W/179.
2.6. In addition, as provided for in
document _G/TRIMS/5, the Secretariat consolidates all notifications
received pursuant to Article 6.2 in one single document, the latest revision of
which was circulated in _G/TRIMS/N/2/Rev.40, dated 3 October 2025.
2.7. Finally, in advance of the Committee's Fall
meeting each year, the Secretariat circulates a draft of the annual report for
Members' review. This report includes a series of tables that present the
status of various types of notifications – highlighting both those submitted
by Members and those still outstanding. The latest annual report and its
annexes were circulated on 13 October 2025[3].
3 Role of the Chair and Committee Deliberations
3.1. The Chairperson of the Committee reminds Members of their
notification obligation at every meeting under the agenda item dedicated to
notifications received under Article 6.2, which is a standing item on the
agenda of the Committee. This call for notifications and the subsequent
discussions are reflected in the minutes of the meetings and in the annual
report of the Committee.
4.1. No proposals or suggestions were made by any Member at the regular
meeting of the Committee held on 9 October 2025. Thus, there are no additional
steps approved by the Committee to report.
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[3] _G/L/1587
- _G/TRIMS/20.