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Ministers
decide to recommend adoption by the Ministerial Conference of the
decision on improvement and review of notification procedures set out
below.
Members,
Desiring
to improve the operation of notification procedures under the
Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (hereinafter
referred to as the “WTO Agreement”), and thereby to
contribute to the transparency of Members’ trade policies and to the
effectiveness of surveillance arrangements established to that end;
Recalling
obligations under the WTO Agreement to publish and notify, including
obligations assumed under the terms of specific protocols of
accession, waivers, and other agreements entered into by Members;
Agree
as follows:
I.
General obligation to
notify back to top
Members
affirm their commitment to obligations under the Multilateral Trade
Agreements and, where applicable, the Plurilateral Trade Agreements,
regarding publication and notification.
Members
recall their undertakings set out in the Understanding Regarding
Notification, Consultation, Dispute Settlement and Surveillance
adopted on 28 November 1979 (BISD 26S/210). With regard to their undertaking therein to notify, to the
maximum extent possible, their adoption of trade measures affecting
the operation of GATT 1994, such notification itself being without
prejudice to views on the consistency of measures with or their
relevance to rights and obligations under the Multilateral Trade
Agreements and, where applicable, the Plurilateral Trade Agreements,
Members agree to be guided, as appropriate, by the annexed list of
measures. Members
therefore agree that the introduction or modification of such measures
is subject to the notification requirements of the 1979 Understanding.
II.
Central registry of
notifications back to top
A
central registry of notifications shall be established under the
responsibility of the Secretariat. While Members will continue to follow existing notification
procedures, the Secretariat shall ensure that the central registry
records such elements of the information provided on the measure by
the Member concerned as its purpose, its trade coverage, and the
requirement under which it has been notified. The central registry shall cross-reference its records of
notifications by Member and obligation.
The
central registry shall inform each Member annually of the regular
notification obligations to which that Member will be expected to
respond in the course of the following year.
The
central registry shall draw the attention of individual Members to
regular notification requirements which remain unfulfilled.
Information
in the central registry regarding individual notifications shall be
made available on request to any Member entitled to receive the
notification concerned.
III.
Review of notification
obligations and procedures back to top
The
Council for Trade in Goods will undertake a review of notification
obligations and procedures under the Agreements in Annex 1A of the WTO
Agreement. The review
will be carried out by a working group, membership in which will be
open to all Members. The
group will be established immediately after the date of entry into
force of the WTO Agreement.
The
terms of reference of the working group will be:
— to undertake a thorough review of all existing notification
obligations of Members established under the Agreements in Annex 1A of
the WTO Agreement, with a view to simplifying, standardizing and
consolidating these obligations to the greatest extent practicable, as
well as to improving compliance with these obligations, bearing in
mind the overall objective of improving the transparency of the trade
policies of Members and the effectiveness of surveillance arrangements
established to this end, and also bearing in mind the possible need of
some developing country Members for assistance in meeting their
notification obligations;
— to make recommendations to the Council for Trade in Goods not
later than two years after the entry into force of the WTO Agreement.
Annex
Indicative List of Notifiable Measures(1)
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Tariffs
(including range and scope of bindings, GSP provisions, rates applied
to members of free-trade areas/customs unions, other preferences)
Tariff
quotas and surcharges
Quantitative
restrictions, including voluntary export restraints and orderly
marketing arrangements affecting imports
Other
non-tariff measures such as licensing and mixing requirements; variable levies
Customs
valuation
Rules of
origin
Government
procurement
Technical
barriers
Safeguard
actions
Anti-dumping
actions
Countervailing
actions
Export
taxes
Export
subsidies, tax exemptions and concessionary export financing
Free-trade
zones, including in-bond manufacturing
Export
restrictions, including voluntary export restraints and orderly
marketing arrangements
Other
government assistance, including subsidies, tax exemptions
Role of
state-trading enterprises
Foreign
exchange controls related to imports and exports
Government-mandated
countertrade
Any other
measure covered by the Multilateral Trade Agreements in Annex 1A to
the WTO Agreement
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