   
  
G/L/1462  
G/LIC/W/58  
 
2 December  2022 
(22-8961) Page: 1/7 
Council for Trade in Goods  
Committee on Import Licensing    
 
REPORT ON THE CURRENT FUNCTIONING OF THE  
COMMITTEE ON IMPORT LICENSING  
REPORT OF THE CHAIRPERSON  
The following report is being submitted by the Chairperson of the  Committee on Import Licensing 
(CIL), Mr Jia Jie LOH, under  his own responsibility  and at the request of the Chairperson of the 
Council for Trade in Goods1.The report  was prepared with the assistance of the Secretariat.  
 
1 PAST EFFORTS TO IMPROVE  THE WORK O F THE COMMITTEE  
1.1.  In response to the request from the Chairperson of the General Council dated 
26 February  2009, the Committee held informal meetings and consultations with Members and 
discussed ways and means to improve the timeliness and completeness of no tifications and other 
information flows.2 The following ideas were shared by Members: (i)  develop electronic f orms in user 
friendly formats that could simplify the preparation of  notifications ; and  (ii) simplif y procedures and 
develop clear guidelines as to the kind of information and details to be provided in the notifications.   
1.2.  In addition, these discussions were complemented by specific suggestions made by some 
Members on how to improve compliance with the notification obligations in the Agreement on Im port 
Licensing Procedures (ILP) . These suggestions included, inter alia :  
• the possibility of requesting technical assistance (TA) from the Secretariat's and/or from other 
Members;   
• undertaking a self -review of the notifications that had been already submi tted with a view to 
improving them (e.g., updating the list of products, adjusting the version of the HS 
nomenclature and reflecting other changes that might have occurred);  
• increasing coordination between the Trade Policy Review Division (TPRD) and the Secretariat 
staff responsible for the Committee on Import Licensing with a view to including in TPR reports 
elements such as: (a) identification as to whether or not the Member  had submitted its import 
licensing notifications; (b) identification of the relevant legislation and rules on import 
licensing; (c) urging Members under review to provide pertinent import licensing materials 
and indicate if there were outstanding question s by other Members not yet responded to by 
the Member under review;  
• making recourse to Article 5.5 of the Agreement and submitting counter notifications.  
1.3.  As a result of these informal meetings and consultations held in 2009 -2010, the Committee 
approved t he use by Members, on a voluntary basis, of two forms  to comply with the notify the 
requirements of Articles 1.4(a)  and/or 8.2(b) and Article 5 of the Agreement on Import Licensing 
Procedures (ILP). T hese forms were circulated in document G/LIC/22 .  
1.4.  In add ition, the Committee took steps to improve coordination and collaboration with other 
WTO bodies, namely the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). Specifically, the Chairperson sent two 
letters to the Chairperson of the TPRB on 6 April and 18 May 2009 summarizin g Members' 
 
1 See document JOB/CTG/18 . 
2 The Chairperson of the General Council, Ambassador Mario Matus from Chile,  requested all the 
Committees Chairs to consult with Members on ways to imp rove the timeliness and completeness of notifications 
and other information flows on trade measures fallin g within their respective areas of responsibility .  G/L/1462 • G/LIC/W/58  
 
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  suggestions and discussions at the Committee.3 Further, at the request of the Chairperson, the 
Secretariat sent specific letters to each Member. These letters: (i) reminded Members of their 
transparency and notification obligations; (ii) provid ed the status of each Members' notifications 
obligations, highlighting the date of the last notification received, especially under Article 7.3 of the 
Agreement; (iii) shared samples of statements to be used in notifications in cases when no changes 
or onl y minor changes were introduced; and (iv) encouraged Members to consult with the Secretariat 
to assist them in preparing their notifications under Article 7.3 of the Agreement.  
1.5.  In 2016, the Committee started discussions on the most common issues encountered by 
Members in notification submissions. These discussions focused on, inter alia , low notification 
compliance rate, delays in submissions, overlapping notification requirement s in different provisions 
of the Agreement, unclear terms, incomplete submissions and discrepancies between the 
information in the relevant TPR reports and Members' notifications to the Committee. Discussions 
were supported by background research, discussi on papers, presentations and proposed notification 
template prepared by the Secretariat.4 As a result of these discussions, at the Committee's informal 
meeting of 8 March 2019, the Secretariat introduced a template notification form for Members to 
use, on  a voluntary basis, when submitting their notifications on import licensing 
legislations/procedures and changes to these legislations/procedures. Since then, Members have 
predominantly used this template to notify their respective legislations/procedures a nd changes 
thereof. In 2020 -2022, out of 22 Members that submitted their notifications, only one Member used 
the old format. The introduction of the new simplified form led to a significant and welcomed increase 
in the number of N/2 notifications received by the Committee.5 
1.6.  As a result of informal meetings and consultations conducted by the Chairperson in 2015 -2016, 
the Committee agreed to establish an electronic database, which would be available for use by both 
government officials and the trading commun ity and would allow the search of procedures and 
notifications. The new import licensing website/database ( https://importlicensing.wto.org/ ) was 
introduced at the informal meeting of 9 July 2018 for Members to provide their feedback. It was 
subsequently officially launched at the formal meeting of 9 October 2020.  
1.7.  As part of the effort to expand the functions of the import licensing website/database, the 
Committee has been working on the development of an onli ne notification form, which will allow 
Members to submit notifications of new and modified import licensing procedures via the import 
licensing website/database. At the Committee's formal meeting of 7 October 2021, Members agreed 
to proceed with the develo pment of an online notification form, entirely based on the N/2 notification 
template contained in document G/LIC/28. The Secretariat is working in cooperation with the 
Information and Technology Solutions Division (ITSD) to ensure that this online notific ation tool is 
fully integrated into a WTO import licensing database. This project is under development.  
1.8.  Since 2017, the Committee has been holding import licensing and notifications workshops for 
capital -based officials on a yearly basis. The purpose of t hese workshops is to provide support to 
Members in complying with notification requirements under the Agreement. These workshops are 
generally held in September/October preceding  the Committee's autumn meeting. The Committee 
is informed about the upcoming workshop during its April formal meeting. In 2017, 2018 and 2019 
the workshop took place in person in Geneva. In 2020 the workshop was not held due to the Covid -
19 pandemic. In  2021 and in 2022 the workshop took place in virtual mode via the Zoom platform.  
The workshop was conducted in English between 2017 and 2021. In 2022 it was conducted in English 
and in Spanish.  
 
3 Minutes of the meetings, DG Memos, Chairperson's speaking notes (as located in MAD files for 
2009-2011) contain no reference to response or follow -up communication from the Chairperson of the TPRB in 
response to these two letters sent by the Chairperson of the CIL.  
4 WTO documents RD/LIC/6 -10. 
5 WTO document G/LIC/30.  G/L/1462 • G/LIC/W/58  
 
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  2  CURRENT STATUS OF COMMITTEE PRACTICES  
2.1  Assistance to delegates  
2.1.  The Secretariat  regularly provides bilateral assistance (via email, in person or  by 
virtual  meetings) to Members on the improvement of the content and completeness of their 
notifications, particularly under Articles 5.1 -5.4 and 7.3 of the Agreement.  
2.2  Organization of Committee work  
2.2.1   Digital tools used for Committee work  
2.2.  As of 7 September  2022, an eAgenda platform has become operational for the Committee. In 
July and August 2022, in preparation for its launch, the Secretariat  developed and made available a 
pilot version of the eAgenda platform for testing by delegations. The Secretariat al so prepared and 
sent to delegations explanatory guidelines in English, French and Spanish, and presented the 
eAgenda platform at the formal meeting of the Committee on 7 October 2022.  
2.2.2   Planning and organization of meetings  
2.3.  The Committee generally holds two formal meetings a year.6 To the extent possible, these 
formal meetings are organized in coordination with the meetings of other subsidiary bodies of the 
Council for Trade in Goods. At each formal meeting, the tentative date of the next formal meeting 
is announced to Members. This tentative date is published in the WTO website (under Meetings) and 
in the Import Licensing website/database. The eAgenda for a formal meeting opens one month prior 
to the meeting. An e -mail about the opening of the eAgenda is sen t to all Members on the same 
day. 
2.4.  The Committee holds one or two informal meeting(s) a year. Based on Chairperson's 
consultations with Members, a communication about an upcoming informal meeting is sent by email 
to Members approximately two weeks prior to the meeting.  
2.2.3   Formal meetings  
2.2.3.1   Communication before meetings  
2.5.  Since the eAgenda  platform  has become operational for the Committee as of 
7 September  2022, the Committee's current practice is to use the platform for the preparation of its 
meetings . The eAgenda opens one month before the Committee meeting. Documents (notifications 
and written questions and replies) received and circulated after the closure of the agenda of the 
previous formal meeting are inserted by the Secretariat in  the eAgenda upon its  opening, thus 
allowing Members to familiarize themselves with the upcoming items . Members may insert recurring 
and new specific trade concerns, as well as other items in the eAgenda from its opening (one month 
prior to the meeting) to its closure (same ti me as for the Airgram). From its opening and up to a 
week after the holding of the formal meeting, the eAgenda remains open for delegations to insert 
statements for delivery under the relevant agenda item at the meeting.  
2.2.3.2   Number of meetings  
2.6.  Since 2019, seve n formal and five informal meetings have taken place. In 2020, due to the 
COVID -19 pandemic, only one formal Committee meeting took place (Table 1).  
 
6 Due to the COVID -19 pandemic, the Committee held only one formal meeting in 2020.  G/L/1462 • G/LIC/W/58  
 
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  Table 1: Number of formal and informal meetings  
Year  Formal meeting  
(number and duration)  Informal meeting s  
(number and duration ) Other (e.g. workshops, 
symposia, etc.)  
2019  4 April 2019 (0.5 days)  
9 October 2019 (0.5 days)  8 March 2019 (0.5 days)  
18 September 2019 (0.5 days)  30 September -3 October 2019, 
Workshop on Import Licensing 
and Notifications (in person)  
2020  9 October 2020 (0.5 days)  29 January 2020 (0.5 days)  None 
2021  21 April 2021 (1 day)  
8 October 2021 (0.5 days)  20 September 2021 (0.5 days)  4-6 October 2021,  
Workshop on Import Licensing 
and Notifications (virtual)  
2022  8 April 2022 (0.5 days)  
7 October 2022 (0.5 days)  7 March 2022 (0.5 days)  27-29 September 2022, 
Workshop on Import Licensing 
and Notifications (virtual)  
 
2.2.3.3   Preparation of Airgrams and Agendas  
2.7.  Until 2021, an Airgram  containing agenda items for an upcoming formal meeting was circulated 
on average 11 days before the date of the meeting (Table  2). In 2021 and 2022, with a view to 
providing Members an advance notice on the preliminary agenda for an upcoming formal meetin g, 
the Secretariat circulated a draft version of the Airgram approximately 25 to 30 days before the date 
of the meeting. The draft version of the Airgram contained a preliminary agenda with regular items 
on (i) notification compliance, (ii) written questio ns and replies, (iii) notifications, (iv) transparency, 
and (v) other business.  A revised version of the Airgram, including all the agenda items for the 
meeting was then circulated at least 10 days before the date of the meeting. The revised version 
contai ned a final version of the agenda for the upcoming meeting. The Committee has been working 
with the standard "minimum 10  days before the meeting" (Rule of Procedure 2 of the General 
Council's Rule of Procedure).  
2.8.  For the 7 October 2022 meeting, the newly i ntroduced eAgenda platform opened on 7 
September - one month before the date of the meeting. With the introduction of the e -Agenda, the 
issuance of the draft Airgram, which served the same purpose of providing advance notice of the 
upcoming meeting to dele gations, was discontinued. Pursuant to Rule of Procedure 2, the Airgram 
will continue to be circulated at least 10 days before the meeting.  
2.9.  The agenda of the Committee on Import Licensing is composed of a number of standing items, 
which include namely: (i)  Members' compliance with notification obligations; (ii) Written questions 
and replies; (iii)  Notifications; (iv) Improving transparency in notification procedures; (v) Date of 
the next meeting; and (vi) Other business. The order of these agenda items is f ixed. Under written 
questions and replies and notifications, the order of documents to be reviewed at the meeting is 
determined alphabetically based on the Member submitting questions, replies to the questions or 
notifications. In addition, Members may req uest the inclusion of self -standing items regarding 
specific trade concerns. The order of items on specific trade concerns is determined alphabetically 
based on the Member against whom a trade concern is raised. Each specific trade concern is listed 
in the  agenda as a separate item.  
2.10.  Additional agenda items are added depending on when the meeting is taking place. 
Specifically, agenda item "Election of the Chairperson"  is added at the spring meeting, and agenda 
items " Draft annual/biennial reports to the CTG"  is added at the autumn meeting. Every two years, 
at the autumn meeting of the Committee, the Secretariat inserts an item for the Committee to 
conduct its biennial review of the Agreement according to Article 7.1.  
  G/L/1462 • G/LIC/W/58  
 
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  Table 2:  Preparation of Airgrams and Age ndas  
Year  Date of formal 
meeting  Date of circulation of Airgram  No. of days before 
the meeting  
2019  4 April 2019  
9 October 2019  25 March 2019 (Airgram)  
24 September 2019 (Airgram)  10 
15 
2020  9 October 2020  28 September 2020 (Airgram)  11 
2021  21 April 2021  
 
8 October 2021  26 March 2021 (Draft Airgram)  
9 April 2021 (Final Airgram)  
16 September 2021 (Draft Airgram)  
28 September 2021 (Final Airgram)  26 
12 
22 
10 
2022  8 April 2022  
 
7 October 2022  9 March 2022 (Draft Airgram)  
29 March 2022 (Final Airgram)  
7 September 2022  (E-Agenda opens)  
26 September 2022 (Final Airgram)  30 
10 
30 
10 
 
2.11.  With respect to the distribution of formal documents, the circulation of notifications and 
written questions and replies is done on a rolling basis once they are sent to the Secretariat (with a 
copy to the WTO Central Registry of Notifications – CRN) and verified by the Secretariat. The 
circulation of draft annual and biennial reports is done immediately after the closure of the agenda 
to make sure that all the documents that were received on the date of the closure of the agenda are 
included in the draft reports. Members' submissions (notifications, written questions and replies) 
received after the closing of the agenda for the meeting a re taken note of at the meeting. They are 
inserted in the agenda of the next meeting and reviewed at that meeting. Other working documents 
such as the c onsolidated paper of written questions and replies submitted to the CIL, are circulated 
immediately after the closure of the Airgram to reflect all documents submitted before the closure 
of the Airgram. There is no established practice with respect to the issuance of room documents, 
they may be issued before or after the m eeting.  
2.2.3.4   Preparation of the minutes  
2.12.  After a formal meeting, the Secretariat prepares the minutes of the meeting. The person in 
charge of editing the minutes of the Committee on Import Licensing is also in charge of editing the 
minutes of six other bodies, so delays may ensue from the priority given to finalizing other 
documents . 
2.13.  The minutes capture all information – reports by the Chairperson, Members' statements and 
reactions to these statements – shared at the formal meeting.  
2.14.  In the period 2019 -2022, it took on average 90 days to circulate the minutes of the meeting, 
which on average had a length 20 pages (Table  3). However, since 2020 the time to prepare the 
minutes has been considerably reduced.  
2.15.  The minutes of a formal meeting of the Committee also con tain information on informal 
meeting(s) held since the previous formal meeting. The Chairperson reads at the formal meeting, 
under her/his responsibility,  a summary of the informal meeting, which is then incorporated in the 
minutes of the formal meeting.  
  G/L/1462 • G/LIC/W/58  
 
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  Table 3: Preparation of the Minutes/Summary Reports  
Year  Last date of the formal 
meeting  Date of circulation of the 
minutes  No. of pages  No. of days  
2019  4 April 2019  
4 October 2019  21 August 2019  
15 January 2020  18 
14 139 
103 
2020  9 October 2020  18 December 2020  24 70 
2021  21 April 2021  
8 October 2021  30 July 2021  
26 November 2021  24 
19 100 
49 
2022  8 April 2022  
7 October 2022  20 June 2022  
 20 73 
 
2.16.  Once the minutes are circulated, and pursuant to Paragraph 2(c) of the WTO's Procedures for 
Circulation and Derestriction of WTO Documents ( WT/L/452 ), they remain restricted  in documents 
online (DOL) for 45 days. The minutes  become automatically derestricted 45 days after the date of 
circulation.  
2.2.4   Informal meetings  
2.17.  Informal meetings are convened via an email communication sent to the official e -mail 
addresses of Members and Observers7, as well as to delegates' list of contacts retrieved from the e -
registration system (using only the list of delegates signed up for the Commit tee on Import 
Licensing). The convening email contains information on the meeting date, time, location, purpose 
and the list of issues to be discussed. The convening email is generally sent 1.5 - 2 weeks in advance 
(Table  4). 
2.18.  Room documents are sent to del egations before or immediately after the meeting. These 
documents are also available through the DOL under the RD/LIC document series.  
Table 4: Convening of informal meetings  
Year  Date of informal 
meeting  Date of communication convening 
the informal meeting  No. of days  
2019  8 March 2019  
18 September 2019  25 February 2019  
25 July 2019  11 
55 
2020  29 January 2020  4 December 2019  56 
2021  20 September 2021  6 September 2021  14 
2022  7 March 2022  25 February 2022  10 
 
2.3  Substantive work  
2.3.1   Thematic sessions  
2.19.  The Committee has not conducted any thematic or experience -sharing sessions as of 
November  2022.  
 
7 The list is maintained by the Council and Trade Neg otiations Committee  (CTNC).  G/L/1462 • G/LIC/W/58  
 
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  2.3.2   Notifications  
2.20.  The Committee receives an important number of notifications on a yearly basis. In the 2020 -
2021 period the Committee received 154 notifications of new or modified import licensing procedures 
and 83 notifications of the annual import licensing questionnaire.8 Answers to the questionnaire are 
generally lengthy documents, where Members describe in detail their import licensing regime for 
each category of products to which they apply.  
2.21.  Information on notification compliance is regularly shared with Members at the formal 
meetings of the Committee under the agenda item "Members' compliance with notification 
obligations – developments since the last meeting" . 
2.22.  In addition, Members have undertaken regular work on updating and improving notification 
forms (see above unde r Section 1). 
2.3.3   Trade concerns  
2.23.  The Committee addresses an important number of new and recurring specific trade concerns 
at its formal meetings. The number of specifi c trade concerns raised before the Committee has 
grown steadily over the past 10 years. Around 10 specific trade concerns per meeting have been 
raised on average in the period 2019 -2022 (Table 5).  
Table 5: Number of trade concerns  
Year  Formal meeting (date ) Number of trade concerns  
2019  4 April 2019  
4 October 2019  7 
9 
2020  9 October 2020  9 
2021  21 April 2021  
8 October 2021  13 
11 
2022  8 April 2022  
7 October 2022  9 
8 
2.3.4   Reports by the Secretariat  
2.24.  The Secretariat regularly prepares a draft annual report and a draft biennial review for 
discussion and adoption by the Committee. Since 2020, biennial reviews contain information on 
developments in Members' notification compliance.  
2.3.5   Work with other Committees or WTO bodies  
2.25.  The Secretariat regularly  cooperates with other WTO Committees and bodies. As noted above 
the Secretariat has cooperated with the TPRD Division with a view to including in TPR reports import 
licensing elements. More recently, on 27 October 2022, the Secretariat gave a presentation  at an 
informal meeting of the Committee on Agriculture of notification requirements under the Agreement 
on Import Licensing Procedures, in the context of the Committee on Agriculture efforts at achieving 
enhanced synergy between notifications on TRQ admin istration under the Agreement on Agriculture 
and the Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures.  
__________  
 
 
8 Fourteenth Biennial Review of the Implementation and Operation of the Agreement on Import Licensing 
Procedures, G/LIC/30 of 19 October 2022.  