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G/C/M/145/Add.1  
 
6 June 2023 
(23-3848) Page: 1/3 
Council for Trade in Goods    
 
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS  
3 AND 4 APRIL  2023 
CHAIRPERSON: H.E. ADAMU MOHAMMED ABDULHAMID  
Addendum  
In a communication  dated 1 June 20231, the Chairperson of the Council for Trade in Goods (CTG), 
Ambassador Adamu Mohammed Abdulhamid (Nigeria),  announced that the CTG would reconvene 
on 5 June 2023 the meeting that had been suspended on 3 and 4 April 20232, with the purpose of 
addressing Age nda Item 5, "Appointment of Officers to the Subsidiary Bodies of the Council for Trade 
in Goods" . 
 
5  APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS TO THE SUBSIDIARY BODIES OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE 
IN GOODS  
5.1.  The Chairperson  indicated the following:  
5.2.  The Council will recall that , at the informal meeting of the Council held on Friday, 31  March, 
the former Chair person  of the Council for Trade in Goods , Mr Etienne Oudot de Dainville (France),  
had reported to the Council on the status of the Appointment of Officers for Subsidiary Bodie s of the 
CTG for 2023 .3 He had also provided an opportunity to discuss the possible slate of names that had 
been annexed to that meeting's Convening Notice (contained in document  ICN/CTG/9/Add.1 ), in 
accordance with Rule  7.3 of the Guidelines for the Appointment of Officers to WTO  Bodies 
(WT/L/510 , "the Guidelines"), and with a view to adopting it at the Council's formal meeting of 
3 April 2023.  
5.3.  Unfortunately, at that meeting , the former Chair person  had inform ed the Council  that there 
was no consensus on that provisional list of names. For this reason, the Council had agreed to 
suspend its Agenda I tem 5 (Appointment of Officers to the Subsidiary Bodies of the Council for Trade 
in Goods)  while the Council's former Chairperson , who was  the person responsible for this process, 
continued to meet with the Regional Group Coordinators to discuss the matter , and to engage in 
consultations to explore possible solutions . In this regard, he had also invited Members to do their 
utmost to  reach consensus on a list of names as soon as possible, especially as the absence of 
officers to chair the subsidiary bodies of the CTG would block the work of those bodies.  
5.4.  Immediately prior to this current meeting, I held an informal meeting of the Coun cil, as 
required by Rule  7.3 of the Guidelines ( WT/L/510 ), where I asked Members if they could agree to 
the slate of names that had been read out, as reflected in the meeting's Convening Notice, 
document  ICN/CTG/11 . No objection was raised.  Accordingly, I am very pleased to report that 
consens us on the slate of names has now been reached. I would like to sincerely thank delegations 
for their collaboration and for showing flexibility so that the Council can shortly proceed to adopt the 
slate of names . 
5.5.  To this end, I would now like to ask the Cou ncil if it can formally agree with the list of nominees 
that I had read out during the informal meeting , as follows:  
 
1 Document  ICN/CTG/11 . 
2 See documents  WTO/AIR/CTG/2 4, WTO/AIR/CTG/24/Rev.1 , and G/C/W/827 . 
3 Document  G/C/M/145 , paragraphs  5.1-5.12.  G/C/M/145/Add.1  
 
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  CTG Subsidiary Body  Chairperson  
Committee on Agriculture (COA)  Mr Kjetil TYSDAL (Norway)  
Committee on Anti -Dumping Practices (AD)  Mrs Ayşegül ŞAHINOĞLU YERDEŞ (Türkiye)  
Committee on Customs Valuation (CV)  Mr Omar CISSE (Senegal)  
Committee on Import Licensing (IL)  Mr Nat THARNPANICH (Thailand)  
Committee on Market Access (CMA)  Miss Renata CRISTALDO OVIEDO (Paraguay)  
Committee on Rules of Origin (ROO)  Mr Elia N. MTWEVE (Tanzania)  
Committee on Safeguards (SG)  Mr Eungkil JEON (Republic of Korea)  
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures 
(SPS)  Mr Tayutic MENA RETANA (Costa Rica)  
Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing 
Measures (SCM)  Mr James LESTER (New Zealand)  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)  Ms Anna VITIE (Finland)  
Committee on Trade Facilitation (TF)  Mr Carlos GUEVARA (Ecuador)  
Committee on Trade -Related Investment Measures 
(TRIMs)  Mr Po-Feng HUANG (Chinese Taipei)  
Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade 
in Information Technology Products (ITA)  Mr Don SPEDDING (Australia)  
Working Party on State Trading Enterprises (STEs)  Ms Laura Ulda CALLIGARO (Italy)  
 
5.6.  The Council so agreed . 
5.7.  The Chairperson  indicated the following:  
5.8.  Before I offer the floor to any delegation that may like to speak on this matter, may I remind 
you that, while all the other subsidiary bodies of the Council have provisions in their respectiv e 
Agreements or rules of procedure prescribing the election of the Chair person , the working groups 
do not. Therefore, I suggest that, in the case of the Working Group on State Trading Enterprises, 
the Council appoint the nominee Ms  Laura Ulda CALLIGARO (It aly) as Chairperson.  
5.9.  The Council so agreed . 
5.10.  The representative of the European Union  indicated  the following:  
5.11.  The European Union warmly welcomes the slate. For the fifth consecutive year, the 
appointment process of chairpersons has unfortunately taken many more months than foreseen in 
the Organi zation’s existing guidelines , which were  agreed in 2003. The EU would like to invite the 
Chairperson  of this Council, together with his predecessor , Mr Etienne Oudot de Dainville,  and the 
Chairperson of the Council for Trade in Services , Mrs Tsvetelina Georgieva Dimitrova,  to shortly 
convene a meeting of the R egional Group Coordinators. Such a meeting should explore how the 
appointment process of Tier  2 chairperson ships can be improved, such that Members may be 
confident that we will be able to meet our deadlines next year. We would intend this work to be 
within the framework of the agreed guidelines, but to introduce some procedural improvements so 
that we avoid delays in the future. These woul d obviously have to be supported by the wider 
Membership , but the R egional Group C oordinators could do the groundwork. Our overarching aim 
should be to have the system work ing in such a way  that the chairs of the Tier 1 and Tier  2 bodies 
can be appointed b y the first General Council meeting of the year.  
5.12.  The representative of the United States  indicated  the following:  
5.13.  The United States wishes to briefly support the statement made by the delegation of the 
European Union, and we also look forward to continued engagement to improve this process.  G/C/M/145/Add.1  
 
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  5.14.  The representative of the Dominican Republic  indicated  the following:  
5.15.  The Dominican Republic is delighted that a consensus has been reached on the chairs, and 
we are especially pleased that our region is presid ing over various important committees, such as 
the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, the Committee on Trade Facilitation, and 
the Committee on Market Access . We congratulate all the chairs.  
5.16.  The Chairperson  indicated the following:  
5.17.  I completely share the view of the statement presented by the European Union, and supported 
by the United States. Of course, we have observed the long period of time taken in the process of 
appointing the chairs of the CTG's subsidiary  bodies, which seems to be much longer than expected . 
Therefore , we have noted that it is important that the preparatory process must start early  next 
time. I also welcome the suggestion to meet with the Regional Group C oordinators with a view to 
starting the process earlier , such that Members can scrutinize the names and the Council can confirm 
the names much earlier than on this occasion . I think that an earlier start will help the system. And 
it will help the committees to carry out their functions effectively. With this, I propose that the 
Council take note of the statements made.  
5.18.  The Council so agreed . 
5.19.  The meeting was closed . 
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