WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/L/660
17 November 2003
(03-6152)
REPORT (2003) OF THE WORKING PARTY ON
STATE TRADING ENTERPRISES
I. ORGANIZATION OF THE WORK OF THE WORKING PARTY
1. The Working Party on State Trading Enterprises was established by the Council for Trade in
Goods at its meeting of 20 February 1995, pursuant to paragraph 5 of the Understanding on theInterpretation of Article XVII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (hereinafter "the
Understanding").  Membership of the Working Part y 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.  During the period under review (19 November 2002–11 November 2003), first
Mr. Aliyu Abubakar (Nigeria), and then Ms. Judith Vanková (Slovak Republic), served as Chair ofthe Working Party.
2. The mandate of the Working Party, as set out in paragraph 5 of the Understanding, is: (i) to
review notifications and counter-notifications on stat e trading;  (ii) to review, in the light of the
notifications received, the adequacy of the questionnaire on state trading (BISD 9S/184) and the
coverage of state trading enterprises notified under paragraph 1 of the Understanding;  and (iii) todevelop an illustrative list showing the kinds of  relationships between governments and enterprises,
and the kinds of activities engaged in by these enterprises, which may be relevant for the purposes of
Article XVII of GATT 1994.  Regarding the review of notifications, the Working Party having
completed the mandated revision of the questionnair e on state trading, now reviews notifications in
light of the revised questionnaire adopted on 2 April 1998 (G/STR/3).  Regarding the Illustrative List
of State Trading Relationships and Activities, the Working Party completed its mandate with the
adoption of the illustrative list by the Council for trade in Goods on 15 October 1999 (G/STR/4).
3. This Report is submitted under paragraph 5 of the Understanding.   It sets out the activities of
the Working Party during the period under review.
4. Participants in the Working Party's meetings to date are: Argentina; Australia; Bangladesh;
Brazil; Brunei Darussalam; Burundi; Canada; Chile; China; Colombia; Costa Rica; Cuba; Cyprus;
Czech Republic; Egypt; El Salvador; European Communities; Guatemala; Hong Kong, China;Honduras; Hungary; Iceland; India; Indonesia; Israel; Japan; Korea; Latvia; Lithuania; Malaysia;
Malta; Mauritius; Mexico; Morocco; New Zealand; Norway; Pakistan; Paraguay; Peru; Philippines;
Poland; Romania; the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu; Singapore;
Slovak Republic; South Africa; Switzerland; Thailand; Trinidad and Tobago; Turkey; United States;
Uruguay; Venezuela; and Zambia. Ethiopia; Jordan; Russian Federation; Saudi Arabia; Sudan; andVietnam participated as observers.
5. The Working Party held one formal meeting during the period under review, on
11 November 2003.  The Minutes of this meeting will be circulated in document G/STR/M/13.  The
Working Party also held an informal meeting on 18 February 2003, to discuss the issue of compliance
with the notification obligation.  Additionally, on 16 October 2003 the Working Party held informalconsultations on the Chairperson's draft recommendation on the frequency of notifications.G/L/660
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II. NOTIFICATION AND REVIEW OF MEMBERS' STATE TRADING ACTIVITIES
6. Under Article XVII of GATT 1994 and paragraph 1 of the Understanding, all Members of the
WTO are required to submit annual notifications of their state trading activities.  New and full
notifications were first required in 1995 and, subsequently, every third year thereafter, while updating
notifications are to be made in the intervening years, indicating any changes since the last new andfull notification.  At the formal meeting held during the period under review, the Chairperson made a
statement concerning the need for timely compliance with notification requirements.
7. Updating notifications for 2003 have been received from 12 Members. New and full
notifications for 2001 have been received from 48 Members.
1  (See Annex to this Report.)
8. At its meeting of 11 November 2003, the Working Party reviewed 29 notifications: 2003
updating notifications of China; Cyprus; Guinea; Hong Kong, China; Hungary; Jordan; Liechtenstein;
Macao, China; Pakistan; Poland; Slovenia; and Switzerland; 2002 updating notifications of China;Costa Rica; Cyprus; Guinea; Latvia; Moldova; Poland; Slovak Republic; Slovenia; Tunisia and
Turkey; 2001 new and full notifications of China; Cyprus; Guinea; Slovak Republic; Tunisia and
Turkey.  At that meeting, the Working Party also adopted its Annual Report to the Council for Trade
in Goods for the year 2003.
9. At the 11 November 2003 regular meeting of the Working Party, Australia posed questions on
the notification by Cyprus.  The United States posed questions to Egypt regarding the Alexandria
Cotton Exporters Associations (ALCOTEXA).  The United States also raised an issue concerning the
pending Canadian replies to US questions on the Canadian Wheat Board.  Additionally, the European
Communities posed question's to New Zealand regarding an enterprise called Fronterra.
III. COMPLIANCE WITH THE NOTIFICATION OBLIGATION
10. At the 19 November 2002 regular meeting of the Working Party, the Chairman expressed
deep concern with the unsatisfactory state of compliance with the notification obligation, and
proposed that the Working Party embark on a process of identifying solutions to the problem of
compliance with notifications.  As a first step in this process the Working Party decided to convene an
informal meeting to be held on February 2003 where this issue would be discussed.  In preparation forthat meeting a Note by the Chairman on the Notification of State Trading Enterprises (G/STR/W/39)
was circulated to Members to serve as the basis for the discussions at the informal meeting.  At the
informal meeting, the Working Party agreed to th e Chairman's proposal to draft a recommendation to
the Council for Trade in Goods for a change in th e periodicity of notifications from new and full
notifications every three years with updating notific ations in the intervening years, to new and full
notifications every two years with an elimination of the updating notifications.  This draft
recommendation was circulated as document G/ST R/W/40.  On 16 October 2003 the Working Party
held informal consultations to hear Members' views on the draft recommendation put forward by the
Chair with a view of a possible adoption of the recommendation at the 11 November 2003 regular
meeting of the Working Party.  After hearing the Members' views expressed at the informal
consultations it was decided to continue the discussions during the regular meeting of the Working
Party.  At its meeting of 11 November 2003 the Working Party adopted ad referendum  the
Recommendation on the Frequency of Notifications pending agreement by one Member.  Following
the joining in the consensus by the pending Member, the Recommendation was circulated as
document G/STR/5 and submitted for approval by the Council for Trade in Goods.
                                                     
1 The European Communities and its Member States are counted as one Member.G/L/660
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ANNEX
NOTIFICATIONS SUBMITTED BY WTO MEMBERS UNDER
ARTICLE XVII:4(A) OF GATT 1994 AND PARAGRAPH 1 OF THE
UNDERSTANDING ON THE INTERPRETATION OF ARTICLE XVII OF GATT 1994
Status as of 11 November 20032
Member Updating Notification
(2000)
G/STR/N/6New and Full
Notification
(2001)
G/STR/N/7Updating Notification
(2002)
G/STR/N/8Updating Notification
(2003)
G/STR/N/9
Albania
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina X X
Armenia n.a. n.a. n.a.
Australia
Bahrain X
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belize
Benin
Bolivia X X
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria X X
Burkina Faso
Burundi X
Cameroon
Canada
Central African Republic
Chad X X
Chile X X
China n.a. X X X
Colombia
                                                     
2An "X" indicates that a notification has been made.  An "n.a." indicates that the notification obligation
did not apply to the country in question as it was not a WTO Member at the time.G/L/660
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Member Updating Notification
(2000)
G/STR/N/6New and Full
Notification
(2001)
G/STR/N/7Updating Notification
(2002)
G/STR/N/8Updating Notification
(2003)
G/STR/N/9
Congo
Costa Rica X X X
Côte d'Ivoire
Croatia n.a.
Cuba
Cyprus X X X
Czech Republic X X X
Democratic Republic of
the Congo
Djibouti
Dominica X
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador X
Estonia X X
European Communities X X
Fiji
Former Yugoslav Republicof Macedonian.a. n.a. n.a.
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia X X
Ghana X
Grenada
Guatemala X X X
Guinea Bissau
Guinea, Republic of X X X
Guyana
Haiti X
Honduras X
Hong Kong, China X X X X
Hungary X X X X
Iceland
India X
Indonesia X X
IsraelG/L/660
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Member Updating Notification
(2000)
G/STR/N/6New and Full
Notification
(2001)
G/STR/N/7Updating Notification
(2002)
G/STR/N/8Updating Notification
(2003)
G/STR/N/9
Jamaica X
Japan X
J o r d a n XXXX
Kenya
Korea, Republic of
Kuwait
Kyrgyz Republic
Latvia X X X
Lesotho
Liechtenstein X X X X
Lithuania n.a. X
Macao, China X X X X
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
M a l t a XXX
Mauritania
Mauritius X
Mexico X
Moldova n.a. X X
Mongolia X X
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia X
New Zealand X X
Nicaragua
Niger
N i g e r i a XXX
Norway X X
Oman X
P a k i s t a n XXXX
P a n a m a XXX
Papua New GuineaG/L/660
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Member Updating Notification
(2000)
G/STR/N/6New and Full
Notification
(2001)
G/STR/N/7Updating Notification
(2002)
G/STR/N/8Updating Notification
(2003)
G/STR/N/9
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines X X
P o l a n d XXXX
Qatar
R o m a n i a XXX
Rwanda
Saint Kitts & Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent &
GrenadinesX
Senegal
Separate Customs
Territory of Taiwan,Penghu, Kinmen and
Matsun.a. n.a. X
Sierra Leone
Singapore X
Slovak Republic X X X
S l o v e n i a XXXX
Solomon Islands
S o u t h  A f r i c a XXXX
Sri Lanka
Suriname
Swaziland
Switzerland X X X
Tanzania
Thailand X
Togo
Trinidad & Tobago
Tunisia X X X
T u r k e y XXX
Uganda X
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uruguay
Venezuela X X
Zambia X XG/L/660
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Member Updating Notification
(2000)
G/STR/N/6New and Full
Notification
(2001)
G/STR/N/7Updating Notification
(2002)
G/STR/N/8Updating Notification
(2003)
G/STR/N/9
Zimbabwe
Number of Notifying
Members/Total Numberof Members
340/124 48/127 30/129 12/131
__________
                                                     
3 The numerator and denominator used here reflect the fact that, for each notification obligation, the European Communities
submits a single notification that covers all 15 Member States.  The total membership of the WTO (146 as of the adoption of thi s report on
11 November 2003) includes the European Communities plus the 15 Member States.