RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/STR/Q1/NOR/4
20 May 1999
(99-2050)
Working Party on
State Trading EnterprisesOriginal:  English
STATE TRADING
Questions posed by the UNITED STATES
concerning the New and Full Article XVII Notification of NORWAY1
The following communication, dated 14 May 1999, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of the United States.
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Norway indicates in its notification that it had terminated the exclusive (monopoly) trade and
procurement authorities of the Norwegian Grain Corporation in 1994 and separated that organization's
functions into two organizations:  The Norwegian Grain Corporation (Statens Kornforretning) will
continue to buy domestically-produced grain, administer domestic support schemes for grain,
maintain emergency stocks of grains, and administer the import regime for grains.  Statkorn HoldingLtd. and its subsidiaries, "100 per cent owned by the Norwegian State through the Royal Ministry of
Agriculture", will carry out the "business activities" of the former Norwegian Grain Corporation, but
private firms will be able to import in competition with Statkorn Holding AS.
Despite the elimination of Statkorn's exclusive privileges, does it not continue to benefit from
special privileges as defined in Article XVII becau se it is a wholly-owned government corporation
that trades in global markets?  Could Norway please elaborate on the conditions under which privatefirms are allowed to import?
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1 G/STR/N/1/NOR and G/STR/W/27