RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TRIMS/W/18
26 August 1999
(99-3547)
Committee on Trade-Related Investment Measures
REPORT (1999) OF THE COMMITTEE ON
TRADE-RELATED INVESTMENT MEASURES
Draft
Please find attached a draft of the annual report of the Committee on Trade-Related
Investment Measures to the Council for Trade in Goods.  This draft is submitted for consideration by
the Committee at its meeting on 13 September 1999, where it may, in the light of discussions at that
meeting, be decided that the draft needs to be updated.G/TRIMS/W/18
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I. GENERAL
1. This report is submitted pursuant to Article 7.3 of the Agreement on Trade-Related
Investment Measures, which requires the Committee on Trade-Related Investment Measures to report
annually to the Council for Trade in Goods.  The Report covers the period October 1998-September 1999.
1
2. The Committee met on 8 March and 13 September 1999 under the chairmanship of
Mr. Dimitrij Gr čar (Slovenia) and Mr. Leo Palma (Philippines), respectively.  The minutes of these
meetings have been circulated in documents G/TRIMS/M/10 and 11.  The meetings of the Committee
were open to Members, governments with observer status in the WTO and international
intergovernmental organizations to which the Committee has accorded regular observer status (IMF,
OECD, UN, UNCTAD and World Bank).  Decisions on requests for observer status from several
other international organizations are pending.
II. IMPLEMENTATION
3. Article 5.1 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures requires Members to
notify any trade-related investment measure ("TRIM") inconsistent with the Agreement within
90 days after the entry into force of the WTO Agr eement.  Article 5.2 of the Agreement gives the
benefit of transition periods for the elimination of measures notified under Article 5.1 and which were
in existence at least 180 days preceding the entry into force of the WTO Agreement.  Pursuant to a
decision adopted by the General Council in April 1995, governments eligible to become original
WTO Members that accepted the WTO Agreement after 1 January 1995 had a period of 90 days after
the date of their acceptance of the WTO Agreement to  make the notifications foreseen in Article 5.1,
provided that the period for the elimination of TRIMs notified under Article 5.1 continues to be
governed by reference to the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement itself.2
4. Annex 1 contains a list of all notifications of measures under Article 5.1.3  In the case of some
Members, notifications have been submitted later than the 90-day period foreseen.
5. While there is no obligation to do so, some Members have notified the Committee that they
do not apply any TRIM inconsistent with the Agreement.  During the period under review, such
notifications were made by Bolivia and New Zealand.  Annex 2 lists all Members which have made
such notifications.
6. Clarification or additional information of a factual nature has been sought with respect to
some of the Article 5.1 notifications.  Written questions have been submitted in documents
G/TRIMS/W/10 and 13, and replies by some Members have been circulated in documents
G/TRIMS/W/16 and G/TRIMS/W/17.  Information has been sought by some Members on steps taken
by developing-country Members having made Article 5.1 notifications to comply with their obligation
to eliminate notified measures by the end of the five-year transition period specified in Article 5.2.
Other Members have indicated that in their view the Agreement does not require Members to provide
such information.   As of September 1999, one Member had provided such information.
                                                     
1 The previous annual report is contained in document G/L/259 of 23 September 1998.
2 WT/L/64.
3 Notifications under Article 5.1 circulated in 1995 have been derestricted since 28 May 1996.
Following the decision taken by the General Council on 18 July 1996 on derestriction and circulation of WTOdocuments, documents containing notifications under Articles 5.1, 5.5 and 6.2 are issued unrestricted.  Membersmay, however, at the time of the submission of a document, indicate to the Secretariat that the document beissued as restricted if they so wish.G/TRIMS/W/18
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7. The Committee continued to discuss measures introduced by one Member at the end of 1997
which, in the view of some Members, were in conflict with the requirements of Articles 2, 5.2 and 5.4
of the Agreement, but which, in the view of the Member applying them, were justified under Article 4
of the Agreement.4
8. Article 5.5 deals with the conditions under which, during the transition periods stipulated in
Article 5.2, Members may apply TRIMs notified under  Article 5.1 to new investments.  While a
standard format for the submission of notifications under this provision has been adopted by the
Committee (G/TRIMS/3), so far no such notifications have been made.
9. A number of Members have submitted notifications as required under Article 6.2, which
provides for notification to the Secretariat of publications in which information on TRIMs can be
found.  A list of these notifications has been circ ulated in G/TRIMS/N/2/Rev.6.  Annex 3 lists the
Members which have submitted such notifications.
10. At an informal meeting held in March 1999, the Committee had a preliminary exchange of
views on the question of when and how the revi ew of the Agreement under Article 9 should be
initiated.  The Chairman of the Council for Trade in Goods was briefed on this informal discussion.
11. During the period covered by this report, the Committee was informed of the initiation of
three proceedings under the Dispute Settlement Understanding which referred inter alia  to the TRIMs
Agreement, as reflected in G/TRIMS/D/13-15.
                                                     
4 Written questions on these measures submitted by one Member have been circulated in
documents G/TRIMS/W/11, 12 and 13 (in part).  Responses to these questions have been circulated indocuments G/TRIMS/W/15 and 16.G/TRIMS/W/18
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ANNEX 1
Members which have Submitted Notifications under Article 5.1
of the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures
Member Document Symbol Date of Communication
Argentina G/TRIMS/N/1/ARG/1 30 March 1995
Argentina G/TRIMS/N/1/ARG/1/Add.1 21 March 1997Barbados G/TRIMS/N/1/ BRB/1 31 March 1995
Bolivia
5G/TRIMS/N/1/BO L/1 24 June 1998
Chile G/TRIMS/N/1/CHL/1 14 December 1995
Colombia G/TRIMS/N/1/COL/1 31 March 1995
Colombia G/TRIMS/N/1/COL/1/Add.1 4 June 1995Colombia G/TRIMS/N/1/COL/2 31 July 1995Colombia G/TRIMS/N/1/COL/2/Corr.1 30 September 1996Costa Rica G/TRIMS/N/1/CRI/1 30 March 1995
Cuba
6G/TRIMS/N/1/CUB/1 18 July 1995
Cyprus G/TRIM S/N/1/CYP/2730 October 1995
Dominican Republic G/TRIMS/N/1/DOM/1 26 April 1995Ecuador G/TRIMS/N/1/ECU/1 20 March 1996Egypt G/TRIMS/N/1/EGY/1 29 September 1995Indonesia G/TRIMS/N/1/IDN/1 23 May 1995
Indonesia G/TRIMS/N/1/IDN/1/Add.1 28 October 1996
India G/TRIMS/N/1/IND/1 31 March 1995India G/TRIMS/N/1/IND/1/Add.1 22 December 1995India G/TRIMS/N/1/IND/1/Add.1/Corr.1 18 March 1996
                                                     
5 Bolivia has subsequently submitted a notification indicating that it does not apply any trade-related
investment measures that are not in conformity with the Agreement (G/TRIMS/N/1/BOL/1/Add.1).
6 The representative of Cuba has informed the Committee that, as a result of a new foreign investment
law enacted in 1995, the local content measures notified by Cuba under Article 5.1 are no longer in force(G/TRIMS/M/3, paragraph 5).
7 This notification superseded Cyprus' previous one (G/TRIMS/N/1/CYP/1) of 29 June 1995.G/TRIMS/W/18
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Member Document Symbol Date of Communication
India G/TRIMS/N/1/IND/1/Add.2 11 April 1996
Mexico G/TRIMS/N/1/MEX/1 31 March 1995Mexico G/TRIMS/N/1/MEX/1/Rev.1
831 March 1995
Malaysia G/TRIMS/N/1/MYS/1 31 March 1995Malaysia G/TRIMS/N/1/MYS/1/Rev.1 14 March 1996
Nigeria G/TRIMS/N/1/NGA/1 17 July 1996
Pakistan G/TRIMS/N/1/ PAK/1 30 March 1995
Peru G/TRIMS/N/1/PER/1 3 March 1995Philippines G/TRIMS/N/1/PHL/1 31 March 1995Poland G/TRIMS/N/1/PO L/1 28 September 1995
Poland G/TRIMS/N/1/POL/1/Add.1 4 December 1996
Romania G/TRIMS/N/1/ROM/1 31 March 1995Thailand G/TRIMS/N/1/THA/1 30  March 1995Uganda G/TRIMS/N/1/UGA/1 17 June 1997Uruguay G/TRIMS/N/1/URY/1 31 March 1995Uruguay G/TRIMS/N/1/URY /1/Add.1 30 August 1995
Venezuela G/TRIMS/N/1/VEN/1 31 March 1995
South Africa G/TRIMS/N/ 1/ZAF/1 19 April 1995
                                                     
8 English only.G/TRIMS/W/18
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ANNEX 2
Notifications Indicating that No TRIMs Inconsistent with the Agreement
on Trade-Related Investment Measures are Maintained
Member Document Symbol Date of Communication
Bolivia G/TRIMS/N/1/BOL/1/Add.1 4 March 1999
Haiti G/TRIMS/N/1/HTI/1 27 February 1998
Honduras G/TRIMS/N/1/HND/1 7 July 1995
Israel G/TRIMS/N/1/ISR/1 24 October 1996Jamaica G/TRIMS/N/1/JAM/1 9 June 1998Mali G/TRIMS/N/1/MLI/1 27 May 1997Mauritius G/TRIMS/N/1/MUS/1 27 March 1995
New Zealand G/TRIMS/N/1/NZL/1 20 May 1999
Nicaragua G/TRIMS/N/ 1/NIC/1 18 July 1996
Saint Lucia G/TRIMS/N/1/LCA/1 14 February 1996Singapore G/TRIMS/N/1/SGP/1 9 October 1996Slovenia G/TRIMS/N/1/SVN/1 27 March 1995Switzerland G/TRIMS/N/ 1/CHE/1 8 August 1995
Trinidad & Tobago G/TRIMS/N/1/TTO/1 1 April 1996
Zambia G/TRIMS/N/1/ZMB/1 13 April 1995G/TRIMS/W/18
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ANNEX 3
Members which have Submitted Notifications under Article 6.2 of
the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures
Argentina
Australia
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Chad
ChileCosta Rica
Cuba
Czech Republic
Ecuador
European Community (including the member States)Fiji
Ghana
Hong Kong, China
Iceland
IndiaIndonesia
Israel
Jamaica
Japan
LatviaLiechtenstein
Mauritius
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Norway
Panama
ParaguayPeru
Philippines
Poland
Qatar
RomaniaSingapore
Slovenia
Suriname
Switzerland
ThailandTrinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Uganda
United States
UruguayVenezuela
Zimbabwe
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