RESTRICTED
PREPARATORY COMMITTEE PC/IPL/8
FOR THE 30November 1994
WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
(94-2539)
SUB-COMMITTEE ONINSTITUTIONAL ,
PROCEDURAL AND LEGAL MATTERS
RECOMMENDED FORMAT FOR NOTIFICATIONS
UNDER ARTICLE 5.1OFTHE TRIMs AGREEMENT
Report bytheChairman oftheInformal Contact Group onTRIPS
asapproved bytheSub-Committee on28November
1. Atthemeeting oftheSub-Committee onInstitutional, Procedural andLegal Matters on
14September, itwasagreed thattheContact Group onTRIPS should undertake anynecessary
preparatory work onnotification procedures fortheTRIMs Agreement (PC/IPL/M/4, paragraph 5).
TheContact Group onTRIPS discussed thismatter atitsmeeting of23September. Atthattime, the
Chairman noted thattheTRIMs Agreement requires alltrade-related investment measures which are
notinconformity withtheprovisions oftheAgreement tobenotified totheCouncil forTrade inGoods
within 90daysoftheentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement. TRIMs thusnotified would benefit
from thetransition arrangements provided intheAgreement. Hefurther noted thatanydecision to
giveeffect tothisnotification procedure should beprepared inadvance sothatitcould betaken by
theCouncil forTrade inGoods without delay aftertheentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement.
2. Attached isarecommended format forthenotification ofTRIMs together withtheirprincipal
features asrequired under theprovisions ofArticle 5.1oftheTRIMs Agreement. Article 5.1ofthe
Agreement onTRIMs requires that:
"Members, within 90daysofthedateofentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement, shall
notify theCouncil forTrade inGoods ofallTRIMs theyareapplying thatarenotin
conformity withtheprovisions ofthisAgreement. SuchTRIMs ofgeneral orspecific
application shallbenotified, along withtheirprincipal features."
Afootnote tothisprovision states that: "InthecaseofTRIMs applied under discretionary authority,
eachspecific application shallbenotified. Information thatwould prejudice thelegitimate commercial
interests ofparticular enterprises neednotbedisclosed."
3. Onepointthatemerged fromtheconsultations wasthat,while theburden onnotifying Members
should bekepttoaminimum, itwasimportant forthelegalsecurity ofboththenotifying Member
andother Members thateachnotification provide sufficient information todefine clearly themeasure
thatwould benefit fromlegalcover during thetransition period andwhich thenotifying Member was
undertaking toeliminate during thisperiod.
4. Itissuggested thatnotifying Members beinvited tousetheformat, ontheunderstanding that
responsibility forthenature andscope ofnotifications andtheextent towhich suchnotifications meet
therequirements ofArticle 5.1restswiththenotifying Member.PC/IPL/8
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5. There areothernotification requirements intheTRIMs Agreement, inArticle 5.5andArticle 6,
butitissuggested thatthesecould beaddressed bytheCommittee onTRIMs itselfoncetheAgreement
isinforce.
6. Afurther point, which itissuggested should beexamined atanearly stage bythecompetent
WTO body, isthequestion ofthearrangements fornotification ofTRIMs bycountries eligible tobecome
original Members oftheWTO butwhoaccept theAgreement during theperiod oftwoyears following
itsdateofentry intoforce thatisenvisaged inArticle XIV:1 oftheWTO Agreement. Forsuch
countries, theperiod of90daysformaking Article 5.1notifications under theTRIMs Agreement,
which isdated fromtheentryintoforceoftheWTO Agreement itself, mayhaveexpired. Thetransition
period fortheelimination oftheTRIMs inquestion would, ofcourse, begoverned bytheprovisions
ofArticle XIV:2 oftheWTO Agreement andthuscontinue tobedated byreference tothetimeof
entry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement. Thesame would apply tothe180dayperiod ofArticle 5.4
oftheTRIMs Agreement. Thesituation ofStates whoaccede totheWTO would depend onthe
provisions oftheirProtocols ofAccession.PC/IPL/8
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FORMAT FOR NOTIFICATIONS UNDER ARTICLE 5.1OFTHE AGREEMENT ONTRIMs
Thisformat iswithout prejudice totherights andobligations ofMembers under theTRIMs
Agreement.
(i) Description oftheMeasure andofitsMain Features
Thenotification should clearly identify themeasure thatisbeing notified under Article 5.1
oftheAgreement onTRIMs. Anymoregeneral information about theprogramme ofwhich themeasure
forms apartandwhich thenotifying Member wishes tocommunicate should beprovided under point
(ii)below. Where suchaprogramme involves morethanoneTRIM, theyshould benotified separately.
Themeasure anditsmainfeatures should bedescribed insufficient detail toenable thenature
andscope ofthemeasure tobeclearly defined. Inparticular, along withthemeasure itself, thefollowing
principal features should bedescribed whenever relevant:
1. Thecategory intheillustrative listunder which themeasure falls.
2. Whether theTRIM isapplied bythegovernment oftheMember under discretionary authority
ormandatory legislation. Intheformer case, eachspecific application shallbenotified and
enterprises subject tothemeasure identified.1
3. Where theTRIM isgeneral innature, thecriteria fordetermining towhich enterprises itapplies
insufficient detail toenable those enterprises tobeidentified.
4. Where theTRIM isapplied pursuant tomandatory legislation, whether thelegislation requires
themeasure tobeapplied tonewenterprises ornewinvestments ofexisting enterprises.
5. Whether compliance withthemeasure bytheenterprise is(a)mandatory orenforceable under
domestic laworadministrative rulings or(b)necessary toobtain anadvantage. Inthelatter
case, thenature oftheadvantage should bedescribed.1
6. When theTRIM relates tospecific products, sufficient detail onthese products todefine the
scope ofthemeasure.
7. ThedateofimplementationoftheTRIMandthenatureofanymodificationoftheTRIMeffected
within 180daysprior totheentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement.
8. Whether theTRIM, asapplied under domestic law,includes provision foritsphasing-down
and/or elimination. Ifso,details should begiven.
9. Thedomestic law,regulation oradministrative guideline under which theTRIM isapplied;
acopy should besubmitted totheSecretariat tobeavailable forinspection byinterested
Members.
10. Thelevelofgovernment applying theTRIM, thename oftheimplementing agency andany
information ontheprocedures governing itsapplication necessary toenable itsnature andscope
tobeunderstood.
1Information thatwould prejudice thelegitimate commercial interests ofparticular enterprises need notbenotified.PC/IPL/8
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(ii) General Information ontheProgramme inQuestion
Where appropriate, Members should provide more general information about theprogramme
ofwhich thenotified TRIM forms apart.