RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/L/31
10November 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-3491)
Committee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures
REPORT (1995) OFTHE COMMITTEE ON
SUBSIDIES AND COUNTERVAILING MEASURES
I. Organization ofthework oftheCommittee
1. TheAgreementonSubsidiesandCountervailingMeasures(hereinafter"theAgreement")entered
intoforce on1January 1995. AllMembers oftheWTO areipsofacto members oftheCommittee
onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures established under theAgreement.
2. Observer governments intheGeneral Council oftheWTO have Observer status inthe
Committee. Inaddition, theCommittee invited, onanadhocbasis, representatives oftheWorld Bank,
OECD, IMFandUNCTAD toattend meetings oftheCommittee inanobserver capacity.
3. Duringtheperiodunderreview(January1995-October1995)theCommitteeheldfivemeetings.
Regular meetings oftheCommittee were heldon13June1995 and31October 1995 (G/SCM/M/2
and4respectively). Aspecial meeting oftheCommittee washeldon17July1995 (G/SCM/M/1).
Twoadditional special meetings were heldjointly withtheCommittee onAnti-Dumping Practices
Measures on17-21July1995 and23-26October 1995 (G/SCM/M/3 and5respectively).
4. TheCommittee atitsspecial meeting of22February elected Mr.OleLundby (Norway) as
itsChairman. TheCommittee atitsregular meeting of13Juneelected Mr.Victor doPrado (Brazil)
asitsVice-Chairman.
5. TheCommittee atitsspecial meeting of22February 1995decided thatitstworegular meetings
usually would beheldinthelastweek ofApril andofOctober.
II. Subsidiary bodies
6. TheCommittee isrequired byArticle 24.3oftheAgreement toestablish aPermanent Group
ofExperts ("PGE"). Atitsregular meeting of13June1995, theCommittee tookadecision regarding
matters related tothetermofoffice, selection, independence andqualifications, conditions ofservice,
administrative andtechnical support andrules ofprocedure forthePGE (G/SCM/4). Asof
31October 1995, theCommittee hadnotyetcompleted theselection process regarding themembership
ofthePGE.
7. TheCommittee atitsspecial meeting of22February 1995established aWorking Party whose
terms ofreference are"[t]oreview thecontents andform ofthequestionnaire ascontained inBISD
9S/193-194 andtoundertake suchother tasksastheCommittee maydecide." TheCommittee decided
thattheWorking Party should alsotakeupthematter oftheformat forannual updates ofnotifications
under Article 8.3oftheAgreement. TheWorking Party hascompleted itswork withrespect tothe
former task. Seepara. 25.G/L/31
Page2
8. AnInformal Contact Group onAnti-Dumping, Subsidies andSafeguards, established bythe
Sub-Committee onInstitutional, Procedural andLegal Matters ofthePreparatory Committee forthe
World Trade Organization, made recommendations onanumber ofnotification issues (PC/IPL/11).
These recommendations were approved bythePreparatory Committee andsenttotheWTO for
information andimplementation (PC/R), andwerethereafter referred bytheGeneral Council tothis
Committee, which adopted therecommendations atitsmeeting of22February 1995.
9. TheCommittee atitsmeeting of13June1995decided tocreate anInformal Group ofExperts
withthefollowing terms ofreference:
"Toexamine matters which arenotspecified inAnnex IVtotheAgreement orwhich
needfurther clarification forthepurposes ofparagraph 1(a)ofArticle 6,andtoreport
totheCommittee such recommendations astheGroup considers could assist the
Committee inthedevelopment ofanunderstanding among Members, asnecessary,
regarding suchmatters."
TheInformal Group iscomposed ofexperts whoserve intheirpersonal capacities rather thanas
representatives ofgovernments. TheGroup isexpected tobegin itswork on1November 1995.
III. Notification andexamination ofcountervailing dutylawsand/or regulations
10. TheCommittee decided initsspecial meeting of22February 1995 thatallMembers which
hadneworexisting legislation and/or regulations which apply inwhole orinparttocountervailing
dutyinvestigations orreviews covered bytheAgreement would notify thefullandintegrated textof
thatlegislation and/or regulations totheCommittee by15March 1995. Ifsuchlegislation and/or
regulations didnotexistorwasnotyetavailable, theMember would inform theCommittee ofthis
fact,would explain thereasons therefore, andwould provide anindicative datebywhich timea
notification wasexpected. These notifications would betreated asunrestricted documents.
11. TheCommittee alsodecided atitsspecial meeting of22February 1995 thatObserver
governments should provide theCommittee withanyinformation theObserver government considers
relevant tomatters within thepurview oftheAgreement, including thetextofitslawsandregulations
regarding countervailing duties, andinformation regarding anycountervailing measures taken bythe
Observer government.
12. Asof31October1995,70MembershadnotifiedtheCommitteeoftheirdomesticcountervailing
dutylegislation ormade communications inthisrespect totheCommittee (G/SCM/N/1 andaddenda).
40Members hadnot,asyet,made notifications under Article 32.6oftheAgreement. Atableindicating
thestatus ofthese notifications isreproduced inAnnex AtothisReport.
13. During theperiod under review, theCommittee reviewed thenotifications ofcountervailing
dutylegislation ofthefollowing Members inspecial meetings heldjointly withtheCommittee onAnti-
DumpingPractices:Mexico,Chile,UnitedStates,Venezuela,Australia,Korea,EuropeanCommunities,
Brazil,Canada,Argentina,India,NewZealand,andColombia.Writtenquestionsandanswersregarding
these reviews maybefound indocuments oftheG/SCM/W... series. TheCommittee alsoreviewed
thenotifications without legislative textofthefollowing Members: Czech Republic, Egypt, Hungary,
Mauritius, Peru, Slovak Republic, Singapore, Switzerland andUruguay.G/L/31
Page3
IV. Semi-annual reports oncountervailing actions
14. Article 25.11 oftheAgreement provides thatMembers shallsubmit, onasemi-annual basis,
reports oncountervailing dutyactions taken within thepreceding sixmonths. Pursuant tothe
recommendation oftheInformal Contact Group (PC/IPL/11, Annex 7),which wasadopted bythe
Committee atits22February 1995meeting (G/SCM/M/1, paras. 19-20), thefirstsemi-annual report
submitted byeachWTO Member would cover theperiod July-December orJanuary-June, whichever
wasmore recent, preceding thedateofentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement forthatMember.
15. TheCommittee atitsregular meeting of13June1995 approved guidelines forinformation
tobeprovided insemi-annual reports pursuant toArticle 25.11 (G/SCM/2).
16. Semi-annual reports ofcountervailing dutyactions during theperiod 1July-31 December 1994
were received from thefollowing Members: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, EC,
NewZealand, Peru, theUnited States andVenezuela (G/SCM/N/4 andaddenda).
17. Thefollowing Members andcountries eligible tobecome original Members notified the
Committee thatthey hadnottaken anycountervailing duty action during theperiod 1July-
31December 1994: Austria, Brunei Darussalam1,Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic,
DominicanRepublic,Egypt,ElSalvador,Finland,Ghana1,Guatemala,Honduras,HongKong,Hungary,
Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Morocco,
Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Slovak Republic,
Slovenia, South Africa, SriLanka1,Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad &Tobago,
Turkey, Uruguay, andZimbabwe.
18. Noreports were received from thefollowing Members: Antigua andBarbuda, Bahrain,
Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire,
Djibouti,Dominica,Gabon,GuineaBissau,Guinea,Guyana,Kenya,Kuwait,Lesotho,Macau,Malawi,
Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Myanmar, Namibia, Nigeria, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent &
Grenadines, Senegal, Suriname, Swaziland, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda andZambia.
19. Semi-annual reports ofcountervailing dutyactions during theperiod 1January -30June1995
were received from thefollowing Members: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, theEC,
Mexico, NewZealand, PeruandtheUnited States (G/SCM/N/7 andaddenda).
20. Thefollowing Members notified theCommittee thattheyhadnottaken anycountervailing
dutyactionduringtheperiod1January-30June1995:Colombia,CostaRica,Cuba,theCzechRepublic,
theDominican Republic, Egypt, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Japan, Korea,
Malaysia, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa,
Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad &Tobago, Turkey, Uruguay, Venezuela andZambia.
21. NoreportswerereceivedfromthefollowingMembers:Antigua&Barbuda,Bahrain,Bangladesh,
Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African
Republic, Côted'Ivoire, Cyprus, Djibouti, Dominica, ElSalvador, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea
Bissau, Guinea, Rep.of.,Guyana, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Kenya, Kuwait, Lesotho, Liechtenstein,
Macau, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar,
Namibia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Saint Lucia, SaintVincent &Grenadines, Senegal,
Sierra Leone, Srilanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, andZimbabwe.
1These Members have further indicated thatnocountervailing measures were inforce asof
31December 1994.G/L/31
Page4
22. ATablesummarisingnotificationsofcountervailingactionstakenbyMembersduringtheperiod
1July1994-30 June1995 isreproduced inAnnex Btothisreport.
V. Reports onallpreliminary orfinalcountervailing dutyactions
23. TheCommittee atitsregular meeting of13June1995 approved guidelines setting forth the
minimum information tobeprovided under Article 25.11 oftheAgreement inreports ofpreliminary
andfinalcountervailing actions (G/SCM/3).
24. Reports ofpreliminary andfinalcountervailing actions werereceived fromAustralia, Canada,
Mexico andtheUnited States (G/SCM/N/5, 8,10and11).
VI. Notification ofsubsidies
25. TheCommittee atitsmeeting of22February established aWorking Party withasitsterms
ofreference "[t]oreview thecontents andformofthequestionnaire ascontained inBISD 9S/193-194
andtoundertake suchother tasks astheCommittee maydecide." TheWorking Party recommended
adraftquestionnaire format totheCommittee, which format wasadopted bytheCommittee atitsspecial
meeting of17July1995(G/SCM/6), andwasapproved bytheCouncil onTrade inGoods atitsmeeting
of26September 1995 (G/C/M/6, para. 2).
26. Article 25.1oftheAgreement requires thatMembers notify subsidies totheCommittee by
30June. Nevertheless, asof31October 1995, only34Members hadnotified theirsubsidies tothe
Committee asrequired bytheAgreement. Asaresult, thespecial session envisioned bytheAgreement
toreview thenotifications wasdeferred until1996. TheChairman atthemeeting oftheCommittee
on31October 1995expressed hisgrave concern regarding thissituation andadmonished allMembers
tofulfil theirnotification obligations under theAgreement. Atableindicating thestatus ofsubsidy
notifications isreproduced inAnnex CtothisReport.
VII. Notification ofexisting inconsistent subsidies
27. Article 28.1oftheAgreement provides thatsubsidy programmes established before thedate
aMembersignedtheWTOAgreementandwhichareinconsistentwiththeAgreementweretobenotified
notlaterthan90daysafterthedateofentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement. Asof31October
1995, Chile, Malaysia andSouth Africa hadnotified programmes pursuant tothisprovision. Canada,
Cuba andHonduras hadnotified theyhadnosuchprogrammes (G/SCM/N/2 andCorr.1 andaddenda).
TheCommittee alsohadreceived anotification fromSingapore pursuant toArticle 27(G/SCM(N/6).
VIII. Notification byMembers intransformation intoamarket economy
28. Article29.3providesthatMembersintransformationintoamarketeconomyshallnotifysubsidy
programmes falling within thescope ofArticle 3bytheearliest practicable dateafterthedateofentry
intoforce oftheWTO Agreement. TheCommittee decided atitsregular meeting of13Juneonan
indicative dateof30June1995forthese notifications. Asof31October 1995, Hungary hadnotified
programmes pursuant tothisprovision (H/SCM/N/9/HUN). TheCzech Republic hadnotified that
ithadnosuchsubsidy programmes (G/SCM/N/9/CZE). NootherMember hadsubmitted anotification.G/L/31
Page5
IX. Non-actionable subsidies
29. Article 8.3oftheAgreement provides thatasubsidy programme forwhich non-actionability
isinvoked pursuant toArticle 8.2shallbenotified totheCommittee inadvance ofitsimplementation.
Arecommendation bytheInformal Contact Group ofaformat forinitial notifications (PC/IPL/11,
Annex 1)wasapproved bytheCommittee atitsmeeting of22February. Asof31October, nosuch
notifications hadbeenmade.
30. Article 8.5oftheAgreement provides forbinding arbitration incertain cases relating to
notifications ofnon-actionable subsidies. Apaper onprocedures forarbitration under Article 8.5
(G/SCM/W/5) wasconsidered bytheCommittee atitsmeeting of13June1995. However, nosuch
procedures haveyetbeenadopted.
X. Other matters discussed bytheCommittee
31. Atitsspecial meeting of22February 1995, theCommittee tooknoteoftheDecision on
TransitionalArrangements-AvoidanceofProceduralandInstitutionalDuplicationadoptedbytheGeneral
Council on31January 1995 (WT/L/29). Thatdecision provides forcoordination ofmeetings and
notification procedures between theCommittee andtheTokyo Round Committee onSubsidies and
Countervailing Measures. Thedecision envisions thatnotification ofameasure totheCommittee shall,
unless otherwise indicated, bedeemed tobeanotification totheTokyo Round Committee onSubsidies
andCountervailing Measures.G/L/31
Page6
ANNEX A
COUNTERVAILING DUTY LEGISLATION NOTIFICATIONS
MEMBER/OBSERVER NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
Antigua andBarbuda
Argentina X
Australia X
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados X
Belize
Bolivia X
Botswana
Brazil X
Brunei Darussalam
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Canada X
Central African Republic
Chile X
Colombia X
Costa Rica X
Côted'Ivoire
Cuba X
Cyprus X
Czech Republic X
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic X
European Community X
Ecuador (Observer) X
Egypt X
ElSalvador XG/L/31
Page7
MEMBER/OBSERVER NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
Gabon
Ghana
Guatemala X
Guinea Bissau
Guinea, Rep.of
Guyana
Honduras X
Hong Kong X
Hungary X
Iceland X
India X
Indonesia X
Israel X
Jamaica X
Japan X
Kenya
Korea X
Kuwait
Lesotho
Liechtenstein
Macau
Malawi
Malaysia X
Maldives X
Mali
Malta
Mauritania
Mauritius X
Mexico X
Morocco X
MozambiqueG/L/31
Page8
MEMBER/OBSERVER NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
Myanmar
Namibia
NewZealand X
Nicaragua X
Nigeria
Norway X
Pakistan
Paraguay X
Peru X
Philippines X
Poland X
Romania X
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent &Grenadines
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Singapore X
Slovak Republic X
Slovenia X
South Africa X
SriLanka X
Suriname X
Swaziland
Switzerland X
Tanzania
Thailand X
Togo
Trinidad andTobago X
Tunisia
Turkey X
UgandaG/L/31
Page9
MEMBER/OBSERVER NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
United States X
Uruguay X
Venezuela X
Zambia X
ZimbabweG/L/31
Page10ANNEX B*
Summary ofCountervailing Duty Actions
(1July1994-30 June1995)
Initiation Provisional
Measures
(negative preliminary determination not
included)Definitive
DutiesPrice
UndertakingsMeasures
inforce on
30June1995
(definitive
duties and
price
undertakings)
No. Countries1involved No. Countries involved No. Countries involved No. Countries involved
ARGENTINA
2 EEC(2) 0 0 0 NA2
AUSTRALIA
1 ZAF (1) 0 0 0 13
BRAZIL
0 5 CIV(1) IDN(1) LKA(2) 0 0 1
PHL(1)
*Includes actions covered bytheTokyo Round Agreement, theWTO Agreement andArticle VIofGATT 1947.
1"Countries" refer inallcases tocountries orcustoms territories. Alistoftheabbreviations usedinthistable canbefound following thetable.
2Argentina didnotsubmit aseparate listofmeasures inforce during thisperiod.G/L/31
Page11CANADA
2 EEC(1) USA(1) 0 1 IND(1) 0 6
CHILE
1 BRA(1) 0 1 CHN(1) 0 0
EEC
0 0 0 0 1
MEXICO
1 DNK(1) 1 DNK(1) 0 0 NA3
NEW ZEALAND
1 THA(1) 0 0 0 1
PERU
4 ARG(1) CHN(1) KOR(2) 2 ARG(1) CHN(1) 0 0 NA4
3Mexico didnotsubmit aseparate listofmeasures inforce during thisperiod.
4Perudidnotsubmit aseparate listofmeasures inforce during thisperiod.G/L/31
Page12UNITED STATES
5 AUT(1) ITA(3) TUR(1) 3 AUT(1) ITA(2) 6 AUT(1) IND(1) ISR(1) 0 103
ITA(2) VEN(1)
VENEZUELA
0 0 0 0 3G/L/31
Page13
LIST OFABBREVIATIONS USED INANNEX B
AFG AFGHANISTAN
ALB ALBANIA
DZA ALGERIA
ATG ANTIGUA AND
BARBUDA
ARG ARGENTINA
ARM ARMENIA
AUS AUSTRALIA
AUT AUSTRIA
AZE AZERBAIJAN
BHS BAHAMAS
BHR BAHRAIN
BGD BANGLADESH
BRB BARBADOS
BLR BELARUS
BEL BELGIUM
BLZ BELIZE
BEN BENIN
BMU BERMUDA
BOL BOLIVIA
BIH BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
BWA BOTSWANA
BRA BRAZIL
BRN BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
BGR BULGARIA
BFA BURKINA FASO
BUR BURUNDI
CMR CAMEROON
CAN CANADA
CAF CENTRAL AFRICAN
REPUBLIC
TCD CHAD
CHL CHILE
CHN CHINA
CHT CHINESE TAIPEI
COG CONGO, REPUBLIC
COL COLOMBIA
CRI COSTA RICA
CIV COTE D'IVOIRE
HRV CROATIA
CUB CUBA
CYP CYPRUS
CZE CZECH REPUBLIC
DNK DENMARK
DJI DJIBOUTI
DMA DOMINICA
DOM DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
EEC EUROPEANCOMMUNITY
ECU ECUADOR
EGY EGYPT
SLV ELSALVADOR
EST ESTONIA
FJI FIJI
FIN FINLAND
FRA FRANCE
MKD FORMER YUOGOSLAV
REPUBLIC OF
MACEDONIA
GAB GABON
GMB GAMBIA
GEO GEORGIA
DEU GERMANY
GHA GHANA
GRC GREECE
GRD GRENADAGTM GUATEMALA
GNB GUINEA-BISSAU
GIN GUINEA, REP. OF
GUY GUYANA
HTI HAITI
HND HONDURAS
HKG HONG KONG
HUN HUNGARY
ISL ICELAND
IND INDIA
IDN INDONESIA
IRN IRAN
IRQ IRAQ
IRL IRELAND
ISR ISRAEL
ITA ITALY
JAM JAMAICA
JPN JAPAN
JOR JORDAN
KAZ KAZAKHSTAN
KEN KENYA
KOR KOREA
KWT KUWAIT
KGZ KYRGYZSTAN
LVA LATVIA
LBN LEBANON
LSO LESOTHO
LIE LIECHTENSTEIN
LTU LITHUANIA
LUX LUXEMBOURG
MAC MACAU
MDG MADAGASCAR
MWI MALAWI
MYS MALAYSIA
MDV MALDIVES
MLI MALI
MLT MALTA
MRT MAURITANIA
MUS MAURITIUS
MEX MEXICO
MDA MOLDOVA, REP. OF
MNG MONGOLIA
MAR MOROCCO
MOZ MOZAMBIQUE
NAM NAMIBIA
NLD NETHLANDS
NZL NEW ZEALAND
NIC NICARAGUA
NER NIGER
NGA NIGERIA
NOR NORWAY
OMN OMAN
PAK PAKISTAN
PAN PANAMA
PNG PAPUA NEW GUINEA
PRY PARAGUAY
PER PERU
PHL PHILIPPINES
POL POLAND
PRT PORTUGAL
PRI PUERTO RICO
QUT QUATAR
ROM ROMANIA
RUS RUSSIAN FEDERATION
RWA RWANDAKNA SAINT KITTS &NEVIS
LCA SAINT LUCIA
SAU SAUDI ARABIA
SEN SENEGAL
SYC SEYCHELLES
SLE SIERRA LEONE
SGP SINGAPORE
SVK SLOVAK REPUBLIC
SVN SLOVENIA
ZAF SOUTH AFRICA
ESP SPAIN
LKA SRILANKA
VCT SAINT VINCENT &
GRENADINES
SDN SUDAN
SUR SURINAME
SWE SWEDEN
CHE SWITZERLAND
TJK TAJIKISTAN
TZA TANZANIA
THA THAILAND
TGO TOGO
TTO TRINIDAD &TOBAGO
TUN TUNISIA
TUR TURKEY
TKM TURKMENISTAN
UGA UGANDA
UKR UKRAINE
ARE UNITEDARABEMIRATES
GBR UNITED KINGDOM
USA UNITED STATES
URY URUGUAY
UZB UZBEKISTAN
VUT VANUATU
VEN VENEZUELA
VNM VIET NAM
ZAR ZAIRE
ZMB ZAMBIA
ZWE ZIMBABWEG/L/31
Page14
ANNEX C
SUBSIDY NOTIFICATIONS
(G/SCM/N/3/...)
Country Country Country Country
Antigua &Barbuda EC X Korea South Africa
Argentina Austria X Kuwait SriLanka
Australia X Belgium X Lesotho Suriname X
Bahrain Denmark X Lichtenstein Swaziland
Bangladesh Finland X Macau Switzerland X
Barbados France X Malawi Tanzania
Belize Germany X Malaysia X Thailand X
Bolivia Greece X Maldives Togo
Botswana Ireland X Mali Trinidad &Tobago
Brazil Italy X Malta Tunisia
Brunei Darussalam Luxembourg X Mauritania Turkey X
Burkina Faso Netherlands X Mauritius X Uganda
Burundi Portugal X Mexico United States
Canada X Spain X Morocco Uruguay
Central African R.. Sweden X Mozambique Venezuela X
Chile United Kingdom X Myanmar Zambia
Colombia X Egypt Namibia Zimbabwe
Costa Rica X ElSalvador NewZealand X
Côted'Ivoire Gabon Nicaragua X
Cuba Ghana Nigeria
Cyprus Guatemala Norway X
Czech Republic Guinea Bissau Pakistan
Djibouti Guinea, Rep. of Paraguay
Dominica Guayana Peru
Dominican Rep. Honduras Philippines
Hong Kong X Poland
Hungary Romania
Iceland Saint Lucia
India X Saint Vincent &
Grenadies
Indonesia X Senegal
Israel Sierra Leone
Jamaica Singapore
Japan X Slovak Republic
Kenya Slovenia