RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/L/35
14November 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-3548)
REPORT (1995) OFTHE WORKING PARTY ON
STATE TRADING ENTERPRISES
1. Thisreport issubmitted under Paragraph 5oftheUnderstanding ontheInterpretation of
Article XVII oftheGATT 1994 (hereinafter "theUnderstanding"). Itsetsouttheactivities ofthe
Working Party onState Trading Enterprises during theperiod under review (1January 1995 -
13November 1995).
2. TheWorking Party wasestablished bytheCouncil forTrade inGoods atitsmeeting on
20February 1995inlinewithparagraph 5oftheUnderstanding, toreview notifications andcounter-
notifications onstatetrading andtoreview, inthelightofthenotifications received, theadequacy of
thequestionnaireonstatetrading(BISD9S/184-185)andthecoverageofstatetradingenterprisesnotified
under paragraph 1oftheUnderstanding. Mr.Peter May(Australia) wasappointed Chairman ofthe
Working Party.
3. Membership oftheWorking Party isopentoallMembers indicating theirwishtoserve on
it.Participants intheWorking Party'smeetings todateare:Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh,
Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Egypt, European Community,
France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia,
Mauritius, Mexico, Netherlands, NewZealand, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Slovak
Republic,SouthAfrica,Spain,Sweden,Switzerland,Thailand,Turkey,UnitedKingdom,UnitedStates
andUruguay. Chinese Taipei, Ecuador andtheRussian Federation participated asobservers.
4. TheWorking Party heldtwomeetings during theperiod under review: on6April 1995and
13November 1995.
5. During theperiod under review, substantive notifications ofstatetrading enterprises submitted
under Article XVII ofGATT 1994 andparagraph 1oftheUnderstanding were received from the
following Members: Australia, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, European
Community, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mauritius, NewZealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines,
Poland,SlovakRepublic,SouthAfrica,Thailand,Turkey,theUnitedStatesandUruguay.Thefollowing
Members notified thattheydidnotmaintain anystatetrading enterprises: Argentina, Hong Kong,
Macau, Romania andSingapore.
6. Nonotifications werereceived fromthefollowing Members: Antigua andBarbuda, Bahrain,
Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi,
CentralAfricanRepublic,Chile,Côted'Ivoire,Cuba,Djibouti,Dominica,DominicanRepublic,Egypt,
ElSalvador, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland,
India, Israel, Jamaica, Kenya, Kuwait, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Malta,
Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan,
Paraguay, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent &Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, SriLanka,
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Suriname,Swaziland,Switzerland,Tanzania,Togo,TrinidadandTobago,Tunisia,Uganda,Venezuela,
Zambia andZimbabwe.
7. Atitsmeeting on6April 1995, theWorking Party discussed thequestion ofnotifications to
bemade under Article XVII ofGATT 1994 andParagraph 1oftheUnderstanding andtheproblem
ofnon-notification. TheWorking Party decided thatallnewandfullnotifications onstatetrading
enterprisesshouldbesubmittednotlaterthan30Juneineverythirdyearafter1995,andthattheupdating
notifications dueineachofthetwointervening years should besubmitted notlaterthan30Juneof
therespective year, itbeing understood thatthese dates could bealtered byadecision oftheWorking
Party. TheWorking Party alsodiscussed theissueofthebackground paper ontheoperations ofstate
trading enterprises tobeprepared bytheSecretariat incompliance with Paragraph 5ofthe
Understanding, andestablished guidelines onthenature andscope ofthepaper andthesources tobe
usedinitspreparation. Theprogramme ofwork fortheWorking Party wasdiscussed andatimetable
wasagreed forthefollowing elements: toreview thenotifications andcounter-notifications submitted
byMembers, toreview theadequacy ofthe1960 questionnaire andthecoverage ofstatetrading
enterprises notified under paragraph 1oftheUnderstanding, andtodevelop anillustrative listofthe
kinds ofrelationships between governments andstatetrading enterprises andthekinds ofactivities
engaged inbythese enterprises.
8. Atitsmeeting on13November 1995theWorking Party conducted areview of26notifications
thatweresubmitted byMembers in1995pursuant totherequest indocument G/STR/N/1. TheWorking
Party agreed thatMembers having questions onanyofthenotifications reviewed would submit these
inwriting toboththedelegation inquestion andtotheSecretariat, andthatresponses tothesequestions
would besubmitted inwriting bytherespective delegation; bothquestions andanswers would be
circulated toallMembers. Italsoagreed thatinfuture, Members having questions onanyfuture
notification would submit theseinwriting tothedelegation concerned andtotheSecretariat threeweeks
inadvance ofthemeeting atwhich thenotification would bereviewed. Written responses would be
submitted andcirculated subsequent totheoralresponses made atthemeeting. Atthismeeting the
Working Party expressed preliminary views ontheSecretariat background paper ontheoperations
ofstatetrading enterprises (G/STR/2). Italsoconducted apreliminary review oftheadequacy ofthe
1960 questionnaire followed byadiscussion ofpossible elements foranillustrative listofrelationships
between governments andstatetrading enterprises andtheactivities engaged inbythese enterprises.
Members wishing todosowereinvited tosubmit written proposals regarding boththequestionnaire
andtheillustrative list.These would becirculated toallMembers andconsidered attheWorking Party's
nextmeeting.
9. TheMinutes oftheWorking Party'smeetings arecontained indocuments G/STR/M/1 and2.