  
  
G/L/1452/Rev.1  
G/SG/277/Rev.1  
23 January  2023 
(23-0544) Page: 1/6 
Council for Trade in Goods  
Committee on Safeguards   
 
 
CURRENT FUNCTIONING OF THE  
COMMITTEE ON SAFEGUARDS  
REPORT TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS  
BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMITTEE ON SAFEGUARDS  
Revision  
The following report has been prepared by Ms Maryam Abdulaziz Aldoseri, under her own 
responsibility as Chairperson of the Committee on Safeguards, with the assistance of the Secretariat, 
at the request of the Chairperson of the Council for Trade in Goods.1 
 
1  PAST EFFORTS TO IMPROVE THE WORK OF THE COMMITTEE  
The past efforts to improve the work of the Committee on Safeguards ("Committee") are referred 
to in detail under part 2 below. However, the following are the highlights of past efforts, including 
those  which resulted in the current status of the Committee's practices:  
 
• Decision of the Committee in 1997 to set the dates of regular meetings to be held in the last 
weeks of April and October of each year (G/SG/M/9).  
• Constant coordination among the three Ru les Committees (Safeguards, Anti -Dumping 
Practices, Subsidies and Countervailing Measures), as their meetings are held in the same 
week. Coordination among the three Rules Committees and the Working Party on State 
Trading Enterprises (WPSTE) which holds it s meetings back -to-back with the 
three Committees.  
• Committee's approved procedures for the review of its legislative notifications in 1996 
(G/SG/W/116).  
• Annotated draft agendas circulated approximately six weeks prior to the meetings.  
• Circulation of a "deadlines" document following each meeting to recapitulate the deadlines 
for answers to questions raised in connection to the last meeting and to indicate the future 
deadlines for documentation to be submitted in connection with the next meeting.  
• Members are reminded and encouraged by the Chair at every meeting to use the 
e-subscription function.  
• Members are reminded and encouraged by the Chair at every meeting to provide their 
missing notifications.  
• Courtesy copies of all room document s issued prior to the meetings and placed online . Are 
also sent to a regularly updated contact list of delegates responsible for the Committee.  
• In August 2016, a proposal was made to establish a Working Group on Implementation. The 
proposed purpose of this  Working Group was to function as a forum where Members will 
 
1 See document JOB/CTG/18.  G/L/1452/Rev.1 • G/SG/277/Rev.1  
 
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  exchange views on technical matters related to the implementation of the Safeguards 
Agreement and to prepare recommendations to the consideration of the Committee. The 
Committee discussed this pr oposal in autumn 2016 and in spring 2017, but could not reach 
consensus on the matter.2  
2  CURRENT STATUS OF COMMITTEE PRACTICES  
2.1  Assistance to delegates  
The Committee does not regularly organize training activities for Geneva -based delegates on the 
practica l aspects of its functioning and has never been requested by Members to provide such 
activities. The Secretariat systematically provides assistance to all delegations involved in the 
meetings before and after the meetings. The Secretariat circulates a dead lines document containing 
the specific dates by which Members should submit the various documentation in connection with 
the last meeting and in conjunction with the following meeting. It reminds delegates of the issues 
raised and whether there are any out standing questions to answer before or at the meeting.  
 
At every meeting of the Committee, the Chair regularly promotes the use of the e -subscription tool 
and the use of Documents for Meetings, and urges delegates to subscribe to the "contact list" (see 
details below in section 2.2.2).  
 
The Committee has not undertaken specific initiatives to increase the participation of capital -based 
officials per se , as the Committee has always been heavily attended by large capital -based 
delegations. The fact that the dates of the meetings were decided by the Committee, in the 1990s, 
to take place in the last week of April and the last week of October (unless that falls on a 
WTO holiday) made it easy for capital -based officials to plan their travel and organize their me eting 
dates with certainty and predictability. The only exception was during the COVID -19 pandemic when 
capital -based officials and in a couple of meetings Geneva -based delegates, were unable to attend 
in person. However, despite time zone differences capi tal-based officials attended online meetings 
via Interprefy and interacted effectively. The continued use of Interprefy, even after the COVID -19 
pandemic, has definitely increased attendance and enhanced participation of more capital -based 
officials who ca n now attend such meetings online via a flexible virtual tool.  
2.2  Organization of Committee work  
2.2.1   Digital tools used for Committee work  
The Committee routinely makes use of the e -subscription tool, the Documents for Meetings and the 
contact list (see below in section 2.2.2).  
 
2.2.2   Planning and organization of meetings  
The Committee has fixed dates for its regular meetings, by virtue of a 1997 decision (G/SG/M/9). 
These are usually held in the last week of April (the spring meeting) and the last week of October 
(the autumn meeting), which allows for advance planning and predictability. In the rare occurrence 
that any day of these weeks fall on a WTO official holiday, the Committee is informed and decides 
on an alternative meeting date, usually the following week.  
 
It should be noted that the dates of the Committee's meetings are coordinated with the Committee 
on Anti -Dumping Practices (ADP) and the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures 
(SCM), which hold their meetings in the same weeks (the "Rules week"  meetings). The same 
coordination is also extended to the Working Party on State Trading Enterprises, which holds its 
meetings back -to-back with the three Committees. All four bodies involve to a large extent the same 
capital -based officials.  
 
In addition to its Rules of Procedures  (G/SG/4) , the Committee has adopted specific procedures for 
the review of its legislative notifications in 1996 (S/SG/W/116), which is a crucial part of its work 
and monitoring function.  
 
 
2 See minutes of the Committee G/SG/M/51, agenda item3.  G/L/1452/Rev.1 • G/SG/277/Rev.1  
 
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  (Annotated draft agenda and airgrams)  
The Committee issues – since 1995 - detailed annotated draft agenda approximately six weeks 
before each regular meeting, where different items are listed along with the relevant information 
and deadlines. The annotated draft agenda also inform Members of the date by which they can 
submit any comments or add any items to the agenda, prior to the issuance of the formal airgram 
convening the meeting. All unanswered written questions posed regarding legislative notifications 
are identified in the annotated draft a genda and are retained in the final airgram of the meeting.  
 
The formal airgram is issued minimum 10 days prior to the meeting. The airgram contains the 
proposed agenda, as foreshadowed in the annotated draft agenda document, along with any items 
requested , by the set deadline, to be placed on the agenda by any Member.  
 
In all regular Committee meetings, the first section of the agenda relates to legislative notifications 
and the second section relates to safeguard actions. Both sections are standardized in  the sense that 
they include all notifications submitted since the last regular meeting. The items therein are 
organized in alphabetical order of the notifying Member. The following sections contain other specific 
items requested by Members.  
 
A list of co ntact details of the delegates responsible for the Committee has been created many years 
ago. It is updated continuously, and is issued as a room document prior to each meeting. Annotated 
draft agenda s, airgrams, draft annual reports and all communications  issued by the Committee or 
the Chair are placed online prior to the meetings, and are also sent by email to this contact list to 
keep delegates attending the meetings informed.  
 
(Other documents circulated before and after meetings)  
Prior to each meetin g, the Secretariat circulates an updated list of contact details of delegations for 
Members' review and submission of further updates, if any.  
 
Prior to the October meeting each year, the Secretariat circulates the draft annual report for 
Members' review a nd written comments.  
 
The Secretariat receives different types of notifications, namely, legislative notifications as well as 
notifications of various safeguard actions (e.g. initiations  of investigations , proposals to apply 
measure s, decisions to apply measure s, extension s of measure s). In case of legislative notifications, 
these are placed on the agenda pursuant to specific procedures adopted by the Committee 
(G/SG/W/116). All the notifications are formatted and circulated upon receip t. 
 
Immediately after meetings, the Secretariat circulates a deadlines document -- for follow -up 
documents related to the meeting just concluded, and for documents to be submitted for 
consideration at the next meeting. In addition, following a meeting of t he Committee the Secretariat 
normally prepares a strictly factual news item for the WTO website, approved by the Chair of the 
Committee, reflecting the main topics that were raised at the meeting.  
 
In addition, the latest statistics based on the informatio n contained in the notifications submitted by 
Members is placed on the Safeguard section of the WTO webpage, covering the period since 
January  1995.  
 
(Preparation of the minutes)  
For each Regular meeting, the Secretariat starts drafting the minutes of the meetings immediately 
after the Regular meeting but can only finalize the first draft when it receives all of the written 
versions of the statements or after the recording of the meeting is transcribed to make sure that the 
minutes are comprehensive, accura te and complete. The minutes are basically a detailed summary 
of what Members said at the meeting. The Secretariat normally awaits the deadlines - pertaining to 
the questions and answers to be provided following the meeting - to lapse (these questions and 
answers are usually circulated and referred to in the draft minutes) before the draft minutes are 
sent to Members for comments. The draft minutes are then sent to Members that took the floor at 
the meeting to comment on the summaries of their interventions . The draft minutes are also sent 
to Members regarding which item was raised, even if they did not take the floor. Members who took 
the floor at the meeting are given 10 calendar days to comment on their own interventions. The G/L/1452/Rev.1 • G/SG/277/Rev.1  
 
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  minutes are then immediately circulated once any necessary changes have been introduced.  
(See Table 3 for more details.)  
Table 1: Number of formal and informal meetings  
Year  Formal meeting  
(number and duration)  Informal meetings  
(number and duration)  Other (e.g. workshops, 
symposia, etc.)  
2019  Twice (half day for the 
spring meeting and one day 
for the autumn meeting)  Twice (half day each)  Meeting of the "Friends of 
SG Proceedings"3 (in 
conjunction with the spring 
meeting)  
Meeting of the "Friends of 
SG Proceedings" (in 
conjunction with the autumn 
meeting)  
2020  Once (half day in autumn) 
(No meeting in spring due to 
COVID -19.) Four times (half day each)  n.a. 
2021  Twice (one day each)  Twice (half day each)  n.a.  
 
2022  Twice (one day for the 
spring meeting and half day 
for the autumn meeting)  None.  Notification seminar (in 
conjunction with the spring 
meeting)  
 
Table 2: Preparation of annotated draft agendas and airgrams  
Year  Date of formal 
meeting  Date of 
circulation 
of annotated 
agen das No. of 
days 
before 
the 
meeting  Date of 
circulation of 
airgram  No. of days 
before the 
meeting  
2019  29 April  
18 November  22 March  
11 October   38 
38 18 April  
8 November  11 calendar days  
10 calendar days  
2020  26 October  18 September  38 16 October  10 calendar days  
2021  26 April  
25 October  19 March  
17 September  38 
38 16 April  
15 October  10 calendar days  
10 calendar days  
2022  25 April  
24 October  18 March  
16 September  38 
38 14 April  
14 October  11 calendar days  
10 calendar days  
 
 
3 A meeting of the "Friends of SG Proceedings" is organized by certain Members, open to all 
WTO Members. Its purpose is explained to be sharing each other's experiences and learning from each other.  G/L/1452/Rev.1 • G/SG/277/Rev.1  
 
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  Table 3: Preparation of the minutes/summary reports  
Year  Last date of the 
formal meeting  Date of circulation 
of the minutes  No. of pages  No. of days after 
the meeting  
2019  29 April  
18 November  22 August  
31 March 2020  17 
20 115 
134 
2020  (No meeting in spring 
due to COVID -19) 
26 October   
 
23 February 2021   
 
28  
 
120 
2021  26 April  
25 October  27 July  
21 February 2022  19 
18 92 
119 
2022  25 April  
24 October  16 September  
(not yet)  17 144 
 
2.2.3   Informal meetings  
Informal meetings are convened by e -mails (see above, in section 2.2.2), and after September 2021, 
via an ICN document as well. Convening notices always provide explanations by the Chairperson on 
the purpose of the meeting.  
 
Table 4: Convening of informal meetings  
Year  Date of informal meeting  Date of communication 
convening the informal 
meeting  No. of days between the 
two timings  
2019  1 February  
27 September  21 January  
16 September  11 
11 
2020  10 March  
27 July  
29 September  
14 December  5 February  
7 July  
15 September  
3 December  33 
20 
14 
11 
2021  2 March  
6 October  17 February  
24 September  13 
12 
2022  (none until now)  -- -- 
 
2.3  Substantive work  
2.3.1   Thematic sessions  
All of the informal meetings referred to in table 4 were held for the purpose of discussing a specific 
theme.  
 
2.3.2   Notifications  
The Secretariat has created and updated the Handbook of SG -related Notification Obligations. The 
Handbook, which can be found on the WTO webpage under the SG section, can provide additional 
clarity as to how and when the notifications should  be made.  
 G/L/1452/Rev.1 • G/SG/277/Rev.1  
 
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  At every regular Committee meeting, the Chair raises the issue of missing legislative notifications, 
and urges Members to fulfil their notification obligations. This is reflected in the minutes of all 
Committee meetings and in the Committee's an nual reports.   
 
The notification format has been revised three times – in 2009, in 2020 and in 2021. The latest 
format is contained in document G/SG/1/Rev.3. The 2009 revision was made in the context of the 
request from the General Council chair regarding  improvement of the timeliness and completeness 
of notifications. The revisions in 2020 and 2021 reflect the fact that the number of safeguard actions 
notified by Members have increased, and their contents have become more complicated. Such 
revisions serve d the purpose of sharing best practice and stimulating  discussion among Members on 
what was needed to increase clarity and transparency of the notifications regarding SG actions.  
 
The Committee held a notification seminar twice since 1995: in autumn 2014 and in spring of 2022.  
As with the case of revisions of format explained above, these seminars served the purpose of 
stimulating  discussion on the need to increase clarity and trans parency of the notifications.  
 
Initiations of a safeguard investigation affect all Members that export the subject product to the 
investigating Member. Depending on the product, it could impact numerous Members. As such, it is 
not easy for Members, especia lly for small developing Members, to continuously keep track of all 
initiation notifications of safeguard investigations that could potentially affect their exporters. In 
order to help the investigating Members convey the fact that a safeguard investigatio n was initiated, 
all new notifications of initiations are immediately reported on the WTO website.   
 
2.3.3   Reports prepared by the Secretariat  
Prior to the October meeting each year, the Secretariat sends (by e -mail, by circulating, and by 
posting on the Docume nts for Meetings), as an "RD" document, the draft annual report to Members 
for comments. These reports are adopted by the Committee at the end of the October meeting each 
year. 
 
At its October 2015 meeting, the Committee agreed to make the information in o ne of the Annexes 
of the annual report (mapping all the notifications received in the course of the year) more 
informative. At its October 2018 meeting, the Committee agreed to a further brush -up of the same 
Annex.  
 
2.3.4   Participation by external stakeholders  
The International Monetary Fund, World Bank and UNCTAD have regular Observer status in the 
Committee. Pursuant to a decision of the Committee in October 1998, the Organization of African, 
Caribbean and Pacific States ("OACPS") and the OECD are invited to a ttend meetings on an ad hoc  
basis.  
 
2.3.5   Work with other Committees or WTO bodies  
Procedures, including the timing of the meetings, are closely coordinated among the 
three  Committees of SG, ADP, and SCM. (See also section 2.2.2.)  
 
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