   
  
G/L/1450  
G/SCM/163  
 
28 November 2022  
(22-8862) Page: 1/2 
Council for Trade in Goods  
Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures    
 
 
WTO RESPONSE TO THE PANDEMIC  
REPORT TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS  
BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMITTEE ON SUBSIDIES AND COUNTERVAILING MEASURES  
The following report is being submitted by the Chairperson of the Committee on Subsidies and 
Countervailing Measures (SCM Committee), Ms Sally Bardayán Rivera , at the request of the 
Chairperson of the Council for Trade in Goods1, and was prepared with the  assistance of the 
Secretariat.  
1  INFORMATION FOR THE CTG REPORT ON COVID -19 RELATED ACTIONS  
1.1  Committee work  
As a result of the pandemic -related lockdown, the SCM Committee meeting scheduled for the week 
of 27 April 2020 was cancelled.2 At the 17 April 2020 meeting of the Heads of Delegations, the DG 
urged Chairs to consult with Members on how to proceed with the work of the regular Committees.  
Upon the call by the DG, the Chairperson of the SCM Committee, together with the Chairpersons of 
the Committees on A nti-Dumping Practices and Safeguards initiated informal consultations with 
Members. During these consultations the Chairs (i) explained that they were reaching out to see 
how to proceed with the work of the Committees, noting that there was a backlog of di fferent 
meetings that had not happened, and it was not certain when the meetings would be held; and (ii) 
informed Members  what was on the agendas for the April 2020 meetings and asked whether it would 
be agreeable to have virtual meetings to discuss any/some/all of these items or a written process 
for certain agenda items.  
On 13 May 2020, the Chairs of the three Committees informed Members that no consensus could be 
reached about holding the meetings remotely, or having a written exchange of questions and 
answers, or a combination of both.  
On 5 June 2020, the Chairs of the three Committees s ent another communication to the Membership 
reminding delegations of the Committees' decisions on having the regular meetings in the last weeks 
of April and October. This reminder was sent to Members in order to set the dates of the autum n 
meetings of the Committees. In this communication, the Chairs also asked Members to contact them 
if any Member had any objections to holding the meetings in the week of 26 October 2020.  
As no objection was raised by the deadline set by the Chairs, the S ecretariat circulated the so -called 
"deadlines document" containing the specific dates by which Members should submit the various 
documentation in conjunction with the October 2020 meetings of the three Committees.  
Since October 2020, the SCM Committee mee tings have taken place in hybrid mode, with some 
delegates attending in person and others joining via a virtual platform.  
 
1 JOB/CTG/18 . 
2 Communication sent by the DG to the Heads of Delegations dated 14 March 2020.  G/L/1450 • G/SCM/163  
 
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  1.2  Transparency  
In accordance with Article 32.6 of the Agreement, four Members submitted legislative notifications 
illustrating the proce dural adaptations they undertook in their trade remedies investigations as a 
result of COVID -19 pandemic.  
 
In accordance with Article 25.1 of the Agreement and Article  XVI of GATT 1994, all Members were 
required to submit new and full notifications of subs idies by 30  June 2021. As of 9 November 2022, 
nine Members submitted subsidy notifications which contain references to pandemic related 
measures.3 
1.3  Dedicated COVID -19 related activities or discussions in the Committee  
Over the past two years, the Committee  has neither undertaken any specific activities in the context 
of the pandemic nor had dedicated discussions about measures taken by Members to address the 
pandemic.  
 
__________  
 
 
3 In total, 38 Members have notified measures and 10 Members have notified that they did not maintain 
any notifiable subsidies (the European Union is counted as one member).  