   
  
G/L/1467  
 
6 December  2022 
(22-9062) Page: 1/10 
Council for Trade in Goods    
 
REPORT ON THE CURRENT  FUNCTIONING OF THE  
COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS  
REPORT  BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE CTG 
The following report is being submitted by the Chair person of the Council for Trade in Goods (CTG , 
or the Council ), Mr Etienne  OUDOT DE DAINVILLE , under his own responsibility. The report was 
prepared with the assistance of the Secretariat  and follows the same approach as the reports that 
were requested from the Chairpersons of the CTG 's 14 subsidiary bodies.1 
 
_______________  
 
 
1  PAST EFFORTS TO IMPROVE THE WORK OF THE CTG  
1.1.  In 2009, the Chairperson of the General Council requested all relevant WTO  bodies to discuss 
ways and means to improve the timeliness and completeness of notifications and other information 
flows. While discussions took place in the context of many subsidiary bodies, the CTG itself did not 
hold consultations on these issues ; indeed, there were no discussions of this nature until 2018. For 
this reason, this  section describes,  in general terms , the relevant  issues and proposals discussed at 
the CTG since 2018.  
1.2.  At the CTG's formal meeting of 12 -13 November  2018, the Chairperson of th e CTG invited 
delegations to reflect on how best to improve the work of the Goods Counci l to make it more efficient, 
in particular with regard to specific trade concerns (STCs) .2 Under a separate agenda item, the 
Council also began discussing a proposal e ntitled " Procedures to Enhance Transparency and 
Strengthen Notification Requirements Under WTO Agreements ", which had been submitted to both 
the CTG and the General Council .3 Proponents noted that the  proposal had been inspired on the 
Secretariat's Annual  Report on Notifications provided to the CTG in document  G/L/223  and its 
revisions, which demonstrated Members' lack of compliance  with the notification requirements of 
the various WTO  Agreements . 
1.3.  In an informal meeting of the CTG that took place on 4  March  2019, Members identified a series 
of challenges when dealing with trade concerns at the CTG and proposed possible solutions  to them .4 
At that meeting , the delegation of Hong Kong, China circulated a room document detailing its  ideas 
on how to improve different aspects of the functioning of the CTG and its subsidiary bodies .5 In 
addition, the delegations of Argentina, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, the European Union, Japan, 
New Zealand, Chinese Taipei, and the United States made a presentation and circula ted a room 
document further elaborating on their proposal for procedures to enhance transparency and 
strengthen notification requirements under the various WTO  Agreements .6 This proposal continued 
being discussed both at the General Council and the CTG un til relatively recently , when the 
discussions moved completely to the former . 
 
1 See document  JOB/CTG/18 . 
2 See document  G/C/M/133 , paragraph  38.2.  
3 See document  JOB/CTG/14  and its revisions . The proposal was initially co -sponsored by Argentina, 
Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, the European Union, Japan, New Zealand, Chinese Taipei , and the United 
States . 
4 For a summary, see document  G/C/M/134 , paragraph  32.1. 
5 See document  RD/CTG/6 . 
6 See document  RD/CTG/7 . G/L/1467  
 
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  1.4.  At the CTG 's formal meeting of 11-12 April 2019, the delegation of Hong Kong, China requested 
to continue discussing the functioning of the CTG  and its subsidiary bodies . In their view, it was 
necessary  to establish a framework for the Council to work together with its  subsidiary bodies in an 
effective, coherent, and results -oriented manner , which was pertinent to ensuring the WTO's 
continued evolution and relevance in a fast -evolving trading environment , which  required to 
constantly adjust the procedures . Sixteen  other delegations took the floor to support additional work 
in this area.7 
1.5.  Members continued addressing these ideas in a dedicated inf ormal meeting that  took place on 
18 June 2019. At this meeting, the delegation of Singapore circulated a room document entitled 
"Strengthening the WTO's Deliberative Function: Good Practices in the TBT  Committee"8, to reflect 
upon which of these practices  by the TBT  Committee could eventually be implemented in other 
CTG subsidiary bodies . 
1.6.  At the CTG 's formal  meetings of 8 -9 July 9 and 14  November  201910, the Council continued 
discussing the issue under a dedicated agenda item that had been requested by the delegation of 
Hong Kong, China . Hong Kong, China  had also clarified that this was not a proposal , but rather a 
collection of ideas from Members having  an interest in exploring the potential for improvement under 
the existing framework.  Updated versions of these room documents were circulated in July11 and 
November  201912, respectively. The last version of this document included proposals to introduce 
an annotated agenda an d an annual plan of meetings for the CTG and its subsidiary bodies.  At these 
meetings, Members also continued considering the room documents that had been submitted by 
Singapore. Some Members also noted that the CTG's Airgrams were bein g circulated only a few days  
prior to a meeting, which made it difficult to prepare ; for this reason, they requested that a draft 
Airgram be circulated at least one  month before the meeting, which would not require modifying the 
rules of procedure.  
1.7.  At the July 2019 formal meeting, the European Union announced that it had been working with 
ten other delegations on a proposal for guidelines applicable to WTO  bodies dealing with trade 
concerns, such as the CTG and most of its subsidiary bodies . This proposal sought to improve the 
way in which Members prepared for and organized meetings in general, as well as guidelines on how 
to consider trade concerns more effectively.  Although this proposal was submitted and discussed at 
the General Council, it continued to be referred to at the CTG .13 
1.8.  At the same  meeting, the delegations of Cuba, India, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and 
Zimbabwe  submitted a proposal entitled " An Inclusive Approach to Transparency and Notification 
Requirements in the WTO ", which had been circulated to the General Council, the CTG, the Council 
for Trade in Services, the TRIPS  Council, the Committee on Trade and Development,  and the 
Committee on Agriculture.14 While acknowledging the importance of compliance with obligations, 
these delegations considered that  it was necessary to recognize that developing countries faced 
challenges in meeting their transpa rency obligations due to their limited capacities and resources.  
1.9.  Discussions continued at an informal meeting that took place on 5  February  2020. At the formal 
meeting of 10  June 2020, the Chairperson noted that the following issues had been informally 
discussed: (i)  creating a plan for annual meetings; (ii)  preparing a CTG  annotated agenda; (iii)  the 
sending of meeting reminders at least one  month in advance of those meetings; (iv)  circulating the 
statements made in meetings; (v)  creating a contacts list; (vi) creating a general email for the 
Council and for each Committee; and (vii)  organizing introductory sessions for new delegates. He 
also noted that , while some of these suggestions had been accepted, on others there had been no 
consensus, including with regard to the annotated agenda and the circulation of statements made 
during Council meetings.15 He also noted that a tentative 2020  year plan had been established, but 
 
7 Agenda Item 32, "Better Functioning of the Council for Trade in Goods and Subsidiary Committees ", 
document  G/C/M/134 , paragraphs  32.1-32.20.  
8 See document  RD/CTG/8 . 
9 See document  G/C/M/135 , Agenda  Item 34. 
10 See document  G/C/M/136 , Agenda  Item 34. 
11 See document  RD/CT G/9. 
12 See document  RD/CTG/10 . 
13 Document  WT/GC/W/777  and its revisions . 
14 Document  JOB/CTG/15  and its revisions . 
15 See document  G/C/M/137 , Agenda  Item 37. G/L/1467  
 
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  that all meetings had been suspended as a result of the CO VID-19 pandemic. Discussions continued 
at the CTG 's formal meeting of 25 -26 November  202016, but no progress had been made since then.  
1.10.  Since no additional proposals were submitted  and no Member had requested to continue 
discussing these issues , the Council  had not held further discussions on how to improve the work of 
the CTG and its subsidiary bodies. Nevertheless, it  should  be noted that, a s a result of these 
discussions, some changes have been  introduced in the work of the CTG, including the manner in 
which the Airgram  is prepared , and the regular preparation of a  "tentative  annual plan of meetings " 
for the CTG and its subsidiary bodies , which is now regularly updated and circulated at each formal 
meeting  of the CTG . In addition , the introduction of new digital tools, such as e -registration, 
simplified the task of identifying the delegates that cover ed the CTG , and their corresponding contact 
information , including their  email addresses.  
2  CURRENT STATUS OF COMMITTEE PRACTICES  
2.1.  This section  describe s the current practices of the Goods  Council , which have partly 
incorporated and responded to some of the discussions on improving the CTG's functioning that took 
place between 2018 and 2021.  
2.1  Assistance to delegates  
2.2.  There is no systematic tr aining programme for Geneva -based delegates  on the functioning of 
the CTG . New delegates assigned to cover  the Council  occasionally  request Secretariat staff to meet 
with them to go over  procedures  and documentation . Assistance is provided by email, or through a 
meeting held either virtually or in person . Technical assistance is not provided to capital -based 
officials on the work of the Council , as it is not included per se in the context of the Regional Trade 
Policy Co urses nor the Geneva -based Advanced Trade Policy Course.  
2.2  Organization of Committee  work  
2.2.1   Digital tools used for Committee work  
2.3.  The CTG makes use of WTO -wide digital tools, including  e-registration  and the " e-subscription " 
option in  Documents Online . E-registration allows Members to indicate their contact information as 
well as the WTO bodies each delegate  covers  or has an interest in . The Secretariat relies on the 
information provided through  this sy stem to identify the delegates that cover  the Council and to 
circulate communications and other documents  to them via email , when necessary. The 
e-subscription  function  in Documents Online allows delegates to indicate the bodies they follow and 
to receive daily alerts by email when  new document s of their interest are  issued , including those 
issued by the CTG . 
2.2.2   Planning and organization of meetings  
2.4.  The CTG generally holds three formal meetings per year , two during the first  half of the year 
and one before the end of the year ; in addition, the CTG occasionally holds  informal meetings . Since 
the introduction of the "tentative annual plan of meetings ", dates of meetings are co ordinated  to the 
extent possible  with the CTG's 14 subsidiary bodies , and Members are informed of the updated plan 
through a room document that is distributed at each formal meeting. In addition, the Guidelines on 
the Arrangements for Scheduling of Meeting s of WTO  Bodies are also taken into account ( WT/L/106 ). 
2.5.  The planning and coordination of meetings tends to be more complicate d in those years in 
which a Ministerial  Conference  is held as the time available for regular WTO work is reduced  and 
compressed . An additional challenge is presented when Ministerial  Conference  dates have not been 
fixed and Committees have already "agree d" on dates that could then become difficult  to change  at 
a later date . 
2.6.  There is currently no coordination among Members to plan the issues to be discussed each year  
by the Council, so the issues are defined individually by Members for each of the formal meetings . 
 
16 See document  G/C/M/13 8, Agenda  Item 44.2.  G/L/1467  
 
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  2.7.  In recent meetings, while welcoming the improvements that had been made over the past few 
years, some delegations expressed concern over the continued probl ems resulting from the 
reprogramming of meetings due to last minute changes in other bodies of the WTO. One  Member 
also questioned the articulation with the activities of non -regular bodies.  
2.2.3   Formal meetings  
2.2.3.1   Communication before meetings  
2.8.  The Chairperson reg ularly reminds Members of the dates of upcoming meetings at the end of 
each Council meeting and again by email. Additional information is also provided to delegations 
during the preparation of the Airgram . 
2.2.3.2   Number of meetings  
2.9.  Since the beginning of 2019, the Council has held 11 formal and 10 informal  meetings , 
including the November  2022 meeting. In 2020 , due to the COVID -19 pandemic, only two  formal 
meetings took place. Although there is no formal requirement to hold informal meetings, there is 
usually at least one  per year to discuss the process for the election of officers of the 14  subsidiary 
bodies and/or for the discussion with Members on a possible slate of names, as provided in 
paragraph  7.3 of the Guidelines for Appointment of Officers of  WTO Bodies (document  WT/L/510).  
2.10.  Over the past few years, t he CTG has only organized  one event in addition to its formal and 
informal meetings , namely the information -sharing session on the WTO's digital tools that will take 
place on 9  December  2022. More detail s are provided in Table  1 below.  
2.11.  Since 2021, due to the increasing number of trade concerns raised by Members , the duration 
of formal meetings has consistently increased . As there is no regular participation of capital -based 
officials  in Council meetings , time is not set aside  for bilateral meetings  (as is done for other 
WTO bodies) . 
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  11-12 April (1.5 days)  
8-9 July (1.5 days)  
14-15 November (1.5 days)  4 March (0.5  days)  
17 May (0.5 days)  
18 June (0.5  days)  None 
2020  10-11 June (1.5 days)  
25-26 November  (1.5 days)  5 February  (0.5 days)  
27 July (0.5  days)  None 
2021  31 March – 1 April (1.5 days)  
8-9 July (1.5 days)  
1-2 November (1.5 days)  11 February (0.5  days)  
14 July (0.5  days)  
26 July (0.5  days)  None 
2022  21-22 April (1.5 days)  
7-8 July (1.5 days)  
24-25 November (+1.5 days)  23 May (0.5  days)  
14 October (0.5  days)  9 December (0.5  days) 
Information session on 
WTO's Digital Tools  
 
2.2.3.3   Preparation of Airgrams and Agendas  
2.12.  The Council works  with the standard "minimum 10  days before the meeting" (Rule  2 of the 
General Council's Rule s of Procedure) . However, in light of the discussions that took place between 
2018 and 2021 , as well as the practice in other WTO  bodies , since the meeting of Nove mber 2021 G/L/1467  
 
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  the Secretariat now prepar es and circulat es the Airgrams of its formal meetings in two  steps, as 
follows : 
a. First, a draft Airgram  is issued and  circulated approximately one  month before the date of 
the meeting , through the WTO/AIR/CTG/  document series . It includes the standing agenda 
items and all other relevant information  known at the time  of its circulation , and indicates 
the date on which the agenda will close , as well as  any other specific issues to take in to 
account  for the preparation of the meeting . Standing agenda items vary depending on the 
meeting (e.g. the first  meeting of the year includes the election of the Chairperson , and 
the last meeting normally includes consideration of requests for extension s of HS -related 
waivers ); 
b. Second, o nce Members have submitted their documents for consideration by the Council  
and requested the inclusion of their agenda items, a revised version of the Airgram  is 
issued at least 10  days prior to the date of the meeting  (WTO/AIR/CTG/XXX/Rev.1) . The 
trade concerns are included in the Airgram on a first -come, first -served basis. Since  
November  2020, the Airgram has included a separate section on "trade concerns" . 
2.13.  Pursuant to  Rule 5 of the General Council's Rule s of Procedure , a document with the "Propose d 
Agenda " for the meeting  is prepared by the Secretariat and circulated separately a few days before 
the formal meeting under  the G/ C/W document series .17 This document occasionally include s 
additional co-sponsor s of agenda item s (if a request for co -sponsorship had been submitted shortly 
after the Airgram had already been issued , for example) , but typically it replicates the contents of 
the final version of the Airgram. The CTG does not currently prepare a nd circulate an annotated 
agenda.  
Table  2: Preparation of the Airgrams and Agendas  of formal meetings  
Year  Date of formal 
meeting  Date of circulation of Airgram  No. of days 
before the 
meeting  
2019  11-12 April 2019 
 
8-9 July 2019 
 
14-15 November  2019 
 1 April 2019 (Airgram)  
8 April 2019 (Proposed a genda)  
28 June 2019 (Airgram)  
3 July 2019 (Proposed a genda ) 
4 November  2019 (Airgram)  
11 November  2019 (Proposed a genda ) 10 days 
3 days 
10 days 
5 days 
10 days 
3 days 
2020  10-11 June 2020 
 
25-26 November  2020 
 20 May 2020 (Airgram)  
5 June 2020 ( Proposed a genda ) 
13 November  2020 (Airgram)  
20 November  2020 (Proposed a genda ) 21 days 
5 days 
12 days 
5 days 
2021  31 March – 1 April 2021 
 
8-9 July 2021 
 
1-2 November  2021 
 
 19 March  2021 (Airgram)  
26 March  2021 (Proposed a genda ) 
28 June 2021 (Airgram)  
2 July 2021 (Proposed a genda ) 
11 October  2021 ( Draft Airgram)  
22 October  2021 ( Final Airgram)  
27 October  2021 (Proposed a genda ) 12 days 
5 days 
10 days 
6 days 
21 days 
10 days 
5 days 
2022  21-22 April 2022 
 
 
7-8 July 2022 
 
 
24-25 November  2022 
 
 21 March  2022 ( Draft Airgram ) 
8 April 2022 ( Final Airgram ) 
14 April 2022 (Proposed a genda ) 
10 June 2022 ( Draft Airgram ) 
27 June 2022 ( Final Airgram ) 
1 July 2022 (Proposed a genda ) 
25 October  2022 ( Draft Airgram ) 
14 November  2022 ( Final Airgram ) 
21 November  2022 (Proposed a genda ) 31 days 
13 days 
7 days 
27 days 
10 days 
6 days 
30 days 
10 days 
3 days 
 
 
17 See, for example , documents  G/C/W/811 and G/C/W/ 823. G/L/1467  
 
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  2.2.3.4   Distribution of documents  prior to meetings  
2.14.  All documents relevant to a meeting are added under  the Documents for Meetings  section,  
under the link for the meeting in the "Meetings" section  found on the homepage of the 
WTO Members' website . These documents are  sourced from Documents Online (i.e.  under 
Documents for Meetings, topic: Trade in Goods) . Presentations  or other documents received in 
advance  are circulated as room documents under the RD/CTG / document series. Delegates 
subscribed to the CTG under the e -subscriptions option of Documents Online are alerted daily via 
email of all new relevant do cuments issued.  
2.15.  The CTG's draft annual report to the General Council is prepared by the Secretariat and 
circulated immediately after the closure of the agenda of the Council's last meeting of the year, to 
ensure that all the documents that were received on  the date of the closure of the agenda are 
included in the draft reports.  
2.2.3.5   Communication after meetings  
2.16.  The Chair person  does not normally  send a follow -up communication after formal meetings. A 
news item on each  regular meeting is posted on the WTO  website , as prepared by the Information 
and E xternal Relations  Division (IERD)  in consultation with the Market Access Division . The news 
item lists the key issues discussed, including trade concerns . At the request of Members, discussions 
concerning trade concerns are not summarized  in these news items . 
2.2.3.6   Preparation of the minutes  
2.17.  The Secretariat  prepares minutes after every  formal  meeting , circulated under  the 
G/C/M/  document series . The  meeting minutes capture all the information shared at the formal 
meeting , including reports by the Chairperson  and Members' interventions and statements . In light 
of the considerable increase in the number of agenda items over the past three  years, the procedures 
for the preparation of the minutes have been reviewed and streamlined twice. First, starting with 
the minutes of the  Council's meeting of 10  June 2020, the traditional "reported" style, which required 
considerable editing from the part of the Secretariat  and resulted in longer documents , was replaced 
by minutes with statements reproduced almost verbatim. A second  set of  changes was introduced 
in 2021 with a view to streamlining the minutes a nd the internal steps for the ir preparation, in 
particular the order in which translations were handled . These adjustments increased  efficiency  and 
led to more compact  minutes (i.e.  fewer  pages to describe  each meeting) . 
2.18.  Over the past four  years, CTG minutes have had an average length of 89.1  pages and have 
taken an average of 100.1  days to prepare, with a measurable improvement over the past 
two years : while in 2019 -2020, it took on average 111.4  days to process 86.8  pages, in 2021 and 
2022 it has taken on average 88.8  days to process 91.4  pages, which equates to  an overall  reduction 
of 20% of the time required to process a 5% increase in the number of pages. See Table  3 for further  
details.  
2.19.  Different factor s may delay the preparation of the minutes. For example, s ince two of the 
CTG's meetings coincide with end of work cycles (summer and end-year), there is a partial  delay 
due to in-house procedures (e.g.  performance evaluations) and  holidays . Because they are not 
affected by these issues,  the minutes of the first meeting (March/April) are systematically prepared 
in less time  than the other two  meetings (July and November ). In addition,  Secretariat staff working 
on the preparation of minutes are at the same time discharging other tasks  deemed of a higher 
priority . 
2.20.  The minutes of the CTG are prepared as follows:  
a. At its outset and during the course of a meeting, delegates are prompted and encouraged 
to submit their full written statement s. A list of speakers is drawn -up during the course of 
the meeting, and subsequently verified ; 
b. The verified list of speakers is inserted into an initial frame or template document ; G/L/1467  
 
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  c. Written statements already received by the Secretariat , as well as the stat ements by the 
Chairperson,  are inserted into this initial draft in the appropriate places . In case the 
statements are not provided within 10 days of the conclusion of the meeting, the 
Secretariat sends one or more reminders to the delegates concerned and a waits a 
response. In case the delegate s still do not  share  their draft statement , the Secretariat 
proceeds to type the statements from the recording ; 
d. Written statements received by the Secretariat in French or Spanish are sent for 
translation into English . Once the translation is received, it is then inserted into the draft 
minutes in the appropriate  place; 
e. Once the draft includes all statements, the complete draft is edited and reviewed to correct 
factual errors, inconsistencies, and typos . The tex t is also formatted and checked for 
consistent WTO  style and general readability . The Secretariat often contacts delegations 
to clarify certain aspects, as necessary. The person in charge of several of the 
above -mentioned steps is also in charge of editing  the minutes of six other bodies, so 
delays may ensue from a higher  priority given to finalizing the minutes of other 
Committees  (e.g. so they can be issued before their meeting ); 
f. Once the draft minutes have been edited, the entire audio recording  of the m eeting  is 
reviewed to ensure that the written statements in the draft  correspond to what each 
delegate actually said at the meeting . This approach accords with the Chairperson 's 
reminder to  delegations at the beginning of each CTG  meeting  that only what is  said at 
the meeting is recorded in the minutes unless a delegate explicitly indicate s under the 
agenda item in question that they will be submitting a longer written statement for 
inclusion in the minutes;  
g. The edited draft minutes are then reviewed again  in their entirety . Once finalized and 
approved, the English version of the minutes is circulated to Members . The English 
language version is then translated into French and Spanish language versions ; 
h. In case of error, or upon request of a Member, a corrigendum may be circulated . As a 
result of the series of quality controls  that have been put in place , this has happened only 
once over the past five  years.  
Table  3: Preparation of the Minutes  
Year  Last date of the formal 
meeting  Date of 
circulation of the 
minutes  No. of pages  No. of days  
between 
meeting and 
circulation  
2019  12 April 2019 
9 July 2019 
15 November  2019 24 July 2019 
30 October  2019 
9 March  2020 75 pages  
104 pages  
74 pages  103 days 
113 days 
115 days 
2020  11 June 2020 
26 November  2020 9 October  2020 
12 March  2021 93 pages  
88 pages  120 days 
106 days 
2021  1 April 2021 
9 July 2021 
2 November  2021 16 June 2021 
21 October  2021 
28 February  2022 85 pages  
92 pages  
85 pages  76 days 
104 days 
118 days 
2022  22 April 2022 
8 July 2022 
25 November  2022 17 June 2022 
6 October  2022 
n.a. 96 pages  
99 pages  
n.a. 56 days 
90 days 
n.a. 
 G/L/1467  
 
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  2.21.  Pursuant  to paragraph  2(c) of the WTO's Procedures for Circulation and Derestriction of 
WTO Documents (WT/L/452), minutes  remain restricted on Documents Online (DOL) for 45  days 
after their official circulation , after which they are automatically derestricted . 
2.2.4   Informal meetings  
2.22.  Informal meetings are convened through a  communication that is sent to the official email 
addresses of all WTO Members, as well as to the delegates that have registered  as covering the CTG 
in the e -registration system.  
2.23.  Since February  2021, these emails are also assigned a symbol as  Informal Convening Notices, 
under the  ICN/CTG/  document series, and made  available through Documents Online. Delegates 
who have selected the CTG under the e -subscription function of Documents Online also receive an 
email alerting them when ever this type of document is issued.  
Table  4: Convening of informal meetings  
Year  Date of informal meeting  Date of communication 
convening the informal meeting  No. of days  
between 
communication 
and meeting  
2019  4 March (0.5  days, BFCTG and TFA ) 
17 May (0.5 days, AOSB ) 
18 June (0.5  days, BFCTG and  TFA) 21 February  2019 
15 May 2019 
12 June 2019 11 days 
2 days 
6 days 
2020  5 February (0.5  days, BFCTG ) 
27 July (0.5  days, AOSB)  22 January  2020 
23 July 2020 14 days 
4 days 
2021  11 February (0.5  days, BFCTG ) 
14 July (0.5  days, AOSB ) 
26 July (0.5 days, AOSB)  1 February  2021 
14 July 2021 (urgent reconvening)  
21 July 2021 (urgent reconvening)  10 days 
0 (same day)  
5 days 
2022  23 May (0.5 days , AOSB ) 
14 October (0.5 days , MC12 ) 19 May 2022 (urgent reconvening)  
22 September  2022 4 days 
22 days 
 
Acronyms used:  
AOSB : Appointment of officers of the CTG  subsidiary bodies  
FCTG: Better f unctioning of the CTG and its subsidiary bodies  
MC12: MC12  implementation matters  
TFA: Modification of the annual report on notifications (G/L/223) to reflect the notification obligations  in the TFA.  
 
2.3  Substantive work  
2.3.1   Thematic sessions  
2.24.  In its early days , the CTG  organized specific thematic sessions on different issues. For 
example, in 1998, and following discussi ons that had taken place at the Singapore Ministerial of 
1996, the CTG organized a WTO  Trade Facilitation Symposium (G/C/W/115). The issue of trade 
facilitation was eventually included as a standing item on the CTG 's agenda , and this contributed to 
the formal launch  of negotiations by the General Council on 1  August  2004 (WT/L/579, Annex  D). 
2.25.  Over the past few years, h owever, the CTG has not held any  thematic sessions, with the 
exception of the dedicated informal meetings held to discuss the better functioning of the CTG and 
its subsidiary bodies (see Section  1). G/L/1467  
 
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  2.3.2   Notifications  
2.26.  Although t he CTG does not review specific notification s, it does oversee the  timeliness and 
completion of the notifications submitted to its subsidiary bodies. At its meeting of 15 October  1996, 
the CTG considered the report of the Working  Group on Notification Obligations and Procedures 
(G/L/112 ) and decided, inter alia, that the listing of notification  obligations and the compliance 
therewith, contained in its Annex  III, should be maintaine d on an ongoing basis and circulated to all 
Members.  Accordingly, Annex  III of document  G/L/112 has been regularly  revised under the 
G/L/223/  document series.  
2.27.  The format and contents of this document ha ve been periodically reviewed by Members. The 
present revision incorporates the technical changes that were discussed by the Council on  
27 April 2004. As noted by the Chairperson18, the suggested changes w ere purely of a technical 
nature, and were intended to take account of developments that had occurred since the document 
was first  circulated. This understanding was formalized at the CTG's meeting of 5  July 2004.19 
2.28.  At its meeting of 23 and 26  March  2018, the CTG agreed to hold consultations on how to 
modify this report to take account of the entry into force of the Trade Facilitation Agreement.20 The 
present revision incorporates changes resulting from the consultati ons that took place on 
4 March  2019 concerning this Agreement .21 
2.3.3   Trade concerns  
2.29.  Over the past few years, most items on the CTG's agenda are trade concerns raised by one 
or more Members. The number of trade concerns has consistently increased and more than doubled 
over the past four  years.  (See Table  5 below for further details .) Although Members discussed  a few 
years ago how to streamline the process of considering trade concerns at the CTG  (see Section  1), 
there is currently no agreed procedure  or guidelin es for doing so . 
Table  5: Number of trade concerns  
Year  Formal meeting  (date)  Number of 
trade concerns  
2019  11-12 April 2019 
8-9 July 2019 
14-15 November  2019 20 
21 
25 
2020  10-11 June 2020 
25-26 November  2020 28 
33 
2021  31 March – 1 April 2021 
8-9 July 2021 
1-2 November  2021 32 
35 
37 
2022  21-22 April 2022 
7-8 July 2022 
24-25 November  2022 41 
44 
46 
 
 
18 In the cover note to the amended document, dated 27  April 2004, and in his statement to Members 
at the CTG 's meeting of 27  April 2004, under Other Business ( document  G/C/M/73).  
19 Document  G/C/M/74, Section  III. 
20 Document  G/C/M/131, paragraphs  2.20 and 2.21.  
21 See document  G/C/M/134, paragraph  2.1. G/L/1467  
 
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  2.3.4   Reports by the Secretariat  
2.30.  The only report that is prepared annually for the CTG is the Report on the Updating of the 
Listing of Notification Obligations and the Compliance Therewith as Set Out in Annex  III of the Report 
of the Working Group on Notification Obligations and Procedures, which circulates under the 
G/L/223/  document series . The list of not ifications  in this document does not address the ir 
qualitative aspect, that is, the extent to which the ir content satisfies the informational requirements 
of the various transparency obligations , or whether they may or may not affect the rights and 
obligat ions of Members.  The Secretariat does not currently produce any report analysing  the trade 
concerns  raised at the CTG.  
2.3.5   Participation by external stakeholders  
2.31.  At its meeting of 18  July 1996, the General Council approved the Guidelines on Observer 
Status for International Intergovernmental Organizations (Annex  3 of document  WT/L/61). The CTG 
has a number of international intergovernmental organizations that have been granted observer 
status , which are listed in d ocument  G/L/140/Rev.1 . 
2.32.  Since 2012, these organizations have not taken the floor at the CTG . In addition, there has  
been no interaction with other external stakeholders, including academia, the private sector, and 
other international intergovernmental organizations . 
2.3.6   Work with other Committees or WTO  bodies  
2.33.  The Council for Trade in Goods was established by Article  IV:5 of the Marrakesh Agreement 
establishing the WTO, which provides that " [t]he Council for Trade in Goods shall oversee the 
functioning of the Multilateral Trade Agreements in Annex  1A." Consequently, the CTG oversees 
14 subsidiary bodies, each of which submit s a report each year that is then forwarded to the General 
Council for its  consideration. However, besides the coordination necessary to compile the "Status of 
Notifications" document (see paragraph  2.3.2) and the tentative calendar of meetings (see 
paragraph  2.5), there is currently no provision for additional or formal  coordination between the CTG 
and its subsidiary bodies . 
__________  