Ministers recommend approval by the Ministerial Conference of the improvement and review of notification procedures as set out below.
Members,
Desiring to improve the operation of notification procedures under the WTO, and thereby to contribute to the transparency of Members' trade policies and to the effectiveness of surveillance arrangements established to that end,
Recalling obligations under the WTO to publish and notify, including obligations assumed under the terms of specific Protocols of Accession, waivers, and other agreements entered into by Members,
Agree as follows:
I. General obligation to notify
Members affirm their commitment to obligations under the Multilateral Trade Agreements and, where applicable, the Plurilateral Trade Agreements, regarding publication and notification.
Members recall their undertakings set out in the Understanding Regarding Notification, Consultation, Dispute Settlement and Surveillance adopted by the CONTRACTING PARTIES to the GATT 1947 on 28 November 1979. With regard to their undertaking therein to notify, to the maximum extend possible, their adoption of trade measures affecting the operation of the GATT 1994, such notification itself being without prejudice to views on the consistency of measures with or their relevance to rights and obligations under the Multilateral Trade Agreements and, where applicable, the Plurilateral Trade Agreements, Members agree to be guided, as appropriate, by the annexed list of measures. Members therefore agree that the introduction or modification of such measures is subject to the notification requirements of the 1979 Understanding.
II. Central registry of notifications
A central registry of notifications shall be established under the responsibility of the WTO Secretariat. While Members will continue to follow existing notification procedures, the Secretariat shall ensure that the registry records such elements of the information provided on the measure by the Member as its purpose, its trade coverage, and the requirement under which it has been notified. The registry shall cross-reference its records of notifications by Member and obligation.
The central registry shall inform each Member annually of the regular notification obligations to which that Member will be expected to respond in the course of the following year.
The central registry shall draw the attention of individual Members to regular notification requirements which remain unfulfilled.
Information in the central registry regarding individual notifications shall be made available on request to any Member entitled to receive the notification concerned.
III. Review of notification obligations and procedures
The Council for Trade in Goods will undertake a review of notification obligations and procedures under the Agreements in Annex 1A. The review will be carried out by a working group, membership in which will be open to all Members. The group will be established immediately after the entry into force of the Agreement Establishing the WTO.
The terms of reference of the working group will be:
Tariff quotas and surcharges
Quantitative restrictions, including voluntary export restraints and orderly marketing arrangements affecting imports
Other non-tariff measures such as licensing and mixing requirements; variable levies
Customs valuation
Rules of origin
Government Procurement
Technical barriers
Safeguard actions
Anti-dumping actions
Countervailing actions
Export taxes
Export subsidies, tax exemptions and concessionary export financing
Free-trade zones, including in-bond manufacturing
Export restrictions, including voluntary export restraints and orderly marketing arrangements
Other government assistance, including subsidies, tax exemptions
R��le of State-trading enterprises
Foreign exchange controls related to imports and exports
Government-mandated countertrade
Any other measure covered by the Multilateral Trade Agreements in Annex 1A to the Agreement Establishing the WTO
1. This list does not alter existing notification requirements in the Multilateral Trade Agreements in Annex 1A to the Agreement Establishing the WTO.
W3 since October 3 1993.