FOOD EXPORT BARRIERS AND HUMANITARIAN FOOD AID
BY THE WFP (World Food Programme)
Communication from Australia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, the European Union, Korea,
Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Switzerland and Turkey
The following communication is being circulated at the request of the delegation of the European Union.
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Introduction
Following a call from leaders at the G20 Summit in Seoul, G20 Ministers of Agriculture met in Paris on June 22nd and 23rd. They adopted an "Action Plan on Food Price Volatility and Agriculture."
In paragraph 40 of that Action Plan, under the section on International Policy Coordination, the Ministers of Agriculture expressed their commitment "to remove food export restrictions or extraordinary taxes for food purchased for non-commercial humanitarian purposes by the WFP (World Food Programme)" and agreed "not to impose them in the futur
Questions from Malaysia on the two Chemical Proposals
Communication from Malaysia
The following communication, dated 6 September 2010, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Malaysia.
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Questions from Malaysia on the proposal by Argentina and Brazil for an "Understanding to Facilitate the Implementation of the TBT Agreement as Applied to Trade in the Chemical Products Sector"
(TN/MA/W/135)
Article 1 – Scope
1. Article 1 provides that the Understanding covers registration requirements and laboratory accreditation related with chemical lines in HS Chapter 28 – 39, with the exclusion in Annex A. Please explain if this scope is predetermined or can the scope be expanded to include other Chapters with products that may contain chemical substances.
Questions on the “Ministerial Decision on Trade in Remanufactured Goods”
Communication from Brazil and India
The following communication, dated 9 December 2009, is being circulated at the request of the delegations of Brazil and India.
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The delegations of Brazil and India would like to pose the following questions to the proponents of the “Ministerial Decision on Trade in Remanufactured Goods”.
Q1: A variety of views, most of them expressing difficulties in accepting the suggested definition of 'remanufactured goods', has been heard in the discussions thus far. Should not the discussion of the definition in itself be one of the items of the work program?
Q2 : The proponents state that the suggested definition for remanufactured goods is non-binding and that there are no requirements for Members to implement it. If that i
Understanding on the Interpretation of the Agreement on
Technical Barriers to Trade as Applied to Electronics
Communication from the European Union
The following communication, dated 7 December 2009, is being circulated at the request of the delegations of the European Union.
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Compendium of Answers from Co-sponsors on Questions to Written Question received regarding the proposed "Understanding on the interpretation of the Agreement on
technical barriers to trade as applied to electronics"
Below are answers to written questions the co-sponsors have received from Members since 16 April 2009. Several of the questions relate to the proposal circulated in document JOB(07)42/Rev.1 and included in the draft NAMA modalities text (TN/MA/W103/Rev.3). The co sponsors have substantially revised the proposal to take into account comments f
AGRICULTURE DATA AND TEMPLATES EXERCISE
OVERVIEW OF STEP 2
Communication from Australia and Uruguay
The following communication, dated 24 November 2009, is being circulated at the request of the Delegations of Australia and Uruguay.
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This communication is being circulated to contribute to the ongoing discussion on data and templates. It is without prejudice to the negotiating positions of Australia or Uruguay on any of the issues listed below or included in the Doha Round mandate.
Introduction
In Uruguay’s paper (JOB(09)/99) outlining a general approach to data and template requirements to operationalise modalities, a two step approach was outlined.
Step 1 involved identifying which elements in the draft modalities text needed to be scheduled and, for each of them:
determining base data requirements; and
developing templates and supporting tables to organise su
OVERVIEW
The Second Global Review of Aid for Trade, held on 6 and 7 July 2009, highlighted substantial, measurable progress in implementation of the Aid-for-Trade mandate agreed at the December 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Conference. The Aid-for-Trade initiative has succeeded in raising awareness about the support developing countries, and in particular Least Developed Countries (LDCs), need to overcome the barriers that constrain their ability to benefit from trade expansion and reduce poverty. Partner countries have raised the profile of trade in their development strategies and donors have responded by providing increasing resources to build trade capacity – whether in terms of policies, institutions or infrastructure. The flow of Aid-for-Trade resources has increased year on year since 2005, and despite the more challenging glo
U.S. Answers to China’s questions on the Electronics Proposal
Communication from the United States
The following communication, dated 30 October 2009, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of the United States.
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QUESTION: Many Members have expressed their view that the two proposals on electronics should merge into one since these two are trying to address similar issues. Otherwise it is too time and energy consuming. China would like to urge the proponents to speed up this process.
China believes it is necessary to promote the harmonization of international standards in electronics. The revised part of the EC’s proposal is interesting and China will study this proposal carefully. China notices that the US’ and EC’ proposals are trying to address this issue in different approaches. China would like to invite
eXPORT SUBSIDIES – SUPPORTING TABLE
FOR "NO NEW MARKETS"
Communication from the United States
The following communication, dated 14 October 2009, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of the United States.
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Export Competition: Export Subsidies Supporting Table "No New Markets" Supporting Data Member: Member X Date: mm/dd/yyyy EXPORT SUBSIDIES Supporting Table for "No New Markets" Product Group HS Codes (in HS 2002) 12-Month Trade Data Period1 (month-month) Member's Export Data and Subsidy Declarations in Base Years "No New Markets" Base Data 2003 2004 2005 Quantity2 (national data) Export Destinations3 (country names) Export Subsidy Markets4 (positive list) Quantity2 (national data) Export Destinations3 (country names) Export Subsidy Markets4 (positive list) Quantity2 (na
During the consultations that I conducted in July, it was proposed that it might be helpful to reflect upon previous contributions on a working definition of subsidies for the purpose of both information exchange, as well as the development of disciplines on the trade-distortive effects of subsidies under Article XV of the GATS.
Having reviewed previous contributions circulated in the Working Party and reports of formal and informal meetings, it seems to me that it may be useful to revisit the communication from Chile; Hong Kong, China; Mexico; Peru and Switzerland on a provisional definition of subsidies as contained in JOB(05)/96. I have, therefore, decided, under my own responsibility, to reproduce this communication in Annex 1 of this Note.
Initial discussions on JOB(05)/96 were undertaken in 2005 and early 2006, and views
Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures
STANDARD FORMAT FOR SEMI-ANNUAL REPORTS AND MINIMUM
INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED IN REPORTS UNDER
ARTICLE 25.11 OF THE SCM AGREEMENT*
Note by the Chairman
Revision
At its meeting held on 29 October 2008, the Committee agreed, in light of recent decisions taken in the Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices on the standard format for semi-annual reports on anti-dumping actions and on the minimum information to be provided in reports on preliminary and final anti-dumping actions, to hold informal consultations to consider whether it is desirable to review the standard format for semi-annual reports and the minimum information to be provided in reports on notifications of countervailing duty actions under Article 25.11 of the SCM Agreement.
By fax dated 18 December 2008, the then Chairperson of the Committee informed Members of his intention to initiate informal consultations on this matte
The following communication, dated 26 May 2009, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Canada.
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BACKGROUND
The Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade was established with one of its key aims being to enable Members to consult on any matters related to the operation of the Agreement. Canada considers the Committee’s consultations amongst members on specific trade concerns under "implementation and administration of the agreement" to be of great importance. The over two hundred distinct specific trade concerns raised to date attest to this importance, as well as to the intensifying participation of the Members.
To date, the Chair has encouraged delegations to notify the Secretariat and concerned Members in advance should they intend to raise specific trade concerns in a meeting. Canada believes t
World Trade
Organization TN/MA/W/110
16 April 2009 (09-1826) Negotiating Group on Market Access Original: English
MARKET ACCESS FOR NON-AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
Answers by the co-sponsors to Questions raised during Chair's NTB session of 19.03.2009 regarding the proposed "Ministerial Decision on procedures
for the facilitation of solutions to non-tariff barriers"
Communication from the co-sponsors
The following communication, dated 8 April 2009, is being circulated at the request of the co sponsors of the proposed "Ministerial Decision on procedures for the facilitation of solutions to non-tariff barriers".
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The co-sponsors of the "Ministerial Decision on procedures for the facilitation of solutions to Non-Tariff Barriers" (African Group, Canada, European Communities, LDC Group, NAMA-11, Group of Developing Countries, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan and Switzerland) would like to express their gratitude for the questions rai
The TBT Committee agreed to hold a Workshop on the Role of International Standards in Economic Development at its meeting of 5-6 November 2008. The Workshop will consider the economics of standardization, case studies dealing with the use of international standards, ongoing efforts to build standardization capacity in developing countries and specific challenges facing developing countries, as well as ways and means of addressing these. The purpose of this note is to provide a brief description of the economic rationale for standards (Section I) and to illustrate with some selected examples efforts to quantify these benefits (Section II). A short bibliography is provided (Section III). The note is intended to provide background for the discussion in Session 1 of the Workshop, to be held on 16 March 2009.
DRAFT Modalities for the Sectoral Tariff Elimination
in Automotives and Related Parts
Communication from Japan
The following communication, dated 4 July 2008, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Japan.
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1. As proposed in the previous communication of
13 April
200
6
(JOB(06)/87), tariff elimination in the automotives and related parts sector is an important component of a successful outcome of the Doha Development Agenda. The automotives and related parts sector is a highly globalized sector
that makes a
significant contribution to quality of life.
E
limination of tariffs
world-wide will play an
important
role
for the benefit of consumers as well as the industry.
2. In accordance with paragraph [12(a)] of the NAMA modalities, this document sets out modalities for the reduction or elimination of tariffs on
