29/ Members discuss improving data collection on trade in essential goods to fight COVID-19
26 APRIL 2022
The Committee on Market Access held on 26 April the second experience-sharing session on COVID-19-related goods, with members reporting on how they have monitored and measured trade in essential goods to combat the pandemic. They also discussed ways to improve data collection at a time of crisis. In addition, members explored how to promote greater international cooperation to better track the trade flows of value chains for the manufacturing of essential COVID-19-related products.
The experience-sharing session followed on from the first session held on 4 March 2022, which addressed two main topics: the definition of lists of essential goods to fight the pandemic and challenges related to tariff classification. Both sessions were well attended by Geneva and capital-based officials, signalling that experience sharing should remain high on the work programme of the Committee.
In the second session, China, the European Union, Thailand, the United Kingdom and India reported on how they have organized their national statistical systems to monitor and measure trade in essential goods to combat COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic — for example, by including new tariff codes or statistical breakouts or by relying on other methods. Members also shared the problems faced in data monitoring and collection and how they were addressed.
The session had many common elements with the previous one. Members noted that the identification of essential products, their classification in the Harmonized System (HS) or national tariff systems — which were addressed in the first session — and the collection of trade statistics are partially interrelated. Moreover, these issues have proven to be difficult to tackle during the COVID-19 crisis, particularly in its most intense phases.
Members also stressed that a lack of adequate or timely statistical information at the national level in many cases made it difficult to target trade policy in a precise fashion. This problem was compounded at the global level as the national approaches for collecting statistics were not coordinated, making it very difficult to get an overall picture of what was happening on the ground.
Members recognized that the WTO plays a key role in capturing trade data from members through the WTO Integrated Database (IDB). As the main source of information on tariff data and import statistics at the national level, the IDB is well placed to maintain trade data for products beyond the HS 6-digit level. A call was made to members to provide as much detailed trade information as possible to the database and to try to do this on a voluntary basis more frequently during crisis periods.
The World Customs Organization (WCO) recognized that classification of goods is a complex area. For the next version of the nomenclature, the HS 2027, it would be necessary for the trade and health administrations to work in conjunction with the customs administrations and to submit proposals for amendments to the WCO to address the issues identified regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
The chair of the Committee, Mr Chakarin Komolsiri of Thailand, thanked members for their active engagement and stressed the value of this series of experience-sharing sessions. “Today we have seen a multitude of the challenges of the past, and we are learning from each other what solutions worked well. While we cannot predict what will happen tomorrow, we can now take more conscious decisions that will influence how we will respond to future crises,” he said.
Mr Komolsiri noted that the session also allowed members to acquire relevant knowledge and experience on what information and data was needed but was not available at the height of the COVID-19 crisis. For example, while members were making efforts to improve the measurement of trade data in these products at the national level, in the vast majority of cases trade statistics continued to be collected and aggregated in the same way as before the pandemic.
“As a result, members currently lack, and unless some action is taken, will continue to lack, the right tools to have a detailed and precise measurement of trade in products that matter the most for this pandemic or, maybe even more importantly, the next one,” the chair added.
In this regard, members agreed to task the Secretariat to work on a survey through which delegations could provide more comprehensive and detailed information on the topics discussed so far and try to reduce the existing gaps. The chair stressed that the success and continuity of this initiative will depend on the number of replies received by members.
Next steps
Two other topics and dates were identified by members for the Committee to facilitate further discussions at the technical level. Members agreed to hold the third experience-sharing session on 27 June 2022 to share members’ practices on measures aimed at easing trade under the purview of the Committee, including tariff suspensions, reductions or eliminations.
The fourth session on how to improve transparency in export restrictions, as well as sharing of experiences with respect to the choices underpinning the use of such restrictions, was scheduled for 16 September 2022.
Source: wto.org
30/ Transparency concerns remain at centre of subsidies committee discussions
26 APRIL 2022
The need to improve transparency through the submission of timely and complete subsidy notifications was once again a key theme at the WTO’s Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, which met on 26 April.
Eleven members took the floor at the start of the meeting to express their strong opposition to the invasion of Ukraine. The Russian delegate responded by saying that the WTO was not the proper venue for a discussion of this nature.
The chair of the committee, Ms Noriko Teranishi of Japan, once again highlighted the problem of missing subsidy notifications. The WTO’s Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM) requires WTO members to submit notifications of any subsidies they provide which are “specific”, i.e. subsidies given to a particular enterprise or industry, or a group of enterprises or industries.
The most recent background note prepared by the WTO Secretariat shows that between 1995 and 2019, the percentage of members that have failed to make a notification rose sharply as WTO membership increased, from 25% to 58%, a record high.
Despite reminders to members to submit their notifications in time, 94 members have still not submitted their 2021 notifications, the chair noted, despite the deadline being mid-2021. In addition, 78 members still have not submitted their 2019 subsidy notifications, and 67 have still failed to submit their 2017 notifications. The chair strongly urged all WTO members to submit their notifications as soon as possible and use the technical assistance available through the WTO Secretariat if help is needed in filing the notifications.
Seven delegations took the floor to urge members to step up their efforts and ensure timely submission of notifications.
The committee continued to discuss the revised proposal submitted by the United States for ensuring timely responses to questions posed by members under Article 25.8 of the SCM Agreement. Article 25.8 states that any member may, at any time, make a written request for information on the nature and extent of any subsidy granted or maintained by another member, or for an explanation of the reasons for which a specific measure has been considered as not subject to the requirement of notification.
Review of subsidy notifications from members
The committee reviewed new and full subsidy notifications for 2021 submitted by Albania, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, the European Union and its member states, Georgia, Honduras, Hong Kong China, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Korea, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Seychelles, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The committee continued its review of 2021 subsidy notifications from Cambodia, Montenegro, Macao China and Lao PDR as well as 2019 subsidy notifications from Argentina, China, the Dominican Republic, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia and the United States. The committee also continued its review of a 2017 notification from Mexico, a 2015 notification from China, and a 2009 notification from Gabon.
The committee continued discussions on a proposal from Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, New Zealand, Chinese Taipei, the United Kingdom and the United States to amend procedures for the review of new and full subsidy notifications.
National legislation
The committee reviewed new notifications of countervailing duty legislation submitted by Brazil, Cameroon, India and the United States and continued its review of the legislative notifications of Cameroon, India, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Peru, Ghana and Kenya.
Semi-annual reports of members on countervailing duty actions
The committee went over the semi-annual reports of countervailing duty actions submitted by Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, the European Union, India, Mexico, Peru, Chinese Taipei, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and Viet Nam.
In addition to the semi-annual reports, the SCM Agreement requires members to submit notifications without delay of all preliminary and final countervailing duty actions taken. Reports received from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, India, the United Kingdom and the United States were reviewed by members.
Other matters
Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States once again placed a separate item on the agenda regarding subsidies and overcapacity.
Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States also placed a separate item on the agenda regarding China’s publication and inquiry point obligations under China’s Protocol of WTO Accession.
Under “other business”, China raised its questions posed to the United States under Article 25.8 of the Agreement.
Next meeting
The next meeting of the SCM Committee is scheduled to take place the week of 24 October 2022.
Source: wto.org
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