WTO members lag behind on notifying subsidies: SCM committee chai

WTO members continue to lag behind in meeting their obligations to notify the organisation of their subsidy programmes, the chair of the WTO’s Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM) has said. 

Despite efforts to encourage members to improve the timeliness of their notifications, including offers of technical assistance from the World Trade Organization (WTO) Secretariat, “compliance with the obligation to notify subsidies unfortunately remains low,” Chair Michèle Legault Dooley of Canada told the committee at a meeting last Tuesday.

A total of 83 WTO members have not yet made their new and full subsidy notifications for 2019, despite a deadline for submission of notifications more than a year ago, according to a press release. 

In addition, 68 members still have not made their subsidy notifications for 2017, although the deadline was more than three years ago, while 58 members still have not made their 2015 notifications due over five years ago.

The chair noted that the “chronic” low compliance with subsidy notifications continues despite members having stressed the importance of the information provided through subsidy notifications and recommitting at their 2017 Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires to the implementation of existing notification obligations under Article 25.3 of the SCM Agreement.

The United States submitted a further revised proposal for ensuring timely responses to questions posed by members on the subsidy programmes of other members. 

Several members expressed their support for the proposal, while one member cautioned developing countries may have difficulties in meeting the timelines for responses. Members agreed to continue to discuss the proposal.

Canada, the European Union, Norway, Japan and the US expressed their joint concerns about the role of subsidies in contributing to excess production capacity in certain sectors.

At the end of the meeting, members elected Sungyo Choi of the Republic of Korea as the new chair of the SCM Committee.