Transparency concerns were at the center of discussions during a recent meeting of the Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM) Committee. The Chair emphasized the importance of timely notifications from members, stating, "all members benefit from the collective effort of timely and complete notifications." Eight other members echoed these concerns and calls.
The Chair also praised the WTO Secretariat's support and a successful technical assistance project aimed at improving the notification process. He noted that the project led to 11 out of 23 developing and least developed country members submitting their 2023 notifications, contributing to 15% of all notifications received for this cycle.
During the meeting, the Committee reviewed subsidy notifications from a wide range of countries including Argentina, Brazil, China, the European Union, Japan, and the United States, among others. Discussions also included the review of national legislation related to countervailing duties and semi-annual reports from various members on countervailing duty actions.
Addressing past obligations, the Chair reminded members of the deadline for the elimination of export subsidies by certain members, urging compliance without delay. Additionally, the Committee discussed the election of new members to the Permanent Group of Experts and proposed guidelines for submission of questions and answers under specific articles.
Various countries placed separate items on the agenda for future discussions, including China regarding discriminatory subsidies policies of the United States, the Republic of Korea concerning France's electric vehicle subsidy scheme, and the United States on Kazakhstan's proposed preferences for domestically produced agricultural machinery.
The meeting concluded with a reminder from the Chair about the upcoming autumn 2024 meetings of the SCM Committee scheduled for the week of 28 October 2024. More information about the SCM Agreement and the WTO's work on subsidies and countervailing measures can be found on the WTO's website.