The Working Party on State Trading Enterprises recently convened to review 32 new notifications from 26 World Trade Organization (WTO) members, including Argentina, the Kingdom of Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Eswatini, the European Union, Georgia, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong (China), Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Korea, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States. Discussions also covered previously submitted notifications by India, the Philippines and South Africa.
During the meeting held on November 4th in Geneva as part of ongoing efforts to ensure transparency in state trading enterprises under WTO rules. Eleven delegations emphasized "the need for greater compliance with transparency obligations" and urged all members to submit their notifications within set deadlines and respond substantively to questions from other members.
In accordance with Article XVII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 and its interpretative understanding from the same year. WTO members are obligated to report on their state trading enterprises biennially.
Ukraine and seven other countries voiced strong opposition to Russia's actions in Ukraine while highlighting Russia's non-compliance with notification requirements. The Russian Federation countered that such political statements were inappropriate for this forum.
The background context highlights that WTO agreements mandate members to disclose relevant information about their state trading enterprises and prohibit using these entities to bypass other WTO commitments.
The next meeting of the Working Party is scheduled for May 5th next year.