RUL19-9

The Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures ("SCM Agreement") obliges Members to submit a variety of notifications to the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures ("SCM Committee"). The basic subsidies notification requirement is contained in Article 25.2 of the SCM Agreement and in Article XVI:1 of GATT 1994. Article 25.2 requires notification of any subsidy as defined in the Agreement, which is specific, as also defined in the Agreement. However, compliance with the obligation to notify subsidies remains low. The workshop aims to bring together the officials of English-speaking African countries responsible for subsidy notifications for a detailed discussion of the notification obligation and exchange experiences and ideas, with a view to improving understanding of the notification obligation and identifying ways in which Members could streamline and facilitate as much as possible their internal processes for developing notifications.