International Trade Files, Lot 57D284, Box 111
Memorandum Submitted by the United States Delegation to the Fourth Session of the Contracting Parties to GATT
GATT/CP.4/15
Arrangements for Regular Reporting in Accordance With Paragraph 2 of Annex J
Paragraph 2 of Annex J provides:
“Any contracting party taking action under paragraph 1 of this Annex shall keep the Contracting Parties regularly informed regarding such action and shall provide such available relevant information as the Contracting Parties may request.”
It should be noted that no similar provision applies to the contracting parties which have not elected to be bound by Annex J. This unique requirement is presumably due to the fact that the limitations upon discriminatory import restrictions imposed by Annex J are more specific than and quite different in form from those contained in paragraphs 1 (b) and (c) of Article XIV.
The United States considers it desirable that in the course of reviewing the data which the Contracting Parties have submitted for purposes of the report required by Article XIV 1 (g), the existence of this special reporting requirement should be borne in mind. It may be that the problems which the Contracting Parties will encounter in [Page 746] reviewing and appraising the data submitted pursuant to GATT/CP/391 will suggest the desirability of obtaining supplementary information on a regular basis from countries who have elected to be governed by the provisions of Annex J.
- Under paragraph 1(g) of the General Agreement, the Contracting Parties were required to report not later than March 1, 1950, and on each year thereafter on any action under Annex J (“exceptions to the rule of nondiscrimination”). A questionnaire was circulated by the GATT Secretariat to the Contracting Parties on October 7, 1949, requesting such information (Doc. GATT/CP/39). See further, footnote 1, p. 748.↩