The 2010 chairpersons:

Committee on Market Access: Dan OWOKO (Kenya)
Committee on Agriculture: Valeria CSUKASI (Uruguay)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures: Flavio SOARES DAMICO (Brazil)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade: Amit YADAV (India)
Committee on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs): Hong ZHAO (China)
Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices: Adrian SERRA (Argentina)
Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures: Robert FANG (Chinese Taipei)
Committee on Safeguards: Tobias LORENTZSEN (Sweden)
Committee on Import Licensing: Anna ASHIKALI (Cyprus)
Committee on Rules of Origin: Jasmin QUAH-ZUBAIR (Singapore)
Committee on Customs Valuation: Tamás VATTAI (Hungary)
Working Party on State Trading Enterprises: Doris JURADO (Colombia)
ITA Committee: Tomohiro KANEKO (Japan)

Ecuador expressed concern about the selection process, noting its lack of representation in the chairmanships of the Council's subsidiary bodies. The chair said that the selection process was transparent and that each region had been given sufficient representation. She noted that Latin America had been given more seats this year than in previous years.

Regional trade agreements and notifications

The chair reported the recent notification of the following regional trade agreements: ASEAN-Japan Free Trade Agreement, Panama-Honduras Free-Trade Agreement, Customs Union of the European Union and San Marino, Peru-China Free Trade Agreement, and Turkey-Montenegro Free Trade Agreement.

On another matter, the chair said that the Secretariat had updated the listing of notification obligations and compliance by members.

The United States welcomed the updated listing but expressed concern about what it said are numerous notifications that remain outstanding, particularly in the area of state-trading enterprises.

The chair announced that the next meeting of the Goods Council is scheduled for 20 May 2010.