RESTRICTED  
  
JOB/CTG/28  
 
5 April 2023 
(23-2405) Page: 1/6 
Council for Trade in Goods    
 
COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS  
MC12  IMPLEMENTATION MATTERS – IMPROVING THE FUNCTIONING OF THE CTG  
Current Status of Work Following the  
Formal Meeting of 3 -4 April 2023 
This document has been prepared under the responsibility of  Mr Étienne  OUDOT DE DAINVILLE , 
outgoing Chairperson of the Council for Trade in Goods , with a view to capturing the current status 
of work on the discussions for the improvement of the functioning of the CTG . The document is for 
information purposes only  and is without prejudice to the position of Members on these discussions.  
 
The annex to this document is largely based on the document summarizing the " Next Steps Proposed 
by the Chairperson F ollowing  the Informal Meeting  of 31  March  2023", document  JOB/CTG/27 , 
which has been updated to take into account the discussions and agreements reached at the formal 
meeting of the Council for Trade in Goods that took place on 3 -4 April 2023.  
 
Of the almost 30 concrete proposals to improve the functioning of the CTG that were put forward by  
Members  at the beginning of March  and listed in the convening notice of 14 March  2023, 
document  ICN/CTG/9 , the Council has thus far reached formal agreement in four of them , either 
through written procedures or throug h actions agreed at the formal meeting of 3-4 April. In addition, 
there are  eleven  issues where progress was made  at the informal meeting , including several where 
either the Chairperson or the Secretariat were instructed by the Council to take action . As a result , 
the Council's discussions have thus far been able to move forward in  half of the concrete proposals  
that were put forward by Members . 
 
  
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- 2 - ANNEX  
IMPROVING THE FUNCTIONING OF THE CTG  
Current Status of Work Following the Formal Meeting of 3 -4 April  2023  
Issue  Next informal meeting  Actions to be taken by the Chairperson 
or the Secretariat  Agreements  reached  by the Council  
1. Assistance to capital -based and Geneva -based delegates  
a.1 Regular introductory sessions on the 
functioning of the CTG   The Secretariat will develop a  draft 
introductory session on the functioning of the 
CTG so it can be presented to Members.   
a.2 Request the  GC to consider horizontally 
the question of regular introductory sessions 
on the functioning of WTO  bodies (WTO -wide 
approach)  Further discussion required .   
b. Development of a manual describing the 
functioning of the CTG   The Secretariat will develop a draft concise 
manual describing the functioning of the CTG  
in general terms so it can be consulted  with 
Members . The  Secretariat will also examine 
how best to make the information  available  
through the WTO  website .  
2. Planning and organization of meetings  
a. Improved planning of meetings (for the 
entire Organization), including the date on 
which the agenda closes  Further discussion required, 
including on the sequencing of 
meetings of the CTG and its 
subsidiary bodies.  At the request of Members, the CTG Chai r will 
inform in writing  the Chairperson of the 
General Council o f the concerns raised by 
Members at the CTG and, in particular, of  the 
problems faced when meeting dates are 
changed after their announcement. The CTG 
Chair should also mention that the WTO 
should: (i) fix the dates of all meeting s on an 
annual basis, including those of the GC;  and 
(ii) require each body that changes a meeting 
date, to explain in  writing  to Members the 
reasons for such change . Agreement reached at the Council's formal 
meeting of  3-4 April 2023: 
"Members wishing to propose the inclusion of 
an agenda item for a formal meeting of the 
Council for Trade in Goods should , no less than 
15 calendar days prior to the date of the 
meeting , either include it in the eAgenda or 
inform the Secre tariat in writing of their 
intention. If the deadline falls on a 
non-working day, it will be moved  to the 
previous business day. "  
  JOB/CTG/28  
 
- 3 - Issue  Next informal meeting  Actions to be taken by the Chairperson 
or the Secretariat  Agreements  reached  by the Council  
b. Calendar of meetings (introduction of an 
automatic alert mechanism)   Secretariat to inform Members  of the changes 
that are currently under way to improve the 
calendar of meetings in the WTO  website and 
have a "walk through" of these changes  once 
they are introduced .  
c. Cluster related meetings to facilitate 
increased value for capital -based attendance  Further discussion required . At the 
meeting it was noted that this issue 
includes both grouping different 
types of meeting of the same body 
(e.g. formal and informal meetings, 
thematic sessions), as well as 
grouping meetings of different 
bodies.    
d. Dedicated cross -cutting and joint sessions 
of two or more bodies to expand consideration 
of linked topics  Further discussion required .   
3. Work procedures  
Formal meetings  
a. Agenda setting (order in which trade 
concerns are listed, e.g.  start with the new 
ones)   Agreement reached at the Council's formal 
meeting of 3 -4 April 2023: 
"The Secretariat is instructed  to include a new 
subsection in the agenda to separate new 
trade concerns  and place them before 
previously raised trade concerns ." 
 
b. Possible introduction of an annotated 
agenda (i.e. providing background and other 
information on the issues to be discussed  at 
the meeting)   The Secretariat will develop a draft template 
for a CTG annotated agenda, based on the 
CMA, TBT and SPS  models, to be consulted 
with Members. The contents of the annotated 
agenda should be strictly limited to factual 
information. Once feedback has been received 
and the template is adjusted, Members will 
decide whether it can be used on a trial basis  
at a for mal meeting of the CTG .  
c. Trade concerns  (how to improve the 
effectiveness of discussions ?) Further discussion required .    
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- 4 - Issue  Next informal meeting  Actions to be taken by the Chairperson 
or the Secretariat  Agreements  reached  by the Council  
d. Possible improvements to the 
minutes/reports of formal meetings  Further discussion required . Secretariat to present different approaches to 
the preparation of minutes.   
e. Oral reports by the Chairperson and the 
Secretariat to be shared shortly after the 
meeting  Further discussion required . It was 
noted that the issue may be solved 
with the implementation of the 
eAgenda o r through changes to the 
way in which the minutes are 
prepared.    
f. Documentation:     
f.1 Online availability of all presentations 
and documents in all three 
WTO languages for consideration during 
the meeting . Further discussion required .   
f.2 E nsure that all references to 
documents (document symbols) include a 
hyperlink to Documents online   The Secretariat is already assessing how best 
to implement this request and will report back 
on progress made.   
Informal meetings  
g. Organization of informal meetings, 
including the possible alignment in procedures 
with formal meetings  Further discussion required .   
h. Reports by the Chairperson summarizing 
the outcome of informal meetings (circulation 
sufficiently in advance of the formal meeting 
to take account of comments from Members), 
including reminder of next meeting date(s)  Further discussion required .   
i. Possibl e use of thematic sessions, e.g. to 
facilitate information sharing and informal 
dialogue (supported by an annual agenda 
item to provide dedicated time to potential 
Member -driven thematic sessions)  Further discussion required .   
Other  
j. Preparation of a "style manual" identifying 
best practices implemented by some 
Committees  Further discussion required .    
  JOB/CTG/28  
 
- 5 - Issue  Next informal meeting  Actions to be taken by the Chairperson 
or the Secretariat  Agreements  reached  by the Council  
4. Use of digital tools  
a. eAgenda (Note: implementation on a 
preliminary basis under way)   In the next few days, the Secretariat will 
inform Members about the upcoming testing 
of the new eAgenda system for the CTG, and 
will provide an opportunity for Members to 
provide feedback.  On 10  February  2023, th e Council agreed , 
through written procedures, to a Decision on 
the "Introduction of the eAgenda in the work 
of the CTG on a Trial Basis". 
See document  G/L/1481 . 
b. Maintain virtual participation option for 
formal and informal meetings to facilitate 
capital participation   There is broad support for maintaining virtual 
participation in meetings. However, it was 
noted that this is a horizontal issue beyond the 
CTG, which depends on the overall budget of 
the Organization.   
c. eRegistration (modifications to improve 
communication  with Members; identification 
of capital -based officials with responsibilities 
related to WTO bodies)  Further discussion required.  The 
Secretariat will report at the next 
informal meeting.  The Secretariat will examine the request to 
allow capital -based officials to indicate, under 
the eRegistration system, the bodies that they 
follow and whether they would like to receive 
e-mails from these bodies. Currently, both 
options are only possible f or Geneva -based 
delegates.   
d. Trade concerns database (possible 
adoption by the CTG)    Agreement reached at the Council's formal 
meeting of 3 -4 April 2023:  
"The Secretariat is instructed  to integrate the 
CTG data on trade concerns into the Trade 
Concerns Database, subject to budgetary 
constraints. As the project progresses, the 
Secretariat will consult with Members on 
potential adjustments, such as how to link  
trade  concerns  raised at the CTG with  STCs 
raised in other bodies. " 
e. Notifications portal and online 
notifications     
e.1 Notifications portal  Secretariat to present the current 
status and work being developed in 
this area.    
e.2 O nline notifications  Further discussion required .   
f. WTO Calendar of meetings  See 2.b. above.     
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- 6 - Issue  Next informal meeting  Actions to be taken by the Chairperson 
or the Secretariat  Agreements  reached  by the Council  
g. WTO website     
g.1 Improved consistency; add time stamps 
for website updates  Further discussion required .   
g.2 Improve the search function  Further discussion required .   
g.3 A llow for personalization and central 
management of user options across the 
different WTO webpages  Further discussion required .   
h. WTO Digital Tools Overview Session (hold 
regular sessions)   There appears to be convergence towards 
holding a session at least once per year, which 
should be recorded and made available to 
Members . It was also noted that any 
budgetary impact should be taken into 
account.   
i. Development of basic productivity apps 
for mobile phones (delegate directory, 
Secretariat directory, meeting calendar, 
meeting room reservation)  Further discussion required .   
 
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