JOB/GC/224  
 
9 December 2019  
(19-8568) Page: 1/2 
General Council    
 
AGENDA ITEM 2 : IMPLEMENTATION OF TH E BALI, NAIROBI AND BUENOS AIRES 
OUTCOMES – STATEMENT  BY THE CHAIR  
MONDAY, 9 DECEMBER 2 019 
1.1.  Let me start my statement by pointing out that matters related to the Bali Decision on TRQ 
Administration, the Work Programme on Small Economies,  TRIPS non -violation and situation 
complaints, and the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce will be taken up in the succeeding 
agenda items.  
1.2.  Concerning the Nairobi Decision on Export Competition, the situation regarding the al ignment 
of Members' schedules with its provisions has not evolved. Eleven Members with scheduled export 
subsidy commitments have now had their revised schedules certified; and two Members have 
circulated draft revised schedules, for which the certification  process is ongoing.  
1.3.  Moving to the Decision on Preferential Rules of  Origin for LDCs , the Committee on Rules of 
Origin has forwarded to the General Council its report (G/RO/89), in line with the provisions of the 
Bali and Nairobi Decisions.  The report con tains the annual review of the developments in preferential 
rules of origin applicable to imports from LDCs. A number of areas are highlighted, including 
transparency; preferential tariff and import data; notifications; a new on -line tool called the "Origi n 
Facilitator"; updates received from preference -granting Members and examination of the utilization 
of non -reciprocal preferences by LDCs.  
1.4.  Turning to the LDC Services Waiver , at its meeting at the end of October, the Council for Trade 
in Services held a d edicated session to review the operation of the preferences notified under the 
Waiver.  The dedicated session was organized in two parts: a workshop and a dedicated formal 
meeting of the Council.  
1.5.  The workshop, on "Facilitating the Increasing Participation of Least Developed Countries in 
Trade in Services", offered diverse and valuable presentations and contributions. I understand that 
the dedicated formal meeting was equally rich and that it provided a platform for constructive and 
stimulating interventions  with the active engagement of LDC and notifying Members alike.  The 
overall sentiment was that the dedicated session had been a useful and productive event.  
1.6.  Moving now to the Bali Decision on the Monitoring Mechanism on Special and Differential 
Treatment , a dedicated session on the Monitoring Mechanism was held on 22 November, but the 
situation remains unchanged, with divergent views persisting on how to proceed with the review of 
the Mechanism, which is already long overdue.  
1.7.  At the November meeting of the  CTD, the annual DFQF review also took place. The CTD 
Chairman noted that, in spite of the informal consultations he had held, it was again not possible for 
the Secretariat to prepare the mandated report on Members' DFQF market access for LDCs – due 
once a gain to divergent views on the scope and coverage of the report.  
1.8.  In terms of the process  leading to the establishment of the 2020 -21 Aid for Trade work 
programme, at the request of the CTD Chairman, the Secretariat consulted with groupings of 
developing M embers. An informal CTD meeting will be held in the early part of 2020 for Members to 
exchange views, and the intention would be for a draft work programme to be then circulated for  
Members' consideration, and subsequently discussed at a formal CTD Aid for  Trade meeting in 
February.  JOB/GC/224  
 
- 2 - 
 
   
1.9.  And regarding the Bali Decision on Trade and Transfer of Technology, at the recent meeting of 
the Working Group, a number of developing Members and LDCs stressed the importance of the work 
and called for an evaluation to be un dertaken to determine what has been accomplished by the 
Working Group, and what remains to be done.  
1.10.   And finally, regarding Trade Facilitation , for this meeting, the Chair of the Committee on Trade 
Facilitation, Ambassador Mohammad H aqjo (Afghanistan), has  asked to share with the General 
Council an update about the work that has taken place in the Committee.  
 
__________