./.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/RL/8 
8 April 2004  
 
(04-1616) 
Negotiating Group on Rules  
   
NEGOTIATING GROUP ON RULES 
 
Report by the Chairman
 
to the Trade Negotiating Committee  
  
I. STATUS OF WORK 
1. Due to the general situation in the DDA nego tiations following the Ministerial Conference in 
Cancún, the Negotiating Group on Rules held no furthe r meetings in 2003 after its meetings of 21-
23 July 2003.  The Group was able to restart its  work when the General Council took note, at its 
11 February 2004 meeting, of the consensus regard ing the appointment of officers to WTO bodies 
(WT/GC/M/85).  That consensus included the appointment of myself, Eduardo Pérez Motta, 
Ambassador of Mexico, as Chairman of the Negotiating Group on Rules. 
2. The Group held formal meetings on 11 March 2004, to discuss issues relating to Regional 
Trade Agreements ("RTAs"), and 16 March 2004, to  discuss issues relating to Anti-Dumping ("AD") 
and Subsidies and Countervailing Measures ("SCM") including fisheries subsidies.  The summary records of these meetings are reflected in documents  TN/RL/M/12 and /13.  The next meetings of the 
Group are scheduled for 26-28 April 2004 (AD and SCM including fisheries subsidies), and 5 May 
2004 (RTAs).  The April meeting will include open-ended informal sessions for discussion of 
elaborated proposals to be submitted by participants , in addition to its formal sessions.  The May 
meeting of the Group will also be partly devoted to the informal discussion of RTAs' transparency 
matters and of "systemic" issues. 
3. At the 11 March 2004 meeting,. the Group expr essed readiness to take up the work from 
where it had been left in July 2003.  It emphasized the importance of progressing on various outstanding elements of an RTAs transparency proposal, while commencing substantive discussions 
on "systemic" issues.  The Group requested that thr ee informal documents be made available well in 
advance of the next meeting, to serve as a basi s to the debate:  a Chair's stock-taking note on 
transparency of RTAs; his suggested roadmap for the sequencing of discussions on "systemic issues"; 
and an example of presentation of an RTA by the Secretariat. 
4. At the 16 March 2004 meeting, as at prior meetings, the Group based its substantive 
discussions of issues relating to AD and SCM in cluding fisheries subsidies on formal written 
proposals and other submissions of participants.  In  particular, the Group discussed the one new paper 
on AD that has been received, as well as written answers to follow-up questions submitted by 
participants in the areas of AD and SCM.  Partic ipants also commented on the Compilation of Issues 
and Proposals Identified by Participants in the ar eas of AD and SCM including Fisheries Subsidies 
(TN/RL/W/143), which was circulated before Cancún.  
5. To date, a total of 145 submissions have been  received from participants.  These submissions 
have been circulated in the TN/RL/W/... series.   TN/RL/8 
Page 2  
 
II. OUTSTANDING ISSUES 
6. Other than the issue of observers – a question with horizontal implications – there are no 
outstanding procedural issues in the Group at this time.   
III. FUTURE WORK 
A. 
ANTI -DUMPING , AND SUBSIDIES AND COUNTERVAILING MEASURES INCLUDING FISHERIES 
SUBSIDIES  
7. In my view, the work of the Group is now back  on track.  As has always been the case, the 
substantive discussions at the 16 March meeting on AD and SCM including fisheries subsidies were constructive and informative, and this augurs well for the future.  On procedural issues, the Group 
engaged in a very useful discussion and decided, as a means of intensifying the process and deepening 
its consideration of the issues on the table, to begi n to hold open-ended informal meetings.  The first 
of these informal sessions will be held during the Group's 26-28 April meeting.   
8. The informal process is intended to focus in detail on elaborated proposals submitted by 
participants and circulated as job documents.  In pa rticular, and without prejudice to their rights to 
submit formal proposals, participants are invited to  present elaborated proposals in respect of issues 
that have been identified for negotiation, setting fort h in detail the precise changes that they seek to 
the existing rules.  To allow participants to prep are for the detailed informal consideration of these 
issues, elaborated proposals are to be submitted sev eral weeks in advance of the meeting at which 
they will be discussed.  The deadlin e for elaborated proposals to be discussed at the 26-28 April 
meetings was 8 April.   
9. I believe that working in informal mode on the basis of detailed proposals is the best, if not 
only, way for the Group to continue to progress in its very significant task of considering the many 
issues identified by participants for negotiation.  I am confident that the participants will engage in 
this process in the same constructive spirit that h as characterized the work of the Group to date.   
B. 
REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS  
10. In the light of the outcome of the Group's 11 March meeting, I am confident that participants 
will be able to advance substantively in their work in the coming weeks and months.  In particular, the 
improvement of RTAs' transparency seems to remain high in the Group's agenda; I think that here the 
credibility of the WTO is at stake and, as well, to a considerable degree, the op erational nature of the 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements.  On "sys temic" matters, I am confident that future 
detailed submissions by participants on the issues  identified will help the Group to elaborate the 
existing rules. 
__________