PRESS RELEASE
PRESS/325
12 December 2002
(02-6898)
GENERAL COUNCIL
WTO agrees new procedures for DG selection, new budget and
new measures to assist poor countries with accession
GENEVA — The 144 member governments of the World Trade Organization agreed this week on a
range of measures which among other things will streamline the WTO accession process for the
world’s poorest countries, clear the way for Armenia's accession, increase the organization’sbudget and provide greater clarity in the selection of future directors-general and chairpersons for
WTO councils and committees.
 1
General Council Chairman Sergio Marchi of Canada and WTO Director-General SupachaiPanitchpakdi praised WTO governments for reaching these accords. At the same time, they both
urged governments to continue working toward compromise in negotiations involving two issues ofgreat importance to WTO member governments, enhancing access to life saving drugs for
developing countries lacking the capacity to pr oduce pharmaceuticals and agreeing provisions to
assist those developing countries experiencing difficulty in implementing existing WTOagreements.
“In agreeing on these important questions, WTO Member Governments have addressed issues
involving both the poetry and plumbing of ou r organization,” said Ambassador Marchi. “The
agreement on facilitating the entry into the WTO for Least Developed Countries shows that
concern for the world’s poorest nations is central to our work. The accords on our budget and onselecting the DG and committee and council chairs will ensure a smoother functioning WTO in the
future.
“The issues of access to essential medicines for poor nations and the extension of special and
differential treatment for developing countries remain unresolved. These two outstanding issues
are of huge importance. However, I believe the political will exists on all sides to find a balancedagreement. With a bit more hard work and a little more flexibility I believe governments can get
the job done,” Mr. Marchi said.
Dr. Supachai also welcomed the agreements while stressing the importance of resolving remaining
issues before the end of the year.
                                               
1    Details of these five decisions — streamlined acce ssions, procedures for selecting directors-general, the
budget agreement, the Armenian accession and the appointment of WTO officers — as well as Amb. Marchi's
statement on the budget can be found in the General Council section of the WTO website:
http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/gcounc_e/gcounc_e.htmPRESS/325
Page 2 of 2
“The package on LDC accession and the agreem ents on budget and selection procedures are
important for our organization, but we still have work to do in the coming days. Agreements onaccess to medicines and special and differential treatment are of great importance. These issues
are high priorities for developing countries and success in these negotiations will provide
substantial momentum for our work next year as we confront important deadlines in agriculture,services, non-agricultural market access and reform of the Dispute Settlement Understanding,”
Dr. Supachai said.
“Meeting all of these deadlines is essential if we are to conclude the Doha Development Agenda on
time. New deadlines face us at each stage of the Doha process and we cannot afford to postpone
decisions on key issues. Failure to meet deadlines this year and next carries the risk of overloadingour agenda at the Ministerial Conference in Cancún next year,” he added.
Launched by ministers in Doha, Qatar in Novemb er 2001, the Doha Development Agenda includes
a wide range of trade negotiations including those in agriculture, services, market access for
industrial products, trade and environment, intellectual property and WTO rules. Ministers agreed
on a 1 January 2005 deadline for those talks. The Doha agenda also includes other tasks includingthe implementation of current agreements and other work programmes.
Member governments are committed to agree a framework for the final agricultural agreement by
31 March 2003 and guidelines for non-agricultural market access by 31 May 2003. Governments
also face a deadline of 31 March for submitting offers in the services negotiations. Negotiations on
reforming the DSU are scheduled for completion by 31 May 2003. It is part of the Doha agenda,but is separate from the package of negotiations, known as the “single undertaking” that has the
1 January 2005 deadline.
WTO ministers will meet in Cancún, Mexico 10–14 September 2003 to assess progress in the talks
and make decisions which would further shape these negotiations.
For more information , go to the WTO website:
General Council
http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/gcounc_e/gcounc_e.htm
Doha Development Agenda
http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dda_e/dda_e.htm
 Accessions
http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/acc_e.htm
Developing countries
http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/devel_e/devel_e.htm
Secretariat and budget
http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/thewto_e.htm#secretariat
END