RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/GC/M/20
10July1997
ORGANIZATION(97-2885)
General Council
30June -1July1997
MINUTES OFMEETING
Held intheCentre William Rappard
on30June-1July1997
Chairman: Mr.C.Lafer (Brazil)
Subjects discussed: Page
1. Conditions ofservice ofWTO staff................................1
2. Dates ofthe1998 Ministerial Conference ............................3
3. Accession ofPanama .........................................3
- Extension oftime-limit foracceptance oftheProtocol ofAccession .......3
1. Conditions ofservice ofWTO staff(WT/GC/W/60, WT/GC/W/63 andRev.1 andRev.2)
TheChairman drewattention toarevised draftdecision onconditions ofservice ofWTO staff
thathadbeencirculated recently inWT/GC/W/63. Thistexthadbeenprepared bytheChairman of
theWorking Group onconditions ofservice following consultations heldonaprevious textthathad
beencirculated inWT/GC/W/60. Inlightoftheviews thathadbeenexpressed onthisrevised text
ataninformal meeting heldjustprior tothepresent meeting, heproposed that,following discussion
ontheother items ontheagenda, theGeneral Council meeting besuspended briefly topermit further
consultations aimed atreaching aconsensus onthetextofadraftdecision.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
Upon resumption ofthemeeting theChairman reported thatagreement hadbeenreached on
anewrevised text,circulated asdocument WT/GC/W/63/Rev.2, aswellasonastatement tobemade
byhimfollowing adoption ofthedraftdecision, which wasavailable todelegations intheRoom.
Therepresentatives oftheUnited States, Germany, theUnited Kingdom, Paraguay onbehalf
ofthecountries oftheLatin American andCaribbean Group (GRULAC), andNigeria expressed their
support fortherevised draftdecision inWT/GC/W/63/Rev.2 aswellasforthestatement tobemade
bytheChairman.
Therepresentative oftheUnited States saidthat,withreference tothethirdoperative paragraph
ofthedraftdecision inWT/GC/W/63/Rev.2, theUnited States hadraised anumber ofconcerns with
theconditions ofservice proposal, notallofwhich hadbeenaddressed inthisdraftdecision. TheWT/GC/M/20
Page2
United States anticipated thatthefullrange ofconcerns ithadraised would havetobeaddressed for
ittoreach adecision.
Therepresentative ofGermany saidthattheproposed decision inWT/GC/W/63/Rev.2 could
notbeinterpreted asaprecedent concerning theWTO 'sproposals forasalary andpension system
ofitsownorother proposals which would gobeyond theframework oftheUNcommon system.
Hisdelegation reiterated thatonlyasolution which would notexceed theframework ofthecommon
system could beaccepted, taking alsointoaccount decisions oftheGerman Parliament aswellasthe
on-going reductions ofsalaries andpensions within theGerman civilservice. Furthermore, Germany
could onlyagree tonewallowances andgrants which would beprovided forclearly defined specialist
tasksandperformances andwhich would notbepartofpensionable remuneration. Theprecondition
forthiswould bestrictandlong-term costneutrality tobereviewed onanannual basisandwhich would
havetoensure comparability withthecosts within thecommon system.
Therepresentative oftheUnited Kingdom saidthatifandwhen onecame tothepoint ofa
finaldecision, theUnited Kingdom would assess themerits ofwhatever proposal wasbefore itagainst
three criteria, namely (i)whether ornottheproposal implied asubstantial increase inMembers '
contributionsoverthelongterm,thepresumptionbeingthatasubstantialincreasewouldbeunacceptable;
(ii)whether itentailed animprovement inWTO management systems andpractices, itself important
forcostcontrol; and(iii)whatthewider implications werefortheUNcommon system. Thatsaid,
hisdelegation wished tostress again itsstrong support fortheefforts already made bythe
Director-General onthemanagement front.
Therepresentative ofParaguay, speaking onbehalf ofthecountries oftheLatin American
andCaribbean Group (GRULAC), expressed disappointment thattheGeneral Council hadnotbeen
abletocomply withitsDecision ofNovember 1996(WT/L/197) tocontinue consideration ofthedraft
decision of18September 1996 onconditions ofservice withaview toreaching afinalconclusion
by30Juneatthelatest. AstheGRULAC countries hadstated onseveral previous occasions, they
fullysupported thethree basic principles stipulated bytheDirector-General, namely (i)thefulfilment
ofthedecision adopted bygovernments in1994tocreate anindependent andsuigeneris organization
bytaking adecision toestablish aSecretariat thatwould alsobeindependent andsuigeneris ;(ii)that
theimplementation ofthedecision onconditions ofservice should haveabudget-neutral effect and
notleadtoanyincrease inMembers 'contributions; and(iii)thattheoverall package adopted should
notinanywayworsen theconditions ofservice ofthestaff. AstheDirector-General hadstated on
other occasions, WTO staffdeserved recognition fortheirdedication andimportant contribution, and
thebestwayofdoing thiswould beforMembers totakeadecision assoon aspossible onthe
establishment ofanindependent Secretariat.
TheGeneral Council took note ofthestatements andadopted thedraft decision in
WT/GC/W/63/Rev.2.1
TheChairman thenreadthefollowing statement: "Inlightoftheviews expressed bysome
Members,subjecttoyouragreementIproposetorequesttheDirector-GeneraltocontacttheInternational
Civil Service Commission assoonaspossible inorder toexplore thepossibilities forimplementing
reforms inWTO conditions ofservice, taking intoaccount thedifferent options raised byMembers.
TheDirector-General willreport backtotheGeneral Council notlaterthanOctober 1997ontheresults
ofthese consultations." Headded thathehaddiscussed thismatter withtheDirector-General, and
thelatter wasready torespond tothisrequest.
1TheDecision wassubsequently alsoadopted bytheExecutive Committee oftheInterim Commission for
theInternational Trade Organization (ICITO), andcirculated asWT/L/223.WT/GC/M/20
Page3
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
TheChairmansaidthat,havingregardtotheprocedurefordecisionshavingfinancialimplications
which maybetaken byWTO bodies (WT/L/76), theBudget Committee would havetobekeptinformed
ofthefinancial implications oftheDecision justtaken. Hestressed thatthepresent procedure inno
wayconstituted aprecedent forthetaking offuture decisions withfinancial implications. Hethen
drewattention tothefactthatthefirstoperative paragraph oftheDecision justtaken reflected theconcern
expressed byEgypt ininformal consultations thattheDecision wasnottobeconsidered anagreement
inprinciple forthewithdrawal ofWTO from theUNJoint StaffPension Fund.
Therepresentative ofMorocco saidthatthemandate oftheWorking Group onconditions of
service hadexpired, andhoped thattheChairman would holdconsultations onthebestcourse ofaction,
including whether toextend theGroup 'smandate. Hehoped alsothatadecision could betaken at
thenextmeeting oftheGeneral Council.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
2. Dates ofthe1998 Ministerial Conference
TheChairmanrecalledthathehadbeenholdingconsultationsonthedatesofthe1998Ministerial
Conference andthemeeting tocommemorate the50thAnniversary ofthemultilateral trading system.
Inthelightofthese consultations, heproposed thatthe1998 Ministerial Conference andthe50th
Anniversary commemoration meeting beheldintheperiod 18-20 May1998. Hestressed thathewas
proposing adecision atpresent onthedatealone, andthatfurther consultations would beheldonthe
agenda andformat oftheConference, including theplanned celebration ofthe50thAnniversary of
themultilateral trading system which, itwasunderstood, would takeplace within these same dates.
TheGeneral Council agreed thatthe1998 Ministerial Conference andthemeeting to
commemorate the50th Anniversary ofthemultilateral trading system beheld intheperiod
18-20 May1998.
3. Accession ofPanama
- Extension oftime-limit foracceptance oftheProtocol ofAccession (WT/GC/W/59)
TheChairman recalled thaton2October 1996, theGeneral Council hadadopted aDecision
(WT/ACC/PAN/20) authorizing Panama toaccede totheWTO Agreement ontheterms setoutin
itsProtocol ofAccession (WT/ACC/PAN/21). Aswassetoutinitsparagraph 7,theProtocol was
openforacceptance byPanama until30June1997. Panama hadrequested anextension ofthistime-limit
until31October 1997, andheaccordingly proposed thattheGeneral Council adopt thedraftdecision
contained intheAnnex toWT/GC/W/59.
TheGeneral Council soagreed (WT/ACC/PAN/22).
Therepresentative ofPanama saidthaton18June, Panama 'sLegislative Assembly hadadopted
thelawthrough which theacceptance oftheProtocol ofAccession wasratified. Herauthorities were
presently completing theprocedures required forpublication oftheLawanditsannexes intheOfficial
Journal ofPanama, andexpected toformally submit aninstrument ofratification totheDirector-General
inJuly.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.