. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/RL/10 
3 December 2004 
 (04-5276) 
Negotiating Group on Rules  
  
NEGOTIATING GROUP ON RULES 
 
Report by the Chairman to the 
 
Trade Negotiations Committee  
  
I. STATUS OF WORK 
1. It is a pleasure for me to submit my first Report to the Trade Negotiations Committee as 
Chairman of the Negotiating Group on Rules.  Although I was elected Chairman of the Group only in November, and have thus chaired only one meeti ng, my observations on the status of the Group's 
work take into account developments since the last written Report of my predece ssor in June 2004.  In 
this regard, I observe that, since that Report was submitted, the Group has continued and indeed 
stepped up the pace of its work.       
2. In the area of Anti-Dumping ("AD") and Subs idies and Countervailing Measures ("SCM") 
including fisheries subsidies, the Group has held three further meetings, on 12-13 July, 27 September–
1 October and 1-3 November 2004.  The Group will be meeting again on 14-16 December 2004.  The 
Group's meetings on these subjects typically have three components: a formal session, an informal session to conduct an in-depth discussion of elaborat ed proposals and, beginning with the September 
2004 meeting, a period set aside for bilateral and plurilateral consultation among delegations.     
3. The Group held formal meetings devoted to the area of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) 
on 29 June, 21 September and 4 November 2004.  In addition, the Group had open-ended informal 
discussions on RTAs' transparency issues.  The next m eeting is scheduled for on 13 December 2004.      
4. To date, nearly 170 formal submissions ha ve been received from Participants.  These 
submissions have been circulated in the TN/RL/ W/... series.  In addition, the Group has to date 
received and considered twenty-seven informal elaborated proposals relating to AD and/or to SCM.  While these proposals have been ci rculated as JOB documents, all su ch proposals received to date 
have also been circulated at the request of the Pa rticipants submitting them as unrestricted documents 
in the TN/RL/GEN/... series.  In the area of RT As, four background notes, elaborated by the 
Secretariat at the Group's request, have been circulated as JOB documents. 
II. OUTSTANDING ISSUES 
5. 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  
6. In his June 2004 Report to the Trade Negotia tions Committee, my predecessor emphasized 
the shift in the emphasis of the Group's work from formal meetings focused on identifying issues that 
Participants wanted to pursue to an informal process that involves the in -depth examination of TN/RL/10 
Page 2  
 
detailed elaborated proposals submitted by Particip ants.  This trend has continued and consolidated, 
such that formal sessions now represent a small porti on of the Group's meetings.  It is my sense that 
Participants generally continue to use this informal process to come to grips with the details of the 
proposals in question and with their practical implic ations and to seriously explore the feasibility and 
desirability of the proposals on the table with a view to finding solutions. 
7. The focus of the informal discussi ons continues to be on trade remedies.  Of the 28 informal 
papers put before the Group, 21 relate to AD or to issues common to AD and countervailing 
measures, while most of the remaining papers rela te primarily albeit not exclusively to countervailing 
measures.  It may be noted that all such papers  submitted to date come from the Friends of AD 
Negotiations, the United States and Canada.  Most of  these papers further develop issues previously 
identified in the formal process.  A review of the issues identified in the formal process reveals that 
many, although by no means all, of the issues identif ied there have now been the subject of informal 
papers put before the informal process.   
8.   The issue of multilateral subsidies disciplines h as to date received much less attention in the 
Group.  In fact, only two of the informal proposals received to date relate primarily to multilateral 
subsidy disciplines.  While the issue of fisheri es subsidies has continued to be the subject of 
discussion in formal mode, no Participant has yet subm itted an informal proposal on the issue.  It is 
my sense that the discussion of multilateral subs idy discipline issues generally, including those 
relating to fishery subsidies, have not yet reached  the degree of specificity that now characterises 
trade remedy discussions.     
9. One new feature of the Group's work in th e latter half of 2004 has been increased 
opportunities for and emphasis on bilateral and plur ilateral consultations am ong delegations.  I am 
convinced that these consultations are an essenti al element of the negotiating process, as they 
facilitate a real dialogue among delegations regardin g each others' positions and concerns.  The degree 
of mutual understanding that these consultations fo ster should help the Group to make progress in 
what will doubtless be a complex and difficult la tter phase of the negotiations. Thus, I strongly 
encourage delegations to continue a nd intensify these consultations.     
B. 
REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS  
10. The Group engaged, as from the June meeting, on the consideration of priority systemic 
issues identified by Participants, according to th e roadmap proposed by the Chairman to sequence 
discussions.  Three meetings were held on a first round of examination of the array of issues on the 
table.  This permitted Participants to refine thei r views and laid down the basis for more in-depth 
debate next year, which is expected to focus on a more limited number of issues and be primarily 
based on specific proposals by Participants. 
11. Progress has been registered on various elemen ts of the RTAs transparency process.  
Participants' commitment to improving procedures and to revitalizing the role of the Committee on 
Regional Trade Agreements (CRTA) has been firm ly reiterated.  One particular aspect of the 
proposed procedures, to entrust to the Secretariat the elaboration of a factual presentation on notified 
RTAs, has been included, on a provisional and volunt ary basis, in the procedures applied to RTAs 
examined by the CRTA; any practical experience gained  in that context will be useful input in the 
Group's work.  I expect further progress in a number of  other elements of the transparency process in 
the next few meetings. 
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