RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/GC/M/13
28August 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-3387)
GENERAL COUNCIL
18July1996
MINUTES OFMEETING
Held intheCentre William Rappard
on18July1996
Chairman: Mr.W.Rossier (Switzerland)
Subjects discussed: Page
1. Accession ofMongolia 2
- Report oftheWorking Party 2
2. Accession ofGeorgia 4
- Communication from Georgia 4
3. Arrangements foreffective cooperation withother intergovernmental organizations 5
- RelationsbetweentheWTOandtheInternationalMonetaryFundandtheWorld
Bank 5
4. Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration 5
- Report oftheCommittee 5
5. Committee onBalance-of-Payments Restrictions 6
(a) Consultation withNigeria 6
(b) Consultation withTunisia 6
(c) Consultation withSlovakia 6
(d) Disinvocation ofthebalance-of-payments provisions oftheGATT 1994 by
Turkey andPoland 7
(e) Notifications bythePhilippines andIndia 7
(f) Note onthemeetings of10-11 and24-25 June1996 7
6. Waivers under Article IXoftheWTO Agreement 7
(a) Harmonized System -Requests forextensions ofwaivers 7
(i) Bangladesh 7
(ii) Bolivia 7
(iii) Guatemala 7
(iv) Jamaica 7
(v) Morocco 7
(vi) Nicaragua 7
(vii) SriLanka 7
(b) Senegal -Renegotiation ofSchedule XLIX 8
- Request foranextension ofthewaiver 8WT/GC/M/13
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(c) Zambia -Renegotiation ofSchedule LXXVIII 9
- Request foranextension ofthewaiver 9
(d) Decision ontheintroduction ofHarmonized System changes intoWTO
schedules oftariff concessions on1January 1996 9
- Extension ofthetime-limit 9
7. Status ofwaivers ineffect onthedateofentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement 9
8. Preparations forthe1996 Ministerial Conference 10
(a) Report bytheDirector-General 10
(b) Progress ofpreparatory work insubsidiary bodies oftheGeneral Council 11
9. Other matters pending decision bytheGeneral Council 25
(a) Guidelines onobserver status forinternational intergovernmental
organizations 25
(b) Procedures forthecirculation andderestriction ofWTO documents 25
(c) Guidelines forarrangements onrelations withnon-governmental organizations
pursuant toArticle V:2oftheWTO Agreement 26
10. Brazil -Provisional safeguard measures concerning imports oftoys 27
11. Attendance oforganizations asobservers atthe1996 Ministerial Conference 27
(a) International intergovernmental organizations 27
(b) Non-governmental organizations 28
12. Accession oftheKyrgyz Republic 29
- Working Party Chairmanship 29
13. Accession ofSeychelles 29
- Working Party Chairmanship 29
14. Observer status forinternational intergovernmental organizations 29
1. Accession ofMongolia
- Report oftheWorking Party (WT/ACC/MNG/9 andAdd.1 andAdd.2)
TheChairman recalled thatinOctober 1991, theGATT Council hadestablished aWorking
Party toexamine Mongolia 'srequest foraccession totheGeneral Agreement onTariffs andTrade.
Subsequently, inpursuance oftheDecision regarding requests forWTO accession adopted bytheWTO
General Council on31January 1995, theGATT 1947Accession Working Party hadbeentransformed
intoaWTO Accession Working Party. Thereport oftheWorking Party wasnowbefore theGeneral
Council indocument WT/ACC/MNG/9 andCorr.1, Add.1, Add.1/Corr.1, andAdd.2.
Mr.Potocnik (Austria), introducing thereport oftheWorking Party onbehalf ofitsChairman,
Mr.Lang (Austria), saidthattheWorking Party hadheldseveral meetings since 1993 toexamine
Mongolia 'sapplication forWTO membership, andtopursue market access negotiations forgoods,
including thepreparation ofanagriculture country schedule, aswellasmarket access negotiations
forservices. Addendum 1oftheWorking Party'sreport reproduced Schedule CXXXIV ongoods,
andAddendum 2reproduced theSchedule CXXXIV onservices. Thisdocumentation hadbeenadoptedWT/GC/M/13
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bytheWorking Party onthe26June1996 onanadreferendum basis. TheAppendix tothereport
reproduced adraftDecision onMongolia 'saccession andadraftProtocol ofAccession. Inaccordance
withpastpracticeonaccessions,theProtocolofAccessionincorporatedcommitmentsgivenbyMongolia
inrelation tocertain specific matters negotiated intheWorking Party. Mongolia would bethefirst
country withaneconomy intransition toamarket economy system tobecome aMember pursuant
toArticle XIIoftheWTO Agreement. Onbehalf oftheChairman oftheWorking Party, heexpressed
appreciation fortheopenness, spirit ofcooperation andflexibility demonstrated byMembers andby
Mongolia inthecourse ofthearduous negotiations onsubjects which hadoftenbroken newanddifficult
ground.
TherepresentativesofalargenumberofMembers,includingCuba,theEuropeanCommunities,
Hungary, India, Japan, Switzerland, Turkey andtheUnited States, andtheDirector-General, among
others, wished tobeplaced onrecord aswelcoming andsupporting theaccession ofMongolia.
TheGeneral Council approved thetextoftheProtocol ofAccession (WT/ACC/MNG/11) and
thetextofthedraftDecision ontheAccession ofMongolia and,inaccordance withtheDecision-Making
Procedures under Articles IXandXIIoftheWTO Agreement agreed inNovember 1995 (WT/L/93),
adopted theDecision ontheAccession ofMongolia (WT/ACC/MNG/10). TheGeneral Council then
adopted thereport oftheWorking Party (WT/ACC/MNG/9 andCorr.1, Add.1 andAdd.1/Corr.1,
andAdd.2), andtooknoteofthestatements andoftheexpressions ofsupport.
Therepresentative ofMongolia, speaking asanobserver, expressed appreciation toMembers
fortheirfullsupportandconstructiveapproachduringtheaccessionnegotiations,asalsototheChairman
oftheWorking Party. Theaccession exercise hadoffered awayofunderpinning Mongolia 'stransition
fromacentrally planned toamarket economy. Significant progress hadbeenmade intheliberalization
ofthetraderégime, ineconomic andfinancial stabilization andstructural adjustment. Market-oriented
legalreforms hadledtotheintroduction ofnewlawsthatbrought innewconcepts andinstitutions,
suchasprivatization, private entrepreneurship, commercial banking system, foreign direct investment,
consumers rights, andfaircompetition. Theprivate sector formed animportant partoftheeconomy
andaccounted formore than60percentofGDP. Asaresult ofatightfinancial policy, themonthly
inflation ratehaddeclined from4.5percentin1994 to3.9percentin1995. Theexchange ratehad
undergone changes reflecting theglobal trendofliberalization. Thelicensing system, which hadcovered
almost allimports andexports, applied atpresent toalimited number ofproducts affecting human,
animal andplant lifeandenvironment. Itscoverage would befurther reduced while thevalidity of
thelicences would beextended fromthreemonths tooneyear. There werenoquantitative restrictions
assuch, andasof1October 1996, Mongolia would liftthebanonrawcashmere, oneofthecountry 's
most important export items. Although Mongolia wasadeveloping country withaneconomy in
transition, itapplied relatively lowimport duties; asitscommitment totheWTO, ithadoffered a
substantial reduction intariff rates onalarge number ofproducts andwould implement atariff
harmonization programme onchemical products. Mongolia hadalsomade significant concessions
andcommitments onservices. Itwould fullycommit itselftotherulesanddisciplines ofthemultilateral
trading system which itbelieved would provide fortheequitable globalization oftrade andrespond
totheneeds ofallitsparticipants. WTO technical assistance through seminars andmissions would
beessential tothegeneral understanding ofthebenefits oftrade liberalization andglobalization, and
forassisting intheimplementation ofthemultilateral tradeagreements. Mongolia hoped tobeoffered
broaderopportunitiestoparticipateinandbenefitfromvariousinternationalandregionaltrainingcourses
andseminars, andwasdetermined tofullyintegrate intotheworld trade community.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.WT/GC/M/13
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2. Accession ofGeorgia
- Communication from Georgia (WT/ACC/GEO/1)
TheChairman drew attention tothecommunication fromGeorgia requesting accession tothe
WTO Agreement (WT/ACC/GEO/1).
Therepresentative ofGeorgia, speaking asanobserver, recalled thathiscountry hadbeen
granted observer status attheGeneral Council meeting on26June. Itwasnowseeking accession and
wascommitted tomaking allefforts needed toaccede totheWTO Agreement. Between 1991 and
1994, Georgia hadendured several social andeconomic crises. From 1989 to1994, itsGDP had
declined nearly 6times andinflation hadbeenrampant. Between 1989and1993, trade withitsmain
partners, essentially withtheCommonwealth ofIndependent States, haddiminished by80percent,
andhadundermined Georgia 'sbalance-of-payments. In1994, withthecollaboration ofinternational
financial institutions, aneffective market-oriented anti-crisis programme ofmacroeconomic stabilization
hadbeenelaborated, which included astrict fiscal policy andprice liberalization. Immediate results
oftheprogramme 'simplementation werethecontrol ofinflation; growth oftheprivate sector which
produced 74percentofGDP; stability ofthenewnational currency, thelari; adoption oflawsfor
thebanking system andforforeign investments; improvement ofthetaxsystem; economic growth,
which wasexpected toreach 8percent according toIMFestimates; andtheestablishment ofaforeign
traderegime. Taking intoconsideration thatGeorgia wasasmall country withanarrow internal market
andatthesame timestrategically located, itwasevident thatforeign tradehadplayed andwould play
averyimportant roleinitsGDP. Inthisconnection, intensification ofGeorgia 'sforeign economic
linkswasprogressing rapidly. During thefirsthalfoftheyear,Georgia hadcarried outtradeoperations
with67countries against 57forthesame period in1995. Georgia intended tohaveequal andfull
rights intheworld arena andconsidered accession totheWTO Agreement averyimportant means
forachieving thisgoal. Georgia would make allefforts todevelop equal andmutually beneficial trade
andeconomic relations withallStates. Aspecial coordinating commission hadbeensetupbythe
President tofollow thecountry 'saccession totheWTO Agreement.
TherepresentativesofalargenumberofMembers,includingCuba,theEuropeanCommunities,
Hungary, India, Japan, Switzerland, Turkey andtheUnited States, among others, wished tobeplaced
onrecord assupporting Georgia 'sapplication andtheestablishment ofaworking party.
TheChairman proposed thattheGeneral Council takenoteofthestatements andofthe
expressions ofsupport, andagree toestablish aworking party withthefollowing terms ofreference
andcomposition:
Terms ofreference:
"Toexamine theapplication oftheGovernment ofGeorgia toaccede totheWTO Agreement
under Article XII,andtosubmit totheGeneral Council recommendations which mayinclude adraft
Protocol ofAccession."
Membership:
Membership would beopentoallWTO Members indicating theirwishtoserve ontheWorking
Party.
Chairmanship:
TheGeneral Council would authorize itsChairman todesignate theChairman oftheWorking
Party inconsultation withrepresentatives ofMembers andwiththerepresentative ofGeorgia.WT/GC/M/13
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TheGeneral Council soagreed.
TheChairman invited therepresentative ofGeorgia toconsult withtheSecretariat astofurther
procedures, inparticular regarding thebasic documentation tobeconsidered bytheWorking Party.
3. Arrangements foreffective cooperation withother intergovernmental organizations
- Relations between theWTO andtheInternational Monetary Fund andtheWorld Bank
TheChairman saidthatasdelegations wereaware, theDirector-General hadcirculated texts
ondraftarrangements onrelations between theWTO andtheIMFandtheWorld Bank. Since informal
consultations onthese drafts werecurrently under way, heproposed thattheGeneral Council revert
tothisitematitsnextmeeting.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement andsoagreed.
4. Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration
- Report oftheCommittee (WT/BFA/26)
Mr.Yokota (Japan), Chairman oftheCommittee, introducing theCommittee 'sreport in
WT/BFA/26,saidthattheCommitteehadexaminedvariousadministrativeup-datesandprogressreports;
arecommendation oftheWorking Group ontheselection ontheexternal auditor fortheWTO accounts;
arecommendation totheGeneral Council onTrust Funds; anoralprogress report ontherecruitment
process; andcosts ofinterpretation formeetings, andtranslation andreproduction ofdocuments.
Withregard totheselection ofanexternal auditor fortheWTO accounts, theWorking Group
hadpresented totheCommittee itsfinalreport (CRP(96)13). TheCommittee hadagreed withthe
Working Group thatallthecandidates hadbeenhighly qualified, thatanyoneofthetenderers could
fulfil theauditing needs oftheOrganization, andthatitwould beappropriate tointroduce asystem
ofminimum period ofappointment coupled withacallfortender every fiveyears. TheCommittee 's
recommendation onthismatter wascontained inparagraph 6ofthereport. Inthiscontext, aMember
oftheCommittee hadsuggested thatapolicy beelaborated before thenextcallfortenders sothatthe
Organization would notaccept subsidized bids.
Withregard tothegeneral management ofTrust Funds, herecalled thatattheGeneral Council
meeting on26June, hehadreported onthediscussion onthecommunication from Switzerland on
overhead costsandthemanagement ofTrust Funds ingeneral. TheCommittee hadfurther discussed
thismatter on27June. Some Members hadexpressed concern thatextra-budgetary funds should not
beusedforthepurpose ofmaking savings intheregular budget. Therecommendation withregard
tothemanagement ofTrust Funds ingeneral wascontained inparagraph 8ofthereport.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement, approved theBudget Committee 'sspecific
recommendations inparagraphs 6and8ofitsreport inWT/BFA/26, andadopted thereport.WT/GC/M/13
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5. Committee onBalance-of-Payments Restrictions
(a) Consultation withNigeria (WT/BOP/R/13)
(b) Consultation withTunisia (WT/BOP/R/14)
(c) Consultation withSlovakia (WT/BOP/R/15)
(d) Disinvocation ofthebalance-of-payments provisions oftheGATT 1994 byTurkey
andPoland
(e) Notifications bythePhilippines andIndia
(f) Note onthemeetings of10-11 and24-25 June1996 (WT/BOP/R/16)
(a) Consultation withNigeria (WT/BOP/R/13)
Mr.Witt(Germany), Chairman oftheCommittee, introducing thereport ontheconsultation
withNigeria (WT/BOP/R/13), saidthattheCommittee hadrecognized thatthemacroeconomic situation
ofNigeria remained precarious andhadsupported theIMF'sassessment thatfirmstabilization policies
remained necessary. TheCommittee hadconsidered thattheimport prohibitions currently inforce
inNigeria hadnotbeenappropriate toaddress therootcauses ofthebalance-of-payments (BOP) deficit.
NotwithstandinganyjustificationofsuitablemeasuresforBOPpurposes,theCommitteehademphasized
thatprohibitions imposed onaselected listofimports were notconsistent withtherequirements of
theBOPprovisions. TheCommittee hadwelcomed Nigeria 'scommitment tomake allrestrictive trade
measuresprice-basedandalsotoeliminatethembydisinvokingArticleXVIII:12(b),andhadencouraged
Nigeria totaketheappropriate steps. Finally, theCommittee hadagreed withNigeria toresume the
consultation on23September 1996.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement andadopted thereport ontheconsultation
withNigeria (WT/BOP/R/13).
(b) Consultation withTunisia (WT/BOP/R/14)
TheChairman oftheCommittee, introducing thereport ontheconsultation withTunisia
(WT/BOP/R/14), saidthattheCommittee hadcommended Tunisia fortheeconomic progress made
since thelastconsultations in1994, buthadrecognized thattheBOPsituation wasfragile. Opinions
haddiffered astowhether theBOPsituation constituted athreat ofserious decline inTunisia 'smonetary
reserves. TheCommittee hadnoted Tunisia 'sclarification ontheonlyremaining restrictions which
wereintheautomotive sector aswellasTunisia 'sagreement toprovide anotification oftheserestrictions
totheWTO within onemonth. TheCommittee haddiscussed, buthadnotagreed, onwhether these
restrictions could bejustified forBOPpurposes. TheCommittee hadtherefore agreed toresume the
consultation withTunisia inJune1997 onthebasis ofanewmacroeconomic analysis bytheIMF.
Thenotification oftheproduct coverage which hadbeenreceived from Tunisia would becirculated
shortly.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement andadopted thereport ontheconsultation
withTunisia (WT/BOP/R/14).
(c) Consultation withSlovakia (WT/BOP/R/15)
TheChairman oftheCommittee, introducing thereport ontheconsultation withSlovakia
(WT/BOP/R/15), saidthattheCommittee hadnoted thatSlovakia 'simport surcharge hadbeeninforce
since 1994, andthat,despite theimprovement initsreserves position, Slovakia hadnotfulfilled its
previous undertakings totheWTO. TheCommittee hadrecalled onceagain thatBOPmeasures should
betemporary, andthattheyshould notbeusedforfiscal orprotectionist purposes. TheCommittee
hadexpressed itsstrong concern overthecontinuing useoftheimport surcharge, andhadstated its
objection totheapplication ofthesurcharge onaselective basis. TheCommittee concluded thatthereWT/GC/M/13
Page7
wasnoimminent threat ofaserious decline inSlovakia 'smonetary reserves. Ithadconsidered that
theimport surcharge could notbejustified bytheBOPprovisions oftheGATT 1994, andtherefore
thatitshould beeliminated. TheCommittee hadtherefore welcomed thedecision ofSlovakia, taken
onthesecond dayoftheconsultation, tocommit itself toeliminate thesurcharge witheffect from 1
January 1997, andtodisinvoke theprovisions ofArticle XIIofGATT 1994 atthesame time.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement andadopted thereport ontheconsultation
withSlovakia (WT/BOP/R/15).
(d) Disinvocation ofthebalance-of-payments provisions oftheGATT 1994 byTurkey
andPoland
TheChairman oftheCommittee informed theGeneral Council thatconsultations withTurkey
andPoland, originally scheduled forJuneandJuly1996 respectively, hadbeencancelled. Turkey
hadinformed theCommittee thatitwould bereducing itsremaining duties tobound ratesasof1January
1997, andwould disinvoke theBOPprovisions oftheGATT 1994(WT/BOP/N/7). Similarly, Poland
hadannounced thatitwould eliminate itsimport surcharges bythesame date(WT/BOP/N/8). The
Committee had,onthisbasis, agreed tocancel thescheduled consultations.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
(e) Notifications bythePhilippines andIndia
TheChairman oftheCommittee informed theGeneral Council thatthePhilippines hadnotified,
inaccordance withitscommitments totheCommittee, thelifting ofrestrictions onagricultural products
(WT/BOP/N/9). Also, Indiahadrecently submitted alisting ofallitsquantitative restrictions including
those maintained forBOPpurposes, andadocument regarding thiswould becirculated shortly.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
(f) Note onthemeetings of10-11 and24-25 June1996 (WT/BOP/R/16)
TheChairman oftheCommittee drewtheattention oftheGeneral Councul totheCommittee 's
discussion ofitsongoing business atitsmeetings inJune.
TheGeneral Council took note ofthestatement andoftheinformation contained in
WT/BOP/R/16.
6. Waivers under Article IXoftheWTO Agreement
(a) Harmonized System -Requests forextensions ofwaivers
(i) Bangladesh (G/L/77, G/C/W/40)
(ii) Bolivia (G/L/78, G/C/W/41)
(iii) Guatemala (G/L/86, G/C/W/48)
(iv) Jamaica (G/L/79, G/C/W/42)
(v) Morocco (G/L/80, G/C/W/43)
(vi) Nicaragua (G/L/81, G/C/W/44)
(vii) SriLanka (G/L/83, G/C/W/46)
TheChairman drew attention tothecommunications from Bangladesh, Bolivia, Guatemala,
Jamaica, Morocco, Nicaragua andSriLanka containing requests forextensions ofwaivers relating
totheimplementation oftheHarmonized System, andtotherelated draftdecisions.WT/GC/M/13
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Mr.Narayanan (India), Chairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods, reporting onthe
consideration ofthese requests bytheCouncil, saidthattheCouncil hadnoted thattheCommittee
onMarket Access hadproposed thatthesix-month period forextension ofwaivers, usually fromJanuary
toJuneandfromJulytoDecember, should forpractical reasons andsincetherewasnotalways ameeting
oftheGeneral Council inDecember, bechanged sothatitwould runfromMaytoOctober andfrom
November toApril ofeachyear. Inorder tobridge thegapbetween thecurrent situation andthenew
proposal, ithadalsobeenproposed bytheCommittee onMarket Access thatallthewaivers currently
under consideration which expired on30June1996 beexceptionally extended until30April 1997.
TheCouncil hadapproved therequests andforwarded foradoption bytheGeneral Council thefollowing
draftdecisions extending thewaivers until30April 1997: G/C/W/40 -Bangladesh; G/C/W/41 -Bolivia;
G/C/W/48 -Guatemala; G/C/W/42 -Jamaica; G/C/W/43 -Morocco; G/C/W/44 -Nicaragua; and
G/C/W/46 -SriLanka.
Therepresentative ofNewZealand recalled thatatthemeeting oftheCouncil forTrade in
Goods on5July,hehadexpressed concern about theproposed extension ofSriLanka 'swaiver. These
concerns hadarisen from theconsiderable length oftimethatthiswaiver hadbeeninexistence, and
theinability, despite NewZealand 'sbestefforts, toengage inArticle XXVIII negotiations withSri
Lanka. Hereiterated strongly NewZealand 'sdisquiet about thisprocess. Waiver decisions were
important andsignificant derogations from fundamental WTO principles andevery effort should be
made toensure thattheydidnotextend beyond reasonable time. Asacountry involved ingranting
awaiver, itwasNewZealand 'scredibility which wasatstake inthisprocedure. NewZealand had
heard theassurances given bySriLanka atthemeeting oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods andhad
beeninclose contact withitinorder toclarify thenature ofitscommitment. NewZealand accepted
theseassurances andcould agree totheextension ofthewaiver, butexpected thatthenegotiations would
nowbegin quickly sothatthismatter could beresolved without theneedforafurther extension. New
Zealand noted theexceptional length oftimeinvolved withthisparticular waiver extension andhoped
thatthisperiod would beusedproductively.
Therepresentative ofSriLanka recalled thatattheCouncil forTrade inGoods meeting on
5July,hehadindicatedSriLanka'sintentiontoresolvethismatterwithinthetime-periodoftheproposed
extension. SriLanka hadgiven thenecessary assurances toallinterested parties including NewZealand.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthereport bytheChairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods
andofthestatements and,inaccordance withtheDecision-Making Procedures Under Articles IXand
XIIoftheWTO Agreement agreed inNovember 1995 (WT/L/93), adopted theDecisions onthe
extensions ofthewaivers (WT/L/164 -Bangladesh; WT/L/165 -Bolivia; WT/L/172 -Guatemala;
WT/L/166 -Jamaica; WT/L/167 -Morocco; WT/L/168 -Nicaragua; andWT/L/170 -SriLanka).
(b) Senegal -Renegotiation ofSchedule XLIX
- Request foranextension ofthewaiver (G/L/82, G/C/W/45)
TheChairmandrewattentiontotherequestfromSenegal(G/L/82)foranextensionofitswaiver,
andtotherelated draftdecision (G/C/W/45).
Mr.Narayanan (India), Chairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods, reporting onthe
consideration ofthisrequest bytheCouncil, saidthattheCouncil hadapproved therequest andhad
forwarded thedraftdecision extending thewaiver totheGeneral Council foradoption. Asproposed
bytheCommittee onMarket Access, andforthereasons hehadindicated under sub-item 6(a),the
waiver wasbeing extended until30April 1997.WT/GC/M/13
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TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthereport bytheChairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods
and,inaccordance withtheDecision-Making Procedures Under Articles IXandXIIoftheWTO
Agreement agreed inNovember 1995 (WT/L/93), adopted theDecision (WT/L/169).
(c) Zambia -Renegotiation ofSchedule LXXVIII
- Request foranextension ofthewaiver (G/L/84, G/C/W/47)
TheChairmandrewattentiontotherequestfromZambia(G/L/84)foranextensionofitswaiver,
andtotherelated draftdecision (G/C/W/47).
Mr.Narayanan (India), Chairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods, reporting onthe
consideration ofthisrequest bytheCouncil, saidthattheCouncil hadapproved therequest andhad
forwarded thedraftdecision extending thewaiver totheGeneral Council foradoption. Asproposed
bytheCommittee onMarket Access, andforthereasons hehadindicated under sub-item 6(a),the
waiver wasbeing extended until30April 1997.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthereport bytheChairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods
and,inaccordance withtheDecision-Making Procedures Under Articles IXandXIIoftheWTO
Agreement agreed inNovember 1995 (WT/L/93), adopted theDecision (WT/L/171).
(d) Decision ontheintroduction ofHarmonized System changes intoWTO schedules of
tariff concessions on1January 1996
- Extension ofthetime-limit (G/MA/W/6)
TheChairman drew attention tothedraftdecision (G/MA/W/6) extending thetime-limit of
theDecisionontheintroductionofHarmonizedSystemchangesintoWTOschedulesoftariffconcessions
on1January 1996.
Mr.Narayanan (India), Chairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods, reporting onthe
consideration ofthisextension bytheCouncil, recalled thatawaiver hadbeengranted until30June
1996 tothose Members finding itnecessary toconsult ornegotiate under Article XXVIII ofGATT
1994 asaresult ofHS96 changes introduced intheirschedules. TheCommittee onMarket Access
hadproposed thatthewaiver beextended until30April 1997forthose Members which hadrequested
tobecovered bysuchawaiver. TheCouncil hadapproved thedraftdecision (G/MA/W/6) granting
anextension ofthewaiver until30April 1997 toMembers listed intheAnnex ofthedocument, as
wellastheextension ofthevarious other time-limits setoutintheDecision, andforwarded thedraft
decision totheGeneral Council foradoption.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthereport bytheChairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods
and,inaccordance withtheDecision-Making Procedures Under Articles IXandXIIoftheWTO
Agreement agreed inNovember 1995 (WT/L/93), adopted theDecision (WT/L/173).
7. Status ofwaivers ineffect onthedateofentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement
(WT/L/153/Rev.1)
TheChairman drewattention todocument WT/L/153/Rev.1 concerning thestatus ofwaivers
ineffect onthedateofentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement, andsaidthathehadrecently held
consultations onhowthese waivers should bedealtwith. There appeared tobebroad agreement that
eachMember thatsought anextension ofawaiver listed inWT/L/153/Rev.1 should submit arequest
foritsextension. There wasalsoageneral view thatsuchrequests should bedealt withunder theWT/GC/M/13
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provisions ofArticle IX:3oftheWTO Agreement. Pursuant tothose provisions, suchrequests should
firstbeconsidered bytheCouncil forTrade inGoods.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
8. Preparations forthe1996 Ministerial Conference
(a) Report bytheDirector-General
(b) Progress ofpreparatory work insubsidiary bodies oftheGeneral Council
(a) Report bytheDirector-General
TheDirector-General saidthat,inpreparation fortheMinisterial Conference, fourgeneral
Heads-of-Delegations meetings hadbeenheldthusfarandteninformal consultations onspecific issues.
Herecalled thatinApril, agreement hadbeenreached onthestructure oftheMinisterial Conference,
which hadbeenendorsed bytheGeneral Council. Themeetings hadthenfocused mainly onwhat
might constitute thework programme oftheWTO through amore detailed examination ofthespecific
issues thathadbeenraised byseveral delegations inaseries ofnon-papers. While these discussions
hadbynomeans beenconclusive, theyhadbeenuseful inclarifying theissues andidentifying more
precisely whattheproponents wereseeking through theirrespective proposals. Forsome oftheissues,
afairly extensive exchange ofviews hadbeenheld, while onothers thathadbeenintroduced atalate
hour, onlyverypreliminary views hadbeencovered. Therange ofproposals onthetablewasquite
broad. Thethirteen subjects thatwerecurrently being considered wereregrouped asfollows: review
ofimplementation ofUruguay Round Agreements (onenon-paper bytheASEAN countries); built-in
agenda (twonon-papers bytheAsean countries andAustralia); regionalism (twonon-papers byKorea);
government procurement (three non-papers bytheUnited States andonebyNorway); investment (one
non-paper byCanada); WTO rules inaglobalizing economy (twonon-papers byHong Kong);
competition policy (twonon-papers bytheEuropean Community andJapan, introduced onlyrecently
andnotexamined thoroughly yet); rules oforigin (onenon-paper bytheEuropean Community,
introduced atthelastmeeting); labour standards (twonon-papers bytheUnited States andNorway);
World Trade Summit in1998 (onenon-paper byEcuador); textiles andclothing (twonon-papers by
theITCB andagroup oftextile exporting countries); tariffliberalization (twonon-papers byAustralia
andCanada, introduced atthelastmeeting); andservices (onenon-paper byAustralia alsointroduced
atthelastmeeting).
Several oftheabove issues hadbeenthought tobelong more appropriately totheregular WTO
bodies. Without foreclosing thepossibility ofreverting intheHead-of-Delegation process tocertain
cross-cutting orhorizontal aspects oftheseissues, inaccordance withthewishofdelegations concerned,
theproponents oftherelevant proposals hadbeenurged toraisethesame intherelevant foraofthe
WTO. These issues were: review ofimplementation ofUruguay Round Agreements; built-in agenda;
regionalism; rules oforigin; textiles andclothing; tariff liberalization; andServices. Hehoped
thatthishadbeenorwasbeing doneandthattheproposals werereceiving dueattention. Astothe
World Trade Summit proposal, consideration ofthisissue hadbeendeferred toalaterstage. The
remaining issues, namely, government procurement, investment, WTO rules, andcompetition were
those onwhich further discussion wasthought tobeneeded intheautumn bytheHeads ofDelegations.
Finally, discussions hadalsobeenheldontheproposal onlabour standards byNorway andtheUnited
States.
Astothefuture process, heandtheChairman oftheGeneral Council would continue to
coordinate theiraction andmake theirwork more result-oriented. TheGeneral Council itselfhadset
adeadline of7November fortheofficial reports onimplementation tobefinalized andsubmitted to
it.Itshould bethecommon aimtocomplete thedrafting ofanydecisions, recommendations orWT/GC/M/13
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communiques by7November. Forhispart,between thenandthelatter partofSeptember, hewould
intensify hisinformal consultations atalllevels --bilateral, plurilateral andmultilateral --inwhich
hewould pursue thediscussion ofthedraftconclusions oftheMinisterial Conference, aswellasseek
further views onthebusiness agenda andthespecific outstanding issues. Hewascurrently giving
preliminary thought tothequestion ofafinalcommunique orministerial declaration. Delegations had
already expressed views onthepossible elements thatshould gointosuchatext. Hehadbeenand
would be,therefore, seeking further views shortly fromdelegations. Itwasbecoming clearthatwhat
remained tobedone inthisareawastocome upwithapreliminary draft, inwhich heintended to
goasfaraspossible withrespect toallaspects which delegations would haveflagged. Hehoped to
haveanoutline ofthedeclaration byearly October. Hewould holdaHeads-of-Delegations meeting
intheafternoon of16September totakestock ofdelegations 'reflections during thesummer break,
bothingeneral andonspecific issues. Heemphasized, asdelegations hadthemselves pointed outon
several occasions, thatitwasabsolutely necessary tohaveacomplete overview ofalltheissues before
onecould decide onabalanced andcomprehensive package. Hebelieved thatthepointhadbeenreached
where noadditional papers needed tobesubmitted intheinterests oftheprocess. Atthemeeting on
16September, theoutstanding specific issues oftheHeads-of-Delegations process would bereverted
to,andhewould alsoprovide timefordelegations toprovide additional views. Hecould onlyurge
delegations todevote allnecessary attention tothepreparations, knowing thatafterthesummer break
therewould bebarely sixorseven weeks topulleverything together before thetargeted General Council
meeting on7November. Hehoped thatallwould make thebestuseofthesummer break tosharpen
theirfocus onthenature, scope andform ofthepossible actions tobeproposed toMinisters inthe
various areas ofwork.
Therepresentative ofIndianoted thatinhisreport theDirector-General hadexpressed thehope
thatnonewnon-paperswouldbesubmittedintheHeads-of-Delegationsprocess.Therewasapossibility,
however, thatIndia might consider itnecessary tosubmit anon-paper atanappropriate stage inthe
process.
TheDirector-General saidthatwhile hehadexpressed thehopethatnewnon-papers would
notbesubmitted, delegations certainly hadtherighttopresent further proposals. Hehadnotwished
toencourage toomany additional non-papers andhebelieved thatthiswasintheinterests ofthe
preparations fortheMinisterial Conference.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
(b) Progress ofpreparatory work insubsidiary bodies oftheGeneral Council
TheChairman saidthathewould invite therespective Chairpersons ofthesubsidiary bodies
oftheGeneral Council aswellastheChairpersons oftheDSBandtheTPRB toreport briefly, under
theirownresponsibility, ontheprogress ofpreparatory work inthose bodies. Healsointended to
invite theChairman oftheCommittee onTrade andEnvironment toreport ontheprogress ofwork
intheCommittee although theCommittee reported directly totheMinisterial Conference. Hehad
beeninformed bytheChairman oftheBudget andBOPCommittees thattheyhadnothing toreport
atthisstage withregard topreparatory work fortheMinisterial Conference intheir respective
Committees, andhewould not,accordingly, callonthem tomake reports atthepresent meeting.
Mr.Lafer (Brazil), Chairman oftheDispute Settlement Body, recalled thatinformation on
theactivities oftheDSBin1995 hadbeenpresented inDecember 1995 bythethenChairman ofthe
DSBinthecontext oftheannual overview ofWTO activities (WT/GC/M/9). Since December 1995,
theDSBhadheldtwelve meetings including special meetings, i.e.those which enabled Members to
request theestablishment ofpanels pursuant tofootnote 5ofArticle 6oftheDispute Settlement
Understanding. Twenty-six requests forconsultations hadbeennotified totheDSBinaccordance withWT/GC/M/13
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Article 4.4oftheDSU during theperiod under review. Infivecases, where consultations hadfailed
tosettle thedispute within the60-day period asprovided forinArticle 4.7oftheDSU, fiveseparate
panels hadbeenestablished. Inaddition, twopanels hadbeenestablished toexamine thematters brought
before theDSB pursuant toArticle 8.10 oftheAgreement onTextiles andClothing andto
Article XXIII:2 ofGATT 1994 andtherelevant provisions oftheDSU. Furthermore, tworeports
oftwopanels established in1995hadbeencirculated thisyear. Withrespect tothepanels established
in1996, proceedings ofonepanel hadbeenterminated asaresult ofthewithdrawal ofthemeasure
bythedefendant.
AttheDSB meeting on24April thisyear, hehadencouraged Members toprovide, for
transparency purposes, information oncases reaching mutually agreed solutions. Infourcases, such
solutions tomatters already initiated inthecourse of1995 hadbeennotified totheDSBpursuant to
Article 3.6oftheDSU. Animportant partofthedispute settlement mechanism, namely theAppellate
Body, hadbecome operational thisyear. On15February, theworking procedures forappellate review
entered intoforce. Atitsmeeting on21February, theDSBhadtaken noteoftheseworking procedures.
Thepanel report thattheDSBhadreceived foradoption thisyear, andtowhich hehadreferred earlier,
hadbeenappealed totheAppellate Body. Thiscaseconstituted thefirstreport oftheAppellate Body
which wasadopted bytheDSBon20May. ThenextstepinthiscasewasfortheDSBtomonitor
prompt compliance withitsrecommendations inorder toensure effective resolution ofdisputes tothe
benefit ofallMembers asprovided forinArticle 21.1oftheDSU. Another aspect oftheDSBactivities
related totheIndicative ListofGovernmental andNon-Governmental Panelists. Thislisthadnow
beenextended anditsconsolidated version, indocument WT/DSB/5 andCorr.1, hadbeencirculated
inMay. Additional names proposed byMembers werebeing approved bytheDSBonaregular basis
inaccordance withArticle 8.4oftheDSU. Tosumup,hewished tomake some general comments
ontheactivities oftheDSBinimplementing theprovisions oftheDSU: (i)hewished tonotethat,
withthecooperation ofMembers, theDSBhadsucceeded inresponding promptly torequests from
Members tohandle thedisputes brought before it;(ii)hewould alsoemphasize thatthetrend, already
evident in1995, thatMembers wished tohaverecourse tothemultilateral dispute settlement mechanism
inorder toresolve theirdisputes, hadcontinued thisyear; (iii)itwasimportant tonotethatthedispute
settlement mechanism hadbeenusednotonlybydeveloped countries butalsobydeveloping countries,
which appeared toindicate thatthenewly established mechanism intheUruguay Round could respond
totheneeds ofallMembers; and(iv)hebelieved thattheexperience thusfarhaddemonstrated that
Members werecommitted totheprovisions oftheDSUandtotheobjectives ofthedispute settlement
process, i.e.toreach mutually-acceptable solutions todisputes, andtherefore thattheimplementation
oftheprovisions oftheDSUwould beamajor contribution totheeffective functioning ofthemultilateral
trading system.
HesawtheDSUasanexpression ofcodification andprogressive development ofinternational
trade law. Itwasacodification ofpastGATT practices and,atthesame time, anewdevelopment
ofdispute settlement practices andrules. TheDSB --which wastheBody responsible forthe
administration ofthese newrules, inaccordance withArticle 2oftheDSU --hadfunctioned insuch
amanner astostrengthen therules thatwere codified andtoallow forprogressive development of
themechanism. Thedispute settlement mechanism foreseen intheDSUhadworked within theGATT
tradition, byallowing theresolution ofdisputes through consultations andthereaching ofmutually
acceptable solutions. Atthesame time, when consultations didnotresult inmutually acceptable
solutions, therule-oriented system hadworked withthedesired automaticity andpredictability. In
hisview, thesystem hadworked well, bothatthepanel andtheAppellate Body levels. Ithadbeen
saidthattheDSU represented oneofthemajor achievements oftheUruguay Round. Hecertainly
agreed withthat,andstrongly believed thatthisBody hadbeen abletoadminister therules and
procedures inaverysatisfactory manner. Thegoodfunctioning ofthedispute settlement system was
particularlyimportantwhenseenagainstthebackgroundfortheexistenceofamultilateraltradingsystem.
Thissystem andthesearch forincreased trade liberalization were designed tofavour peace amongWT/GC/M/13
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Members withdifferent levels andtypes ofeconomies. Hebelieved thattheWTO, andtheDSBin
particular, byserving asaninterface between theseeconomies, byproviding aframework under which
mutual solutions werefound, andbyallowing theresolution ofdisputes inaccordance withtheagreed
rules, hadhelped theachievement ofpeace through theruleoflaw.
MrsAnderson (Ireland), Chairperson oftheTrade Policy Review Body, saidthatthequestion
oftheTPRB 'sreport totheMinisterial Conference hadbeendiscussed within theTPRB, andithad
beenagreed thatshewould haveadraftready forMembers when theyreturned fromthesummer break.
Shedidnotthink, however, thatoneneedhaveanyrealconcerns about thetimetable. There were
fiveregularTPRBmeetingsbetween9Septemberand31October,andtherewouldbeampleopportunity
todiscuss thedraftatanyofthese meetings oratadditional informal meetings thatwere felttobe
necessary, inorder tohaveareport bythe7November deadline. Because thereport hadyettobe
written anddiscussed, shewashesitant tohaveapre-emptive discussion about thecontent. The
membership would havefullownership ofthisreport andthatobviously should berespected atevery
stageintheprocess. However, aspointers towards whatwould atleastbeinherfirstdraft, shewished
toflagthree points. First, while theWTO Agreement provided thattheTPRB shall"undertake an
appraisal oftheoperation oftheTPRB notlessthanfiveyears afterentry intoforce" oftheAgreement,
shebelieved itwasnotanexaggeration tosaythattherehadbeenafairly continuous process ofreflection
andself-examination within theTPRB since Marrakesh. Thework hadbegun under herpredecessor
in1995. Following informal consultations intheautumn of1995, thethenChairman hadproduced
apaper onprocedural improvements intheTPRB. Shehadtriedtotakethatwork forward inthe
spring ofthisyear, andtheTPRB inJunehadadopted some further modest procedural changes. She
didnotfeelthatthiswastheoccasion togointodetail ofthesubstance ofthediscussions onprocedure.
Awhole range ofissues, from preparatory work tofollow-up, hadbeenlooked at.There werestill
different views onsomeissues --forexample, atleastoneMember wished tochange thecycleofreviews
--butshebelieved thatworthwhile work hadbeendoneinfine-tuning theprocess. Second, shewould
intend topaysome attention totheTPRB coverage ofdeveloping countries. Shewould notrepeat
thecontent ofthenoteonthissubject thatshehadcirculated toMembers someweeks earlier, inresponse
totherequest received fromtheChairman oftheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment. Insummary,
shebelieved thatallshould consciously trytoimprove theTPRB coverage ofdeveloping countries,
particularlytheleastdeveloped.Sevenyearsafterthecreationofthemechanism,51developingcountries
remained tobereviewed, andonlyathirdoftheAfrican membership hadbeenreviewed. Inthenote
shehadasked ifthismattered, andhadsuggested theanswer thatitmattered mostofalltothedeveloping
countries themselves, because itbecame partoftheoverall pattern ofmarginalization. Onehadto
lookatbetter ways ofusing technical assistance tohelptheleast-developed countries gothrough the
process. Shebelieved onewould alsohavetolookatclustering asawayofimproving coverage.
Third, shewould touch ontheareaofdissemination ofinformation about whattheTPRB wasdoing.
Themechanism existed primarily formember governments but,given theconsiderable resources that
wereinvested, shebelieved itwasimportant thattheTPRM reports werewidely available toandused
bythebusiness community. There wasundoubtedly room forimprovement inthisarea. Discussions
weretaking place withthePublication UnitoftheSecretariat about TPRB publications, howtheywere
marketed, andwhat wasthepotential oftheINTERNET, forexample. Shehoped there would be
some reflection ofthisinthereport totheMinisterial Conference. Inconcluding, shesaidshehad
notsought tobecomprehensive butjusttogiveafewpointers atthisstage. Overall, thethrust of
thereport would betoreaffirm thevalue oftheTPRM andindicate whatwasbeing donetomake it
asefficient andcost-effective aspossible andrelevant forallWTO Members.
Mrs. Bautista (Philippines), Chairperson oftheCouncil forTrade inServices, saidthatthe
Council would takeupthesubject ofpreparations fortheSingapore Ministerial Conference atitsnext
meeting on30July. Theoutcome oftheCouncil 'swork inpreparation fortheMinisterial Conference
would beasingle report, made totheGeneral Council fortransmission toMinisters. Itwould cover
thework oftheCouncil itselfandthatofthesubsidiary bodies andnegotiating groups which reportedWT/GC/M/13
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toit.Each ofthese bodies would therefore produce itsownreport asaninput tothereport ofthe
Council. Ingeneral, thesereports would befactual, describing theworkdonethusfar,butinappropriate
cases theymight identify problems andputforward anyrecommendations onwhich Members could
agree. Theareas ofwork which would becovered were thefollowing. First, there were thefour
negotiations mandated byMinisters atMarrakesh andaimed attheimprovement ofscheduled
commitments inspecific areas, namely, financial services, themovement ofnatural persons, basic
telecommunications andmaritime transport services. Asallwereaware, withrespect totheSecond
Protocol onFinancial Services, thestatus ofitsentry intoforce wasstilltobedecided. Thusfar,more
thanthree-fourths ofthe44Members participating inthenegotiations hadratified theProtocol.
Hopefully, thedelayed ratification bysome countries would notprevent theentry intoforce ofthe
Second Protocol atthesoonest possible timebefore theMinisterial Conference. OntheThird Protocol
onMovement ofNatural Persons, 16outof21Members participating inthenegotiations hadratified.
Unlike theProtocol onFinancial Services, theProtocol onMovement ofNatural Persons entered into
force onthethirtieth dayfollowing thedateofitsacceptance. Thematter ofnon-acceptance bya
Member thathadmade offers inthenegotiations would bereferred totheCouncil forappropriate action.
Hopefully, allwould beonboard before theMinisterial Conference. With respect tothemaritime
negotiations, adecision hadbeenreached tosuspend them andresume withthecommencement of
comprehensive negotiations onservices andtoconclude themnolaterthanattheendofthefirstround
ofprogressive liberalization. Ithadbeenagreed thatnegotiations would beresumed onthebasis of
existing orimproved offers. Itwould nodoubt beappropriate todraw totheattention ofMinisters
theveryshorttimeavailable forthecompletion ofthenegotiations onbasictelecommunications, namely,
15February 1997, andthefactthatfinancial services alsowould besubject tonegotiations witha1997
deadline. Second, there wasthework ontheframework oftheGATS, alsomandated byMinisters
aspartofthebuilt-in agenda, which wasbeing carried outintheWorking Party onGATS Rules.
Thiscovered theissues ofsafeguard measures, subsidies andgovernment procurement ofservices.
Therecently established Committee onSpecific Commitments would alsoreport onitsworkontechnical
issues relating tothescheduling ofcommitments, which could beseenasanecessary input forthe
preparations forthenewround ofservices negotiations towhich allwerecommitted intheyear2000.
TheWorking Party onProfessional Services would report onitsworkontheissueofdomestic regulation
intheaccountancy sector, which wasundertaken inthecontext ofthework programme ondomestic
regulation mandated byArticle VIoftheGATS. Finally, theServices Council would ofcourse report
onitsownwork sinceDecember 1995, when ithadlastreported forthepurposes oftheannual overview
carried outattheendofthatyearbytheGeneral Council. Thus far,theCouncil hadreceived two
submissions, from Australia andChile, concerning thepreparations fortheMinisterial Conference.
Theyhadraised anumber ofissues relating tothesectoral negotiations, totheon-going work onGATS
Rules andProfessional Services, andtomatters falling within theresponsibility ofother subsidiary
bodies, suchastheCommittee onSpecific Commitments. These submissions hadnotyetbeendiscussed
bytheCouncil, andshewould therefore prefer nottocomment further onthem atthisstage. There
would beafulldiscussion ofthepreparations fortheMinisterial Conference on30July,andshewould
thenbeorganizing informal consultations withaviewtoagreeing onthecontent ofthereport tobe
made totheGeneral Council forconsideration atitsmeeting on7November. Sheencouraged other
MemberstocomeforwardwiththeirviewsonmatterstobetakenupatSingapore,preferablyinwriting.
TheChairman, speaking onbehalf ofMr.Armstrong (New Zealand), Chairman oftheCouncil
forTRIPS, saidthatthelatter hadraised thematter ofpreparations fortheMinisterial Conference
attheCouncil 'smeeting on9May1996, drawing attention tothetime-frame forsuchreports and
theelements thathehadsuggested might beincluded insuchreports. Inaccordance withtheseelements,
thereport could beexpected tocontain asubstantial section onimplementation, covering, interalia,
thework theCouncil hadundertaken onnotification procedures, ontheestablishment ofarrangements
forcooperation withWIPO, onthereview ofnational implementing legislation andintheareaof
technical cooperation. Another important element would bethesection onthefuture work ofthe
Council, including thatarising fromthebuilt-in agenda under theTRIPS Agreement. Thereport wouldWT/GC/M/13
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bediscussed further attheTRIPS Council meeting intheweek of22July,andtheChairman expected
adraft tobeready forconsideration bytheCouncil atitsmeeting scheduled for18September.
Arrangements would bemade sothatthereport wasabletocapture themostup-to-date information
available priortotheGeneral Council 'sNovember meeting, ifnecessary byholding ashort additional
meeting.
Mr.Narayanan (India), Chairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods, saidthateachsubsidiary
bodyoftheCouncil wasactively involved inthepreparation ofitsreport totheCouncil inconnection
withtheMinisterial Conference. Thereports ofthesubsidiary bodies would follow theguidelines
indicated bytheChairman oftheGeneral Council on16April 1996(WT/L/145). Allthereports would
besubject tointense consultations, anditwastherefore nothisintention topreempt thecontents of
anyofthereports atthisstage. However, onthebasis ofinformation available tohim,hewished
tomake onegeneral observation about theprocess ofimplementation, namely that,while thesituation
wassatisfactory inrespect ofscheduled commitments, aproblem seemed tobeemerging inrespect
ofcompliance withnotification obligations inanumber ofAnnex 1AAgreements. Theabsence of
notifications, theirlatesubmission, andtheirsometimes incomplete nature, hadcreated difficulties
inthecommittees concerned inarriving ataproper assessment oftheimplementation ofanumber
ofAgreements. Many delegations believed thatsuchasituation ledalsotoacertain lackoftransparency
inthesystem. Adocument issued bytheWorking Group onNotification Obligations andProcedures
(G/NOP/W/14) gaveaclearpicture ofthestateofplayofnotifications inthegoods area. Itappeared
fromthisdocument thatthere wasstillneedforwork tobedoneonthepartofanumber ofMembers
torectify thisdeficiency intheareaofnotifications before theMinisterial Conference, andhewished
tomake anearnest appeal toalltomake themaximum effort possible tofulfil their notification
obligations.
IntheCouncil forTrade inGoods, twoissues hadcome upfordiscussion which werelinked
totheMinisterial Conference. Oneconcerned theimplementation oftheAgreement onTextiles and
Clothing andrelated matters, which would bediscussed indetail atameeting scheduled for25July.
Thesecond concerned aproposal byAustralia suggesting thattheMinisterial Conference agree tobegin
industrial tariff negotiations intheyear2000, i.e.atthesame timeasthenegotiations foreseen inthe
built-in agenda intheareas ofagriculture andservices. Itwasexpected thatthismatter would be
discussed indetail infuture meetings oftheCouncil. Inaddition, theCouncil would report onthe
activities under theAgreement onPreshipment Inspection, forwhich therewasnoseparate subsidiary
body. Inrespect ofthisAgreement, herecalled thattheIndependent Review Entity foreseen under
theAgreement hadbecome operational onlyon1May1996. TheIndependent Entity hadthusfar
notreceived anycomplaints forreview. TheAgreement, inArticle 6,provided forareview bythe
Ministerial Conference attheendof1996 oftheprovisions, implementation andoperation ofthe
Agreement, onthebasisofareport tobesubmitted totheCouncil forTrade inGoods bytheIndependent
Entity. Since nocomplaint hadcome up,theCouncil might havetotakeaviewattheappropriate
timeabout thenature ofthereport tomake totheMinisterial Conference.
Withregard tothework oftheCommittee onMarket Access, henoted thattheimplementation
oftariff concessions onindustrial products contained intheWTO Schedules hadstarted on1January
1995, andwasspread overfivestages, unless otherwise specified intheschedules. On1January 1996,
thesecond stage ofreductions wastohavetaken place. Ithadbeenagreed intheCommittee that,
ifandwhen necessary, asystem ofreverse notifications would apply incaseofnon-compliance with
theagreed commitments fortariffcuts. Thedraftreport totheCouncil would befinalized atthemeeting
scheduled for18October.
Asregards theAgreement onRules ofOrigin, implementation hadfocused primarily onthe
harmonization work programme being doneinconjunction withtheTechnical Committee onRules
ofOrigin setupunder theauspices oftheWorld Customs Organization. Thework, forwhich theWT/GC/M/13
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Agreement hadsetathree-year time-frame, wasnowinitssecond phase. Concern hadbeenvoiced
thatwork inphase twowasbehind schedule. Thedraftreport totheCouncil would befinalized at
themeeting scheduled for11October.
Intheareaofcustomsvaluation,whilenormalactivitiesundertheAgreementappearedtoproceed
satisfactorily, there wasstillroom forimprovement withrespect tocompliance withnotification
requirements. TheCommittee onCustoms Valuation would finalize itsreport totheCouncil atits
meeting on25October.
Asregards theAgreement onImport Licensing Procedures, fulfilment ofnotification obligations
wasthusfarnotquite satisfactory andnotifications were stilloutstanding from alarge number of
Members. Asfarasthebuilt-in agenda wasconcerned, thefirstreview ontheimplementation and
operation oftheAgreement provided forunder Article 7.1would beconducted atthenextmeeting
scheduledfor23October.TheCommittee'sreporttotheCouncilwouldalsobefinalizedatthatmeeting.
IntheareaofAgriculture, tworeports were being prepared. Thefirstrelated tothe
implementation oftheAgreement onAgriculture, inparticular theactivities oftheCommittee in
reviewing progress intheimplementation ofcommitments negotiated under theUruguay Round reform
programme andthebuilt-in agenda. Thebuilt-in agenda included thedevelopment ofinternationally
agreed disciplines onagricultural export credits andrelated facilities andtheinitiation, oneyearbefore
theendoftheimplementation period, ofnegotiations forcontinuing thereform process asprovided
forinArticle 20oftheAgreement. Thesecond report related totheMinisterial Decision onmeasures
concerning thepossible negative aspects ofthereform programme onleast-developed andnetfood-
importing developing countries. Interms ofparagraph 6thereof, theprovisions oftheMinisterial
Decision weresubject toregular review bytheMinisterial Conference andtheCommittee 'sworking
procedures required ittoprepare areport onthefollow-up totheDecision forthepurposes ofthis
review. Preliminary drafts ofthese reports wereunder consideration atinformal consultations which
hadbegun thedaybefore, andwould continue thefollowing day.Further informal consultations were
foreseen before the24-25 September meeting oftheCommittee when thefinalversions ofthereports
were expected tobeadopted.
AsregardstheCommitteeonSanitaryandPhytosanitaryMeasures,thedraftreporttotheCouncil
would bediscussed bytheCommittee atitsmeeting scheduled for22July. Itfocused onthework
oftheCommittee related totheimplementation oftheAgreement andonissues thathademerged in
thiscontext. Italsoaddressed ongoing workunder thebuilt-in agenda, inparticular (i)thedevelopment
ofguidelinestofurtherthepracticalimplementationoftheobjectiveofachievingconsistencyindecisions
regarding theappropriate levelofsanitary andphytosanitary protection, asrequired bytheAgreement
and(ii)aproposal forthedevelopment ofaprocedure tomonitor theuseofinternational standards,
guidelines andrecommendations. Thislatterinvolved thequestion oftheappropriate division oflabour
between theWTO andseveral international standard-setting organizations withwhich closecooperation
hadbeenestablished. Thedraft report proposed thattheCommittee would undertake in1997 the
necessary preparations forthereview oftheoperation andimplementation oftheAgreement which
under theprovisions oftheAgreement would havetobeconducted in1998. TheCommittee would
finalize itsreport totheCouncil atitsmeeting scheduled for8-9October.
Intherules area, covering theAgreements onAnti-Dumping, Subsidies andCountervailing
measures, Safeguards, andState Trading, there were three broad issues namely, contingent trade
remedies, subsidies, andstatetrading. Intheareaofcontingent traderemedies, namely, anti-dumping,
countervailing andsafeguard measures, WTO rules were implemented through Members 'national
legislation. Under theAgreements, asamplified bythedecisions oftheCommittees onAnti-Dumping
Practices, Subsidies andCountervailing Measures, andSafeguards, allMembers wererequired tonotify
theirdomestic legislation, ortheabsence thereof, by15March 1995. Asof1July1996, 41MembersWT/GC/M/13
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hadnotyetnotified astoanti-dumping legislation, 44astocountervailing dutylegislation, and47
astosafeguards legislation. Many ofthese Members probably hadnosuchlegislation. However,
thenon-notifiers included some Members thatwererelatively major traders andthatmight haverelevant
legislation. Therelevant Committees hadconducted anin-depth review, including written questions
andanswers, ofnotified legislations. Only asmall number ofMembers --12withrespect toanti-
dumping, 11withrespect tocountervailing measures, andninewithrespect tosafeguards --hadnotified
newlawsorregulations specifically tailored totheWTO Agreements. SuchMembers wereconsiderably
outnumbered bythose withpre-WTO legislation stillinforce: 37withrespect toanti-dumping; 36
withrespect tocountervailing measures; and17withrespect tosafeguards. Among theMembers
thathadnotified pre-WTO legislation were anumber ofactive users ofcontingent trade remedies.
Incertain countries, theWTO Agreements themselves hadtheforce oflawandwould prevail over
pre-WTO domestic legislation intheevent ofconflict. However, someMembers hadexpressed concern
thateven insuch cases theabsence ofnewlegislations specifically tailored toimplement WTO
requirements might result inalackoftransparency andclarity regarding applicable procedures orto
WTO-inconsistentmeasures.Finally,theintensivereviewprocessconductedintherelevantCommittees
hadidentified issues relating totheWTO-consistency ofbothpre-WTO andnewlegislations. The
procedural andsubstantive requirements setforth intheWTO Agreements fortheimposition of
contingent traderemedies wereverycomplex. Atthesametime, numerous Members, bothdeveloped
anddeveloping, were seeking tocreate orextend theircontingent trade remedy régimes. Concern
hadbeenexpressed thatintheabsence ofsignificant training andeducational programmes therecould
beanincreaseinthenumberofWTO-inconsistentcontingenttraderemedies.TheAgreementscontained
avariety ofrequirements relating tothenotification oftheconduct ofcontingent trade remedy
investigations andtheimposition ofmeasures. Although theactive users ofcontingent traderemedies
weregenerally meeting thesenotification obligations, thereweresometimes problems relating totiming,
format andcompleteness. Further, some Members thathadthelegal ability totakemeasures, and
thatwere, insome cases, conducting investigations, hadnotbeenproviding necessary notifications.
Withregard tocontingent traderemedies, thereweretwobuilt-in agenda items relating totheAgreement
onAnti-Dumping, namely anti-circumvention andstandard ofreview. TheMinisterial Decision had
noted the"problem ofcircumvention" andhadreferred thematter totheADPCommittee forresolution.
Three rounds ofinformal consultations hadbeenheldwhich allrelated totherequest bysomedelegations
tofirstestablish basic ground rulesorframework forthediscussion. Noagreement hadbeenreached
sofaronthese ground rules. Onstandards ofreview, theMinisterial Decision hadcalled forareview
ofthestandard ofreview foranti-dumping determinations byWTO panels afterthree years toseeif
itwas"capable ofgeneral application". Three years meant 1January 1998. Thus, noaction seemed
toberequired atthistime. Further, there hadnotyetbeenanypanels established under theWTO
Anti-Dumping Agreement, soitwaspremature toconsider thisissue fortheSingapore Ministerial
Conference.
Withregard tosubsidies, theSCM Agreement contained extensive notification andsurveillance
provisionsintendedtoensuretransparencyandthustoassistMembersinidentifyingissuesofcompliance
withtheAgreement 'ssubstantive obligations. Thekeynotification requirement wastheobligation
under Article 25tonotify allspecific subsidies. Asof4July1996, however, 70Members, including
many significant traders, hadmade nonotification pursuant toArticle 25.Further, therewerequestions
regarding thecompleteness ofthenotifications thathadbeenmade. Asof4July, 16Members had
informedtheSCMCommitteethattheyhadnonotifiablesubsidies,and20Membershadnotifiedsubsidy
programmes totheCommittee. Questions hadbeenraised byMembers regarding thenumber of
programmes notified, andnotnotified, therelative absence ofadhocandtaxsubsidies, aswellas
thefailure byvarious Members tonotify subsidies relating toparticular sectors orprovided byparticular
levels ofgovernment. Thefailure ofsomany Members tonotify specific subsidies, andthelateness
ofthenotifications thathadbeensubmitted, hadprevented theCommittee fromholding aspecial session
toreview 1995notifications inthatyear. TheCommittee hadnowscheduled review sessions for1995
notifications forJulyandNovember 1996, which meant thatthefirstofthesesessions would takeplaceWT/GC/M/13
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onemonth afterthedeadline forupdating notifications for1996. Written questions regarding thefirst
tranche ofnotifications tobereviewed hadbeendueby10June1996, andthequestions received
indicated asubstantial interest inthereview process. Thespecial sessions could trigger additional
notifications andanimprovement inthequality ofexisting notifications. TheSCM Agreement also
provided thatcertain subsidies thatwerenotified inadvance ofimplementation werenon-actionable.
However, theinstitutional structure required tomake theprocess work wasnotyetcomplete. While
aformat forgreen subsidy notifications hadbeendeveloped andwork onanupdate format waswell
advanced, work ondraftprocedures forarbitration regarding whether anotified programme satisfied
thecriteria fornon-actionability remained stalled. Asregards subsidies, thereweretwobuilt-in agenda
items. Pursuant tonote62toAnnex IVoftheSubsidies Agreement "anunderstanding among Members
should bedeveloped, asnecessary, onmatters which arenotspecified inthisAnnex orwhich need
further clarification forthepurposes ofparagraph 1(a)ofArticle 6."AnInformal Group ofExperts
hadbeenmeeting onthismatter butwasfarfrommaking anytangible recommendations. There was
nodeadline forthiswork intheAgreement orbyaCommittee decision. Some recommendations to
theCommittee might beready forconsideration laterintheyear. TheSubsidies Agreement, inArticle
8.3,alsorequired theSCM Committee toreview thefunctioning ofandthedefinitions contained in
Article 8.2(a) regarding non-actionable research subsidies inlightofexperience ofMembers by30
June1996. TheCommittee hadtaken thisupatits1Maymeeting andhaddecided thatintheabsence
ofanygreen notifications there wasnothing tobedone atthisstage. TheCommittee might revert
tothematter laterifaMember sorequested.
Asregards state-trading, pursuant toArticle XVII ofGATT 1994 andtheUnderstanding on
theInterpretation ofArticle XVII, allstatetrading enterprises (STEs) which fitthedefinition setforth
intheUnderstanding should benotified annually. Thenotifications, andanycounter-notifications
submitted, werereviewed bytheWorking Party onStateTrading Enterprises withaviewtoassessing
theimpact ofSTEs'operations onworld trade. Compliance withthisnotification requirement had
beenfarfromtimely orcomplete, andhadhampered theWorking Party'sreview. Todate,31Members
hadmade substantive state-trading notifications, and10Members hadnotified thattheyhadnostate-
trading enterprises. Asof4July1996, 66Members, including anumber ofmajor trading nations,
hadnotmade anArticle XVII notification, dueon30June1995. There hadalsobeenquestions
regarding thecompleteness ofcertain notifications. TheWorking Party hadbeencharged withtwo
specific tasks: torevise theexisting questionnaire, which dated from1960, andtodevelop anillustrative
listofSTEs'activities andtheirrelationships withgovernment. Dueinparttothelateness ofmany
ofthenotifications, thisprocess sofarhadadvanced slowly. However, thepaceseemed tohave
accelerated recently, andsome Members hadevensuggested theSingapore Ministerial Conference
asadeadline forcompletion ofarevised questionnaire. Itwasimportant thatwork progressed on
therevision ofthequestionnaire andthedevelopment ofanillustrative list,asthesewerecritical elements
intheprocess ofclarifying theconcept ofnotifiable statetrading andensuring thatalltherelevant
information wasprovided fullyinthenotifications. Itwashoped thatcompletion ofthesetwoexercises
would yield better results intheareaofnotification, which inturnwould provide thenecessary basis
forlooking atwhether further disciplines inthisareawerenecessary. Thereports ofthefourbodies
intherulesareatotheGoods Council would befinalized onthefollowing dates: forAnti-Dumping -
21-22 October; forSubsidies andCountervailing Measures -23-24 October; forSafeguards -
25October; andforState Trading -26-27 September.
Intheareaoftextiles, inthecontext ofthepreparation fortheSingapore Ministerial Conference,
theTextiles Monitoring Body haddecided inApril 1996toholdaspecial meeting on30September -
1October inorder tofinalize itsreport ontheimplementation oftheAgreement, itbeing understood
that,ifnecessary, ashort meeting could beconvened atalaterdate. TheTMB hadstarted the
preliminary consideration ofthestructure ofitsreport, andintended tostartdiscussing thesubstance
ofitsreport soon.WT/GC/M/13
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Inthetrade-related investment measures area, theCommittee onTRIMs hadfocused mainly
ontheimplementation ofthenotification andtransition procedure provided forinArticle 5withregard
toexisting TRIMs thatwere inconsistent withtheAgreement. With respect tothebuilt-in agenda,
Article 9provided forareview oftheTRIMs Agreement bytheCouncil onadatenotlaterthanfive
years aftertheentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement, atwhich consideration should begiven tothe
needtosupplement theTRIMs Agreement withprovisions oninvestment policy andcompetition policy.
Adraft report would becirculated bytheendofJulyandwould beconsidered foradoption atthe
Committee meeting scheduled for30September.
Regarding theAgreement onTechnical Barriers toTrade, itappeared thatsome Members had
yettosubmit statements onimplementation andadministration oftheAgreement under Article 15.2.
With respect tothebuilt-in agenda, Article 15.4oftheAgreement provided forareview bythe
Committee oftheoperation andimplementation ofthisAgreement towards theendofevery threeyear
period. Preparations fortheCommittee 'sfirsttriennial review under Article 15.4would bepartof
thereport thatitwould bemaking totheGoods Council inthecontext oftheSingapore Ministerial
Conference. TheCommittee intended toadopt thereport atitsmeeting on16October.
With regard totheWorking Group onNotification Obligations andProcedures, inkeeping
withtherequirement thatitcomplete itsreview andmake itsrecommendations totheCouncil within
twoyears, theGroup haddecided tofinalize itsreport andrecommendations atitsmeeting scheduled
for3October toensure thatitwasbefore theCouncil wellinadvance oftheMinisterial Conference.
TheGroup alsohoped toattach toitsreport anupdated version ofthedocument towhich hehadreferred
atthebeginning ofthisstatement (G/NOP/W/14).
Inconcluding, hesaidthatinalmost allthecommittees thework relating topreparation for
theMinisterial Conference wasprogressing wellandaccording toplan. Some ofthecommittees had
evenreached thestateofconsultations ondraft reports. TheGeneral Council could therefore feel
reassured about thepaceofprogress ofwork relating topreparations fortheMinisterial Conference.
Hewasconfident thatwiththehelpofthechairpersons ofallthefourteen subsidiary bodies ofthe
Council forTrade inGoods, andwiththevaluable guidance oftheMembers oftheCouncil, he,as
Chairman oftheCouncil, could fulfiltheexpectation oftheCouncil byfinalizing itsreport totheGeneral
Council atitsmeeting scheduled for7November.
Mr.Benjelloun-Touimi (Morocco), Chairman oftheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment,
saidthatiftheWTO, asanyother neworganization, faced many challenges infinding itsplace within
theinternational community ofintergovernmental organizations, theCTD faced thesame challenges
within theorganization. Itseemed thatinthepasttheCTD wasoneofthefewnon-rule-making and
non-negotiating bodies. Thischaracteristic oftheCTD hadpresented twoopportunities. First, the
non-negotiating andcross-cutting nature oftheCTD hadpermitted Members toaddress development
matters being dealtwithinother WTO bodies. Second, from anexternal perspective, theCTD had
presented afocalpoint fordialogue andcooperation withother multilateral organizations dealing with
development-related activities. Since thebeginning oftheyear, theCTD hadactively engaged in
pursuing theobjective ofcloser institutional cooperation byinviting totheCTD theSecretary-General
ofUNCTAD, theExecutive-Director ofITC, theDirector-General oftheWTO andtheChairman
ofboththeWTO 'sGeneral Council andUNCTAD 'sTrade andDevelopment Board. AlltheseHeads
ofInstitutions andBodies hadaddressed theCommittee atleastonce. InSeptember, theChairman
oftheJointIMF/World Bank Development Committee would address theCommittee. Thisenhanced
dialogue hadprovided Members oftheCommittee withanumber ofpositive contributions, inparticular,
withrespect toitspreparation fortheSingapore Ministerial Conference.
Turning more specifically tothepreparatory work fortheMinisterial Conference, theCTD
hadheldfourmeetings during theperiod from January toJuly1966. There hadalsobeenaseriesWT/GC/M/13
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ofinformal consultations atthebilateral, plurilateral andCommittee levels. TheCommittee hadalso
scheduled twomore meetings inSeptember, andthelastmeeting of1966wasplanned formid-October.
Thisincreased frequency ofmeetings reflected theimportance attached thisyeartopreparations for
theMinisterial Conference andtheintention oftheCommittee 'sMembers tosubmit recommendations
fortheapproval ofMinisters inSingapore. Inthisrespect Committee Members hadidentified four
priorities: (i)theimplementation ofprovisions intheWTO Agreements andlegalinstruments infavour
ofdeveloping countries; (ii)thepreparation ofguidelines forWTO technical cooperation; (iii)working
towards increasing theparticipation ofdeveloping countries inthemultilateral trading system, including
theevaluation oftheimpact oftheUruguay Round onthese countries; and(iv)theformulation of
positivemeasureswithaviewtoenablingleast-developedcountiestoachievetheirdevelopmentobjective.
With respect totheimplementation ofprovisions infavour ofdeveloping countries, theCommittee
wasseeking written contributions fromboththeMembers andthedifferent WTO committees andother
bodies responsible formonitoring provisions infavour ofdeveloping country Members. Thefirst
substantive debate wastotakeplace ataCTD meeting afterthesummer break. FortheMinisterial
Conference, itwasverylikely thattheCommittee would present a"diagnosis" oftheimplementation
ofthevarious provisions aswellasproposals, ifany,onhowtoensure theimplementation ofvarious
provisions. Withrespect totheprovision ofguidelines forWTO technical cooperation activities, this
hadbeenthefocus oftheCommittee 'swork in1996. Aneffective response totheincreasing needs
ofdeveloping countries fortechnical cooperation intrade-related matters required thecoordination
oftechnical cooperation activities provided bythevarious international organizations. There wasalso
aneedtoremove anyoverlap intheirprogrammes andtoensure thatrecipient countries fullybenefited
from thecomplementary nature oftheirrespective competencies.
Inorder toassist theCommittee inassessing thepriority areasforWTO technical cooperation,
theCommittee hadbenefited fromthreemajor inputs: (i)aChairman 'squestionnaire senttoMembers
which hadtheobjectives ofidentifying theoverall technical cooperation needs ofMembers; (ii)the
contribution oftheHeads ofInstitutions andother bodies thathadaddressed theCommittee onvarious
occasions; and(iii)awell-structured andveryconstructive non-paper bySwitzerland. Based onthese
inputs, aswellasoralcontributions bydelegations, hehadrecently circulated anInformal Note by
theChairmanthatcontainedachecklistofpointsrelatedtotheguidelineswhichcouldhelpinestablishing
theprinciples,objectives,operationaldirectionsandprioritiesforWTOtechnicalcooperation.Following
themeeting oftheCommittee theprevious week, hewould distribute arevised version ofthisInformal
Note incorporating comments byMembers. TheCommittee Members would thenprepare their
recommendationsonguidelinesfortechnicalcooperationfortheMinisterialConference.Theseguidelines
wereexpected tohavethefollowing characteristics. They would (i)define thescope oftheWTO 's
technical cooperation; (ii)ensure thattheassistance provided waswelladapted totheevolving needs
ofdeveloping countries; (iii)givetheCTDagreater rôleindefining andevaluating theWTO technical
cooperation; (iv)ensure thattechnical cooperation focused oncapacity-building; and(v)single out
priorities, including beneficiaries, bearing inmindthattheCTDwould review periodically thepriorities
forWTO technical cooperation.
Withrespect tothegoalofincreasing theparticipation ofdeveloping country Members inthe
multilateraltradingsystemandreviewingtheimpactoftheUruguayRound,theCommitteehadrequested
theSecretariat toprepare astudy addressing whysome developing countries hadperformed better than
others inintegrating intothemultilateral trading system. Following discussions heldovertheperiod
fromJanuary toJune1996, theCommittee hadagreed ontheoutline ofthestudy which would address
bothdomestic andexternal considerations. Based onthisstudy --which wastobedistributed atthe
endofJuly--theCommittee would define possible policy recommendations forconsideration andaction
byMinisters inSingapore onhowtointegrate developing countries intothemultilateral trading system.
Onecouldalreadyanticipatethatpartoftheserecommendationswouldbeacomprehensiveandintegrated
PlanofAction fortheLDCs aimed atreversing thetrend towards theirmarginalization. TheCTD
anditssubsidiary body, namely theSub-Committee onLDCs, hadplaced least-developed countriesWT/GC/M/13
Page21
highintheWTO 'sdevelopment agenda. Thus, onmatters relating toimplementation oftheresults
oftheUruguay Round, particular attention wasbeing paidtodevise positive measures toensure the
implementation oftheobjectives oftheMinisterial Decision onMeasures inFavour ofLeast-Developed
Countries. Inconcluding, hesaidhewished toshare hissatisfaction andfeeling thatallMembers
hadastrong sense ofcommitment toadvance inaconstructive waytheestablishment ofapractical
andbalanced agenda forSingapore.
Mr.Sanchez Arnau (Argentina), Chairman oftheCommittee onTrade andEnvironment, said
thattheCommittee hadcompleted tworounds ofanalysis ofeachoftheninesubstantive items onits
agenda. Thedebate hadbeenveryvaluable andhadenabled abetter understanding ofthemagnitude
andcomplexity ofsome ofthese topics. Thequality oftheanalytical andbackground documents by
theSecretariat hadcontributed tothedebate, ashadthediscussion inother international foraonsome
ofthese topics. Attheendofeachoftherounds ofexamination oftheagenda items, theCommittee
hadengaged inastock-taking exercise thathadenabled ittodraw uponthatbasisawork programme
forthefollowing stage ofitswork. Attheendofthefirststock-taking exercise, inOctober 1995,
theCommittee hadidentified foreachoftheagenda items alistofconcrete problems which required
further study. Inthecourse ofthesecond round ofanalysis oftheagenda items, delegations had
submitted written andoralproposals aimed atcoming upwithconclusions and,insome cases,
recommendations tobeadopted bytheCommittee. Thusfar,18formal orinformal proposals inwriting
hadbeentabled andadditional proposals hadbeenpromised tobecirculated before thenextmeeting
scheduled for24-25 July. Itwashoped thattheproposals tobesubmitted afterthatmeeting would
beaimed essentially atbuilding aconsensus onthebasis ofproposals already presented. Attheend
ofthesecond stock-taking exercise, which hadtaken place attheendofMay, theCommittee briefly
looked attheresults thathadbeenachieved untilthen, adopted awork programme leading uptothe
adoption ofthefinalreport oftheCommittee and,inparticular, agreed onthestructure ofthefinal
report. Thereport would bemade upofthree chapters. Thefirstwould describe theproblems under
eachagendaitemandtheirbackground,makingreferencetothebackgrounddocumentsbytheSecretariat
withashortreference totheircontent. Thesecond chapter would beananalytical component, drawing
onthediscussions intheCommittee 'smeetings, andwould describe theproposals anddocuments
submitted bydelegations andthedebates which hadfollowed theirsubmission. Thethirdchapter would
include theconclusions, andrecommendations ifany. What hehadsaidthusfarcould becalled a
consensus report onthework oftheCommittee because ithaddrawn practically every word fromthe
agreed textsoftheCommittee inthecourse ofthetwostock-taking exercises thathadrecently been
carried out. While thismight appear straightforward, reaching aconsensus onsuchaneutral and
objective description oftwoyears'work hadproved tobeextremely difficult.
Inthisregard, hewished toshare some personal reflections withaview tocontributing to
advancing thework oftheCommittee atacritical stepinitsexistence. Hefeared thatiftheCommittee
didnotmanage totakeaqualitative jump initswork withtheaimofreaching afinalreport thatwould
include concrete conclusions andrecommendations onthemain agenda items, Members would find
themselves withonlytwooptions left.They would either havetorepeat hackneyed general concepts
already adopted inother organizations, orrecognize theirinability aftertwoyears'work toreach
substantive agreement andtopropose thatMinisters authorize theCommittee tocontinue indefinitely
adebate which, atleastatthetechnical level, hadbeenpractically exhausted. Thecreation ofthe
Committee inMarrakesh hadbeenseenasoneofthemostimportant decisions adopted byMinisters.
TheCommittee hadnotbeenestablished merely toproduce areport onitsdiscussions, however valuable
andinteresting theymight havebeen. Ithadbeencreated torespond toapolitical demand toreconcile
theenvironmental problem andthetrade problem, while respecting thenon-discriminatory, openand
equitable nature ofthemultilateral trading system. TheWTO 'spredecessor, theGATT, hadbeen
strongly criticized indifferent spheres forhaving ignored theenvironmental aspect. Thecreation of
thisCommittee wasajustresponse tothiscriticism, andshowed thedynamism ofthisorganization
intaking upthisnewchallenge. IfMembers wereunable tocome upwithconcrete answers totheseWT/GC/M/13
Page22
problems, theywould beopening thewaytoevenmoreserious criticism thatmight perhaps bejustified.
Members would notonlyhavemissed anopportunity butwould alsohaveopened thewayforissues
thatshould havebeensettled under theGeneral Agreement tobesettled inother forawithout the
protection ofthelegalframework oftheGeneral Agreement, andunder pressures thatwould bequite
different fromtheclimate thatprevailed inthisorganization. Hedidnotwishtodramatize thesituation,
nortoechotheopinions ofsome sectors whose expectations fortheCommittee 'swork wentfarbeyond
itscapabilities andterms ofreference. TheCommittee 'swork anditsdecisions could notgobeyond
theframework ofthelegalinstruments adopted inMarrakesh. Attheverymost, astheMinisterial
Decision establishing theCommittee hadinstructed it,theCommittee could recommend, ifthiswere
necessary, modifications tothese instruments. What theCommittee could notrecommend wasthat
decisions betaken thatwentbeyond thelimits ofthemultilateral trading system, i.e.beyond thescope
andobjectives oftheorganization. What theCommittee could notafford todoeither, wastoexpose
Ministers tonewcriticism forhaving ignored apartofreality. Itwasnotthecontent ofthedecision
thatmight beadopted thatwasmostworrying --although Members would notbeinfavour ofadopting
justanydecision --butrather theriskofhaving noconcrete decision, withtheresulting consequences
thathehadreferred toearlier.
Mr.Weekes (Canada), Chairman oftheCommittee onRegional Trade Agreements, recalled
thattheGeneral Council hadagreed inFebruary 1966 toestablish theCommittee onRegional Trade
Agreements withfar-reaching terms ofreference. These included theexamination ofregional trade
agreements; toconsider andmake recommendations ontherequirement forbiennial reporting ontheir
operation; thedevelopment ofprocedures tofacilitate andimprove theexamination process; and
consideration ofthesystemic implications ofsuchagreements andregional initiatives forthemultilateral
trading system andtherelationship between them. TheGeneral Council hadalsospecifically provided
thattheCommittee could carry outanyadditional functions assigned toitbytheGeneral Council.
TheCommittee hadmettwice andfourmore meetings were foreseen before theendof1996. He
believed thatMembers wereengaging inthework oftheCommittee inaconstructive andcommitted
manner. Although theCommittee wasnew, hewashopeful thatitwould beabletomake auseful
reporttotheGeneralCouncilaspartofitspreparationsfortheMinisterialConference.Indeed,Members
hadbegun todiscuss attheprevious meeting theimpetus theMinisterial Conference might giveto
theCommittee 'swork. Aprogramme ofwork hadbeenagreed which would allow theCommittee
toengage, atleastinitially, insubstantive workinallareasofitsmandate before Singapore. Hebelieved
thattheCommittee could playanimportant partinthework oftheWTO. However, thekeyissue
oftherelationship between regionalism andthemultilateral system would playoutinamuch broader
forum. Itwastheimportance thatgovernments placed ontheWTO itself andwhat theywanted it
todothatwould determine thevitality andviability ofthisOrganization inthefaceoftoday'svery
dynamic regionalism.
Asregards theCommittee 'sspecific work, theCommittee would carry outtheexamination
ofnewagreementsnotifiedtotheWTO,completetheoutstandingworkoftheworkingpartiespreviously
established andprepare theappropriate reports aftertheexamination process. Asmany as31regional
agreements weredueforexamination byWTO Members. TheCommittee 'sworkprogramme envisaged
thatbytheendofthisyear, 23oftheagreements would havebeentaken upforexamination. This
constituted 75percentoftheagreements notified butnotyetexamined. TheCommittee hadalso
commenceddiscussionsonhowtodealwithmattersrelatingtobiennialreportingonexistingagreements.
Atthenextmeeting there would beadiscussion onthebasis ofachecklist ofpoints prepared bythe
Secretariat. Biennial reporting would beaddressed attwoadditional meetings during 1966. Withrespect
tofacilitating andimproving theexamination process, astandard format wasbeing developed tobe
usedasaguideline forthesubmission ofinformation bytheparties toregional agreements. This
submission would bemade before theCommittee began itsformal examination ofanyparticular
agreement. Progress onthisagenda itemwasalsobeing assisted byajointproposal byAustralia,
Hong Kong andKorea, which addressed procedures fortheexamination oftheagreements aswellWT/GC/M/13
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asthetime-frames foreachstepoftheexamination. Anon-paper wasalsorecently presented byJapan.
Improvement intheexamination process would beaddressed onthree more occasions during 1966.
Consideration ofthesystemic implications ofregional agreements andinitiatives wasanewtopicfor
theWTO. Clearly, thedrafters ofArticle XXXIV oftheGATT hadnever envisaged thegrowth of
regional agreements andinitiatives which allhadexperienced, norhadtheyimagined thatmosttrade
would nottakeplace onanm.f.n. basis. Yet,onecould notgobacktothepast. Allneeded tofocus
onthefuture andmake theirwork relevant fortomorrow. TheCommittee hadinitiated discussions
onthebasisofareport bytheSecretariat andaproposal byKorea. Thelatter hadprovided suggestions
about whatcould beagreed byMinisters inSingapore. Also, theCommittee hadagreed toconsider
aproposal bytheChair toconduct ahorizontal analysis ofsome oftheelements found inregional
agreements andinitiatives andrelevant totheWTO. Technical barriers totrade, sanitary and
phytosanitary regulations, andrules oforigin hadbeenmentioned aspossible candidates. Such an
analysis would giveMembers abetter picture ofwhat wasactually happening inpractice. Despite
alltheattention thathadbeengiven totheissue ofregionalism, almost alltheanalysis ofitseffects
hadbeen confined totariffs. Allneeded tobroaden their understanding. Thetopic ofsystemic
implications would beaddressed ontwomore occasions during 1996. Inconcluding, hesaidthathe
sensed averyhighlevelofcommitment fromallMembers inthework oftheCommittee, andlooked
forward tothecontinued support ofMembers astheCommittee 'swork wascarried forward.
Therepresentative ofThailand, speaking onbehalf oftheASEAN countries, saidthatthey
recognizedthesignificanceofasuccessfuloutcomeoftheSingaporeMinisterialConferenceinfurthering
theobjectives underlying themultilateral trading system. TheASEAN countries wished tostress that
theyattached importance tothepreparatory process, inwhich theywould continue toparticipate actively.
They reiterated theconcern thatthesubjects tobecovered attheMinisterial Conference should be
balanced andissues ofinterest todeveloping countries should betaken upaccordingly. Inlightof
thefactthattheyhadgiven importance tothequestion ofreview ofimplementation ofUruguay Round
AgreementsasthefirstandforemosttaskoftheMinisterialConference,theywishedtourgethatongoing
discussion insubsidiary bodies bestepped upinorder tocome upwithspecific recommendations on
possible courses ofaction intheirrespective areas. Onthebuilt-in agenda, thequestion wasoneof
howtoproceed. Theexperience oftheUruguay Round hadshown thatdelays inarriving atmeaningful
results wasoftencaused bypoorpreparation. Assuch, earlypreparation bysubsidiary bodies tocome
upwithspecific recommendations wasnecessary toensure thattheprocess adhered tothetimetables
inthebuilt-in agenda. Theconcerns expressed bytheChairman oftheCommittee onTrade and
Environment needed tobeaddressed inorder tofacilitate asmooth andproductive Ministerial
Conference. Itwasimportant thattheinformal consultations attheHeads-of-Delegations levelcontinue
toprovide thevenue forMembers toinformally exchange views andresolve differences inorder to
reach consensus andavoid divisive issues attheMinisterial Conference. Before newissues could be
brought totheMinisterial Conference forconsideration, theyshould meetthethree criteria oftrade
relatedness, maturity, andappropriateness oftheWTO fortheirdiscussion. More importantly, these
issues should havebroad consensus. Developing countries werefacing many difficulties ineffectively
meeting theirobligations under theUruguay Round Agreements. Toaddtotheirburdens without
sufficient justification could onlystrain Members, overload thesystem, andresult inanunnecessary
backlash against theobjective oftradeliberalization. Itwasincumbent uponalltobuild ontheexisting
foundations already negotiated intheUruguay Round. Given thattheMinisterial Conference was
approaching rapidly theASEAN countries urged thatallutilise thetimeandresources efficiently.
Fortheirpart,theASEAN countries would spend theirtimeandresources tothepriority tasksofthe
Ministerial Conference, namely, review ofimplementation, thebuilt-in agenda andmutually-agreed
horizontal issues.
TherepresentativeofParaguaysaidhisdelegationwishedtourgethattransparencybemaintained
asfaraspossible inthepreparatory process. Paraguay wished toparticipate andcooperate intheprocess
asfaraspossible toensure thattheMinisterial Conference wasasuccess. Paraguay hadanopenmindWT/GC/M/13
Page24
astothesubjects thatmight beraised. However, itbelieved thatpatience should beshown withregard
tosome proposals thathadnotmatured enough. Such patience should belinked totheexcessive
commitments thathadbeenundertaken intheWTO framework andwhich hadsaturated thecapacity
forwork ofdelegations, inparticular thesmaller delegations, asalsothecapacities ofgovernments
themselves. Thisshould bekeptinmindwhen taking decisions regarding thefuture work oftheWTO.
TheChairman, inhisconcluding remarks, saidthatMembers nowhadanoverall viewofthe
process ofpreparations fortheMinisterial Conference. Hewasparticularly satisfied, andnodoubt
Members wereequally so,tonotethatwork wasproceeding inlinewiththedecision thathadbeen
taken inApril regarding preparations fortheMinisterial Conference. BythetimeoftheGeneral Council
meeting on7November, allthework would converge andacoherent picture should emerge. The
difficulties ofthework already donecould notbeunder-estimated. While onewould welcome the
factthatthepreparations fortheMinisterial Conference hadbeenbegun earlyenough, thisshould not
leadMembers tostopmaking further efforts since, judging from thework already started andthe
prospects forthefuture, everything wasfarfrom being rose-coloured orpositive. Alotofwork
remained tobedone, andmuch ofthedifficult work awaited allafterthesummer break. Thetime
forthatwork hadtobecounted inweeks andnotmonths. Onecould notafford tofailortomove
atanefficient andslowpace, because Singapore wasthedeadline. Thetaskahead wasofcrucial
importance bothfortheorganization andfortheworld economy. ForthefirsttimeinSingapore the
world would passjudgement onthecapacity oftheWTO tobeindeed what itclaimed tobe,an
instrument abletoensure thefunctioning anddynamic development ofanopenworld trade system,
whose efficiency would toagreatextent determine theeconomic future oftheworld. Difficult decisions
would havetobetaken inthisperspective and,asoutlined bytheChairman oftheCommittee onTrade
andEnvironment, thesedifficult decisions would indeed havetobetaken. Iftheywerenot,therewould
every reason tobealarmed attheinability oftheorganization torespond tothegoals ithadsetitself
andtheambitions itwasworking towards. Onthebasisoftheprogress reports presented atthismeeting,
hebelieved Members would havetofocus notonlyonwhatwaspositive, butalsoontheproblems
being faced. Inaverylargenumber ofareas, delegations needed tocome backafterthesummer break
withmuch more constructive instructions thatwould provide room formanoeuvre sothatonecould
avoid blockages thatcould beveryharmful forthecredibility oftheorganization. Itwasthecollective
responsibility ofalltoensure thattheworld passed apositive judgement ontheresults ofSingapore
and,tothatend,Members should notconfine themselves towords butrather takeaction. Hewished
toreiterate theappeal andthestrong comments made bytheChairman oftheCouncil forTrade in
Goods regarding theproblem ofnotifications. Members hadtomake anenormous effort intheway
inwhich theyimplemented thecommitments thathadbeenundertaken sincethisinvolved thecredibility
oftheorganization. Itwasessential foralltoadhere totheprogramme ofwork fortheMinisterial
Conference thathadbeenlaiddown, andallefforts should converge towards themeeting oftheGeneral
Council on7November. Itwould betheresponsibility ofallheads ofdelegations toensure thatthey
hadthenecessary instructions inSeptember. Oneshould avoid delays atallcosts, because themargin
formanoeuvre would beextremely small. Alltheproblems thatwould beencountered, andthose that
hadbeenoutlined inthedifferent reports atthepresent meeting, would havetoberesolved inGeneva
andshould notbetaken toSingapore. Inorder forproblems toberesolved inGeneva, work would
havetostartinearnest inSeptember. Thepreparations forSingapore would continue fromthefollowing
week, andwould startagain afterthesummer break withtheDirector-General 'sHeads ofDelegations
meeting scheduled for16September. From thepresent day,thepreliminary nature ofthediscussions
would rapidly beabandoned andthemore binding phase ofconclusions oftextsandnegotiations would
begin. Hewasconfident thatthatstage would becompleted successfully eventhough there were
difficulties, ifdelegations hadtherightinstructions ontimeanddidnotrelaxtheirefforts. Hewished
toreiterate hisappeal thatallshould havethenecessary instructions andthattheyshould havethem
ontimesothatthework programme could beadhered to.WT/GC/M/13
Page25
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements andofthereports bytheChairpersons of
thevarious WTO bodies under theirownresponsibility.
9. Other matters pending decision bytheGeneral Council
(a) Guidelines onobserver status forinternational intergovernmental organizations
(PC/IPL/W/14)
(b) Procedures forthecirculation andderestriction ofWTO documents
(c) Guidelines forarrangements onrelations withnon-governmental organizations pursuant
toArticle V:2oftheWTO Agreement
(a) Guidelines onobserver status forinternational intergovernmental organizations
(PC/IPL/W/14)
TheChairman recalled thatMembers hadthusfarconsidered thattheguidelines onobserver
status forinternational intergovernmental organizations inPC/IPL/W/14 could notbeadopted until
agreement hadbeenreached onarrangements forcooperation between theWTO andtheIMFandWorld
Bank. Ashehadindicated under Item3oftheAgenda, consultations were currently under way
concerning theproposed arrangements between theWTO andtheIMFandWorld Bank. Pending the
approval ofthose arrangements, heproposed thatMembers agree onatextoftheproposed guidelines
which would notprejudge theoutcome oftheconsultations ontheabove arrangements, butwhich would
atthesame timeenable theGeneral Council toadopt theguidelines atthepresent time. Thiswould
allow theWTO tosettle thequestion oftheattendance ofinternational intergovernmental organizations
inWTO bodies intimefordecisions tobetaken regarding theparticipation ofobserver organizations
attheMinisterial Conference inSingapore. Thetextthatheproposed forconsideration andadoption
wasthatcontained inPC/IPL/W/14, withanamendment toparagraph 3thereof asproposed indocument
number 3696/Rev.1, which hadbeenmade available intheRoom inthethreelanguages. Hebelieved
thatsufficient consensus existed ontheproposed amendment.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement andadopted theguidelines onobserver status
forinternational intergovernmental organizations inPC/IPL/W/14 withtheamendment proposed by
theChairman indocument 3696/Rev.1.1
(b) Procedures forthecirculation andderestriction ofWTO documents
TheChairman recalled thatinconsultations heldoverthepastyearandahalf,agreement had
beenreached inprinciple onthetextofadraftdecision onprocedures forthecirculation andderestriction
ofWTO documents, andthattheonlyprovision thathadbeenleftopenconcerned thecirculation and
derestriction ofpanel reports. Hehadheldextensive consultations since thebeginning oftheyear
onthelatter issue and,afterconsiderable effort, agreement hadbeenreached onacompromise text
thatappeared tobeagreeable toamajority ofdelegations. Thetextoftheproposed draftdecision,
withparagraph (h)oftheAppendix redrafted toreflect thecompromise onpanel reports, hadrecently
beenmade available todelegations intheRoom asdocument number 3740, andheproposed thatit
beadopted atthepresent meeting ifthere wasnoobjection from anydelegation.
Therepresentative ofNorway asked iftheChairman could clarify forMembers thewording
ofparagraph (h)oftheAppendix.
1Theguidelines were subsequently reproduced asAnnex 3oftheRules ofProcedure forsessions ofthe
Ministerial Conference andmeetings oftheGeneral Council (WT/L/161).WT/GC/M/13
Page26
TheChairman saidhisinterpretation ofAppendix paragraph (h)wasthatithadtoreadin
conjunction withparagraph 1.Inother words, panel reports would beissued unrestricted unless a
party tothedispute, asstipulated inAppendix paragraph (h),submitted awritten request fordelayed
derestriction. Such party would specify thelength oftimeofthedelay, which could notexceed ten
days.
Therepresentative ofParaguay saidthattheGeneral Council wasconsidering veryimportant
issues under thisAgenda item, andthatdelegations should normally havehadanopportunity toconsult
withcapitals onthedecisions being proposed foradoption. Hisdelegation wished torequest the
Chairman andtheSecretariat thatdocumentation related tosuchissues infuture becirculated insufficient
timetoenable thenecessary consultations tobeheld. Some ofthedocuments relating todecisions
being taken atthepresent meeting hadbeenavailable atthebeginning ofthemeeting onlyinEnglish.
Hisdelegation wished toemphasize theimportance ofhaving documents circulated inthethreeworking
languages atthesame time.
TheChairman saidthathehadtaken careful noteofParaguay 'sveryvalid statement. While
herecognized thattheprocedure followed atthepresent meeting wasunusual, thesituation giving rise
thereto wasitselfspecial, andresulted fromtheattempt tohaveanagreement reached onthese issues
atthepresent meeting aftertheverylengthy consultations thathadalready taken place. However,
thiswasnotthewayinwhich theGeneral Council should proceed infuture.
TherepresentativeofSingaporesaidheagreedwithParaguaythatthematterunderconsideration
wasimportant, andfelicitated theChairman forhaving beenabletoachieve agreement onacompromise
text. Hisdelegation proposed thatthetextbeadopted.
TheChairman proposed thattheGeneral Council takenoteofthestatements andagree toadopt
theprocedures forthecirculation andderestriction ofWTO documents indocument number 3740.
TheGeneral Council soagreed (WT/L/160/Rev.1).
TheChairman thenmade thefollowing statement: "Inadopting these procedures onthe
circulationandderestrictionofdocuments,theGeneralCounciltakesnotethatMembersattachparticular
importance totherestricted nature ofdocuments sodesignated, andthatindividual governments should
proceed accordingly intheirhandling ofsuchdocuments."
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
(c) Guidelines forarrangements onrelations withnon-governmental organizations pursuant
toArticle V:2oftheWTO Agreement
TheChairman drew attention tothedraftguidelines forarrangements onrelations withnon-
governmentalorganizations(documentnumber2587)whichhadbeenagreedtoininformalconsultations
heldin1995 andhadbeenheldinabeyance pending adecision onprocedures forthecirculation and
derestriction ofWTO documents. Since thelatterhadjustbeenadopted, heproposed thattheguidelines
onrelations withnon-governmental organizations alsobeadopted.
TheGeneral Council soagreed (WT/L/162).WT/GC/M/13
Page27
10. Brazil -Provisional safeguard measures concerning imports oftoys
Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities, speaking under "Other Business", saidthat
on18JuneBrazil hadinitiated asafeguard investigation onimports oftoysoriginating inallthird
countries andhadimposed aprovisional safeguard measure onimports oftoys, under theform ofa
tariff increase from 20to70percent, on4July. TheCommunity hadserious concerns about the
conformity ofBrazil 'saction withtheWTO Agreement onSafeguards. Inparticular, thescope of
theinvestigation andofthemeasure didnotseem tocorrespond totherequirement thatonly"likeor
directly competitive products" becovered. Indeed, theproducts concerned bytheinvestigation and
themeasure went from wheeled toysdesigned toberidden bychildren todolls, electric trains,
construction sets,stuffed toys, toysrepresenting animals, puzzles, toysweapons, die-cast miniature
models orvideo games. Furthermore, Brazil hadnotsubmitted anyinformation astotheconditions
under which thetoyswereimported. TheCommunity hadsome doubts therefore astothecausal link
between theincreased imports from WTO Members andtheserious injury, andtheimpact ofother
factors. TheCommunity therefore wished toexpress itsconcern totheGeneral Council, andtorequest
consultations withBrazil under Article 12.4oftheSafeguards Agreement, asalsothatBrazil suspend
immediately theprovisional safeguard measures.
Therepresentative ofHong Kong saidthatasamajor toyexporter, Hong Kong wasconcerned
byBrazil 'saction. Given itsapparently important implications, itwasappropriate thatthismeasure
hadbeenbrought totheearlyattention oftheGeneral Council. Hisauthorities werecurrently examining
thismatter and,inthelightoftheoutcome thereof, would consider theneedforfurther action, including
thepossibility ofseeking consultations withBrazil.
Therepresentative oftheUnited States saidthathisdelegation hadnoted withinterest the
Community'sstatementregardingBrazil'saction.HisauthoritieshadbeenreviewingBrazil'snotification
inthelightofArticle XIXofGATT 1994andtheSafeguards Agreement. Hewasconfident thatthey
would include inthisreview thequestions raised bytheCommunity.
Therepresentative ofBrazil saidthathisdelegation hadnoted theCommunity 'srequest, as
wellastheconcerns expressed byHong Kong andtheUnited States, andwould convey them toits
authorities.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
11. Attendance oforganizations asobservers atthe1996 Ministerial Conference
(a) International intergovernmental organizations
(b) Non-governmental organizations
(a) International intergovernmental organizations
TheChairman, speaking under "Other Business", saidthat,ashehadindicated todelegations
ataninformal meeting on12July, heintended tostart consultations ontheinternational
intergovernmental organizations tobeinvited asobservers totheMinisterial Conference. Herecalled
thatfortheMarrakesh Ministerial Meeting, adecision hadbeen taken toinvite international
intergovernmental organizations onthebasis offourcriteria: (a)organizations thathadregularly
attended theTNC meetings; (b)organizations thathadcontributed tothework oftheTNC bodies;
(c)certainregionaleconomicintergovernmentalorganizations,suchasIDB,ADB(Africa),ADB(Asia),
EFTA, SELA andITCB; and(d)UNregional commissions. TheITChadalsobeeninvited.WT/GC/M/13
Page28
Adopting agenerally similar approach, heproposed toconsult ontheinternational
intergovernmental organizations tobeinvited totheMinisterial Conference onthebasisofthefollowing
guidelines: (a)organizations thatwereobservers totheGeneral Council would beautomatically invited;
(b)organizations thatwereobservers tosubsidiary bodies oftheWTO would beinvited iftheyrequested
toattend theConference; (c)consultations would becarried outtodetermine which other international
intergovernmental organizations thatwere notobservers totheWTO andthatrequested attendance
attheConference should alsobeinvited. IfMembers agreed withthisgeneral orientation, hewould
proceed toconsult onthematter andreport totheGeneral Council. Hehoped thattheGeneral Council,
atitsmeeting scheduled for2October, would beinaposition totakeadecision ontheinternational
intergovernmental organizations tobeinvited asobservers totheMinisterial Conference.
Therepresentative ofSingapore saidthathefullyendorsed theChairman 'sstatement. However,
asrepresentative ofthehostcountry fortheMinisterial Conference, hebelieved thatOctober would
bealittlelateforadecision onthismatter andwould create problems withhotel accommodation for
therepresentatives oftheorganizations tobeinvited.
TheChairman saidthatinlightofSingapore 'sstatement, hewould hasten theconsultations.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements andagreed withtheapproach proposed by
theChairman.
(b) Non-governmental organizations
TheChairman, speaking under "Other Business", saidhebelieved itwasnecessary todetermine
urgently howtoproceed withrequests fromnon-governmental organizations toattend theMinisterial
Conference inanobserver capacity. AsMembers wereaware, Article V:2oftheWTO Agreement
stipulatedthatthe"GeneralCouncilmaymakeappropriatearrangementsforconsultationsandcooperation
withnon-governmental organizations concerned withmatters related tothose oftheWTO." Since
theGeneral Council hadjustagreed onguidelines forrelations withNGOs under Item9(c)ofthe
Agenda, which emphasized theneedforgreater transparency inrelations between theWTO andNGOs,
andonthebasisofinformal consultations aswellascontacts withSingapore 'sauthorities, heproposed
thefollowing method forproceeding: (i)NGOs would beallowed toattend thePlenary Sessions of
theConference; (ii)applications from NGOs toberegistered would beaccepted onthebasis of
Article VoftheWTO Agreement, i.e.suchNGOs "concerned withmatters related tothose ofthe
WTO"; and(iii)adeadline would beestablished fortheregistration ofNGOs thatwished toattend
theConference. AlistoftheNGOs thathadapplied forattendance would becirculated subsequently
fortheinformation oftheGeneral Council. Attendance atplenary sessions byNGOs would alsodepend
upon theavailability ofspace.
Therepresentative ofMorocco asked whether itwould betheSecretariat ortheGeneral Council
thatwould determine thelistofNGOs which sought attendance attheConference andmetthecriteria
mentioned bytheChairman.
Therepresentative ofElSalvador echoed Morocco 'squery.
TheChairman saidthattheSecretariat would receive theapplications fromNGOs andexamine
them toseeiftheorganizations concerned metthecriteria. Alistofthose thatdidwould thenbe
circulated bytheSecretariat.
Therepresentative ofElSalvador asked whowould approve thelistoftheNGOs seeking to
attend theMinisterial Conference.WT/GC/M/13
Page29
TheChairman saidthatifdelegations didnotindicate anyproblems withthelist,thenthose
NGOs would beinvited totheMinisterial Conference. Hedidnotwishtoformalize theprocess.
Therepresentative ofMorocco asked ifitcould notbestated clearly thattheexamination of
theapplications would bedonebytheSecretariat, andthatMembers would bepresented withalist
ofNGOs meeting thecriteria. Itwould thenbeuptotheGeneral Council toaccept thelistornot.
IfMembers hadproblems withcertain NGOs, consultations should beheldtoresolve them.
TheChairman saidthatitwasnotnecessary tohaveaformal decision bytheGeneral Council
onthelistofNGOs tobeinvited. ItwasclearthatifanyMember hadaproblem withthelistcirculated
bytheSecretariat, thiswould beresolved through consultations. Thelistwould beconsidered approved
intheabsence ofanyreservations toit.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements andagreed withtheprocedure proposed by
theChairman.
12. Accession oftheKyrgyz Republic
- Working Party Chairmanship
TheChairman, speaking under "Other Business", informed theGeneral Council that,following
hisconsultations, Mr.Metzger (France) hadagreed toserve asChairman oftheWorking Party on
theAccession oftheKyrgyz Republic.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthisinformation.
13. Accession ofSeychelles
- Working Party Chairmanship
TheChairman, speaking under "Other Business, informed theGeneral Council that,following
hisconsultations, Mr.Ravaloson (Madagascar) hadagreed toserve asChairman oftheWorking Party
ontheAccession ofSeychelles.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthisinformation.
14. Observer status forinternational intergovernmental organizations
TheChairman, speaking under "Other Business", recalled that,inaccordance withtheadhoc
arrangementsforobserverstatusforinternationalintergovernmentalorganizationsapprovedataninformal
meeting ofHeads ofDelegations on16March 19952,andasagreed attheGeneral Council meeting
on26June1996, thefollowing organizations hadbeeninvited asobservers tothepresent meeting:
United Nations, UNCTAD, IMF, World Bank, FAO, WIPO andOECD. Itwashisunderstanding
thattheabove organizations would alsobeinvited tothenextmeeting.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthisinformation.
2SeeWT/GC/M/3, item3.