PRESS RELEASE
PRESS/286
18 April 2002
(02-2157)
The WTO Holds Its Fourth Geneva Week
WTO Member Governments without permanent repres entation in Geneva will gather at the WTO on
21 April 2002 for a week-long session designed to enhance the participation of these countries in the
global trading system.
In addition to the full briefing these officials will receive on the organization's recent activities, the
meeting has been scheduled to allow them to fully participate in the second Trade Negotiations
Committee on 24 April. The TNC was charged by Ministers with overseeing the broad set of
negotiations that were launched in Doha, Qatar in November of last year.
"Geneva Week" will focus on these negotiations - which are scheduled to conclude on 1 January 2005
– through a series of briefing by the chairpersons of different WTO committees and councils, and
through presentations made by experts from international organizations. Participants will also have
the occasion to attend a session of the Committee on Trade and Development and seminar on
regionalism.
Geneva Week, launched by Director General Mike Moore in 1999, will be held twice this year (the
second meeting will be in October) and will, for the first time, be funded directly from the WTO's
core budget rather than through trust fund contributions.
"It is crucial for every WTO Member to have its voice heard, especially now that we have launched
comprehensive negotiations," said Mr. Moore. "Geneva Week is one of the tools we have put into
place to ensure that developing country Members and others who cannot afford a permanent missionin Geneva are kept up-to-date with WTO meetings and are thus able to truly participate in the work of
the WTO.  In continuing our Geneva Week programme, we are carrying out instructions given us by
Ministers in the Doha Declaration which states in paragraph 38 that priority be accorded to 'small,
vulnerable and transition economies, as well as to Members and Observers without representation in
Geneva'".
Twenty four WTO Members and 11 Observers will attend the Geneva Week: (Members) Antigua and
Barbuda; Burkina Faso; Chad; Dominica; Fiji; Gambia; Grenada; Guinea Bissau; Guyana; Macau;Malawi; Maldives;Mali; Namibia; Niger; Papua New Guinea; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; St
Vincent and the Grenadines; Sierra Leone; Solomon Islands; Suriname; Swaziland; Togo; (Observers)
Andorra; Armenia; Bahamas; Eritrea; Laos; Samoa; Sao Tomé and Principe; Seychelles; Tonga;
Uzbekistan; Vanuatu. Representatives of a number regional secretariats and regional development
banks are also invited.
The programme is attached on the following pages.PRESS/286
Page 2 of 4
GENEVA WEEK 2002
PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME
Venue:  Centre William Rappard, Conference Room I
Dates: 21-26 April
Day Morning (10.00-13.00) Afternoon (15.00-18.00)
Sun
21/0415.00   Welcome and Introduction
15.15 .  Technical Cooperation, Capacity
Building, and the Doha Development Agenda.
16.30  TRIPS.
Briefings on the TRIPS Council work programme;
and on negotiations conducted in the Special Session
of the TRIPS Council.
Presentation by   Invited International Organisation
Mon.
22/0410.00 Agriculture:
Presentation on negotiations conducted in the
Special Session of the Committee on
Agriculture.
11.30 Market Access for Non-Agricultural
Products.
Presentation on negotiations conducted in
Negotiating Group on Market Access for Non-
Agricultural Products.
Presentation by Invited International
Organisation.15.00 Singapore Issues
Presentations by Chairpersons.
Presentation by Invited International Organisation.
17.00 Services
Presentation on negotiations conducted in Special
Session of Council on Trade in ServicesPRESS/286
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Day Morning (10.00-13.00) Afternoon (15.00-18.00)
Tues.
23/0410.00 Trade and Environment
Presentations on CTE work programme; and
on. negotiations conducted in the SpecialSession of the CTE.
Presentation by Invited International
Organisation.
12.30 Standards: TBT and SPS.
Briefings by Secretariat.15.00 Rules: Anti-Dumping; Subsidies and
Countervailing Measures; Regional TradeAgreements.
Presentation on negotiations conducted in
Negotiating Group on Rules.
15.30  Trade and Transfer of Technology.
Presentation on work conducted by Working Group.
16.15 .  Trade, Debt and Finance
Presentation on work conducted by Working Group.
17.00  Negotiations on the Dispute Settlement
Understanding.
Presentation on Negotiations conducted in Special
session of the DSB
Wed.
24/04Trade Negotiations Committee1Trade Negotiations Committee
18.30 Cocktail Reception
Thurs
25/04 Committee on Trade and Development Committee on Trade and Development
                                                     
1 In accordance with Doha Ministerial Declaratio n, paragraph 48, attendance is open to:  (i)all
Members of the WTO; and (ii) States and separate customs territories currently in the process of accession andthose that inform Members, at a regular meeting of the General Council, of their intention to negotiate the termsof their membership and for whom an accession working party is established.PRESS/286
Page 4 of 4
Day Morning (10.00-13.00) Afternoon (15.00-18.00)
Fri.
26/04Seminar on Regionalism Seminar on Regionalism
Note: :
08.00-10.00: Training on the use of the Integrated Database (Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday).
CTD Seminar on Electronic Commerce: 22 April
ENDS