WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/GC/W/518
5 December 2003
(03-6484)
General Council
15, 16 and 18 December 2003
GENERAL COUNCIL
Draft Annual Report (2003)1
The present report has been prepared in pursuance of the Procedures for an Annual Overview
of WTO Activities and for Reporting under the WTO (WT/L/105), and sets out the actions taken by
the General Council in the period since its previous annual report.
It will be recalled that at its meeting in February 2003, the General Council agreed that its
report to the Fifth Session of the Ministerial Conf erence in September 2003 would consist of the Annual
Report for 2002 together with a brief update report which would describe developments since December
2002.
The General Council's Annual Report for 2002 wa s circulated as WT/GC/70, and an update
report describing developments until, and including, the August 2003 meeting of the General Council
was circulated as WT/GC/70/Add.1.
The present report sets out the actions taken by the General Council since August 2003, and
should be read in conjunction with the report in  WT/GC/70/Add.1.  The General Council has held [..]
meetings since August 2003.  The minutes of these m eetings, which remain the record of the General
Council's work, are contained in  documents WT/GC/M/83 – [..].
The following subjects are included in the report:
1. Matters resulting from the Fourth Session of the Ministerial Conference..........................2
(a) Trade Negotiations Committee – Re ports ..................................................................................2
(b) Work Programme on Small Economies .....................................................................................2
2. Accessions ................................................................................................................... ...............2
(a) Iran ....................................................................................................................... ......................2
(b) Kazak hstan ................................................................................................................. ................3
3. Review of Chairmanships of WTO bodies under the TNC ..................................................3
4. Sixth Session of the Ministerial Conference ..........................................................................3
5. Widening of EC textiles quota restrictions following accession of new member
States ........................................................................................................................ .................4
6. Eleventh APEC Economic Leaders' Declaration ..................................................................4
                                                     
1 The final version of this report will also reflect the General Council meeting in December 2003 and
the items will be renumbered as necessary.WT/GC/W/518
Page 2
7. Trade in Textiles and Clothing - Developing Members' concern about potential
reduction in market (quo ta) access in 2004 ...........................................................................4
8. Review of the Exemption Provided under Paragraph 3 of GATT 1994 .............................5
1. Matters resulting from the Fourth Session of the Ministerial Conference
(a) Trade Negotiations Committee – Reports (WT/GC/M/83)
Ministers at Doha established a Trade Negotiations Committee under the authority of the
General Council to supervise the overall conduct of the negotiations (WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1).  In
accordance with the Principles and Practices endorsed by the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) at
its first meeting on 28 January and 1 February, the TNC reports to each regular meeting of the
General Council (TN/C/M/1).
At the General Council meeting on 21 October 2003, the Chairman of the Trade Negotiations
Committee reported on the TNC's activities since his last report to the General Council in July.
The Chairman spoke.
The General Council took note of the report by the Chairman of the Trade Negotiations
Committee and of the statement.
(b) Work Programme on Small Economies (WT/GC/M/83)
Ministers at Doha agreed to a work programme, under the auspices of the General Council, to
examine issues relating to the trade of small econom ies, with a mandate to frame responses to the
trade-related issues identified for the fuller in tegration of small, vulnerable economies into the
multilateral trading system and not to create a sub-category of WTO Members.
(WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1, paragraph 35).  At its meeting in February and March 2002, the General
Council took note of a framework and procedures for the conduct of the Work Programme on SmallEconomies, under which this Work Programme would be a standing item on the General Council's
agenda.  The framework and procedures also provided that the Committee on Trade and Development
would report regularly to the General Council on the progress of work in its Dedicated Sessions on
this subject.
At the General Council meeting on 21 October 2003, the Chairman of the Dedicated Sessions
of the CTD reported on the Committee's activities on this matter.
The General Council took note of the report by the Chairman of the Dedicated Sessions of the
CTD.
2. Accessions
(a) Iran (WT/GC/M/83)
A communication from Iran requesting accession to the WTO Agreement (WT/ACC/IRN/1)
was first considered by the General Council in May 2001 at the request of Egypt on behalf of the
Informal Group of Developing Countries, and at ea ch subsequent meeting of the General Council
since then.
At its meeting on 21 October 2003, the General Council again considered this matter.WT/GC/W/518
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The representatives of the United States and Tanzania (on behalf of the Informal Group of
Developing Countries) spoke.
The General Council took note of the statements and agreed to revert to this matter at its next
meeting.
(b) Kazakhstan (WT/GC/M/83)
At its meeting on 21 October 2003, the Chairman informed the General Council that
Mr. Himanen (Finland) had kindly agreed to chair the Working Party on the Accession of Kazakhstan,
replacing Mr. Huhtaniemi (Finland) who had left Geneva and was no longer available to Chair the
Working Party.
The General Council took note of this information.
3. Review of Chairmanships of WTO bodies under the TNC (WT/GC/M/83)
At its first meeting on 28 January and 1 February 2002, the Trade Negotiations Committee
(TNC) adopted a structure and established a number of bodies to undertake work on the variouselements of the Doha Development Agenda under its supervision.  The TNC also endorsed certain
principles and practices to guide its work, including  that the Chairman of the General Council would
consult on the chairmanships of the individual bodies, and that the Chairpersons of these bodies
would be appointed to serve up to the Fifth Ministerial Conference, at which time all the appointments
would be reviewed (TN/C/M/1).  The Chairpersons  of the bodies under the TNC were appointed by
the General Council at its meeting in February 2002.  At the General Council meeting in August 2003,
the Chairman suggested that, although these appointments were to be reviewed at the time of the Fifth
Ministerial Conference, given the heavy workload in connection with the Ministerial Conference,
Members would be better placed to conduct this review at the next meeting of the General Council in
October.  The General Council agreed that, in the meantime, and keeping in mind the need formaintaining continuity in the process, the Chairper sons of these bodies be requested to continue in
office until the review at the October Council meeting
At the General Council meeting on 21 October 2003, the Chairman suggested that Members
revert to the review of Chairmanships of WTO bodies under the TNC once the outcome of the follow-
up work from the Cancún Ministerial Conference was clear, and proposed that the General Council
postpone consideration of this item until its first regular meeting in the new year, and that, in themeantime, and keeping in mind the need to maintain a sense of continuity, the Chairpersons of these
bodies continue in office until the review at that meeting.
The General Council took note of the statement and so agreed.
4. Sixth Session of the Ministerial Conference (WT/GC/M/83)
At its meeting in August 2003, the General Council considered a communication from Hong
Kong, China (WT/GC/72) offering to host the Sixth Session and, noting that the date and venue of the
next Ministerial Conference was an item on the Agenda of the Cancún Ministerial Conference, agreed
that its Chairman should hold informal consultatio ns urgently on the venue of the Sixth Session and
report back to the Chairman of the Cancún Ministerial Conference at the earliest opportunity with a
view to assisting the latter in preparing this item for consideration at the Ministerial Conference.  At
the Cancún Ministerial Conference, Ministers took note with appreciation of the offer from the
Government of Hong Kong, China and requested the Chairman of the General Council to continue
consultations with a view to determining the date and venue of the Sixth Session.WT/GC/W/518
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At the General Council meeting on 21 October 2003, the Chairman said, inter alia , that from
the contacts he had had with a number of delegations, there was broad support for accepting the offer
from Hong Kong, China, and that he believed it would be good for all concerned if agreement could
be reached at that meeting on the venue of the next Ministerial Conference.  He proposed therefore
that the General Council agree on Hong Kong, China as the venue for the Sixth Session of theMinisterial Conference, and expressed appreciation, on behalf of the General Council, to the
Government of Hong Kong, China for its generous offer.  He further proposed that consultations be
held with a view to determining the timing of the Sixth Session, and that the General Council revert to
this matter at a future meeting.
The General Council so agreed.
The representative of Hong Kong, China spoke.
The General Council took note of the statement.
5. Widening of EC textiles quota restrictions following accession of new member States
(WT/GC/M/83)
At the General Council meeting on 21 October 2003, the representative of India, on behalf of
members of the International Textiles and Clothing Bureau that were also Members or observers of
the WTO, expressed concern regarding an Act published in the Official Journal of the European
Union dated 23 September 20032 and its provisions regarding possible adjustments to be made to
bilateral textile agreements and arrangements c oncluded by the Community with third countries.
The representative of the European Communities spoke.The General Council took note of the statements.
6. Eleventh APEC Economic Leaders' Declaration (WT/GC/M/83)
At the General Council meeting on 21 October 2003, the representative of Thailand drew
attention to the Declaration of the Eleventh APEC Meeting of Economic Leaders issued that
afternoon in Bangkok, and to the paragraphs related to the WTO and the multilateral trading system,3
and expressed the hope that the Declaration would help the Chairman find convergence amongMembers and provide positive inputs and political impetus to the ongoing DDA negotiations and their
successful conclusion.
The General Council took note of the statement.
7. Trade in Textiles and Clothing - Developing Members' concern about potential
reduction in market (quota) access in 2004 (WT/GC/M/83)
At the General Council meeting on 21 October 2003, the Chairman recalled that following the
discussion on this matter at the July General Council meeting, he had proposed that consultations be
held on the best way to deal with it.  However, the focus of his work since the July Council meeting
                                                     
2 Entitled "Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia,
the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, theRepublic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and theadjustments to the Treaties on whic h the European Union is founded".
3 The APEC Economic Leaders' Declaration (the "Bangkok Declaration on Partnership for the Future")
was subsequently circulated as WT/L/542.WT/GC/W/518
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had revolved around preparations for the Cancún Ministerial Conference and its follow up and, as a
result, it had not been possible to devote the necess ary attention to this issue.  He intended to take up
consultations on this matter – despite the heavy workload all faced as a result of Cancún – with the
aim of making a report to the December meeting of the General Council.
The General Council took note of the statement.
8. Review of the Exemption Provided under Paragraph 3 of GATT 1994 (WT/GC/M/83)
At the General Council meeting on 21 October 2003, the Chairman, recalling the history of
the Council's discussion on this matter, said that , as agreed in December 2002, the review of the
exemption under Paragraph 3 of GATT 1994 would formally be on the Agenda of the General
Council meeting in December.  At that meeting, th e General Council would be invited to take note of
the discussions held in the course of the review until then, take any other action it might agree on, and
also take note that the subsequent review would normally be held in 2005.  He expressed the hope that
delegations would be able to use the time until the December meeting to prepare appropriately for that
discussion, and that they would be able to proceed as agreed in 2002.
The General Council took note of the statement.
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